Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 2-27-12

FLORIDA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Florida (7-1) has been ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division I baseball poll by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

The Gators, who have been ranked No. 1 for three consecutive polls, have won five in a row. Over the past week, Florida beat Bethune-Cookman, Central Florida and picked up three wins over William & Mary.

No. 2 South Carolina is perfect with a 6-0 record. The Gamecock pitching staff struck out 32 batters in 27 innings of work during a 3-game sweep of Elon over the past weekend and allowed just three runs.

No. 3 Stanford (7-0) has six wins over top 25 opponents this season. The Cardinal swept Vanderbilt and then swept a series against Texas. Stanford outscored the Longhorns in the 3-game set, 28-4.

No. 4 Rice (8-0) swept a 3-game series against Dallas Baptist. It is the best start for the Owls since 2001 when Rice began the season 8-0.

Poll Notes: Other teams have been red-hot to start the season. Four teams have a perfect 7-0 record to start 2012 in Miami, Fla., Georgia, Oregon and Southern California. The surprise team of the year so far is Maryland which is off to a 5-1 record, the best start in 25 years. The Terps have now beaten UCLA two of three and recently went undefeated in the Keith LeClair Classic. Maryland’s pitching staff has a 1.24 ERA, a mark that leads the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Six teams fell out of the poll this week in Texas (lost five in a row), Texas Christian (1-3 last week), St. John’s (1-2 last week, 2-4 overall), U.C. Irvine (1-3 last week), Southern Mississippi (2-2 last week) and Georgia Southern (2-2 last week). New to the poll this week is Southern California (7-0), Cal Poly (7-1), Mississippi (5-1), Texas Tech. (7-1), Maryland (5-1) and UCLA (4-3).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

(Top 30 Agate Follows)

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s
NCAA Div. I Poll (As of Feb. 27, 2012)
www.baseballnews.com
Rank School (Record)	Points	Previous
1. Florida (7-1)	497	1
2. South Carolina (6-0)	495	2
3. Stanford (7-0)	494	3
4. Rice (8-0)	492	5
5. Texas A&M (6-1)	489	4
6. North Carolina (5-1)	486	6
7. Arkansas (7-1)	482	8
8. Miami, Fla. (7-0)	479	12
9. Georgia (7-0)	477	14
10. Florida St. (6-1)	473	11
11. Arizona St. (5-1)	471	13
12. Georgia Tech. (6-2)	469	10
13. Louisiana St. (5-2)	467	9
14. Louisville (6-1)	465	16
15. Oregon (7-1)	462	24
16. Oklahoma (4-2)	461	17
17. Cal. St. Fullerton (3-3)	459	19
18. Arizona (5-2)	455	22
19. Stetson (6-1)	453	23
20. Clemson (4-2)	449	25
21. Southern California (7-0)	446	—
22. Cal. Poly (7-1)	443	—
23. Mississippi (5-1)	439	—
24. Texas Tech. (7-1)	435	—
25. California (4-2)	434	20
26. Oregon St. (5-3)	433	21
27. Maryland (5-1)	429	—
28. UCLA (4-3)	427	—
29. Baylor (6-2)	426	26
30. Coll. of Charleston (5-1)	424	29

“LOUISVILLE SLUGGER‘S” NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

LHP Chipper Smith, Cumberland (TN): Smith fired Cumberland’s first no-hitter since 2004, striking out 14 batters over the 7-inning contest during a 5-0 win over Point Park. Smith allowed only two base-runners on a walk and a hit batter. At one point, he retired 15 consecutive batters.

1B Johnny Coy, Wichita St.: Coy hit .600 (15-for-25) with 8 runs, 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 20 RBI over five games last week. He also had a perfect fielding percentage in 35 chances at first base. His most memorable game was a 4-for-5 effort against North Dakota as he belted 2 home runs and collected 9 RBIs. The 9 RBIs was one shy of the school record.

LHP Brandon Bixler, Florida Gulf Coast: Bixler struck out 12 batters and came within one pitch of throwing a no-hitter in a 9-inning, 5-1 win over Bryant. However, David Soltis of Bryant ripped a 3-2 pitch up the middle for the first hit of the afternoon to ruin the no-no. It was the only hit he gave up.

CF James Ramsey, Florida St.: In four games last week, Ramsey made 19 plate appearances and reached base 15 times. He recorded 6 hits, 7 walks, one hit by pitch and reached on a fielding error. At one point, Ramsey reached base in nine consecutive at-bats.

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