Another week of college baseball went down as we get closer to conference tournaments starting up. The week brought even more surprises, upsets, and shuffling around. Only one team falls off the rankings this week, but there is plenty of movement in the latest top 25 baseball rankings.
Be sure to catch up on the previous rankings: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8
1. Tennessee (40-4, 19-2)
Tennessee continues to be on a roll, as they won another SEC series, this time over Auburn. The Volunteers won the first game 17-4 before losing the middle game and taking the rubber match on Sunday. Junior outfielder Jordan Beck whacked a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning to catapult the Vols to a 5-3 win on Sunday. They will be the clear favorites going into the SEC Tournament.
Previous Ranking: 1
JORDAN BECK WAYYY DOWNTOWN. TENNESSEE TAKES THE LEAD 👀 pic.twitter.com/ePy10SPiSC
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) May 1, 2022
2. Oregon State (34-9, 15-6)
After beating Oregon in their Tuesday game, the Beavers traveled to Salt Lake City and took two out of three from Utah. Oregon State dropped the first game of the series, before ultimately taking the back two and outscoring the Utes 12-2. Junior right-hander Ben Ferrer helped catapult the Beavers to a series win on Sunday with 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. The win keeps Oregon State in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12, one game ahead of UCLA.
Previous Ranking: 2
3. Virginia Tech (31-10, 14-8)
In a big rivalry series, the Hokies outlasted Virginia by taking the first and last games of the series. In the rubber match on Sunday, Virginia Tech came back from down four runs to win 7-5 on the road. It was their first road ACC series win in Charlottesville since they joined the conference in 2005. The 7-5 win was sparked by a seventh-inning home run off the bat of sophomore Gavin Cross. The Hokies play just three games this week, one against Marshall and two against Villanova.
Previous Ranking: 4
Gavin Cross gives Virginia Tech the lead 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/tuws8v7goR
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) May 1, 2022
4. Oklahoma State (31-13, 13-5)
The Cowboys took it to Texas this past weekend, sweeping the Longhorns with wins of 8-6, 14-3, and 10-8. A 10-run seventh inning on Sunday sparked the win as they completed their fourth sweep in the last seven regular-season series against Texas. Griffin Doersching and Roc Riggio combined to drive in seven of the runs in the frame. Riggio lined a bases-clearing double off the top of the wall in right-center to start the scoring. Then after a hit by pitch and walk, Doersching stepped up with the bases loaded and smacked a grand slam. Oklahoma State remains in first place in the Big 12 with the sweep.
Previous Ranking: 8
GRIFFIN DOERSCHING GRAND SLAM. OKLAHOMA STATE SCORES 8 RUNS IN THE 7TH
POKES GOING FOR THE SWEEP pic.twitter.com/OX5whgmpr0
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) May 1, 2022
5. Arkansas (34-10, 14-7)
The Razorbacks took care of business against Ole Miss, taking the final two games after dropping the first one. It was the Hogs’ 12th straight home SEC series win, with Brady Tygart tossing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts out of the bullpen in the series-clinching 4-3 win. It was also Arkansas’ first home series win against Ole Miss since 2015, and the first time since the 2010 and 2011 seasons they won back-to-back series against the Rebels.
Previous Ranking: 9
6. UConn (37-8, 11-1)
The Huskies now have a six-game winning streak after sweeping Butler over the weekend. They have just one Big East loss on the season. After scratching out an 8-7 win in 10 innings on Friday, UConn outscored the Bulldogs, 21-11 in the final two games. They overcame a 7-4 deficit in the first game to even have a chance at a sweep.
Previous Ranking: 11
7. Gonzaga (29-13, 15-6)
The Zags kept their solid play up by winning another conference series, this time over Loyola Marymount. All three games were close, as they won the first one, 5-3 before losing the second one, 5-4. They then took the rubber match on Sunday 6-5, with right-hander Will Kempner making his first start since March 5 and tossing two scoreless frames. The series win was the Bulldogs’ seventh straight West Coast Conference series win.
Previous Ranking: 7
8. Stanford (25-14, 12-9)
Stanford falls down after losing their series to Washington over the weekend. They won the middle game of the series, 6-2, but lost the other two 4-3 and 11-10. The Cardinal led Sunday’s game 7-1, before unraveling and ultimately losing the game on a walk-off wild pitch. Brock Jones and Carter Graham whacked back-to-back homers in the third inning for the highlight of Stanford’s offensive output.
Previous Ranking: 3
9. Southern Mississippi (34-10, 17-4)
The Golden Eagles dropped their first Conference-USA series of the season, as they lost the first two games of their weekend series to UAB. They were able to avoid the sweep on Sunday with a 9-6 win. The sweep-salvaging win gave head coach Scott Berry his 469th victory to become the program’s all-time winningest coach. Southern Mississippi looks to continue to increase that number as they return home for a series against Old Dominion this weekend, after a Tuesday game versus South Alabama.
Previous Ranking: 5
10. Miami (32-12, 17-7)
The Hurricanes lost three of four games this week but were able to snap a four-game losing streak with a 13-2 win on Sunday. The win also helped them salvage their series against Georgia Tech, but it was their second ACC series loss in three series.
Previous Ranking: 6
The biggest movement from 11-18 in the rankings is Texas A&M jumping up to 17 and Vanderbilt falling to 18 after the Aggies took down the Commodores in their weekend series. UCLA also joins the top 20 after sweeping Arizona State. Texas Tech jumps three spots after winning a big series over Baylor and Florida State jumps four spots after winning their two games against TCU. LSU also jumps four spots after winning a series over Georgia.
11. Notre Dame (28-10, 13-8)
Previous Ranking: 12
12. Maryland (35-9, 11-4)
Previous Ranking: 13
13. Texas Tech (31-16, 11-7)
Previous Ranking: 16
14. Florida State (26-15, 11-10)
Previous Ranking: 18
15. LSU (29-14, 12-9)
Previous Ranking: 19
16. UCLA (30-13, 14-7)
Previous Ranking: 21
17. Texas A&M (27-15, 12-9)
Previous Ranking: 25
18. Vanderbilt (28-11, 9-9)
Previous Ranking: 10
19. Virginia (33-12, 14-10)
Previous Ranking: 15
20. Georgia Tech (27-18, 12-12)
With their series win over top-10 ranked Miami, the Yellow Jackets join the rankings. Georgia Tech smacked 13 hits in the series-clinching 7-5 win on Saturday. Catcher Kevin Parada smashed a homer in his fourth straight game, while Chandler Simpson recorded his third four-hit day of the season.
Previous Ranking: NR
21. Texas (31-16, 9-9)
Previous Ranking: 17
22. Auburn (31-14, 12-9)
Previous Ranking: 22
23. Texas State (34-11, 17-4)
Previous Ranking: 24
24. TCU (27-16, 12-6)
Previous Ranking: 14
25. Georgia (30-14, 12-9)
Previous Ranking: 20
Falls off rankings: Georgia Southern
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