Clemson baseball up to No. 5 in USA TODAY Sports coaches poll

Clemson moved up four spots to No. 5 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 18.

Clemson moved up four spots to No. 5 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 18.

Coach Erik Bakich’s Tigers are 17-2 overall and went 4-1 last week after taking two of three from Duke at Jack Coombs Field in Durham over the weekend. It’s the team’s highest ranking this season in the coaches poll after having been ranked ninth the past two weeks.

Arkansas (17-2) remained No. 1 after outscoring Missouri by a combined 23-1 margin in a three-game sweep. Oregon State (17-2) moved up one spot to No. 2.

Vanderbilt (18-3) made one of the biggest leaps in this week’s poll, jumping seven spots to land at No. 3 after sweeping Auburn on Sunday.

Reigning national champion LSU (17-4) fell from No. 2 to No. 4 after dropping two of three to Mississippi State over the weekend.

Texas A&M fell two spots to No. 6. Tennessee, Florida, Duke and Alabama rounded out the top 10.

Unbeaten Florida State (18-0), which visits Clemson for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, moved up 10 spots to No. 12 in the coaches poll.

The Tigers will host Winthrop Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in midweek action. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.