Coach Erik Bakich’s Clemson Tigers are coming off a 2-2 week that included tough losses at No. 18 Georgia and at unranked Louisville.
Where do those two losses leave the Tigers in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll? The same spot as last week, it turns out.
Clemson (34-9 overall) stayed at No. 4 in the new coaches poll, released Monday, April 29. It’s the same ranking the team holds in Baseball America’s new Top 25 and D1Baseball’s new poll. The Tigers moved up one spot in D1Baseball’s poll this week from No. 5.
The top four of the coaches poll, compiled by 31 head coaches at Division I schools, remained the same as last week. For the third consecutive week, Texas A&M (38-6 overall) stayed at No. 1, Arkansas (37-7) held at No. 2, and Tennessee (37-7) remained at No. 3.
The only change in the top five was at No. 5, where East Carolina (35-8) jumped two spots after outscoring Memphis 36-6 over the weekend in a three-game sweep in the American Athletic Conference. East Carolina leads the AAC standings by two games over UTSA.
Other ACC schools ranked in the top 10 of this week’s coaches poll are No. 6 Florida State, No. 9 Duke, and No. 10 Virginia. The ACC has seven total teams ranked in the Top 25, which also includes No. 12 North Carolina, No. 15 Wake Forest, and No. 20 NC State.
The SEC has the most schools ranked of any conference with nine.
To that end, some big movers in this week’s coaches poll are South Carolina, which jumped seven spots to No. 14 after taking two of three from previously fifth-ranked Kentucky. Mississippi State also jumped seven spots to go from unranked last week to No. 21 this week following a clutch series win at Vanderbilt, which had been ranked No. 8.
Oklahoma State roses six spots to No. 16 after a 4-0 week that included a sweep of BYU in the Big 12. The Cowboys’ bats awoke for 40 runs in the three games against BYU.
Vanderbilt and Oklahoma saw the furthest drops among ranked teams this week. The Commodores slid five spots to No. 13 while the Sooners fell five spots to land at No. 23.
Clemson is back in action Friday when the Tigers welcome Georgia Tech to Doug Kingsmore Stadium in ACC play.