LSU Gold

March 20 Baseball National Rankings, Report

Schedule LSU 16, New Orleans 0 LSU 9, Texas A&M 0 LSU 12, Texas A&M 7 Texas A&M 8, LSU 6 +0
March 20 Baseball National Rankings, Report

Weekly Report

Overall Record: 18-2 (2-1 in SEC)

Last Week’s Results (3-1)
March 14 (Tue.) – NEW ORLEANS (W, 16-0)
March 17 (Fri.) – at Texas A&M (W, 9-0)
March 18 (Sat.) – at Texas A&M (W, 12-7)
March 19 (Sun.) – at Texas A&M (L, 6-8)

This Week’s Schedule
March 21 (Tue.) – CENTRAL ARKANSAS, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 24 (Fri.) – ARKANSAS, 7 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
March 25 (Sat.) – ARKANSAS, 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
March 26 (Sun.) – ARKANSAS, 12 p.m. CT (ESPN2)

Tigers Update
LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series victory at No. 11 Texas A&M … the Tigers’ 8-6 loss to the Aggies on Sunday ended LSU’s 13-game winning streak, its longest since the 2017 club won 17 games in a row … LSU’s 18-2 start this season is the Tigers’ best record through 20 games since the 2015 team also posted an 18-2 mark.

LSU, which has been ranked No. 1 all season by all of the college baseball polls, enters this week at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories … the Tigers are No. 1 in scoring average (11.1 runs per game), shutouts pitched (7) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.62) … LSU is No. 2 in the nation in fielding percentage (.989) and No. 2 in on-base percentage (.466).

LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in on-base percentage (.648) and in runs scored (37), and he is No. 3 in the country in batting average (.508) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (2.00) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (59), pitching wins (5) and WHIP (0.53).

Hitting Notes
Sophomore third baseman Tommy White batted .474 (9-for-19) in LSU’s games last week and helped lead the Tigers to an SEC series victory at No. 11 Texas A&M … White collected one double, one homer, 11 RBI and seven runs in the Tigers four games versus New Orleans and Texas A&M, and he extended his current hitting streak to 14 games … in LSU’s series victory at Texas A&M, White hit .500 (7-for-14) with one double, seven RBI and four runs …. his two-out, bases-loaded two-run single in the fourth inning of Game 2 sparked a six-run rally that allowed the Tigers to erase a 4-0 deficit and go on to post a 12-7 win … White is now hitting .419 on the year with a team-high 34 RBI.

Freshman first baseman/DH Jared Jones batted .400 (6-for-15) for LSU last week with one homer, eight RBI and two runs … he led the Tigers to an SEC-series clinching victory on Saturday at No. 11 Texas A&M by going 4-for-5 at the plate with a three-run homer and a pair of two-run singles … his two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning on Saturday broke a 4-4 tie and allowed the Tigers to go on to a 12-7 win … Jones is batting .367 on the year; he has a team-high seven homers this season, and he is second on the club with 29 RBI.

Pitching Notes
Junior right-hander Paul Skenes defeated No. 11 Texas A&M on Friday night, working 6.1 scoreless innings while allowing four hits and recording no walks and 11 strikeouts … Skenes fired a season-high 106 pitches in the outing to lead LSU to the series-opening victory over the Aggies … Skenes is No. 1 in the SEC in wins (5), strikeouts (59), opponent batting average (.115) and ERA (0.59).

Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards posted relief wins last week of New Orleans and Texas A&M … Edwards worked a combined 7.0 innings in the two outings, allowing just one run on three hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.

 

Baseball America Top 25

Rank Team Record
1 LSU 18-2
2 Florida 18-4
3 Louisville 17-2
4 Wake Forest 18-3
5 Vanderbilt 16-5
6 Arkansas 18-2
7 Virginia 17-2
8 Stanford 13-5
9 UCLA 15-3
10 East Carolina 16-4
11 Tennessee 15-6
12 Texas A&M 14-6
13 Miami (Fla.) 14-6
14 South Carolina 20-1
15 Ole Miss 14-6
16 Texas Tech 18-4
17 Boston College 14-3
18 Missouri 16-3
19 North Carolina 15-5
20 Oklahoma State 16-5
21 Campbell 15-3
22 Florida Gulf Coast 16-4
23 Iowa 15-3
24 UC Santa Barbara 15-3
25 Kentucky 18-2

D1Baseball.com Top 25

Rank Team Record Previous
1 LSU 18-2 1
2 Wake Forest 18-3 4
3 Florida 18-4 5
4 Vanderbilt 16-5 6
5 Arkansas 18-2 7
6 Louisville 17-2 8
7 UCLA 15-3 13
8 Virginia 17-2 14
9 Stanford 13-5 9
10 East Carolina 16-4 10
11 South Carolina 20-1 16
12 Tennessee 15-6 2
13 Ole Miss 14-6 3
14 Texas Tech 18-4 22
15 North Carolina 15-5 18
16 Boston College 14-3 NR
17 Miami 14-6 NR
18 Campbell 15-3 19
19 Florida Gulf Coast 16-4 20
20 Oklahoma State 16-5 12
21 Texas A&M 14-6 15
22 Missouri 16-3 NR
23 Kentucky 18-2 NR
24 West Virginia 15-4 NR
25 Grand Canyon 14-5 NR
Dropped Out
TCU 10-9 11
Virginia Tech 12-7 17
Florida State 12-8 21
NC State 15-5 23
Alabama 17-4 24
Southern Miss 12-7 25

Perfect Game Top 25

Ranking Team Record Previous
1 LSU 18-2 1
2 Florida 18-4 2
3 Arkansas 18-2 3
4 Wake Forest 18-3 5
5 Vanderbilt 16-5 9
6 Louisville 17-2 6
7 Stanford 13-5 7
8 UCLA 15-3 10
9 Virginia 17-2 11
10 Texas Tech 18-4 12
11 East Carolina 16-4 13
12 Miami 14-6 17
13 Tennessee 15-6 4
14 Ole Miss 14-6 8
15 South Carolina 20-1 NR
16 Boston College 14-3 22
17 Campbell 15-3 20
18 Oklahoma State 16-5 15
19 UC Santa Barbara 15-3 24
20 Missouri 16-3 NR
21 North Carolina 15-5 23
22 FGCU 16-4 NR
23 UTSA 18-3 NR
24 TCU 10-9 14
25 Texas A&M 14-6 19

Collegiate Baseball Top 30

Rank Team (Record) Points Previous
1. LSU (18-2) 494 1
2. Louisville (17-2) 491 2
3. Arkansas (18-2) 489 7
4. South Carolina (20-1) 487 14
5. Virginia (17-2) 485 4
6. Wake Forest (18-3) 484 5
7. Florida (18-4) 482 6
8. Vanderbilt (16-5) 480 8
9. UCLA (15-3) 477 9
10. UC Santa Barbara (15-3) 475 10
11. Miami, Fla. (14-6) 471 12
12. Texas Tech. (18-4) 467 16
13. East Carolina (16-4) 464 17
14. Stanford (13-5) 461 19
15. Missouri (16-3) 459 NR
16. Kentucky (18-2) 456 NR
17. Boston College (14-3 454 NR
18. Texas A&M (14-6) 452 15
19. Oklahoma St. (16-5) 450 18
20. Iowa (15-3) 448 22
21. North Carolina (15-5) 445 25
22. Tennessee (15-6) 443 3
23. Mississippi (14-6) 441 11
24. Old Dominion (18-2) 438 NR
25. NC State (15-5) 436 13
26. Connecticut (12-5) 434 NR
27. Florida Gulf Coast (16-4) 431 30
28. Alabama (17-4) 429 26
29. Georgia Tech. (14-6) 426 27
30. UC Irvine (12-5) 424 28

Coaches Poll

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Record Points Previous
1 LSU (29) 18-2 773 1
2 Wake Forest (1) 18-3 672 5
3 Florida 18-4 671 4
3 Arkansas 18-2 671 6
5 Vanderbilt 16-5 651 8
6 Louisville 17-2 602 7
7 Virginia 17-2 542 10
8 UCLA 15-3 523 12
9 Stanford 13-5 506 9
10 East Carolina 16-4 491 11
11 South Carolina (1) 20-1 468 14
12 Tennessee 15-6 426 2
13 Ole Miss 14-6 396 3
14 Texas Tech 18-4 373 19
15 Oklahoma State 16-5 294 13
16 North Carolina 15-5 273 20
17 Boston College 14-3 222 24
18 Texas A&M 14-6 203 15
19 Campbell 15-3 194 23
20 Miami (Fla.) 14-6 186 NR
21 Missouri 16-3 153 NR
22 Kentucky 18-2 138 NR
23 Florida Gulf Coast 16-4 108 NR
24 NC State 15-5 87 17
25 Alabama 17-4 76 22

NCBWA Top 30

Rank School Record Previous
1. LSU 18-2 1
2. Florida 18-4 3
3. Arkansas 18-2 6
4. Wake Forest 18-3 5
5. Vanderbilt 16-5 8
6. Louisville 17-2 7
7. Virginia 17-2 9
8. UCLA 15-3 11
9. South Carolina 20-1 14
10. Stanford 13-5 10
11. East Carolina 16-4 12
12. Tennessee 15-6 4
13. Ole Miss 14-6 2
14. Texas Tech 18-4 18
15. North Carolina 15-5 19
16. Oklahoma State 16-5 13
17. Miami 14-6 23
18. Campbell 15-3 24
19. Texas A&M 14-6 15
20. Boston College 14-3 29
21. Missouri 16-3 RV
22. FGCU 16-4 25
23. UC Santa Barbara 15-3 28
24. Kentucky 18-2 RV
25. Alabama 17-4 22
26. West Virginia 15-4 RV
27. Grand Canyon 14-5 RV
28. Iowa 13-3 RV
29. NC State 15-5 20
30. TCU 10-9 15