After another week of college baseball, we are back for the second edition of the top 25 rankings. There were some shakeups and teams to join the rankings after some upsets this past week.
Be sure to catch up on last week’s rankings.
1. Texas (11-1)
The Longhorns are still the unanimous number one team in the country despite losing their first game this week. UCLA handed them their first loss of the season on Sunday, but they were without their normal Sunday starter, Tanner Witt. The sophomore was scratched from his start for precautionary reasons due to a muscular issue near his elbow.
Previous Ranking: 1
2. Stanford (8-3)
The week didn’t start off great for The Cardinal, as they lost to UTSA in 10 innings last Monday. But they finished strong with a series win over CSUN on the weekend. Since Stanford already beat Arkansas, they have to stay ahead of them.
Previous Ranking: 2
3. Arkansas (7-3)
The Razorbacks had a 3-1 week, which included sweeping a doubleheader against Southeastern. Both pitchers, true freshman Hagen Smith, and sophomore Jaxon Wiggins, combined for a three-hitter in the doubleheader. Smith had a career-high nine strikeouts over seven innings, while Wiggins went a career-long 6 1/3 innings with a career-high seven strikeouts.
Previous Ranking: 5
4. Ole Miss (10-1)
The Rebels won both of their series last week, and only had one loss to UCF on Saturday. Their relievers were dominant, as they shut down the UCF bats, combining to allow two earned runs on seven hits and eight walks with 16 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings.
Previous Ranking: 10
5. Vanderbilt (10-2)
The Commodores had a perfect 5-0 week, finishing it off with a four-game sweep of Hawaii. Their bats came alive as they won by scores of 9-2, 12-1, and 13-1, before winning 2-1 on Sunday. Vanderbilt mashed seven homers total, with shortstop Carter Young and second baseman Tate Kolwyck hitting two each. On the pitching side, junior Chris McElvain and freshman Carter Holton had the first two seven-inning starts of the year for the Commodores.
Previous Ranking: 6
6. Tennessee (10-1)
The Volunteer’s only loss this past week came to number one Texas. They finished the weekend with wins over Baylor and Oklahoma in the Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic (SHCCC). Right-hander Chase Burns was filthy, as he struck out ten Texas batters and allowed just one earned run on two hits and one walk over five innings.
Previous Ranking: 8
7. LSU (9-3)
Although the weekend started off promising with an extra-inning win over Oklahoma in the SHCCC, the Tigers finished it with losses to Texas and Baylor. Since Tennesse was able to beat Baylor, they get the edge over LSU.
Previous Ranking: 4
8. Oregon State (9-1)
The Beavers only played three games last week, and they won two of them against UC Irvine. The only loss came on Sunday in 10 innings, which was their first loss of the season. Despite being without two of their weekend starters, Jake Pfennings and Will Frisch, Oregon State has played well. Pfennings was pulled after two innings during his second start, while Frisch has not pitched so far this season.
Previous Ranking: 11
9. Georgia Tech (10-2)
After a 3-1 week where they won two of three against Georiga, the Yellow Jackets stay put at nine. The offense came alive for 21 runs in three games and lit up Georgia’s Friday night starter Jonathan Cannon for six runs in six innings. Catcher Kevin Parada continued his hot start to the season, as he went 5-for-13 with three runs scored in the series and is hitting .480 on the season.
Previous Ranking: 9
10. Notre Dame (8-1)
The Fighting Irish are now on a six-game winning streak after winning all three of their games this week, against Illinois, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Sunday starter Austin Temple took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out a career-high nine batters. For this performance, he was named the MVP of the Cambria College Classic and was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week.
Previous Ranking: 13
11. UCLA (8-4)
Previous Ranking: NR
For their efforts in taking down Texas, the Bruins deserve a spot in these rankings. Junior college transfer Kelly Austin shut down the Longhorn bats, as he struck out eight batters in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander only had one blemish on his line, surrendering a solo home run to Ivan Melendez in the fourth inning. The Bruins also took down Oklahoma 15-3 on Saturday.
UNDEFEATED NO MORE! 👀 UCLA stymies Texas with 14Ks.
Alonzo Tredwell was NAILS. 3 shutout 5 Ks 🔥@UCLABaseball pic.twitter.com/AY8LPFApmW
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) March 7, 2022
12. Oklahoma State (6-5)
It was a rough week for the Cowboys, as they finished it getting swept by Gonzaga. After winning the series against Vanderbilt in the opening weekend, Oklahoma State hasn’t lived up to it. The offense left 26 runners on base in the series while losing each game by just one run.
Previous Ranking: 3
13. Liberty (10-1)
Previous Ranking: 15
14. Florida State (7-4)
Previous Ranking: 14
15. Florida (10-3)
Previous Ranking: 16
16. Gonzaga (9-2)
After sweeping Oklahoma State, the Zags join the rankings. They are now on a seven-game winning streak. Trystan Vrieling struck out 13 batters over five innings while allowing one run on Monday,
Previous Ranking: NR
17. North Carolina (11-1)
Previous Ranking: 23
18. Tulane (10-2)
Tulane moves up in the rankings after taking the series win over previously 18th-ranked Mississippi State. Ethan Groff ripped a walk-off bomb on Saturday to complete the Green Wave’s epic comeback, as they were down 10-2 earlier.
Previous Ranking: 25
19. Miami (8-3)
Previous Ranking: 19
20. Virginia (11-0)
Previous Ranking: 24
21. Arizona (9-3)
After losing their series against Texas State, Arizona falls nine spots in the rankings. It was their first home series loss since 2019.
Previous Ranking: 12
22. Maryland (9-2)
The Terps had a 1-2 weekend, losing to Michigan and East Carolina. It was only their first two losses of the season, so they still stick around in the rankings for now.
Previous Ranking: 20
23. Texas Tech (10-2)
The Red Raiders join the rankings after going 5-0 this past week. They swept Merrimack in a four-game series, outscoring them 70-12. Austin Becker made his return on Sunday after nearly two years away after undergoing Tommy John Surgery in 2020.
Previous Ranking: NR
24. Clemson (11-0)
Clemson joins the rankings after sweeping rival South Carolina over the weekend to stay perfect. It was the Tigers’ first time since 1996 that they swept a series over their rivals. Sophomore cleanup hitter Cooper Ingle has hit safely in all 11 games this season and smacked his first career homer on Sunday.
Previous Ranking: NR
25. TCU (8-3)
The Hornfrogs faltered a bit last week, as they lost two of three to Kentucky. Then Tuesday afternoon, they lost to Louisville.
Previous Ranking: 21
Check us out on our socials:
Twitter: @PTSTNews and @TalkPrimeTime
Facebook Page: Prime Time Sports Talk
Join our Facebook Group: Prime Time Sports Talk
Instagram: @primetimesportstalk
Follow Alex Kielar on Twitter @AlexKielar
Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
4 Responses