BATON ROUGE — LSU returned to the top of three college baseball polls Monday as the Tigers are ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
LSU (26-9 overall, 10-5 SEC) won its ninth straight SEC series last weekend, capturing two of three games at Alabama.
LSU is No. 1 for the first since March 2, when the Tigers were ranked at the top of four different polls.
The Tigers received more recognition Monday as outfielder/DH Blake Dean was named SEC Player of the Week by the league office.
Dean, a junior from Crestview, Fla., led LSU to the series victory at Alabama by hitting .500 (6-for-12) with one double, two homers, 10 RBI and two runs scored. His two-run double in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit in the Tigers’ 12-7 victory.
For the entire week, Dean hit .412 (7-for-17) in four games with one double, two homers, 11 RBI and two runs.
Dean becomes the sixth LSU player this season to earn either SEC Player of the Week or SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
The top-ranked Tigers open a six-game homestand at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when they play host to New Orleans in Alex Box Stadium.
LSU Baseball Report: April 13, 2009
Overall Record: 26-9
SEC Record: 10-5
Last Week: 3-1
April 8 ? GRAMBLING STATE (W, 8-4)
April 10 ? at #29 Alabama (W, 8-5)
April 11 ? at #29 Alabama (L, 5-13)
April 12 ? at #29 Alabama (W, 12-7)
Nominee for Player of the Week
Blake Dean, DH/OF, Jr., Crestview, Fla.
Blake Dean led LSU to a series victory at Alabama by hitting .500 (6-for-12) with one double, two homers, 10 RBI and two runs scored … his two-run double in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit in the Tigers’ 12-7 victory … for the entire week, Dean hit .412 (7-for-17) with one double, two homers, 11 RBI and two runs.
34 Blake Dean
(VS. ALABAMA)
AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT .500 3-3 12 2 6 1 0 2 10 13 1.083 0 0 0 0 .462 1 0 0-0
34 Blake Dean
(ENTIRE WEEK)
AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT .412 4-4 17 2 7 1 0 2 11 14 .824 0 0 0 0 .389 1 0 0-1
Nominee for Freshman of the Week
Mikie Mahtook, OF, Fr., Lafayette, La.
Mahtook hit .400 (4-for-10) in LSU’s series victory at Alabama with one triple, two RBI,, three runs and one stolen base … for the entire week, the freshman batted .417 (5-for-12) with one double, one triple, four RBI, four runs and one steal.
AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT .417 4-4 12 4 5 1 1 0 4 8 .667 1 0 1 0 .429 1 0 1-1
Notes on the Tigers
LSU won two of three games last weekend at No. 29 Alabama, marking the Tigers’ ninth straight SEC series win, dating back to last season … the Tigers have not lost an SEC series since April 18-20, 2008 versus Georgia in Baton Rouge … LSU recorded a season-high 19 hits in Sunday’s 12-7 win over Alabama … the Tigers batted .351 (40-for-114) in the Alabama series with six doubles, one triple and four homers … for the entire four-game week, LSU hit .352 (50-for-142) with nine doubles, one triple and six homers … the Tigers were also 11-for-12 in stolen base attempts in the four games last week … junior designated hitter/outfielder Blake Dean led LSU to the series victory at Alabama by hitting .500 (6-for-12) with one double, two homers, 10 RBI and two runs scored … his two-run double in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit in the Tigers’ 12-7 victory … for the entire week, Dean hit .412 (7-for-17) with one double, two homers, 11 RBI and two runs … junior second baseman Ryan Schimpf also enjoyed an outstanding series for the Tigers, batting .571 (8-for-14) in three games with two homers, four RBI, five runs and one stolen base … for the entire week, Schimpf hit .563 (9-for-16) in four games with three homers, six RBI, six runs and two stolen bases … freshman outfielder Mikie Mahtook hit .400 (4-for-10) in LSU’s series victory at Alabama with one triple, two RBI,, three runs and one stolen base … for the entire week, the freshman batted .417 (5-for-12) with one double, one triple, four RBI, four runs and one steal … Mahtook is LSU’s leading hitter in SEC games, batting .355 (11-for-31) with one triple, one homer, six RBI, eight runs and five stolen bases … senior right-hander Nolan Cain earned two relief wins last week, as he posted victories over Grambling State on Wednesday and Alabama on Friday… Cain worked a combined two scoreless innings in the two outings, allowing three hits with no walks and two strikeouts … sophomore right-hander Ben Alsup delivered a superb performance in his first career start, firing four shutout innings against Grambling State on Wednesday … Alsup did not allow a hit during the outing, and he recorded one walk and five strikeouts.
Baseball America Top 25
April 13, 2009
Rk. Team W-L Last Week Prev.
1. LSU 26-9 3-1 2
2. Rice 25-8 4-1 3
3. UC Irvine 22-9 3-1 5
4. Arizona State 25-8 2-3 1
5. North Carolina 27-9 3-2 4
6. Cal State Fullerton 22-9 2-2 6
7. Baylor 23-10 3-2 7
8. Georgia 29-6 4-1 8
9. Texas 24-8 4-0 9
10. Oklahoma 28-8 3-1 11
11. Arkansas 24-8 2-2 12
12. Georgia Tech 21-8 2-2 13
13. Miami 25-10 2-2 10
14. Oregon State 20-7 2-1 16
15. San Diego State 25-12 3-1 18
16. Texas Christian 22-10 3-1 19
17. Mississippi 25-10 3-2 14
18. Cal Poly 24-8 3-1 21
19. Virginia 28-7 2-2 22
20. Coastal Carolina 29-7 5-0 24
21. Kansas State 26-9 2-1 NR
22. Gonzaga 23-10 3-2 NR
23. East Carolina 26-9 1-4 15
24. Kansas 23-12 5-0 NR
25. Minnesota 20-10 4-1 NR
Dropped Out: Texas A&M (17), Oklahoma State (20), Hawaii (23), San Diego (25)
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s NCAA Div. I Poll
April 13, 2009
Rank School (Record) Points Previous
1. LSU (26-9) 492 4
2. Georgia (29-6) 491 5
3. Rice (25-8) 488 6
4. U.C. Irvine (22-9) 485 7
5. Arkansas (24-8) 484 1
6. Arizona St. (25-8) 483 2
7. North Carolina (27-9) 481 3
8. Cal. St. Fullerton (22-9) 477 8
9. Oklahoma (28-8) 475 12
10. Georgia Tech. (21-8-1) 473 9
11. Texas (24-8) 471 14
12. Miami, Fla. (25-10) 470 10
13. Virginia (28-7-1) 468 11
14. Baylor (23-10) 465 13
15. Cal Poly (24-8) 463 16
16. Oregon St. (20-7) 462 17
17. Texas Christian (22-10) 459 18
18. Coastal Carolina (29-7) 458 19
19. Mississippi (25-10) 456 15
20. Florida (23-12) 451 22
21. Clemson (23-12) 449 ?
22. Florida St. (21-11) 447 ?
23. Minnesota (20-10) 444 30
24. Kent St. (24-7) 441 ?
25. George Mason (28-6) 439 25
26. West Virginia (25-7) 436 ?
27. Georgia Southern (24-8) 430 26
28. Vanderbilt (21-13) 429 ?
29. Eastern Illinois (24-6) 427 27
30. San Diego St. (25-12) 425 28
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division I Top 30 Poll
April 13, 2009
Rk. School Overall Pvs.
1. LSU 26-9 3
2. Georgia 29-6 4
3. Rice 25-8 7
4. North Carolina 27-9 2
5. Arizona State 25-8 1
6. Texas 24-8 9
7. UC Irvine 22-9 10
8. Cal State Fullerton 22-9 6
9. Miami 25-10 5
10. Oklahoma 28-8 11
11. Georgia Tech 21-8-1 8
12. Arkansas 24-8 12
13. Baylor 23-10 13
14. Coastal Carolina 29-7 19
15. Florida State 21-11 20
16. Mississippi 25-10 15
17. Virginia 28-7-1 18
18. Clemson 23-12 22
19. Cal Poly 24-8 23
20. East Carolina 26-9 14
21. TCU 22-10 24
22. Florida 23-12 25
23. Texas A&M 21-14 16
24. San Diego State 25-12 26
25. Oregon State 20-7 27
26. Ohio State 26-7 28
27. San Diego 23-13 21
28. Oklahoma State 21-14 17
29. Kansas State 26-9 –
30. Kansas 23-12 –
Also receiving votes: Alabama (22-12), Boston College (22-12), Dallas Baptist (22-10), Eastern Illinois (24-6), Elon (20-11), George Mason (28-6), Georgia Southern (24-9), Gonzaga (23-10), Hawaii (21-12), Illinois (21-8), Kent State (24-7), Louisville (24-9), Loyola Marymount (22-15), Middle Tennessee State (24-8), Minnesota (20-10), New Mexico (28-8), New Mexico State (29-6), South Carolina (23-12), Southern Miss (22-12), Texas State (23-10), Troy (22-13), UC Riverside (20-9), West Virginia (25-7), Western Kentucky (25-9).
Dropped out: Alabama (29), George Mason (30).
USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ Baseball Poll
April 13, 2009
Rank School (first-place votes) Record Points Last week
1 Georgia (17) 29-6 733 3
2 Arizona State (4) 25-8 704 1
3 LSU (5) 26-9 673 4
4 Rice (2) 25-8 639 7
5 North Carolina (3) 27-9 576 2
6 Cal State-Fullerton (1) 22-9 560 6
7t Miami (Fla.) 25-10 551 5
7t UC-Irvine (1) 22-9 551 10
9 Oklahoma 28-8 532 11
10 Texas 24-8 516 12
11 Georgia Tech 21-8-1 515 8
12 Arkansas 24-8 510 9
13 Baylor 23-10 409 13
14 Virginia 28-7-1 283 14
15 Coastal Carolina 29-7 245 19
16 Mississippi 25-10 238 17
17 East Carolina 26-9 230 16
18 Clemson 23-12 215 20
19 Oregon State 20-7 208 22
20 Florida State 21-11 176 25
21 Cal Poly 24-8 160 24
22 TCU 22-10 142 23
23 Texas A&M 21-14 116 15
24 San Diego 23-13 101 21
25 Florida 23-12 84 NR
Dropped out: No. 18 Oklahoma State (21-14).
Others receiving votes: San Diego State 65, Oklahoma State 61, Kansas State 50, Ohio State 41, George Mason 29, Gonzaga 29, New Mexico 25, Minnesota 19, Centenary 13, Western Kentucky 10, West Virginia 9, New Mexico State 8, Eastern Illinois 6, Boston College 5, Illinois, 5, Georgia Southern 4, South Carolina 4, Alabama 3, Auburn 3, Elon 3, Hawaii 3, San Jose State 3, Kansas 2, Kent State 2, Rhode Island 2, Winthrop 2, Louisiana-Monroe 1, Vanderbilt 1.