Overall Record: 18-7
SEC: 4-2
Last Week’s Results (2-2)
March 22 (Wed.) – SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (W, 8-2)
March 24 (Fri.) – at #11 Florida (L, 0-1)
March 25 (Sat.) – at #11 Florida (L, 1-8)
March 26 (Sun.) – at #11 Florida (W, 10-6)
This Week’s Schedule
March 28 (Tue.) – TULANE, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 30 (Thu.) – TEXAS A&M, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
March 31 (Fri.) – TEXAS A&M, 8 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
April 1 (Sat.) – TEXAS A&M, 2:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
Notes on the Tigers
The Tigers split four games last week, defeating Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday before winning one of three games at Florida over the weekend … Sunday’s 10-6 win over the Gators featured a tremendous LSU comeback, as the Tigers trailed 5-0 after five innings and 6-2 after seven innings; LSU erupted for six runs in the eighth inning with three two-run homers by third baseman Josh Smith, designated hitter Beau Jordan and second baseman Cole Freeman … Jordan led the Tigers’ 12-hit attack in Sunday’s win, as he was 2-for-4 with a bases-loaded, two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning and the two-run homer in the eighth … Sunday’s win marked LSU’s biggest comeback to win a road game since April 2012, when the Tigers rebounded from a 7-2 deficit at Florida to post an 8-7 victory … the last time LSU hit three homers in one inning was at Missouri on April 17, 2016, in the seventh inning; those were three solo homers by Jordan Romero, Greg Deichmann and Bryce Jordan … freshman third baseman Josh Smith led LSU in hitting last week, batting .429 (6-for-14) in four games with two doubles, one homer and eight RBI … Smith helped lead the Tigers to Sunday’s win over Florida, as he was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI … Smith was 4-for-4 in Wednesday’s win over Southeastern Louisiana with two doubles and four RBI; the outing marked his second 4-for-4 night of the season, as he also accomplished the feat on March 8 at McNeese State … junior right-hander Alex Lange pitched brilliantly on Friday night at Florida, but suffered a hard-luck 1-0 loss to the Gators … Lange fired a complete game, limiting Florida to one run on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts … the outing marked the first complete game for Lange this season and the fifth of his career … freshman right-hander Matthew Beck extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 9.2 this season as he blanked Florida in 1.1 innings on Sunday … Beck has made seven relief appearances, allowing no runs and only one hit in 9.2 innings with two walks and eight strikeouts … opponents are hitting just .038 against Beck … sophomore right-hander Caleb Gilbert earned his third save of the season – all in SEC games – Sunday against Florida … Gilbert fired two perfect innings against the Gators with one strikeout; he entered the game to start the eighth inning with LSU holding an 8-6 lead, and the Tigers went on to a 10-6 win … Gilbert has 24 strikeouts in 19.1 innings this season (11 appearances, one start).
Baseball America Top 25
Team, Record, Previous Rank
1. Oregon State, 20-1, 2
2. Louisville, 21-2, 1
3. TCU, 17-5, 3
4. Texas Tech, 22-4, 8
5. Clemson, 20-4, 6
6. South Carolina, 17-6, 7
7. North Carolina, 18-6, 10
8. Florida, 16-9, 13
9. LSU, 18-7, 4
10. Cal State Fullerton, 15-8, 5
11. Florida Gulf Coast, 22-3, 12
12. Florida State, 18-7, 14
13. Arizona, 16-7, 9
14. St. John’s, 18-2, 16
15. Stanford, 13-6, 17
16. Kentucky, 18-7, NR
17. Oklahoma, 21-3, 24
18. Auburn, 20-6, NR
19. Virginia, 19-6, 19
20. Ole Miss, 15-8, 11
21. Arkansas, 20-5, NR
22. Baylor, 16-4, 20
23. Houston, 18-5, NR
24. Wake Forest, 18-7, NR
25. East Carolina, 17-8, 25
Dropped out: UL-Lafayette (15), Missouri (18), Oklahoma State (21), Washington (22), Michigan (23)
Perfect Game Top 25
Rank, Team, Record, Previous
1, Oregon State, 20-1, 2
2, Louisville, 21-2, 1
3, TCU, 17-5, 3
4, South Carolina, 17-6, 4
5, Texas Tech, 22-4, 5
6, Clemson, 20-4, 7
7, North Carolina, 18-6, 8
8, Florida State, 18-7, 12
9, Florida, 16-9, 14
10, LSU, 18-7, 6
11, Houston, 18-5, 20
12, Stanford, 13-6, 13
13, Cal State Fullerton, 15-8, 9
14, Florida Gulf Coast, 22-3, 17
15, Vanderbilt, 16-9, 18
16, East Carolina, 17-8, 19
17, Arizona , 16-7, 15
18, UL-Lafayette, 13-9, 10
19, Ole Miss, 15-9, 11
20, Arkansas, 20-5, 24
21, South Florida, 22-3, 21
22, St. John’s, 18-2, NR
23, Oklahoma State, 15-9, 16
24, Oklahoma, 23-5, NR
25, Missouri, 21-3, 22
Dropped Out: Washington (23), Baylor (25).
D1Baseball.com Top 25
Rank, Team, Record, Previous
1, Oregon State, 20-1, 1
2, Louisville, 21-2, 2
3, Texas Tech, 22-4, 3
4, TCU, 17-5, 4
5, Clemson, 20-4, 7
6, LSU, 18-7, 5
7, South Carolina, 17-6, 8
8, North Carolina, 18-6, 10
9, Florida, 16-9, 11
10, Cal State Fullerton, 15-8, 6
11, Stanford, 13-6, 12
12, Florida State, 18-7, 13
13, Arizona, 16-7, 9
14, Florida Gulf Coast, 22-3, 15
15, St. John’s, 18-2, 17
16, Kentucky, 18-7, 19
17, Auburn, 20-6, 20
18, Virginia, 19-6, 21
19, Ole Miss, 15-9, 14
20, Arkansas, 20-5, NR
21, UL Lafayette, 13-9, 16
22, Michigan, 17-6, 18
23, San Diego, 15-6, 23
24, Oklahoma, 23-5, 25
25, Southern Miss, 19-5, NR
Dropped Out
22, Baylor, 18-6
24, Missouri, 21-3
USA Today Coaches’ Poll
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), Record, Points, Previous
1, Oregon State (30), 20-1, 774, 2
2, Texas Tech, 22-4, 724, 3
3, Louisville (1), 21-2, 718, 1
4, TCU, 17-5, 680, 5
5, Clemson, 20-4, 635, 7
6, South Carolina, 17-6, 571, 8
7, North Carolina, 18-6, 557, 9
8, LSU, 18-7, 536, 4
9, Florida, 16-9, 478, 12
10, Florida State, 18-7, 443, 11
11, Arizona, 16-7, 428, 6
12, Florida Gulf Coast, 22-3, 358, 17
13, St. John’s, 18-2, 352, 15
14, Stanford, 13-6, 289, 13
15, Cal State Fullerton, 15-8, 283, 10
16, Virginia, 19-6, 280, 16
17, Auburn, 20-6, 261, 24
18, Oklahoma, 23-5, 248, 19
19, Kentucky, 18-7, 240, 25
20, Arkansas, 20-5, 212, 27
21, Baylor, 18-6, 149, 18
22, Ole Miss, 15-9, 135, 14
23, Missouri, 21-3, 105, 20
24, UL-Lafayette, 13-9, 69, 22
25, Houston, 18-5, 64, 34
Others receiving votes: Michigan 63; Wake Forest 61; San Diego 53; Southern Mississippi 48; Texas A&M 36; South Florida 35; Vanderbilt 30; Long Beach State 29; Oregon 24; Michigan State 21; Mercer 20; Oklahoma State 13; Southern California 10; East Carolina 10; Washington 10; Mississippi State 7; Central Florida 5; Sam Houston State 3; Missouri State 2; New Mexico 2; McNeese State 2; West Virginia 1; Saint Mary’s 1.