Collegiate Baseball Div 1 Poll (4-4-22)

TENNESSEE NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — Tennessee (27-1) is ranked No. 1 for the second straight Collegiate Baseball’s NCAA Division I baseball poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The Volunteers, winners of 19 straight, swept Vanderbilt on the road three straight over the past weekend and sit at 9-0 in the Southeastern Conference.

Tennessee leads the nation in four NCAA Div. I categories, including home runs per game (2.46), slugging percentage (.649), earned run average (1.80) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.25). The Volunteers are also second in scoring (10.4 runs per game), and on-base percentage (.443).

Overall, Tennessee has hit 69 homers, 79 doubles and 14 triples in 28 games. The pitching staff has struck out 320 with only 61 walks.

Poll Notes: In key series over the weekend, Virginia won two of three at home against Georgia Tech., Arkansas took two of three at home against Mississippi St., Texas won two of three against Oklahoma, Stanford won two of three at Oregon St., UCLA swept a 3-game series against Oregon at home, Notre Dame swept three from Florida St. on the road, Georgia swept three at home against Florida, Auburn took two of three at LSU and Arizona swept Washington three straight on the road.

Several teams have been hot. Miami (Fla.) has won 8 straight, Cal. Poly 6 in a row, Ball St. 10 of 11, UCLA and Nevada-Las Vegas 5 consecutive and Stanford 5 of its last 6.

Five teams fell out of the top 30 in Florida St. (5 straight losses), Purdue (4 losses in a row), Florida (losses in 5 of its last 6 games), Louisiana Tech. (1-3 last week) and Texas Christian (1-4 last week).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball’s
NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll
(As of April 4, 2022)
Presented Bywww.bigleaguechew.com

Collegiate Baseball’s
National Players Of The Week
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LHP Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon St.: Hjerpe tied a 28-year Oregon St. single-game record with 17 strikeouts against Stanford. He held the Cardinal to 2 hits and a walk in 8 scoreless innings. He didn’t allow a Stanford runner to reach second base.

UT Ubaldo Lopez, Georgetown: Lopez was 9-for-17 with 4 homers and 12 RBI over 4 games.

RHP Brody McCullough, Wingate: McCullough struck out a career-high 17 batters during a 14-2 win over Virginia-Wise. He went 6 1/3 innings and only allowed 2 hits and no runs with a walk. It was the most strikeouts at Wingate since the 1998 season.

OF Max Ryerson, Georgia St.: Ryerson hit 4 home runs with 10 RBI as he went 9-for-16 at the plate. His four homers averaged 420 feet.

RHP Colin McVeigh, Fairfield: McVeigh struck out 15 batters over 6 shutout innings which spanned 3 outings. He only allowed 3 hits.

INF Cole Hebble, Massachusetts: Hebble recorded 14 hits, 10 RBI, 9 runs, 5 doubles and 1 home run over 20 at-bats.

LHP Isaiah Coupet, Ohio St.: Coupet struck out a career-high 14 Nebraska batters over 7 innings and allowed 4 hits and 1 earned run with 1 walk.

C/OF Collin Villegas, Cal. Poly: Villegas went 9-for-17 with 5 doubles, a triple, 6 runs scored and 10 RBI. He also walked 5 times. In his last 12 games, he has lifted his batting average exactly 100 points (.216 to .316) by hitting .410 with 9 doubles and 18 RBI.

RHP Drew Beam, Tennessee: Beam was brilliant in a 9-inning complete game against Vanderbilt. He blanked the Commodores, 5-0 as he allowed just 2 hits and faced 1 batter over the minimum. He didn’t allow a Vanderbilt runner to advance past first base, and he retired the final 16 batters in the contest.

LHP Quinn Mathews, Stanford: Mathews fanned 13 Oregon St. batters over 2 games as he recorded a win and save. His outings included a career-high tying 11 strikeouts over 7 innings in the final game of the series.