LSU Gold

April 3 Baseball National Rankings, Report

Schedule LSU 17, Grambling 5 (7 inn.) LSU 5, Tennessee 2 LSU 6, Tennessee 4 Tennessee 14, LSU 7 +0
April 3 Baseball National Rankings, Report

Weekly Report

Overall Record: 24-4 (6-3 in SEC)

Last Week’s Results (3-1)
March 28 (Tue.) – GRAMBLING (W, 17-5 – 7 innings)
March 30 (Thu.) – TENNESSEE (W, 5-2)
March 31 (Fri.) – TENNESSEE (W, 6-4)
April 1 (Sat.) – TENNESSEE (L, 7-14)

This Week’s Schedule
April 4 (Tue.) – NICHOLLS, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 6 (Thu.) – at South Carolina, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 7 (Fri.) – at South Carolina, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 8 (Sat.) – at South Carolina, 11 a.m. CT (SEC Network)

Tigers Update
• LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series victory over No. 9 Tennessee … LSU’s 24-4 record is its best through 28 games since 2013, when the Tigers were 26-2 at the halfway mark of the regular season.

• 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 the nation in fielding percentage (.986), batting average (.336), on-base percentage (.457), runs scored (296) and shutouts pitched (7) … LSU is No. 2 in the nation in scoring average (10.6 runs per game), and the Tigers are No. 4 in slugging percentage (.588) and WHIP (1.11).

• LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.543), on-base percentage (.664) and in runs scored (49); he is No. 3 in slugging percentage (.947) and No. 4 in base hits (51) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.80) and No. 3 in total RBI (45) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (83), hits allowed per nine innings (3.86) and WHIP (0.61) … Skenes is No. 3 in the nation in ERA (0.81).

Hitting Notes
• Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews led the top-ranked Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series victory over ninth-ranked Tennessee … he batted .615 (8-for-13) in four games with one double, three RBI and three runs … he also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, which contributed to his .706 on-base percentage for the week … Crews extended his current hitting streak to 26 games and his current on-base streak to 32 games, which dates back to the final four games of the 2022 season … in the Tigers’ SEC series victory over Tennessee, Crews batted .545 (6-for-11) with one double, three RBI, one run, a .643 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage … he leads the SEC with a .543 cumulative batting average, and he is also No. 1 in the league in on-base percentage (.664), base hits (51) and runs scored (49).

• Freshman first baseman/DH Jared Jones batted .600 (6-for-10) last week with one double, one homer, one RBI and five runs scored … first baseman/outfielder Tre’ Morgan hit .412 (7-for-17) last week with three doubles, three RBI and three runs scored … shortstop Jordan Thompson recorded two doubles, four RBI and three runs last week, and his bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night versus Tennessee broke a 2-2 tie and lifted LSU to a 5-2 win … second baseman Gavin Dugas registered two doubles and two homers last week, and he shares the team lead in dingers (9) with Dylan Crews … Dugas’ solo homer in the fourth inning on Friday night versus Tennessee broke a 4-4 tie and proved to the game-winning hit in LSU’s 6-4 victory.

Pitching Notes
• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes helped lead LSU to a series-opening win over No. 9 Tennessee on Thursday night by firing 7.0 innings and allowing just one run on five hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts …. Skenes fired four shutout innings before Tennessee scored a run in the fifth; Skenes then retired seven of the final eight batters he faced after allowing the run … Skenes has reached double figures in all seven of his starts this season with a minimum of 11 Ks in each outing … Skenes leads the SEC this season in strikeouts (83), innings pitched (44.1), wins (5) and opponent batting average (.127).

• Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards earned a relief win over Tennessee on Thursday night, as he fired 1.2 scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and two strikeouts … Edwards is 4-0 on the year with a 0.81 ERA and a .163 opponent batting average … freshman left-hander Griffin Herring earned his first career save on Friday night versus Tennessee, as he blanked the Vols over two innings with no hits, no walks and four strikeouts.

Baseball America Top 25

Rank Team Record
1 LSU 24-4
2 Florida 24-5
3 Wake Forest 26-3
4 Vanderbilt 23-5
5 Arkansas 23-5
6 South Carolina 26-3
7 Stanford 18-7
8 Virginia 24-4
9 Boston College 20-6
10 Kentucky 25-3
11 Oklahoma State 22-7
12 Tennessee 21-8
13 Campbell 22-4
14 Miami 19-9
15 East Carolina 20-8
16 North Carolina 20-8
17 Louisville 21-6
18 Texas Tech 20-9
19 West Virginia 21-7
20 Texas 20-9
21 Florida Gulf Coast 23-5
22 Coastal Carolina 18-7
23 Connecticut 20-6
24 UTSA 23-6
25 Southern California 16-10-1

D1Baseball.com Top 25

Rank Team Record Previous
1 LSU 24-4 1
2 Wake Forest 26-3 2
3 Florida 24-5 3
4 Vanderbilt 23-5 4
5 Arkansas 23-5 6
6 South Carolina 26-3 9
7 Virginia 24-4 5
8 Stanford 18-7 7
9 Boston College 20-6 14
10 Kentucky 25-3 18
11 Tennessee 21-8 10
12 East Carolina 20-8 8
13 North Carolina 20-8 13
14 Campbell 22-4 15
15 Florida Gulf Coast 23-5 16
16 Oklahoma State 22-7 17
17 Coastal Carolina 18-7 19
18 Louisville 21-6 11
19 Connecticut 20-6 20
20 Miami 19-9 23
21 Texas 20-9 21
22 Texas Tech 20-9 22
23 UCLA 16-8 12
24 West Virginia 21-7 24
25 Oregon 18-7 NR
Dropped Out
Iowa 20-6 25

Perfect Game Top 25

Rank Team Record Previous
1 LSU 24-4 1
2 Florida 24-5 2
3 Wake Forest 26-3 3
4 Vanderbilt 23-5 4
5 Arkansas 23-5 5
6 South Carolina 26-3 10
7 Boston College 20-6 13
8 Virginia 24-3 6
9 Kentucky 25-3 20
10 Tennessee 20-7 9
11 Campbell 22-4 14
12 Stanford 18-7 7
13 Texas Tech 20-9 15
14 Oklahoma State 22-7 16
15 East Carolina 20-8 8
16 North Carolina 20-8 18
17 Louisville 21-6 11
18 FGCU 23-5 19
19 UCLA 16-8 12
20 Coastal Carolina 18-7 NR
21 UConn 20-6 21
22 Miami 19-9 22
23 UTSA 23-6 25
24 Northeastern 22-4 NR
25 UC Santa Barbara 18-6 17

Collegiate Baseball Top 30

Rank Team (Record) Points Previous
1. LSU (24-4) 494 1
2. Vanderbilt (23-5) 492 6
3. South Carolina (26-3) 489 2
4. Wake Forest (26-3) 486 4
5. Virginia (24-4) 485 3
6. Florida (24-5) 483 5
7. Arkansas (23-5) 482 7
8. Kentucky (25-3) 480 12
9. Louisville (21-6) 477 8
10. Stanford (18-7) 475 11
11. U.C. Santa Barbara (18-6) 470 9
12. Oklahoma St. (22-7) 467 14
13. Texas (20-9) 465 15
14. North Carolina (20-8) 461 18
15. Campbell (22-4) 459 19
16. Arizona St. (19-9) 456 20
17. Tennessee (21-8) 453 16
18. Miami, Fla. (19-9) 452 21
19. Boston College (20-6) 450 23
20. Oregon (18-7) 447 NR
21. Cal. St. Fullerton (14-9) 445 NR
22. East Carolina (20-8) 442 10
23. Texas Tech. (20-9) 440 22
24. Connecticut (20-6) 438 24
25. Florida Gulf Coast (23-5) 436 25
26. Ball St. (20-7) 434 26
27. Coastal Carolina (18-7) 430 NR
28. West Virginia (21-7) 427 NR
29. Old Dominion (22-6) 425 27
30. U.C. San Diego (17-8) 423 28

 

Coaches Poll

Rank Team (First-Place Votes) Record Points Previous
1 LSU (29) 24-4 749 1
2 Wake Forest (1) 26-3 710 2
3 Florida 24-5 673 3
4 Vanderbilt 23-5 671 4
5 Arkansas 23-5 607 6
6 South Carolina 26-3 594 8
7 Virginia 24-4 561 5
8 Tennessee 21-8 498 9
9 Stanford 18-7 492 7
10 Kentucky 25-3 467 17
11 Boston College 20-6 430 16
12 Louisville 21-6 361 11
13 Oklahoma State 22-7 356 13
14 Campbell 22-4 344 15
15 North Carolina 20-8 308 14
16 East Carolina 20-8 292 10
17 Florida Gulf Coast 23-5 252 18
18 Connecticut 20-6 189 20
19 Texas 20-9 182 19
20 Miami 19-9 163 23
21 Coastal Carolina 18-7 158 NR
22 UCLA 16-8 153 12
23 Texas Tech 20-9 108 21
24 West Virginia 21-7 89 NR
25 North Carolina State 20-8 80 NR

NCBWA Top 30