By Aaron Kirby
Louisville (28-7 overall; 3-1 week) reclaims the #1 spot after non conference sweep of Elon. The Cardinals dropped a 6-5 game at Western Kentucky before the sweep of the Phoenix by the scores of 10-1, 7-5 and 4-0.
Good Weeks
- Mercer (29-10 overall; 4-0 week)-The Bears continued their great play in 2013 and added to their resume with a 3 game sweep (7-6 Friday, 4-3 Saturday, and 7-3 Sunday) of Florida Gulf Coast in their A-Sun series. With just 5 weeks remaining, according to warrennolan.com, Mercer has a RPI of #19 but their lowest remaining RPI game currently on schedule is Tuesday at Georgia Southern who is #80.
- Pepperdine (20-14 overall; 2-2 week)-The Waves week started with a 5-4 loss vs UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday but ended with a 5-2 win at San Diego which clinched their big WCC series at San Diego. Pepperdine took the opener at San Diego 7-4 Friday but lost 4-2 Saturday.
- Florida Atlantic (24-12 overall; 3-1 week)-FAU opened the week Wednesday with a 9-0 win at FGCU and followed that up winning 2 of 3 vs MTSU in Sun Belt play.
- Coastal Carolina (24-12 overall; 5-0 week)-The Chanticleers are starting to heat up at the right time of year with 9 consecutive wins. Coastal finished their sweep of Liberty on Monday with a 12-1 after game 3 got pushed back because of weather. Wednesday they picked up a nice 2-1 win in 14 innings over College of Charleston before sweeping their Big South series at Winthrop.
- UNCW (26-11 overall; 3-1 week)-The Seahawks won 8-5 at Elon Wednesday before hosting Delaware in a big Colonial series. Fridays game got pushed back to a double header on Saturday where UNCW clinched the series sweeping the doubleheader by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 but Delaware won game 3 Sunday 11-7.
- Gonzaga (23-10-1 overall; 4-0 week)-The Zags went 4-0 in the WCC this week with a 2-1 win at Portland Monday and sweeping Saint Mary’s over the weekend. The Bulldogs now are in 1st place with a 1-1/2” game lead over both Pepperdine and San Francisco. Gonzaga has won 8 games in a row.
- South Alabama (27-10 overall; 3-1 week)-The Jaguars used a sweep at a very solid Arkansas St club to pull into a 3 way tie for 1st in the Sun Belt with FAU and WKU.
- New Mexico (20-16 overall; 4-1 week)-The Lobos traveled to Arkansas mid week and were able to split a double header Tuesday winning 3-0 in game one before dropping game two 4-3. In MWC play New Mexico swept Fresno St to move into 1st place all alone by a game over San Diego St.
- Lamar (26-11 overall; 2-2 week)-The Cardinals dropped a 9-8 game to Rice Tuesday but won 2 of 3 vs Sam Houston St to stay in the hunt in the Southland.
Bad Weeks
- Indiana (26-7 overall; 1-3 week)-The Hoosiers had their 18 game win streak snapped last weekend by Illinois and now have lost 4 of 5. Indiana won 10-8 at Evansville Tuesday but got swept at Michigan St losing all three games in walk offs, 2-1 in 11 innings Friday, 6-5 in 10 innings Saturday and 6-5 Sunday.
- Notre Dame (19-14 overall; 0-4 week)-The Irish went winless for the week and have lost 5 in a row. The week started with 4-1 loss vs Michigan Tuesday and ended getting swept at Pittsburgh by the scores of 4-0, 4-2 and 12-3. The Irish’s great start to 2013 is in jeopardy of being thrown away. While they still have a great RPI#26 they currently sit alone in 9th place in the Big East at 4-8 which would not only leave them out of NCAA tourney but out of Big East tourney.
- San Diego (20-15 overall; 1-3 week)-The Toreros lost a huge WCC series at home to Pepperdine falling to 6th place and now have dropped series to 3 teams (Gonzaga, Pepperdine, and Loyola-Marymount) ahead of them in the standings.
- Austin Peay (26-11 overall; 1-4 week)-The Governors have lost 6 of 7 games overall and 4 of 6 in the OVC falling to 5th place. This week AP lost 6-3 at Kentucky Tuesday, 10-9 at Southern Illinois Wednesday and lost 2 of 3 at Southeast Missouri St. According to warrennolan.com, Austin Peay has a RPI#30 which should be a great spot for an atlarge bid but they will need to move up in OVC standings which is #19 in league RPI according to warrennolan.com.
- FGCU (20-12 overall; 0-4 week)-The Eagles played two clubs who are playing very good right now, losing 9-0 to FAU on Wednesday and getting swept at Mercer in A-Sun play.
- Creighton (18-9 overall; 0-3 week)-The crazy mid west weather claimed 2 more Creighton games this week (at Nebraska and vs Air Force). The Blue Jays were able to play at Indiana St in MVC play however they got swept, losing 6-1 Friday, 5-4 Saturday and 5-3 Sunday.
- SE Louisiana (24-13 overall; 2-2 week)-For the second week in a row the Loins lost their SLC series but remain in a 4 way tie for 1st. SE Louisiana beat Jackson St 13-1 Tuesday before losing 2 of 3 at Oral Roberts.
Enter Top 25
- Michigan St (21-11 overall; 4-0 week)-The Spartans enter the top 25 for first time in 2013 at #22 after beating Western Michigan 10-1 Tuesday and sweeping Indiana. MSU claimed walked off wins in all 3 games vs Indiana over the weekend, winning 2-1 in 11 innings Friday, 6-5 in 10 innings Saturday and finished the sweep Sunday with a 2 out RBI single in the bottom of 9th by sophomore 1B Ryan Krill gave the Spartans a 6-5 win and sweep of Indiana.
- Pittsburgh (24-9 overall and 4-0 week)-The Panthers are back in the top 25 at #23 after a 4-0 week where they won 24-7 at Youngstown St Tuesday and swept Notre Dame in Big East play (4-0 Friday, 4-2 Saturday, and 12-3 Sunday).
Dropped out
- #18 Georgia Southern (21-14; 1-3 week)-The Eagles entered the week tied for 1st place in the SoCon and finished the week in 6th place. GSU started the week with a 3-2 win at Charleston Southern but left 18 runners on base which was not a good sign. GSU was swept at home by The Citadel in SoCon play being outscored 19-2 in the 3 games (11-0 Friday, 1-0 in 10 innings Saturday and 8-2 Sunday) and have lost 3 conference series in a row.
- #19 UNLV (23-12 overall; 1-3 week)-The Rebels have lost 4 of 5 games including losing 11-3 vs Arizona St Wednesday and losing 2 of 3 at home to Nevada in MWC play this weekend. Since their sweep at Stanford March 8-10 the Rebels have lost 3 of 5 weekend series with only 2 series wins over Air Force (10-12) and Fresno St (8-23).
News and Notes
Bryant (23-9) extended its nation leading win streak to 18 with mid week win over Rhode Island and sweeping 4 games from Quinnipiac in Northeast Conference play.
The Southland Conference standings are rather tight. There are 8 teams within 2 games of either 1st place or 8th place.
| # | Team | W – L | GB |
| 1 | Southeastern Louisiana | 8 – 4 | – |
| 1 | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 8 – 4 | – |
| 1 | Sam Houston State | 8 – 4 | – |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 8 – 4 | – |
| 5 | Central Arkansas | 6 – 6 | 2 |
| 5 | Lamar | 6 – 6 | 2 |
| 5 | McNeese State | 6 – 6 | 2 |
| 5 | Oral Roberts | 6 – 6 | 2 |
| 9 | Nicholls State | 2 – 10 | 6 |
| 9 | Northwestern State | 2 – 10 | 6 |
On Tuesday Central Arkansas beat Grambling St 30-0. Senior catcher Michael Marietta had a decent game finishing 7 for 7 with three home runs, three doubles, six runs and 11 RBI……..Friday Eastern Kentucky (11-21) beat UT Martin 30-4. EKU’s #3-#5 hitters went combined 14 for 20 with 15 RBI led by Jr catcher Sean Hagen 5 for 7 with 7 RBI. It was the second time in 2 weeks the Colonels have 30 runs as they beat Morehead St 30-14 last Sunday.
Active winning streaks
Bryant-18
Coastal Carolina-9
Michigan-9
Gonzaga-8
Nebraska-Omaha-8
South Florida-8
| CBD Mid-Major Top 25 Week 9 | ||||
| Rnk | School | Record | Pvs | Wk |
| Weeks Results for 4/8-4/14 | ||||
| #1 | Louisville | 28-7 | #2 | 3-1 |
| 0-1 at Western Kentucky; 3-0 Elon; | ||||
| #2 | Mercer | 29-10 | #6 | 4-0 |
| 1-0 Alabama St; 3-0 FGCU; | ||||
| #3 | Pepperdine | 20-14 | #5 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 UC Santa Barbara; 2-1 at San Diego; | ||||
| #4 | Florida Atlantic | 24-12 | #8 | 3-1 |
| 1-0 at FGCU; 2-1 MTSU; | ||||
| #5 | Indiana | 26-7 | #1 | 1-3 |
| 1-0 at Evansville; 0-3 at Michigan St; | ||||
| #6 | San Diego | 20-15 | #4 | 1-3 |
| 0-1 UC Irvine; 1-2 Pepperdine; | ||||
| #7 | Coastal Carolina | 24-12 | #13 | 5-0 |
| 1-0 Liberty; 1-0 College of Charleston; 3-0 at Winthrop; | ||||
| #8 | Gonzaga | 23-10-1 | #15 | 4-0 |
| 1-0 Portland; 3-0 St Mary’s; | ||||
| #9 | UNCW | 26-11 | #14 | 3-1 |
| 1-0 at Elon; 2-1 Delaware; | ||||
| #10 | South Alabama | 27-10 | #17 | 3-1 |
| 0-1 Nicholls St; 3-0 at Arkansas St; | ||||
| #11 | Notre Dame | 19-14 | #3 | 0-4 |
| 0-1 Michigan; 0-3 at Pittsburgh; | ||||
| #12 | Missouri State | 21-10 | #9 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 Missouri; 2-1 at S. Illinios; | ||||
| #13 | Austin Peay | 26-11 | #7 | 1-4 |
| 0-1 at Kentucky; 0-1 at S. Illinois; 1-2 at SE Missouri St; | ||||
| #14 | Florida Gulf Coast | 20-12 | #10 | 0-4 |
| 0-1 Florida Atlantic; 0-3 at Mercer; | ||||
| #15 | Sam Houston State | 20-15 | #12 | 1-3 |
| 0-1 at Texas AM; 1-2 at Lamar; | ||||
| #16 | Creighton | 18-9 | #11 | 0-3 |
| 0-3 at Indiana St; | ||||
| #17 | New Mexico | 20-16 | #20 | 4-1 |
| 1-1 at Arkansas; 3-0 Fresno St; | ||||
| #18 | Central Arkansas | 26-9 | #21 | 3-1 |
| 1-0 Grambling St; 2-1 Nicholls St; | ||||
| #19 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 24-11 | #22 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 Tulane; 2-1 at Arkansas Little Rock | ||||
| #20 | SE Louisiana | 24-13 | #16 | 2-2 |
| 1-0 Jackson St; 1-2 at Oral Roberts; | ||||
| #21 | Lamar | 26-11 | #25 | 2-2 |
| 0-1 Rice; 2-1 Sam Houston St; | ||||
| #22 | Michigan State | 21-11 | NR | 4-0 |
| 1-0 Western Michigan; 3-0 Indiana; | ||||
| #23 | Pittsburgh | 24-9 | NR | 4-0 |
| 1-0 at Youngstown St; 3-0 Notre Dame | ||||
| #24 | Cal St Bakersfield | 24-13 | #24 | 3-2 |
| 0-1 Cal Poly; 0-1 Cal St Northridge; 3-0 UTSA; | ||||
| #25 | Campbell | 31-7 | #23 | 3-2 |
| 1-0 North Carolina A&T; 0-1 Savannah St; 2-1 Longwood; | ||||
| Dropped Out |
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| #18 | Georgia Southern | 21-14 |
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| #19 | UNLV | 23-12 |
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| Others Receiving Votes |
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| North Florida | 27-11 |
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| Belmont | 26-8 |
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| St Louis | 25-11 |
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| Tennessee Tech | 26-10 |
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| Troy | 24-11 |
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| William & Mary | 25-13 |
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| Illinois | 22-10 |
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| Delaware | 23-10 |
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| Western Carolina | 22-16 |
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| Minnesota | 22-13 |
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7 comments
Hard to figure how Coastal leads UNCW, as (1) UNCW nearly doubled the score on them when they met earlier this season, (2) UNCW’s W-L is better, (3) UNCW’s RPI is better, UNCW’s ISR is better, and (4) UNCW entered both BA’s and PG’s national polls this week.
Is a sweep over Winthrop really that impressive? (RPI: 241)
They were #13 and #14 entering last week. Coastal went 5-0 with wins vs Liberty, Coastal and (3) at Winthrop. UNCW went 3-1 with win at Elon and went 2-1 at home vs Delaware. Coastal’s week was easily better. I dont really care about RPI or ISR when ranking the teams. I care about RPI when talking about getting an At-large bid thats it. Rankings really have absolutely nothing to do with getting an atlarge bid but RPI has ALOT to do with it so it does not influence who enters, exits, moves up, or moves down.
Plus one is #7 and one is #9. Thats pretty damn good either way.
“Easily better?” I repeat: Is a sweep over Winthrop really that impressive?
Delaware, meanwhile, was co-leading the CAA coming into the weekend series..
UNCW ranked nationally. Coastal not.
Coastal lost tonight (Tuesday). UNCW won.
There”s not much difference between #7 and #9 in yours or anyone else’s poll. My objection has to do with the relative difference between the two when the lower ranked team has a demonstrably better resume.
Ill give you about a B+ for effort but D- for argument. You get a B+ because actually Coastal is in 2 national polls(#26 Collegiate Baseball and #30 NCBWA) vs one for UNCW (Baseball America #25) but we will say 2 for UNCW with #25 in PG poll cause Kendalls is just as good. They both got 7 votes in the coaches poll to btw.
Coastal lost 5-1 at the #1 team in the country UNC. UNCW won 7-2 at ECU. ECU is not good this year. ECU is 17-20 with mid week losses to (2) Campbell, Liberty, Old Dominion, and High Point.
Yes “EASILY” better. They went 5-0 with wins over Liberty and CofC before the went on the road and swept Winthrop. Now is Winthrop the same team from the 90s or early 2000s? No but they do have wins at Clemson, at ETSU, vs ETSU, at Charlotte and vs Furman.
I would not say winning 2 of 3 vs Delaware at home is as impressive as you are trying to make it out to be. Delaware’s has 2 good wins, one at UNCW (lost 2 of 3) and one vs William & Mary (lost 2 of 3 at home). And dont say well they swept Georgia State. Well Georgia St is ok. Delaware is a solid club but they are not a regional team in my opinion. They do not have any wins to get them in a regional and even Winthrop has more quality wins.
Both Coastal and UNCW are pretty darn good and dont have one problem with saying that. But the Delaware series win does not impress me.
Maine should be under consideration at this point at 22-14 (20-14 vs. D-1) and a 7 game win streak.
Ill add the Bears to the list
Agreed, the Black Bears split with FIU on the road and beat St. Louis in a neutral site game on their spring trip. Their first 20-something games were on the road too!
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