LSU Baseball Report – February 17, 2020
Overall Record: 2-1
Last Week’s Results
Feb. 14 (Fri.) – INDIANA (W, 8-1)
Feb. 15 (Sat., Game 1) – INDIANA (W, 7-4)
Feb. 15 (Sat., Game 2) – INDIANA (L, 2-7)
This Week’s Schedule
Feb. 18 (Tue.) – SOUTHERN, 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Feb. 19 (Wed.) – at Nicholls, 6 p.m. CT (Cox Sports Television)
Feb. 21 (Fri.) – EASTERN KENTUCKY, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Feb. 22 (Sat.) – EASTERN KENTUCKY, 3 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Feb. 23 (Sun.) – EASTERN KENTUCKY, 11 a.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Notes on the Tigers
LSU opened the 2020 season by defeating defending Big Ten champion Indiana in two of three games at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field … Friday’s 8-1 win over the Hoosiers in Game 1 marked LSU’s 19th straight victory in a season-opening game … first baseman Cade Beloso, who was voted to the 2020 Preseason All-SEC First Team by the league coaches, batted .500 (6-for-12) in the Indiana series with two doubles, one RBI and one run scored … in the Tigers’ 7-4 win over the Hoosiers on Saturday, Beloso was 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles and one RBI, tying his single-game career high for hits and setting his single-game career high for doubles … freshman second baseman Cade Doughty launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 versus Indiana, becoming the first LSU player to homer in his first career collegiate at-bat since Beau Didier accomplished the feat against Villanova in 2009 … another freshman, catcher Alex Milazzo, belted a clutch two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning of Saturday’s win over Indiana, extending LSU’s lead from 5-4 to the eventual final margin of 7-4 … Doughty and Milazzo each drove in three runs in the series in their collegiate debuts … sophomore right-hander Cole Henry was credited with the victory in Game 1, as he worked the first four innings and limited Indiana to no runs on three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts, throwing 71 pitches in the outing … junior right-hander Trent Vietmeier earned an impressive relief win in Game 2, firing 1.2 shutout innings with no hits, no walks and two strikeouts … Vietmeier entered the game in the top of the fifth inning with one out, a runner at second and the Tigers holding a 5-3 lead … Vietmeier kept the Hoosiers off the scoreboard during his outing, allowing LSU to earn the 7-4 victory … sophomore right-hander Jaden Hill made his first appearance in a game since February 24, 2019, when he worked two relief innings in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader versus Indiana … Hill, who was sidelined last season by an elbow injury, was dominant in his outing, firing two shutout frames with no hits, one walk and three strikeouts … Hill’s fastball was consistently clocked in the upper 90s, peaking at 98 mph … coach Paul Mainieri is just seven wins shy of reaching the 600-win mark in his 14-season LSU career … Mainieri has 1,457 victories in his 38-season collegiate career, and he is No. 2 on NCAA Division I Active Coaches wins list, trailing only Mike Fox of North Carolina, who has 1,478 career victories.
USA Today Coaches Poll
Coming Soon
D1Baseball.com Top 25
Rank, Team, Record, Previous
1, Miami, 3-0, 3
2, Florida, 3-0, 4
3, Louisville, 1-2, 1
4, Vanderbilt, 1-2, 2
5, Georgia, 3-0, 5
6, Texas Tech, 4-0, 6
7, Arkansas, 3-0, 7
8, Auburn, 4-0, 8
9, Michigan, 3-1, 13
10, Mississippi State, 3-0, 10
11, LSU, 2-1, 11
12, Florida State, 2-1, 12
13, Arizona State, 2-2, 9
14, UCLA, 3-0, 14
15, NC State, 3-0, 16
16, Duke, 2-1, 15
17, Ole Miss, 2-1, 25
18, Wake Forest, 3-1, 18
19, Georgia Tech, 2-1, 19
20, Texas A&M, 3-0, 20
21, East Carolina, 3-0, 21
22, North Carolina, 3-0, 23
23, Oklahoma, 2-1, 24
24, Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, NR
25, Stanford, 1-2, 17
Dropped Out:
22, Oklahoma State, 40-21
Collegiate Baseball Top 30
Rank, Team (Record), Points, Previous
1. Texas Tech, (4-0), 496, 3
2. Miami (Fla.), (3-0), 495, 4
3. Michigan, (3-1), 492, 10
4. Louisville (1-2), 489, 1
5. Vanderbilt (1-2), 486, 2
6. Mississippi St. (3-0), 483, 6
7. Georgia (3-0), 481, 7
8. Auburn (4-0), 478, 8
9. Arkansas (3-0), 475, 9
10. UCLA (3-0), 473, 12
11. Arizona St. (2-2), 471, 5
12. LSU (2-1), 469, 11
13. North Carolina (3-0), 466, 13
14. Florida (3-0), 463, 14
15. Florida St. (2-1), 460, 15
16. NC State (3-0), 457, 16
17. Wake Forest (3-1), 454, 17
18. Arizona (3-0), 452, 18
19. Ole Miss (2-1), 451, RV
20. Texas Christian (3-0), 449, 20
21. Texas A&M (3-0), 446, 21
22. Texas (3-0), 444, 22
23. East Carolina (3-0), 442, 36
24. Central Michigan (3-1), 439, 38
25. Cal St. Fullerton (2-1), 437, 26
26. UC Santa Barbara (2-1), 435, 27
27. Grand Canyon (2-1), 433, RV
28. Oklahoma St. (1-2), 430, 19
29. Georgia Tech. (2-1), 428, 28
30. South Alabama (2-1), 426, 23
Baseball America Top 25
Rank, Team, Previous
1. Michigan, 8
2. Florida, 4
3. Miami, 5
4. Texas Tech, 6
5. Vanderbilt, 1
6. Louisville, 2
7. Georgia, 7
8. Arizona State, 3
9. Mississippi State, 9
10. UCLA, 10
11. Arkansas, 11
12. Auburn, 13
13. LSU, 14
14. Florida State, 12
15. Ole Miss, NR
16. Oklahoma, 19
17. Duke, 15
18. NC State, 17
19. North Carolina, 18
20. Wake Forest, 20
21. Georgia Tech, 21
22. Arizona, 22
23. Dallas Baptist, 23
24. Oklahoma State, 16
25. East Carolina, NR
2020 NCBWA DIVISION I POLL (FEB. 17)
Rank, School, Record, Previous
1, Texas Tech, 4-0, 3
2, Miami, 3-0, 5
3, Georgia, 3-0, 4
4, Vanderbilt, 1-2, 1
5, Florida, 3-0, 8
6, Arkansas, 3-0, 6
7, Mississippi State, 3-0, 9
8, Louisville, 1-2, 2
9, Michigan, 3-1, 12
10, Auburn, 4-0, 10
11, UCLA, 3-0, 11
12, NC State, 3-0, 17
13, LSU, 2-1, 13
14, Arizona State, 2-2, 7
15, Florida State, 2-1, 14
16, East Carolina, 3-0, 20
17, North Carolina, 2-0, 19
18, Duke, 2-1, 15
19, Texas A&M, 3-0, 21
20, Ole Miss, 2-1, 25
21, Wake Forest, 3-1, 23
22, Georgia Tech, 2-1, 22
23, Arizona, 3-0, 26
24, Oklahoma, 2-1, 24
25, TCU, 3-0, 28
26, Stanford, 1-2, 16
27, Dallas Baptist, 3-0, 27
28, Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, RV
29, Oklahoma State, 1-2, 18
30, Texas, 3-0, 30
Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Abilene Christian (4-0), Alabama (3-0), Alabama State (3-0), Boston College (3-1), Butler (3-0), Cal Poly (2-1), Cal State Northridge (3-0), Clemson (3-0), Coastal Carolina (1-1), Creighton (2-1), East Tennessee State (3-0), Florida Atlantic (3-0), Fresno State (2-1), Georgia Southern (3-0), Georgia State (3-0), Grambling (3-0), Grand Canyon (2-1), Hawaii (2-1), Iowa (2-1), Kennesaw State (3-0), Louisiana Tech (3-0), Maryland (3-0), Minnesota (1-2), New Mexico State (4-0), Norfolk State (2-1), Ohio State (2-1), Old Dominion (3-0), Oregon State (2-1), Penn State (3-1), Pepperdine (3-0), Pittsburgh (3-1), Sam Houston State (2-1), San Diego State (2-1), South Carolina (3-0), Southern Miss (3-0), Stetson (3-0), Tennessee (3-0), Texas-Arlington (3-0), UC Irvine (1-2), UC Santa Barbara (2-1), UNCW (3-1), Virginia (1-2), West Virginia (2-1).
Dropped out: Oregon State (29).
Perfect Game Top 25
Rank, Team, Record, Previous
1, Louisville, 1-2, 1
2, Vanderbilt, 1-2, 2
3, Texas Tech, 4-0, 3
4, Arkansas, 3-0, 4
5, Auburn, 4-0, 6
6, Miami, 3-0, 7
7, Mississippi State, 3-0, 8
8, Arizona State, 2-2, 5
9, UCLA, 3-0, 9
10, Georgia, 3-0, 10
11, Duke, 2-1, 11
12, Michigan, 3-1, 12
13, Florida, 3-0, 13
14, Florida State, 2-1, 14
15, Oklahoma, 2-1, 16
16, Mississippi, 2-1, 18
17, North Carolina, 3-0, 17
18, Stanford, 1-2, 15
19, North Carolina State, 3-0, 21
20, LSU, 2-1, 20
21, Texas A&M, 3-0, 22
22, East Carolina, 3-0, 23
23, Texas, 3-0, 24
24, Oklahoma State, 1-2, 19
25, Virginia, 1-2, 25