By: Aaron Kirby
Florida Gulf Coast (5-1) has to be the lead story in college baseball for week 2 after the Eagles went into Gainesville and swept the Florida Gators. With the 7-4 win in 11 innings on Sunday the Eagles became the first team to sweep a 3 game series at Florida since Miami did it in 2009. The Eagles fly into the poll at #12.
Missouri State (5-1) stays at #1 with a perfect 3-0 week at the Southern Miss Invitational. The Bears opened the weekend up with an 8-1 win over Alcorn State, beat host Southern Miss 5-1 on Saturday and finished weekend with a 5-4 win vs Eastern Illinois. All-American RHP Nick Petree got the win over USM going 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 4 walks and 7 Ks………….Louisville (6-1) stays at #2 going 4-0 for the week. The Cardinals picked up a mid week win vs Eastern Kentucky and swept Akron over the weekend allowing only 1 run out scoring Akron 17-1.
Good Weeks
- Pepperdine (6-2) moves up to #3 after winning 2 of 3 at Texas A&M.
- San Diego (3-4) slides back up 3 places to #4 taking 3 of 4 from Kent State.
- Dallas Baptist (4-3) comes in at #7 with a perfect 4-0 week. A week after being swept at home by Creighton the Patriots picked up a 6-4 win at Rice on Tuesday and swept Mississippi Valley State by scores of 18-1, 8-1, and 24-3.
- Notre Dame (5-1) jumps 12 places to #8 after traveling to New Orleans and sweeping Tulane. The Irish are off to a great start in 2013 with wins over Ohio St, FGCU opening weekend to go along with the 3 at Tulane.
- Mercer (6-1) climbs 5 spots to #10 after a 3-1 week. The Bears dropped a midweek game at Alabama St before sweeping Bethune-Cookman over the weekend.
- Austin Peay (6-1) moves up 6 spots to #16 with a perfect 4-0 week. The Governors picked up a 5-2 win Tuesday at Middle Tennessee State and swept Illinois State on the weekend.
- Georgia Southern (4-2) moves up to #17 after picking up an 8-7 win in 12 innings at Florida on Tuesday and splitting two games with Indiana. GSU took a 5-0 lead on Indiana after 2 innings on Friday before umpires called the game due to thick fog. GSU and Indiana were only able to get 2 games in over the weekend with both being finished Sunday. The Eagles lost sophomore OF Hunter Thomas for season on Sunday with ankle injury. 2nd year in row Georgia Southern has lost starting OF in first couple weeks of season. Last year they lost eventual 1st round pick Victor Roach in week 2.
- Elon (4-3) slides up to #19 with a 3-1 week. The Phoenix picked up a midweek win at North Carolina A&T and won 2 of 3 at the Caravelle Resort Baseball at the Beach tourney. Elon opened the tourney with a 6-1 loss to Kentucky on Friday and picked up 2 wins on Sunday, a 4-3 win vs Kansas St and 8-7 win over Coastal Carolina.
Not So Good Weeks
- Coastal Carolina (3-3) falls to #5 with a 1-3 week. Coastal opened the week on Monday with a 7-1 loss at UNC and went 1-2 in their Caravelle Resort Baseball at the Beach tourney. The Chanticleers opened the tourney with a 2-1 win vs Kansas State Thursday, 8-2 loss to Kentucky on Sunday and 8-7 loss to Elon also Sunday.
- San Diego St (3-4) drops 9 places to #21 after losing all 4 games to Oregon State (8-1, 2-0, 5-0, and 7-1).
- Western Carolina (3-4) falls all the way to #24 after a 1-3 week. The Catamounts week started the week nicely with a 7-2 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday but went 0-3 at the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, SC. WCU opened tourney with a 4-1 sloppy loss to Michigan St and followed that with 2 extra innings losses (3-2 loss in10 innings to Miami, Ohio on Saturday and 7-6 in 10 innings to Cincinnati on Sunday).
Dropped Out
- #16 Fresno St (1-5) drops out of rankings after being swept at Stanford. The Bulldogs will be fine by the time MWC play begins but fall out after losing 2 of 3 to UC Santa Barbara to start the season and getting swept at Stanford.
- #19 College of Charleston (3-4) falls out after a 1-3 week. The Cougars beat Charleston Southern 13-5 on Tuesday and lost 3 games at the Auburn Tournament. Charleston ran into some good clubs and one of top starters in the country in Auburn. They opened with a 3-1 loss to Indiana St and LHP Sean Manaea. Manaea did not get the win but the hard throwing lefty went 6 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 walks and 10 Ks. CofC lost 5-1 to Auburn Saturday and 4-3 to MTSU on Sunday.
- #25 Kent St (1-7) drops out going 1-3 at San Diego. The Golden Flashes are off to a rough start but have played a very good schedule early in 2013. That will continue this week as they travel to Louisville for a 3 game series starting Friday.
Entered Rankings
- #12 Florida Gulf Coast (5-1) see opening paragraph or read any college baseball article
- #20 Middle Tennessee State (5-2) enters the top 25 after a 3-1 week including winning all 3 games at the Auburn Tourney. The Blue Raiders dropped a 5-2 game to Austin Peay on Tuesday then went to Auburn and beat Indiana State 8-1, beat Auburn 2-1 and finished weekend beating College of Charleston 4-3 on Sunday.
- #25 Radford (5-1) enter the top 25 after sweeping Kennesaw St in Kennesaw 5-3, 4-2, and 3-2. The sweep comes after the Highlanders opened 2013 winning 2 of 3 at Jacksonville.
Barely Missed Top 25
Belmont (5-2) won 2 of 3 at Georgia with a 5-4 win in 11 innings Sunday……Louisiana-Lafayette (7-1) went 4-0 with win over NW St and sweep of Texas-San Antonio…….Campbell (6-1) beat ECU mid week and won 4 games vs Hartford…..Liberty (4-2) swept Penn St after very good opening weekend at South Carolina….Alabama St (7-1) beat Mercer 4-0 mid week and won all 3 games in Urban Invitational…….South Alabama (7-0) stayed undefeated beating Alabama St and sweeping New Orleans.
Notes
#13 Creighton (3-0) was scheduled to play in tourney at Lamar but snow canceled their original flight and was unable to get to Texas.
Wichita State (1-3) 4 game series with Delaware was also canceled due to snow.
| CBD Mid-Major Top 25 Week 2 | ||||
| Rnk | School | Record | Pvs | Wk |
| Weeks Results for 2/18-2/24 | ||||
| #1 | Missouri State | 5-1 | #1 | 3-0 |
| 1-0 vs Alcorn State; 1-0 at Southern Miss; 1-0 vs Eastern Illinois | ||||
| #2 | Louisville | 6-1 | #2 | 4-0 |
| 1-0 Eastern Kentucky; 3-0 Akron | ||||
| #3 | Pepperdine | 6-2 | #5 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 Cal St Fullerton; 2-1 at Texas A&M | ||||
| #4 | San Diego | 3-4 | #7 | 3-1 |
| 3-1 Kent State | ||||
| #5 | Coastal Carolina | 3-3 | #3 | 1-3 |
| 0-1 at UNC; 1-0 Kansas St; 0-1 Kentucky; 0-1 Elon; | ||||
| #6 | Florida Atlantic | 4-3 | #4 | 1-3 |
| 0-1 Miami; 1-2 Alabama | ||||
| #7 | Dallas Baptist | 4-3 | #14 | 4-0 |
| 1-0 at Rice; 3-0 Miss Valley State; | ||||
| #8 | Notre Dame | 5-1 | #20 | 3-0 |
| 3-0 at Tulane; | ||||
| #9 | New Mexico | 2-4 | #6 | 1-2 |
| 1-0 at Texas A&M-Corpus; 0-1 vs Iowa; 0-1 vs Oklahoma | ||||
| #10 | Mercer | 6-1 | #15 | 3-1 |
| 0-1 at Alabama State; 3-0 Bethune-Cookman | ||||
| #11 | Sam Houston State | 3-4 | #9 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 Houston; 2-1 Louisiana-Monroe | ||||
| #12 | Florida Gulf Coast | 5-1 | NR | 3-0 |
| 3-0 at Florida | ||||
| #13 | Creighton | 3-0 | #13 | 0-0 |
| COULD NOT TRAVEL DUE TO WEATHER vs Washington; at Lamar; at Lamar; vs Washington | ||||
| #14 | St Louis | 4-2 | #10 | 2-1 |
| 1-1 at Northern Kentucky; 1-0 vs Northwestern | ||||
| #15 | SE Louisiana | 5-2 | #11 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 at Tulane; 0-1 at LSU; 2-0 vs BYU | ||||
| #16 | Austin Peay State | 6-1 | #22 | 4-0 |
| 1-0 at Middle Tennesse State; 3-0 Illinios State | ||||
| #17 | Georgia Southern | 4-2 | #24 | 2-1 |
| 1-0 at Florida; 1-1 Indiana | ||||
| #18 | Indiana | 3-2 | #18 | 1-1 |
| 1-1 at Georgia Southern | ||||
| #19 | Elon | 4-3 | #21 | 3-1 |
| 1-0 at North Carolina A&T; 0-1 vs Kentucky; 1-0 vs Kansas State; 1-0 at Coastal Carolina | ||||
| #20 | Middle Tennessee St | 5-2 | NR | 3-1 |
| 0-1 Austin Peay; 1-0 at Auburn; 1-0 vs Indiana St; 1-0 vs CofC | ||||
| #21 | San Diego State | 3-4 | #12 | 0-4 |
| 0-4 Oregon State | ||||
| #22 | UNCW | 4-4 | #17 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 at Charleston Southern; 2-1 Lehigh | ||||
| #23 | Pittsburgh | 5-1 | #23 | 2-1 |
| 2-1 at Wofford | ||||
| #24 | Western Carolina | 3-4 | #8 | 1-3 |
| 1-0 Wake Forrest; 0-1 vs Michigan State; 0-1 vs Miami, Ohio; 0-1 vs Cincinnati | ||||
| #25 | Radford | 5-1 | NR | 3-0 |
| at Kennesaw State | ||||
| Dropped Out | ||||
| #16 | Fresno State | 1-5 | ||
| #19 | College of Charleston | 3-4 | ||
| #25 | Kent State | 1-7 | ||
| Others Receiving Votes | ||||
| Belmont | 5-2 | |||
| Florida International | 6-1 | |||
| Troy | 5-1 | |||
| Alabama St | 7-1 | |||
| Louisiana-Lafayette | 7-1 | |||
| UT-Arlington | 5-2 | |||
| South Alabama | 7-0 | |||
| Arkansas St | 6-1 | |||
| Campbell | 6-1 | |||
| Appalachian State | 4-1 | |||
25 comments
Maine went 4-1 vs. Stetson and Florida A&M over the weekend.
Yes winning series at Stetson was very nice. Stetson has not been good at all the first 2 weeks but still very good series win for the Black Bears.
USC Upstate (5-1) won 4 out of 5 this week, losing to Kentucky in the 9th inning. How close are they to getting into the discussion of your mid major poll?
Upstate is in the discussion. They need to keep winning cause dont have big game until 3/13 at South Carolina. But they do play at Furman tomorrow. Both Furman and Upstate are off to good starts.
A win is a win is a win….NOT!
It does not make sense to move Dallas Baptist up 7 spots because they beat Rice (a legitimate accomplishment) and beat Mississippi Valley State 3 times (less an accomplishment than beating their own second team in 3 scrimmages).
Do you really think Louisville is a better team than Pepperdine? Really? Louisville has beaten people like Akron, Eastern KY and Little Sisters of the Poor while Pepperdine won 2 of 3 AT Texas A&M. Louisville is at Alabama in a week — the last nationally competitive team it will face all season. No comparison.
How on earth does Radford make the top 25?!? They’re 5-1 against WHO?
At the same time, Liberty is 4-2 with two 1-run losses and a win against South Carolina? And you haven’t even given Liberty a vote? Not one? Need to re-think that one.
We’ll look forward to next week’s ranking.
That Louisville series is AT Louisville.
FYI…Notre Dame is nationally ranked
Brian Foley
Sent from my iPad
Fred,
Look at what the teams did in front of Dallas Baptist.
#13-Creighton-Did Not Play
#12-SDSU-swept 4 games by Oregon St
#11-SE Louisiana: 2-2 with 2 wins vs BYU
#10-St Louis: 2-1 with wins vs N. Kentucky and NW with loss to N. Kentucky
#9-Sam Houston St: 2-2
#8-WCU: 1-3
While its easy to say they shouldnt move up 7 spots because of that week there are alot more factors than just that. Like last week WCU moved up 6 spots to #8 by winning 2 of 3 vs Washington St. Had no choice with everyone who lost in front of them. And like ive said about 5 times it will take 4 to 5 weeks for it to settle down.
The last spot came down to Radford, South Alabama, and Liberty. South Alabama is 7-0 but 6 of those wins are vs teams that have not won a game. Not sure how the entered Colllegiate Baseball rankings? Yes Liberty played South Carolina very good week 1 but they just swept Penn St. You ask who did Radford beat…..they swept Kennesaw St at Kennesaw St and won 2 of 3 at Jacksonville opening weekend. Kennesaw St is no slouch. So do some home work next time. 🙂 Had to throw that in.
I think what throws everybody is the fact that Creighton swept DBU but is still 6 slots behind them. It is indeed early…..this should all look dramatically different in 2 weeks.
Yup I know but didn’t have much choice. But I guess it makes for good discussion and debate. And that’s what rankings are for.
Hell yes! This is fun. I love college baseball.
AmK32,
Again, I see your thinking about Dallas Baptist — except I would have had other teams below the top 13 pass DB.
You didn’t answer about Liberty.
Come on, Kennesaw State is no slouch?!? They’re 4-3 and they haven’t played anybody. If they aren’t a slouch, they’re darn sure mediocre. And Jacksonville? They couldn’t win in the Ohio Valley, so now they’ve moved to the A 10 where they’ll also be in the lower division.
You’re right, of course, about things shaking out in 4 or 5 weeks. In the meantime, we’ll do our best to keep your feet on the ground 😉
Sweeping Kennesaw State at Kennesaw St is ALOT more impressive than sweeping Penn St at home. I like Liberty but what Radford did was more impressive sorry. BTW way Kennesaw St just won 9-2 at Auburn.
I was looking forward to seeing how Liberty did at Elon tonight but got canceled.
Louisville’s other wins are against Purdue (NCAA Regional host last year) and South Florida.
Pepperdine has a good series win at Texas A&M but the Aggies are way down this season.
Louisville is a Super Regional team this year and I don’t think the same about Pepperdine.
You cold-weather people just can’t escape that alternate universe where your teams are actually competitive, can you?
Purdue, was 1-3 in the Gary, IN regional last year. Is Purdue in Gary? How have the Big 10 teams done in regional play over the last few years?
Louisville won’t be in a super regional this year — certainly not because you say so. They’ve been in one super regional: 2009 when Fullerton swept them by a combined score of 21-2. Last year, Arizona beat them in the regional by a combined score of 32-6.
The USA/ESPN Coaches’ Poll does not rank Louisville, nor Notre Dame. So, who knows better…the 31 experienced D-1 coaches on that poll, or you young bloggers & writers?
Compare Pepperdine’s non-conference schedule to L’ville. Aside from Seton Hall, Pepperdine plays all Pac 12, Big 12, and Big West teams. Louisville dabbles in a couple of competitive teams (Alabama and KY), the rest of their schedule is chumps. If they played Pepperdine’s schedule, they’d end the season under .500.
So far, Pepperdine has 2 losses: 6-3 to Fullerton and 3-1 to Texas A&M while winning that series. But you think they’re “way down” this year?
I’m sorry, but there’s a world of difference between considered opinion and wishful thinking.
Might want to get your facts straight before posting.
Purdue went 1-2 and hosted the regional.
Brian Foley
Editor of College Baseball Daily
Brian,
Baseball America, like you, is a bunch of guys (most of whom haven’t played) with an opinion. Nothing more. So. No, they don’t begin to know anything compared to the coaches. Basically, you’re fans with websites. Doesn’t mean you don’t work at it. Doesn’t mean you don’t provide an interesting discussion venue, which is a service. But, bottom line: your fans and, therefore, you have a fan’s limited knowledge.
Sorry, Purdue was 1-2 rather than 1-3. How’d they do in the 2011 regionals? Oh, weren’t there. How ’bout 2010. Weren’t there again. Maybe 2009? Nope.
Yeah, they hosted — in Gary, IN, because they didn’t have a decent field. Kentucky should have hosted…in which case, Kent State would probably not have gotten to the CWS.
I noticed you didn’t respond to the scores Mighty Louisville got pounded by in their latest post-season efforts. Please address that, and tell us how that history indicates they’ll be in a super regional?
Baseball America has louisville fourth in the nation this week…I guess they don’t know nothing!
Brian Foley
Editor of College Baseball Daily
I would not put much stock into the Coaches poll though. Coaches have too much on their plate to do alot of research on other teams around the country. They can tell you who is good and who is not from who they have played but other than that they are not much different then me or you.
If it is like the football poll, the SID’s do it
Brian Foley
Editor of College Baseball Daily
A completely ignorant assertion. See above comments in response to AmK32.
You subscribe to all the conspiracy theory websites, too?
Having coached for decades, I find this comment amazing.
You don’t think Nino Girratano takes the time to personally do the weekly poll (or turn to one of his assistants)? You think Steve Smith and Rick Jones and Keith Guttin are putting their names on some publicist’s voting? Horton, maybe. But nobody else on that panel strikes me as someone who’d pass on that work. Don’t you think these guys realize that poll has some impact on the selection committee?
The hoop you’re trying to jump through to bring these coaches’ decisions down to your level is beyond absurd.
First of all, if they don’t see more games than you or me (they do), their knowledge of the game would still make their judgment infinitely greater than a sportswriter’s.
Second, they’re part of a network. A network of coaches. Their information is light years beyond what you get in quotes for publication — mostly provided by SIDs who can manipulate your reportage by doling out snippets of trivia and pronouncing drivel about how insightful a reporter you are….without you even realizing you’re being played.
Your unwillingness to “put much stock” in the coaches’ poll is a much more-revealing picture of your ability than the coaches’. Do your best work. Inquire and offer your observations. But NEVER PRESUME to know anything close to as much as a D-1 coach about any facet of the game.
Gawd, what narcisstic ignorance!
.
That was a poor choice of words yes. And yes you should not presume or assume anything however the point i was trying to make was i would not put more weight on the coaches poll over other polls just because it is a “coaches” poll. Sure coaches talk to one another but i find it highly unlikely that many make 15-20 calls every Sunday night to talk to other coaches and get their opinions on who they should vote on. So coaches are going to have a very good idea of who they have played and probably have a good idea who their opponents have played. Because like you said they talk to each other. And because the lack of national TV coverage like basketball or football it is impossible for you, me, SIDs, coaches, reporters or anyone to give anything more than their opinion. If i am wrong then i am wrong and would not be the first and will not be the last.
And please quote me where i “PRESUME” to know more than any coach or anyone for that matter. But i do “PRESUME” that coaches will have very good knowledge of their team and their opponents teams just not of 40-50 teams. And like you said there is probably a good number of coaches that do take the time and look over results and do some homework but there is probably a good number of them that do not. I do know for a fact that when we would beat a team whos coach was a voting member(usually ACC or SEC team) that the next week we would more often then not get a vote or two.
You basically said that because the coaches did not have Louisville in their poll that they should not be ranked that high and are not that good. I would call that “narcisstic ignorance”. So we both are ignorant(which alot of coaches are too) but we both love baseball.
Aaron,
It took me a while to put together that you did play (at Western Carolina). That certainly reflects more understanding than the average young baseball writer or blogger — sorry I didn’t pick it up sooner.. Eric Pedersen’s admirable work is grounded in playing experience; it’s a significant advantage.
However, coaching is a different experience than playing — and comes with a broader understanding. As Don Slaught says, coaching and playing are completely different skills.
Yes, making phone calls to SIDs, coaches and other writers after a weekend of games gives a writer an array of tidbits. But the writer is still on the outside. Kinda like what Paul of Tarsus said about “seeing through a glass darkly.” The writer — even one with playing experience — still cannot assume a coach’s insight. Deference is due. One who will not yield that is narcissistic A writer — and emphatically one with no playing experience — who presumes knowledge equal to a coach’s is operating out of ignorance.
I certainly do not mean to say coaches are infallible — or that they should never be questioned. However, the questioning should be carefully prepared. Let me give you the obvious example: Take post-game news conferences and personal interviews in either the NFL or MLB. Pick a game at random and go over the raw interviews. What percentage of the writers’ questions are banal or inane? It’s in the 80th or 90th percentile. Absurd questions indicate fundamental lack of understanding: ignorance. A fan’s knowledge of the game. (Now, the writers are writing for fans, and coaches would rather the writers continue in their inflated views of their own knowledge than get into a pis*ing match, so no one’s the wiser.)
I understand you would feel some of my comments have been brutal. (And let me say that I appreciate the grace in your replies.) However, I’ve been on the other side of the aforementioned presumptive ignorance for too many years to stand for an assertion that writers’ understanding of the game in any way approaches that of coaches. That must necessarily apply to polls.
Anyway, I enjoy your work. Looking forward to iterance 3 (?) of the Mid Majors ranking.
Coaching and playing are a completely different experiences for sure. Like i said before my best friends are current college baseball coaches and i love getting their view on teams and players. I dont think coaching or playing makes anyone more knowledgeable than anyone else but it does allow you to see things from vantage points that those who have not been there wont really know but that does not have much impact on someone filling out a poll. If you want an idea of who the best teams are id probably say the composite polls are the most accurate not the coaches or any other single poll. Unless we are talking about mid-major rankings, which we need to get back to, than this is the only one that matters!!! hahahahaha
Yes i played at Western Carolina and i watch a lot of SoCon games during the year. I usually get a heckler or two on here calling me a homer or get a text message from a certain buddy who played at The Citadel and likes to try and get things riled up. If i was left handed id still be pitching right now but RHPs who throw 86-88 and give up bombs are not that uncommon and as you have so kindly pointed out im not much of a writer either.
It’s early…a lot of this will shake out, I’m sure. But Dallas Baptist getting swept by Creighton and then putting Miss Valley St on their schedule (maybe one of the 10 worst teams in Div I) should be a punishable offense. The Rice win was a good one, though.
Man, Stony Brook is sure taking a beating to start the season. Wow. They were on here nearly start to finish last year.
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