Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 3-9-15

TCU NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — Texas Christian (10-2) is ranked No. 1 for the fourth straight Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum.

The Horned Frogs played four top 20 teams last week and won three, including wins over Vanderbilt, UCLA and Rice. Their only loss was a 7-6 setback at Southern California in 12 innings. Three of the four were also on the road.

TCU has a 1.65 team ERA as the pitching staff has struck out 96 batters in 12 games and only walked 21. The team defense has been superb with a .983 fielding percentage (only 8 errors in 12 games).

In key series across the USA, Cal. St. Fullerton swept a 3-game series at home against Texas Tech., Illinois beat Oklahoma St. two of three on the road, Texas and Stanford split a 4-game series at Stanford, Louisville beat Miami (Fla.) two of three at home and Georgia Tech. beat Notre Dame two of three at home.

Poll Notes: Several teams have been red-hot. Texas A&M is undefeated at 16-0, Louisiana St. has won 12 straight, Florida St. and Oregon St. have captured 9 in a row, Florida Atlantic has won 8 consecutive while Cal. St. Fullerton has won 7 straight.

Three teams fell out of the top 30 in Houston (1-3 last week with losses in 4 of the last 5), Maryland (1-2 last week, 8-4 overall), and Stanford (3-2 last week, 9-8 overall). New to the poll is Oregon St. (13-3 overall), Florida Atlantic (14-2) and Auburn (13-3).

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

 Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I Poll
(As of March 9, 2015)

www.bigleaguechew.com

National Players Of The Week

• RHP Taylor Clarke, College of Charleston: Clarke set a school record with 18 strikeouts during a 3-1 win over Radford during a 9-inning complete game. He limited the Highlanders to 1 run on 5 hits without issuing a walk. Clarke struck out at least 2 batters in all but 2 innings and struck out the side on 3 occasions.
• RHP Heath Bowers, Campbell: Bowers fanned a school record 15 batters during a 4-2 win over Bowling Green. He struck out at least one Falcon in 8 of his 9 innings.
• RHP Carson Cross, Connecticut: Cross struck out 15 batters during a 4-1 win over Florida International. Cross set down 27 of the fInal 29 Panthers he faced, including 18 in a row from the first through the sixth innings.
• C Casey Schroeder, Coastal Carolina: Schroeder belted 4 home runs in 4 games last week as he hit .462 (6-for-13) with 7 RBI and 7 runs scored. For the season, he has 11 hits, but 6 have been home runs with one double.
• 1B Collin Ferguson, St. Mary’s: Ferguson hit .588 (10-for-17) with 9 runs scored, 9 RBI, 3 home runs, 3 doubles and 7 walks during a 4-game series against Utah Valley.
• OF Brian Celsi, California: Celsi had a phenomenal 3-game series against Chicago St. as he went 8-for-11 (.727) with 2 home runs, a double and 9 RBI. In one game, he belted a grand slam, a 3-run homer and tied a school record with 8 RBI.
• RHP Jon Harris, Missouri St.: Harris struck out a career-high 13 hitters over 7 innings of work against Wright St. He fanned multiple hitters in four consecutive innings.
• RHP Justin Donatella, U.C. San Diego: Donatella extended his shutout streak to 31 innings after not allowing a run over 7 1/3 innings against Chico St. during a 6-0 win. He struck out 9.
• LHP Ian Allen, East Stroudsburg: Allen threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts during an 11-0 win over Virginia St. It was the first no-hitter at East Stroudsburg since 2011.
• RHP Mike Lundin, Franklin Pierce: Lundin threw a 7-inning no-hitter with 11 strikeouts during a 12-0 win over Queens. Lundin faced only 23 batters in the contest as he required only 84 pitches.