Overall Record: 32-9
SEC: 12-6 (first place in SEC West)
Last Week’s Results (2-2)
April 18 (Wed.) – LAMAR (W, 5-4)
April 20 (Fri.) – at #2 Kentucky (W, 5-4)
April 21 (Sat.) – at #2 Kentucky (L, 1-8)
April 22 (Sun.) – at #2 Kentucky (L, 6-7)
This Week’s Schedule
April 25 (Wed.) – SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA, 6:30 p.m. CT (Cox Sports Television)
April 27 (Fri.) – GEORGIA, 7 p.m. CT (Cox Sports Television)
April 28 (Sat.) – GEORGIA, 6:30 p.m. CT (Cox Sports Television/Comcast Sports Southeast)
April 29 (Sun.) – GEORGIA, 1 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
Notes on the Tigers
LSU enters this week’s action with a 12-6 conference mark, and the Tigers lead the SEC Western Division by three games over Ole Miss and Arkansas … LSU has a 6-3 mark against teams ranked in the Top 3 in the nation at the time of their series meeting with the Tigers … in three of the past four weeks, LSU has faced No. 3 Arkansas, No.1 Florida and No. 2 Kentucky … junior leftfielder Raph Rhymes solidified his standing as the nation’s leading hitter, raising his cumulative average on the season to an amazing .500 (70-for-140) … Rhymes batted .688 (11-for-16) in LSU’s four games last week with three doubles, one homer, seven RBI, four runs, a 1.063 slugging percentage and a .688 on-base percentage … in the Tigers’ series at No. 2 Kentucky, he hit .667 (8-for-12) with two doubles, one homer, four RBI and three runs … Rhymes was 4-for-4 in Game 3 against the Wildcats with one double, one homer, three RBI and two runs … along with batting .500 through LSU’s 41 games this season, he has collected 10 doubles, two homers, 44 RBI and 30 runs while posting a .614 slugging percentage and a .541 on-base percentage … Rhymes is hitting .517 (31-for-60) in SEC games with three doubles, two homers, 15 RBI and nine runs … sophomore right-hander Kevin Gausman defeated No. 2 Kentucky on Friday, firing 101 pitches in seven innings in the Tigers’ 5-4 victory over the Wildcats … Gausman allowed four runs on 10 hits with one walk and 11 Ks, his second-highest strikeouts total this season … Gausman improved to 7-1 on the year with a 3.00 ERA in 69 innings … he leads the SEC with 88 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .231 against him … senior third baseman Tyler Hanover had a productive week at the plate, batting .462 (6-for-13) in LSU’s four games with one RBI, one run and a .533 on-base percentage … Hanover hit .500 (5-for-10) in the Kentucky series with one run scored … junior right-hander Nick Goody earned two saves last week, preserving wins over Lamar on Wednesday and Kentucky on Friday … Goody was dominant in the Kentucky outing, striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 5-4 LSU win … Goody, who was named last week to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List, is 1-0 this season with a 0.90 ERA and six saves in 20 innings (21 appearances) … he has recorded two walks and 30 strikeouts, and opponents are batting just .159 against him … sophomore right-hander Nick Rumbelow turned in two excellent relief appearances against Lamar on Wednesday and Kentucky on Sunday … in two outings, he worked 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with six strikeouts … LSU is 24-2 this season when it scores first, and the Tigers are 29-1 when scoring at least four runs in a game.
Baseball America Top 25
Rk. Team, W-L, Last Week, Prev.
1. Florida State, 33-7, 4-0, 1
2. Kentucky, 35-6, 3-1, 3
3. Baylor, 35-7, 5-0, 6
4. LSU, 32-9, 2-2, 4
5. Florida, 31-9, 3-1, 5
6. Rice, 30-12, 3-1, 7
7. South Carolina, 30-11, 3-1, 9
8. Cal State Fullerton, 26-13, 3-1, 12
9. Texas A&M, 28-12, 0-4, 2
10. Oregon, 27-12, 3-2, 8
11. Arizona, 26-13, 2-2, 13
12. UCLA, 26-10, 2-2, 11
13. Stanford, 25-10, 3-1, 14
14. Central Florida, 34-8, 4-0, 15
15. Purdue, 31-6, 3-1, 16
16. North Carolina, 29-12, 2-3, 10
17. San Diego, 31-9, 2-1, 19
18. Mississippi, 27-13, 3-1, 22
19. North Carolina State, 26-12, 2-2, 21
20. Texas, 23-14, 3-1, 23
21. Arkansas, 28-12, 3-2, 17
22. Miami, 26-14, 1-3, 18
23. Arizona State, 24-16, 1-3, 20
24. Sam Houston State, 28-11, 3-1, 24
25. New Mexico State, 30-11, 3-1, 25
USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25
Rank School (record) Points Previos First-place votes
1. Florida State (33-7) 758 2 18
2. Florida (31-9) 733 1 7
3. Kentucky (35-6) 725 3 6
4. Baylor (35-7) 671 9
5. South Carolina (30-11) 592 8
6. LSU (32-9) 583 4
7. Central Florida (34-8) 518 14
8. Rice (30-12) 511 13
9. Stanford (25-10) 488 10
10. North Carolina (29-12) 478 6
11. UCLA (26-10) 477 7
12. Texas A&M (28-12) 446 5
13. Purdue (31-6) 383 17
14. Oregon (27-12) 351 11
15. Cal State-Fullerton (26-13) 343 18
16. Arizona (26-13) 311 16
17. Arkansas (28-12) 274 15
18. Miami (Fla.) (26-14) 251 12
19. Mississippi (27-13) 213 22
20. San Diego (31-9) 196 20
21. Oregon State (26-12) 192 21
22. North Carolina State (26-12) 148 19
23. Louisville (28-12) 146 23
24. Texas (23-14) 104 24
25. (tie) Virginia (26-14-1) 24 25
25. (tie) Sam Houston State (28-11) 24 NR
Others receiving votes: Georgia (24-17) 20; New Mexico State (30-11) 16; Missouri State (29-12) 15; Army (33-9) 10; Appalachian State (28-9) 9; East Carolina (27-13) 9; Indiana State (31-10) 9; TCU (23-14) 9; Liberty (32-12) 5; North Carolina-Wilmington (24-16) 5; Oklahoma (26-14) 5; Clemson (24-17) 4; Gonzaga (26-12) 4; Charleston (29-12) 3; Campbell (32-10) 2; Dallas Baptist (27-12) 2; Georgia Tech (24-17) 2; South Florida (27-14) 2; Southeastern Louisiana (28-13) 2; Tulane (26-14) 1; Wright State (26-13) 1.
Collegiate Baseball Top 30
Rank School (Record) Points Previous
t1. Kentucky (35-6) 497 2
t1. Baylor (35-7) 497 3
3. LSU (32-9) 496 1
4. Florida (31-9) 494 4
5. Florida St. (33-7) 492 5
6. Arizona (26-13) 482 8
7. South Carolina (30-11) 479 13
8. Rice (30-12) 476 11
9. Oregon (27-12) 473 6
10. UCLA (26-10) 472 7
11. Central Florida (34-8) 471 12
12. Cal. St. Fullerton (26-13) 469 14
13. Stanford (25-10) 466 19
14. Texas A&M (28-12) 464 9
15. North Carolina (29-12) 463 10
16. San Diego (31-9) 461 17
17. Purdue (31-6) 458 22
18. Texas (23-14) 456 23
19. Mississippi (27-13) 454 24
20. Arkansas (28-12) 452 16
21. N.C. State (26-12) 451 18
22. Sam Houston St. (28-11) 450 20
23. Oklahoma (26-14) 449 26
24. Miami, Fla. (26-14) 446 15
25. New Mexico St. (30-11) 444 25
26. Louisville (28-12) 440 27
27. Texas Christian (23-14) 438 28
28. Oregon St. (26-12) 437 30
29. Arizona St. (24-16) 435 21
30. Clemson (24-17) 433 –