Virginia Holds The Top Spot
DURHAM, N.C.—Many college baseball teams across the country played lighter schedules last week due to exams, including Virginia, which won a midweek game against Virginia Commonwealth before taking the rest of the week off. The Cavaliers stayed at No. 1 in the Baseball America Top 25 rankings. The top five teams remained unchanged from last week, and there was minimal movement in the top 10.
Texas saw its 21-game winning streak snapped Friday night at Kansas State, but the Longhorns were still able to rebound and win the next two games to capture their 10th straight series win. The only movement in the top 10 was South Carolina’s slide from No. 6 to No. 8 after getting upset on the road by Kentucky. Coastal Carolina and Texas Christian were the beneficiaries of the Gamecocks’ drop, while the rest of the top 10 stood pat.
Arkansas won one of the weekend’s biggest showdowns, going on the road and taking a series from Mississippi. The series win leapfrogged Arkansas over Mississippi in the rankings, as the Razorbacks moved up to No. 12 while the Rebels fell to No. 14. San Diego made a jump as well thanks to a critical series sweep at Portland, their closest challenger for the West Coast Conference crown. The Toreros allowed just three runs in the entire series and moved up three spots to No. 19.
Three teams entered the rankings this week. Vanderbilt returned to the rankings after winning its series at then-No. 24 Louisiana State, as the defending national champions lost their third straight series and fell out of the rankings entirely. The Commodores entered at No. 23, while Stanford came back in at No. 25 after winning a road series at Long Beach State. The other squad to join the rankings was Pittsburgh at No. 24 thanks to a series win at Seton Hall. The Panthers break into the Top 25 for the first time ever.
The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of May 9 and do not include ties.
Rk. | Team | W-L | Last Week | Prev. |
1. | Virginia | 40-9 | 1-0 | 1 |
2. | Texas | 41-8 | 3-1 | 2 |
3. | Arizona State | 39-5 | 1-0 | 3 |
4. | Florida | 33-12 | 2-1 | 4 |
5. | Florida State | 36-12 | 3-1 | 5 |
6. | Coastal Carolina | 41-6 | 2-0 | 7 |
7. | Texas Christian | 36-10 | 2-1 | 8 |
8. | South Carolina | 36-11 | 2-2 | 6 |
9. | Louisville | 40-8 | 4-1 | 9 |
10. | Cal State Fullerton | 30-14 | 3-0 | 10 |
11. | UCLA | 34-10 | 4-0 | 12 |
12. | Arkansas | 37-11 | 2-1 | 14 |
13. | Miami | 36-11 | 2-0 | 13 |
14. | Mississippi | 34-15 | 1-2 | 11 |
15. | Virginia Tech | 34-15 | 2-1 | 16 |
16. | Georgia Tech | 39-9 | 3-0 | 17 |
17. | Oklahoma | 35-13 | 3-1 | 18 |
18. | Auburn | 33-15 | 3-0 | 19 |
19. | San Diego | 30-16 | 4-0 | 22 |
20. | Connecticut | 37-10 | 2-1 | 20 |
21. | Rice | 30-17 | 4-1 | 25 |
22. | Oregon | 30-18 | 0-4 | 15 |
23. | Vanderbilt | 35-13 | 2-1 | NR |
24. | Pittsburgh | 34-12 | 3-1 | NR |
25. | Stanford | 25-18 | 4-1 | NR |
Dropped Out: California (21), Arizona (23), Louisiana State (24) |