Tag: d1baseball

Gators nowhere to be seen in D1Baseball’s latest rankings

The Gators fell out of D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings last week and remained outside the top tier of the sport in the Week 10 update.

It has been a precipitous fall for the Florida football season, going from the runner-up in the College World Series last year to a mediocre team that has barely kept afloat at the .500 mark with a few weeks remaining in the spring campaign.

The Gators fell out of D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings last week and remained outside the top tier of the sport in the Week 10 update. Kevin O’Sullivan’s team earned revenge for an earlier loss against the Jacksonville Dolphins in blowout fashion but then dropped two of three at the Vanderbilt Commodores for yet another Southeastern Conference series loss.

And thus, the Orange and Blue remain black and blue.

Speaking of the SEC, the conference is currently represented by the top-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, followed by the Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 2), Tennessee Volunteers (No. 3), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 4), Vanderbilt Commodores (No. 11), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 20), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 23) and South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 24).

Next up for the Orange and Blue are the Stetson Hatters, who come to Gainesville on Tuesday, April 23, for a one-game midweek matchup inside Condron Family Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Oklahoma rejoins D1Baseball top 25 at No. 18 after undefeated week

OU is riding a seven game winning streak and went from being unranked to the highest ranked Big 12 team in this week’s D1Baseball poll.

Oklahoma took its first and last trip to Provo as Big 12 baseball members and walked away with a sweep. It was the Sooners’ fourth sweep in conference play and helped push OU back into the D1Baseball Top 25.

The Sooners went from unranked to No. 18 in the latest D1Baseball poll after their showing against the Cougars. Their performance cemented their first-place spot in the Big 12 and extended their win streak to seven straight games.

Oklahoma has been on a heater as they pushed out to a 14-4 Big 12 record, three games clear of three teams tied for second place.

The Sooners are one of two Big 12 teams in the Top 25, along with their in-state foes, Oklahoma State. Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Tennessee are the top three in that order. Kentucky, Clemson, and Duke round out the top six. East Carolina, Wake Forest, Oregon State, and the Florida State Seminoles round out the top 10.

 

Oklahoma State is just three spots back of Oklahoma at No. 19. The Cowboys dropped four spots after a 1-3 week on the diamond.

Oklahoma is ranked 16th by Baseball America, while Perfect Game has the Sooners ranked 23rd in their latest rankings.

The Sooners will continue its pursuit of the Big 12 regular season title and the top seed in the Big 12 tournament as it hosts Wichita State for a midweek game on Tuesday and will host Red River rivals Texas for a weekend series.

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Duke rises to No. 6 in D1Baseball poll after first road series win against Virginia Tech in years

Duke keeps rising in latest D1Baseball poll, moving up to No. 6 after they took a ranked road series against Virginia Tech.

Duke’s weekend in Blacksburg was full of excitement as Duke won a road series against Virginia Tech for the first time in six years. Both Duke wins came with late-inning dramatics, as the Blue Devils fought back and won the game late.

For their efforts against a top-25 team, the Blue Devils saw themselves rise one spot to No. 6 in the latest D1Baseball poll.

Duke’s win puts them two games behind UNC for the Coastal Division lead as the Blue Devils enter the home stretch of the regular season.

At the top of the newest D1Baseball poll, the Texas A&M Aggies remain the nation’s number one team. Arkansas is second while the Tennessee Volunteers are third. Kentucky and ACC foe Clemson are ranked ahead of Duke at fourth and fifth, respectively.

East Carolina, Wake Forest, and Oklahoma State follow in order before Duke’s next ACC opponent, Florida State, slots in at 10th.

The rest of the ACC continues to be well represented in the poll, with Virginia and North Carolina ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, while NC State ranked 21st.

Duke will remain on the road for a midweek game against a tough Campbell Camels team before returning home for a top-10 weekend series against the Florida State Seminoles.

The Texas A&M baseball team is the unanimous No. 1 team in the country

The Aggies are at the top of the rankings in every major poll after a stellar week on the diamond

The Texas A&M Aggie baseball team (32-4, 11-4 SEC) has the best overall record in Division One college baseball and the third-best record in the conference. A trio of events allowed the Aggies to move into the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2016.

First, the A&M took care of business last week, going 4-0 while beating a good UTSA team in the midweek game before blowing the doors of No. 6 Vanderbilt in a three-game sweep. The second and third Arkansas and Clemson lost their conference games 2-1 over the weekend. These three things ensured the Maroon & White would game a jump to the top spot.

They have been proving a lot since dropping their conference series opener and arguably have the best lineup in the country with the most dangerous 1 through 3. Gavin Grahovac, Jace LaViolette, and Braden Montgomery have combined for 48 home runs with 141 RBI through 36 games. The significant improvement in the pitching this year has also played a major part in the Aggies’ staying in a game where the bats might not have been the best.

As of Week 9, there is no better team in the nation. Everyone agrees.

Texas A&M will face Air Force on Tuesday, April 16, at 4:00 p.m. CT, where the game will air on SEC Network+.

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Florida outside of D1Baseball Top 25 after losing week

Florida started the season as one of the top teams in college baseball, but D1Baseball’s Week 9 update has the Gators outside of the top 25.

Florida was already down to No. 24 in the D1Baseball rankings last week, so it’s not surprising to see the Gators knocked out of the top 25 after another losing week.

Texas A&M took over the top spot on the rankings, moving Arkansas down to No. 2 overall. Kentucky moved into the No. 3 spot, and Tennessee gives the SEC total control of the top four.

Florida’s opponent this weekend, Vanderbilt, slid from No. 6 to No. 13 this week. The Gators should still be the underdogs on the road, though. No. 14 Alabama, No. 20 South Carolina and No. 24 Georgia are the other three SEC programs inside the top 25.

UF’s losing streak hit six games before Sunday’s win. The Gators are now 18-17 overall and 7-8 in conference play. A midweek game against Jacksonville gives Florida a chance to reset before starting a three-game series with the Commodores on Thursday.

Week 9 D1Baseball Rankings

Here is a look at the complete Week 9 rankings from D1Baseball.

Rank Team Overall Last Week Previous Rank
1 Texas A&M 32-4 4-0 3
2 Arkansas 30-5 3-2 1
3 Kentucky 30-5 3-1 8
4 Tennessee 30-6 4-0 4
5 Oregon State 29-5 3-1 5
6 Clemson 29-6 1-3 2
7 Duke 26-10 2-2 7
8 Florida State 30-5 4-0 10
9 East Carolina 27-8 4-1 9
10 Virginia 28-8 3-1 11
11 North Carolina 29-7 3-1 13
12 Wake Forest 24-11 3-1 14
13 Vanderbilt 26-10 1-3 6
14 Louisiana 28-9 4-1 19
15 Oklahoma State 25-11 4-0 21
16 Oregon 25-10 3-2 18
17 UC Irvine 25-7 1-3 12
18 Alabama 24-12 2-2 25
19 Coastal 24-11 2-2 20
20 South Carolina 25-11 3-1 NR
21 Arizona 21-13 4-0 NR
22 West Virginia 22-13 3-1 NR
23 Virginia Tech 23-10 2-2 16
24 Georgia 27-9 3-1 NR
25 Dallas Baptist 26-8 1-2 15

Dropped Out

No. 17 UCF; No. 22 Mississippi State; No. 23 Nebraska; No. 24 Florida

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Florida barely stays ranked by D1Baseball in Week 8 update

Florida’s disastrous weekend against Missouri resulted in a big move down the D1Baseball rankings, but the Gators are still a top-25 team for now.

Florida baseball nearly lost its top-25 status last week as it squeaked by against Florida A&M at home Tuesday and went winless at Missouri over the weekend. The Week 8 D1Baseball rankings update has the Gators down 18 spots to No. 24 overall.

“Along with LSU and Alabama, Florida takes a huge tumble in the rankings after getting swept at last-place Missouri,” the D1Baseball staff wrote. “The Gators, who are just 17-14 overall despite winning their first three SEC series and six straight weekend series overall before this weekend, plummet 18 spots to No. 24.”

The road doesn’t get much easier for Florida with series against several top-10 teams ahead. Taking two of three from Arkansas, Tennessee or Vanderbilt would give Florida a boost back up the rankings; winning multiple series would likely lock in the Gators’ top-25 status for the rest of the year.

Up next, Florida faces No. 10 Florida State in Tallahassee in hopes of avoiding the season series sweep. Then, it’s back at Condron Family Ballpark for a weekend set with the South Carolina Gamecocks, who recently got booted out of the D1Baseball top 25.

Week 8 D1Baseball Rankings

Here is a look at the complete Week 8 rankings from D1Baseball.

Rank Team Overall Last Week Previous Rank
1 Arkansas 27-3 4-0 1
2 Clemson 28-3 4-0 2
3 Texas A&M 28-4 3-1 3
4 Tennessee 26-6 2-1 4
5 Oregon State 26-4 5-0 5
6 Vanderbilt 25-7 2-1 7
7 Duke 24-8 4-0 9
8 Kentucky 27-4 3-0 17
9 East Carolina 23-7 3-1 12
10 Florida State 26-5 4-1 14
11 Virginia 25-7 3-1 15
12 UC Irvine 24-4 2-1 16
13 North Carolina 26-6 1-2 10
14 Wake Forest 21-10 4-0 21
15 Dallas Baptist 25-6 2-2 8
16 Virginia Tech 21-8 0-3 11
17 UCF 21-8 3-1 25
18 Oregon 22-8 3-1 NR
19 Louisiana 24-8 4-0 NR
20 Coastal Carolina 22-9 2-2 20
21 Oklahoma State 21-11 3-1 NR
22 Mississippi State 21-12 2-2 23
23 Nebraska 22-7 2-2 24
24 Florida 17-14 1-3 6
25 Alabama 22-10 1-3 13

Dropped Out

No. 18 LSU; No. 19 NC State; No. 22 South Carolina;

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Duke moves up to No. 7 in latest D1 Baseball poll after five straight wins and a weekend sweep of Miami

Duke baseball back on the rise in latest D1Baseball poll.

The Duke Blue Devils have found their groove.

After a 4-0 week, the Duke baseball team has won its previous five games. If you look further past that, the Blue Devils won eight of their last nine baseball games.

Duke dominated Liberty midweek on the road 9-4 before returning to Durham and sweeping the Miami Hurricanes for the first time in Duke baseball history. They took care of Miami with some heroics, too, walking off the Hurricanes on both Friday and Sunday and overcoming a six-run deficit in the final game.

Duke enters week eight of the season after moving up two spots to No. 7 in the latest D1 Baseball poll for their efforts. They moved up two spots from ninth and are now knocking on the door to cracking the top five.

 

The rest of the ACC remains well-represented in the Top 25, as Clemson remains steady as the second-ranked team in the poll. Florida State is now the 10th-ranked team, while Virginia and UNC are 11th and 13th, respectively. Wake Forest, the preseason No. 1, has started to play much better and is back up to 14th. Virginia Tech rounds out the ACC’s involvement as they place 16th.

Duke closes out this four-game homestand with William & Mary on Tuesday and is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch. They return to ACC action next weekend with a three-game road series against the Pitt Panthers.

D1Baseball tabs Florida’s Jac Caglianone as best midseason college draft prospect

Jac Caglianone has been held the title of potential first-round pick for some time. Could he be the top college prospect in the 2024 cycle?

The 2024 MLB draft is only three months away, and Jac Caglianone’s monster junior season has him in the conversation for the first overall pick.

On Wednesday, D1Baseball’s David Seifert released his midseason top 100 college prospects, keeping Florida’s two-way sensation on top of the rankings.

Caglianone is slashing .397/.481/776 with 14 home runs and 30 runs batted in over 28 games (135 plate appearances).

“The top spot remains occupied by two-way star Jac Caglianone (Florida), but one could argue that Charlie Condon (Georgia), Travis Bazzana (Oregon State), Chase Burns (Wake Forest), Hagen Smith (Arkansas) or even the injured J.J. Wetherholt (West Virginia) is deserving of 1-1 overall,” Seifert wrote.

“However, King Jac possesses well-documented tools that include the ability to throw a baseball 100 mph and hit one in excess of 115, both from the left side. Nobody else in college baseball, maybe even the world of baseball, can come close to that combination of power/throw tools, once again from the LEFT side.”

Caglianone’s spot on top of the college baseball world is far from guaranteed. Any of the players mentioned above — and a few not mentioned — could leapfrog him if Cags slows down even a little in the second half of the season.

“If there comes a time to remove Jac from his throne, we will, just like we switched Dylan Crews for Paul Skenes in the top spot of our final prospect rankings last season.”

Shelton, Heyman also make top 100

Florida shortstop Colby Shelton and catcher Luke Heyman also made the top 100, ranked Nos. 26 and 90, respectively. Both players will be 21 by the draft and are draft-eligible sophomores.

Shelton has the better odds to go on the first day, but Heyman has suffered a bit of a sophomore slump which could lead to him returning to Gainesville for another year. Tanner Garrison has taken over his spot at catcher, shifting Heyman over to first base and designated hitter. If pro teams don’t see enough from him behind the plate, his draft stock could drop.

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Gators hold steady in Week 7 D1Baseball Top 25 rankings

Florida’s 2-2 week has it holding steady in the D1Baseball rankings, but a series loss could boot the Gators out of the top 10 at any point.

Some may be upset that Florida didn’t drop from the No. 6 spot in the Week 7 update to the D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, especially after going home early on Tuesday in a run-rule loss to Florida State, but the Gators’ ability to come out on top each weekend has kept them afloat in the top-5 conversation all season long.

“Florida holds steady at No. 6 after continuing its season-long pattern: losing midweek but rebounding to win two of three against a ranked opponent on the weekend,” the intro to the top-25 rankings read this week.

“The Gators have done that three weeks in a row, posting three straight 2-2 weeks, but those weeks included series wins vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, at No. 18 LSU and vs. No. 23 Mississippi State. As a result, Florida has moved neither up nor down in the rankings, instead simply holding its position.”

The SEC continues to dominate the ratings, with 10 teams inside the top 25 and five inside the top 10. There’s a reason conference play gets likened to Single-A competition.

Nebraska and UCF broke into the top 25 this week, making Florida’s midweek loss to the Knight a bit more palatable. Florida State is ranked No. 14 and has already taken the season series against UF

Week 6 D1Baseball Rankings

Here is a look at the complete Week 6 rankings from D1Baseball.

Rank Team Overall Last Week Previous Rank
1 Arkansas 23-3 4-0 1
2 Clemson 24-3 2-1 3
3 Texas A&M 25-3 4-0 4
4 Tennessee 24-5 3-1 5
5 Oregon State 21-4 0-2 2
6 Florida 16-11 2-2 6
7 Vanderbilt 23-6 4-0 7
8 Dallas Baptist 23-4 4-0 10
9 Duke 20-8 3-1 11
10 North Carolina 25-4 4-0 14
11 Virginia Tech 21-5 3-1 13
12 East Carolina 20-6 4-0 15
13 Alabama 21-7 3-1 16
14 Florida State 12-4 3-1 17
15 Virginia 22-6 2-2 9
16 UC Irvine 22-3 4-0 20
17 Kentucky 24-4 4-0 24
18 LSU 20-9 1-3 8
19 NC State 18-7 3-0 22
20 Coastal Carolina 20-7 2-1 19
21 Wake Forest 17-10 1-3 12
22 South Carolina 21-7 2-2 18
23 Mississippi State 19-10 2-2 21
24 Nebraska 20-5 3-0 NR
25 UCF 14-9 1-3 17

Dropped Out

No. 23 Kansas State, No. 25 Oklahoma

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After securing second ACC series over UVA, Duke moves up to No. 9 in latest D1Baseball poll

Duke pushes back into top 10 in latest D1Baseball Poll.

Duke baseball is back in the top 10.

After a little bit of a bump in the road, Chris Pollard’s team desperately needed a big week on the diamond to shift the momentum. They got just that with a 3-1 week that saw them take down ACC foe UVA for the Blue Devils’ second ACC series win of the season.

The week started with the Blue Devils hammering in-state opponent Campbell 11-1 on Tuesday. The Blue Devils got back after it on Thursday when they hosted a top-25 Virginia team. Ace pitcher Jonathan Santucci dazzled, working five innings of two-hit baseball to improve his record to 5-0, and Duke won 9-4.

On Friday, UVA bounced back with a 7-3 win to even the series at one game apiece. Another Duke comeback spearheaded Saturday’s rubber match. After the Blue Devils were down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, they exploded for five runs in the seventh and pulled out a 7-4 win to take the series.

Joined by UNC and Clemson, Duke now gives the ACC three teams ranked in the top 10. Arkansas remains number one for another week, Clemson is number two, and Texas A&M rose from fourth to third.

The fourth spot belongs to Tennessee with the fifth going to Oregon State. Virginia Tech (11), Florida State (14), Virginia (15), NC State (19), and Wake Forest (21) make up the rest of the ACC teams on this week’s poll.

Duke was named the No. 9 team in the country by Baseball America and the No. 7 team by Perfect Game.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Tuesday to take on Liberty in Lynchburg, Va., for a midweek game before returning home to host Miami for ACC play at Jack Coombs Field next weekend.