Tag: Perfect game

Where LSU baseball stands in the latest polls

LSU is falling in the polls after finishing at .500 last week.

Another week, another set of polls.

LSU finished last week 2-2 after winning against Tulane on Tuesday and taking the final game of the series against Texas A&M on Sunday. The Tigers went into last week ranked No. 8 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, then proceeded to drop the weekend series to the unranked Aggies.

That dropped LSU all the way down to No. 18, and it dropped out of the Baseball America poll entirely.

Catcher Tyler McManus led the Tigers in hitting last week, batting .444 (4-for-9) with two homers, four RBI, and three runs scored. They have another busy week of games ahead this week as they get a shot at revenge on Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night before starting a weekend series in Gainesville against the No. 7 Florida Gators on Friday.

Here’s how all the latest polls shake out.

LSU baseball rises as high as No. 3 in Baseball polls

The Tigers went 4-1 this past week, moving up in the polls in the process.

After playing a five-game stretch last week in which the Tigers went 4-1, LSU has climbed the college baseball rankings as high as the No. 3 spot.

This is fitting, because LSU’s No. 3 has a lot to do with why the Tigers had so much success during that stretch. LSU outfielder Dylan Crews batted .444 (8-for-18) with one triple, two homers, nine RBI, four runs scored, and a .565 on-base percentage in the last five games.

Crews is now hitting a team-high .483 on the year with one double, three triples, two homers, 13 RBI, and 12 runs. Along with the hot-hitting Crews, the Tigers definitely got their Money’s worth when Blake Money was on the mound. Money was brilliant on Friday night, as he defeated Towson with seven shutout innings, increasing his scoreless innings streak this season to 14 straight.

Money limited Towson to no runs on just two hits – a pair of singles – in seven innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. Money is 2-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA, a .085 opponent batting average, and three walks and 17 strikeouts in 14 innings.

The Tigers rank No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game rankings, and they sit in the top 10 of D1 Baseball, USA TODAY Sports and Baseball America’s polls, sitting at No. 7 in the former two and at No. 8 in the latter.

This week will be a very interesting week for LSU Baseball as the Tigers play against New Orleans this Wednesday before traveling to Minute Maid Park in Houston for the Shriners College Classic. LSU will play Oklahoma on Friday, No. 1 Texas on Saturday, and Baylor on Sunday.

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Gators baseball has unfinished business as Perfect Game’s preseason No. 1

The Gators got a big boost from star pitchers Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich returning to Gainesville and rejoining an already promising core.

The coronavirus pandemic extinguished what looked to be a season destined for a national championship finish for the Florida Gators in 2020 as the team tore through its schedule before a loss in the final game against the Florida State Seminoles. Looking ahead to 2021, many in the media expect to see more of last year’s brilliance.

The Gators got a big boost from the shortened Major League Baseball draft, as star pitchers Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich went unselected, returning to Gainesville and rejoining an already promising core. Even without the two, expectations were sky-high for the Gators in 2021; with them back in the rotation along with Hunter Barco and co., this team could be a veritable juggernaut.

As such, Perfect Game placed the Gators at the top of their preseason rankings on Wednesday, predicting another exciting season on the baseball diamond for the Gator Nation.

Here is what Perfect Game’s feature writer Jeff Dahn had to say about this season’s Gator squad.

The straw that stirs the drink is sophomore center fielder Jud Fabian from Ocala, Fla., a 2021 PG Preseason First Team All-American and an alumnus of both the 2018 PG All-American Classic and the 2018 PG National Showcase. Fabian had 20 hits in 17 games last season, including six doubles and five home runs, and drove in 13 runs while scoring 19.

Sophomore outfielder Jacob Young (’17 PG National), junior first baseman/left-hander Jordan Butler (’16 PG National), redshirt freshman catcher Nathan Hickey, redshirt freshman infielder Josh Rivera (‘18 PG National), senior infielder Kirby McMullen, sophomore first baseman Kendrick Calilao (’17 PG National) and sophomore infielder Cory Acton (’17 PG National) all return with loads of experience. (It’s worth noting that Rivera was also the MVP at the 2018 PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., while playing with the Florida Burn).

A schedule for Florida baseball’s 2021 season has not yet been released but it is hoped that things can get started as early as Feb. 19. Whenever the first pitch is eventually thrown, the university will unveil its brand-new, $65 million Florida Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field with its 7,000 fan capacity stadium for the Gators’ home opener.

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Texas softball pitcher Miranda Elish named No. 2 player in the country

Texas softball pitcher Miranda Elish was off to a hot start in 2020. now she is ranked second in Softball America’s Top 100.

Last season, pitcher Miranda Elish was off to a hot start for the Texas softball team. The only thing that could apparently stop her and the rest of team was COVID-19. The Longhorns were 24-3 before the season was shut down due to the pandemic. The team blanked New Mexico 7-0, while Elish threw her second career perfect game.

Elish led the team in strikeouts with 96. She finished the year with a 11-3 record and an earned run average of 1.25. Her efforts earned National Player of the Year honors for the former Oregon transfer. Big things are expected from Elish in her return to the circle in the 2021 season.

According to Softball America’s Top 100 rankings, Elish comes in ranked  No. 2 in the country. Her ranking gives the Big 12 Conference its only player in top five in the country. In her second season in Austin, there’s certainly unfinished business. Oklahoma was viewed as the preseason favorite but given how last season went, Texas should be the top dog as the season approaches in 2021.

The Longhorns softball team finished ranked No. 3 in the country according to USA TODAY/Coaches poll at the end of the shortened season, despite the fact that Texas defeated the No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Washington teams on back-to-back nights. With Elish leading the way, the sky is the limit for this team in 2021.

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