The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers have compiled the most wins (198-50-0) in Division I college baseball spanning the past four seasons (2007-10) and sit atop the first edition of CB360’s exclusive Senior Class Salute. This offering is modeled after a similar feature on sister site CollegeSoccer360.com (see links below):
(front page photo of senior catcher Jose Iglesias – who has logged 115 games played over the past two seasons – courtesy of Coastal Carolina; Iglesias played his first season at St. John’s)
One difference between a sport such as women’s soccer and baseball is that senior classes for many baseball programs can be affected by: players leaving early for pro ball; players coming and going via transfer; and some utilizing a redshirt/extra season. Nonetheless, the 25 baseball programs listed below have experienced sustained winning over the past four seasons (with each averaging 39 or more wins per season) … and many of the players who are seniors/5th-year-seniors/redshirt juniors have played key roles in the program’s success during this four-year stretch.
(Note: the Senior-Class Salute will be a regular CB360 feature throughout the 2010 NCAAs and in future seasons … CB360 also will be developing lists for top junior classes based on career wins and top combined records over the past two seasons).
Coastal Carolina’s four-year run has included three rare 50-win seasons (50-13 in 2007 … 50-4 in ’08 … and 51-17 in the current 2010 season) plus 47-16 in ’09. Two programs – Arizona State (195-50-0) and North Carolina (195-68-0) – currently are tied for second on this four-year list, followed by Florida State (190-62-0), Rice (184-68-0), Louisville (181-66-1), Texas (181-66-1) and Virginia (180-65-1) in spots #4-#8. TCU (178-62-0) and LSU (174-82-2) round out the top-10.
The 25 teams on this list include five each from the ACC and SEC, plus three Big 12 programs and three from Conference USA, along with two Big West squads and one each from the Atlantic-10, BIG EAST, Big South, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Pacific-10, and the Summit League.
Six of the top-8 national seeds for the 2010 NCAAs – Coastal, ASU, Louisville, Texas, UVa and Georgia Tech (#25) – are included on this top-25 list (Florida is 147-91-0 over the past four seasons and UCLA 136-97-0).
Three teams on this top-25 list – Wichita State (#15), Charlote (#18) and East Carolina (#20) – failed to reach the 2010 NCAAs.
There have been 73 different teams over the past four years (2007-10) that have posted at least one season with 40-plus wins.
Winningest Senior Classes in 2010 College Baseball Season (2007-10)
(prior to 2010 NCAAs … research courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com; please credit accordingly)
* – not in 2010 NCAAs
Place Team Won Loss Tie Pct. '10 W '10 L '10 T '09 W '09 L '09 T '08 W '08 L '08 T '07 W '07 L '07 T
(1) Coastal Carolina 198 50 0 .798 51 7 0 47 16 0 50 14 0 50 3 0
(2) Arizona State 195 50 0 .760 46 8 0 51 14 0 49 13 0 49 15 0
(3) North Carolina 195 68 0 .742 36 20 0 48 18 0 54 14 0 57 16 0
(4) Florida State 190 62 0 .754 42 17 0 45 18 0 54 14 0 49 13 0
(5) Rice 184 68 0 .730 38 21 0 43 18 0 47 15 0 56 14 0
(6) Louisville 183 75 0 .709 48 12 0 47 18 0 41 21 0 47 24 0
(7) Texas 181 66 1 .732 46 11 0 50 16 1 39 22 0 46 17 0
(8) Virginia 180 65 1 .734 45 16 0 39 23 0 49 15 1 47 11 0
(9) TCU 178 62 0 .742 46 11 0 40 18 0 44 19 0 48 14 0
(11) LSU 174 82 2 .678 40 20 0 56 17 0 49 19 1 29 26 1
(10) Vanderbilt 173 79 0 .687 41 17 0 37 27 0 41 22 0 54 13 0
(13) UC Irvine 171 69 1 .711 37 19 0 45 15 0 42 18 0 47 17 1
(12) Texas A&M 171 81 1 .678 40 19 1 37 24 0 46 19 0 48 19 0
(14) South Carolina 169 81 0 .676 43 15 0 40 23 0 46 20 0 46 20 0
(14) Wichita State* 169 85 0 .665 38 19 0 30 27 0 48 17 0 53 22 0
(16) Cal State Fulleton 167 78 0 .681 41 15 0 47 16 0 41 22 0 38 25 0
(17) Miami 165 74 0 .690 37 17 0 38 22 0 53 11 0 37 24 0
(18) Charlotte* 164 67 0 .710 39 17 0 33 22 0 43 16 0 49 12 0
(19) Mississippi 161 93 0 .634 38 22 0 44 20 0 39 26 0 40 25 0
(21) East Carolina* 160 91 0 .638 32 27 0 46 20 0 42 21 0 40 23 0
(20) Arkansas 158 87 0 .645 40 18 0 41 24 0 34 24 0 43 21 0
(21) Oklahoma 157 85 1 .648 44 15 0 43 20 0 36 26 1 34 24 0
(24) Oral Roberts 156 71 0 .687 35 25 0 33 15 0 48 14 0 40 17 0
(23) Georgia Tech 156 78 1 .666 45 13 0 38 19 1 41 21 0 32 25 0
(24) Southern Miss. 156 93 0 .627 35 22 0 40 26 0 42 22 0 39 23 0
CLICK HERE to see similar Senior Class Salute on sister site CollegeSoccer360.com
(… here’s another sample of a Senior-Class Salute from CS360 … and here’s another)