By: Aaron Kirby
The Stetson Hatters (6-1) stay at #1 winning 3 of 4 from Central Michigan.
Two of the biggest stories in college baseball came from the same Mid-Major conference in week #2. One was great for the conference and the other not so.
In 2007 the Appalachian St football team went into the “Big House” and beat #5 Michigan 34-32 to open the season in one of the biggest upsets in college football history. This weekend the Appalachian St (4-2) baseball team travel to LSU for a 3 game series. After dropping game one 4-0, the Mountaineers evened the series with a 1-0 win behind SR RHP Ryan Arrowood 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K. On Sunday App St took the series with a 11-1 win. JR LHP Rob Marcello(Indian River State College) 8.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K picking up the win. In the 2 victories App St held LSU to 1 run on just 7 hits in 18 innings. The Mountaineers enter the rankings at #20.
Georgia Southern (5-2) dropped down one spot to #5 dropping a mid-week game 11-9 to Georgia Tech before winning 2 of 3 from Radford including 2 walk of wins on Saturday. However the Eagles 1st team All-American and potential 1st round draft pick JR OF Victor Roache injured his left arm while diving for ball in outfield during Saturday’s game. More will be known of the extent of the injury this week after he has surgery. GSU will need a player or two to step up in Roache’s absence but don’t count them out just yet.
RISING
- Louisville (6-1) slides up 1 spot to #2 after a 4-0 week. The Cardinals beat E. Kentucky mid week and swept Oakland.
- Texas St (4-3) moves up one spot to #4 with a 3-2 week including winning 2 of 3 at Houston and beating Louisiana-Lafayette mid week.
- Samford (6-2) climbs 3 spots with a 4-1 week. The Bulldogs took 2 of 3 at South Alabama on the weekend. SR OF Brandon Miller hit 2 HRs both Tuesday and Wednesday to bring his season total to 6 already in first 8 games.
- Purdue (5-1) followed their 3-0 record in last weeks Big 10/Big East Challenge with a nice 2-1 showing at the Keith Leclair Classic at ECU and move up 3 spots to #13. Saturday the Boilermakers beat host ECU 6-4 and lost 11-1 to Maryland and finished the tourney by beating Western Carolina 14-7 on Sunday.
- Pepperdine (6-2) jumps up 7 spots to #14 with a 4-1 week including taking 2 of 3 from Fresno St.
- Stony Brook (4-0) opened their 2012 season a week late but that did not stop them from taking care of (2)Alabama St and (2)Nicholls St to move 2 spots up to #15. The Seawolves have a little tougher task this weekend as they head to East Carolina for a 3 game series.
- Coastal Carolina (3-3) slides up one spot #23 with a 2-1 week. After a disappointing 1-2 opening weekend the Chanticleers scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th Sunday and held on for a 3-2 win over NC State to avoid their second consecutive 1-2 tourney. Friday Coastal picked up a 1-0 win over Iowa and lost 3-1 to Virginia Tech on Saturday despite ace Josh Conway’s strong outing.(7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 10 K)
FALLING
- TCU (2-4) drops one spot to #3 after dropping mid week game at Baylor and losing 2 of 3 at Cal St Fullerton. The Horned Frogs won Fridays game at Fulerton 3-2, lost game Saturday 4-2 and lost Sundays game 11-10 which was cut short in 8th inning due to the travel rule. Why do teams not start earlier on Sunday???
- Dallas Baptist (3-4) fell 6 spots to #12 after going 0-4 with midweek loss at Oklahoma St and being swept at Rice (6-5, 2-0, 7-3).
- St Johns (2-4) continues to slide dropping 9 spots to #19. The Red Storm beat N. Illinios and lost twice to Texas Tech.
- Fresno St (4-4) drop 6 spots to #21 with a 1-3 week. The Bulldogs lost mid week to Cal St Bakersfield and lost 2 of 3 at Pepperdine.
- Creighton (3-2) fall 3 spots to #22 losing 2 games out west to Portland.
- Florida International (1-5) hangs on to top 25 dropping 5 spots to #25. FIU lost 2 of 3 at Florida St after being swept by another national top 10 ranked Rice opening weekend. FIU took the opener in Tallahassee 8-5 before losing 3-1 on Saturday and 2-1 on Sunday.
OUT
- #22 UNCW (2-5) drops out of rankings after losing 4 tough road games this week.(at NC State and 3 games at Ole Miss)
- #23 UCONN (2-4) falls out going 1-2 at CofC’s tourney. The Huskies beat Xavier to start the weekend then lost to CofC and Rhode Island.
- #25 Belmont (3-4) gets knocked out going 1-3 on week with loses to Oregon, Arkansas-Little Rock and Bradley.
IN
- Gonzaga (7-0) jumps in the rankings at #18 going 4-0 with 2 wins over both Illinois and at Lamar.
- SE Louisiana (7-0) get in at #24 with mid week win over Louisiana-Lafayette and sweeping Eastern Illinois.
NOTES
- Rhode Island (4-2) made a statement in Charleston, SC this weekend going 3-0 in the Cougar Invitational. The Rams won the tourney beating CofC 9-5 on Friday, Xavier 8-4 Saturday and beating UCONN 2-0 Sunday. The last spot in top 25 came down to SE Louisiana, Rhode Island and San Francisco.
- Another team wanted to also mention was Bucknell (4-2) who went to James Madison and won 3 of 4 this weekend.
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Mid-Major Top 25- Week 2 |
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RNK |
SCHOOL |
(REC) |
PVS |
(WK) |
|
Weeks Results-2/20-2/26 |
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|
#1 |
Stetson |
(6-1) |
#1 |
(3-1) |
|
3-1 C. Michigan; |
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#2 |
Louisville |
(6-1) |
#3 |
(4-0) |
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1-0 E. Kentucky; 3-0 Oakland; |
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|
#3 |
TCU |
(2-4) |
#2 |
(1-3) |
|
0-1 at Baylor; 1-2 at Cal St Fulerton; |
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|
#4 |
Texas St |
(4-3) |
#5 |
(3-2) |
|
1-0 La-Lafayette; 0-1 Baylor; 2-1 at Houston; |
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|
#5 |
Georgia Southern |
(5-2) |
#4 |
(2-2) |
|
0-1 Georgia Tech; 2-1 Radford; |
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|
#6 |
College of Charleston |
(5-1) |
#7 |
(2-1) |
|
0-1 Rhode Island; 1-0 UCONN; 1-0 Xavier |
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|
#7 |
Kent St |
(4-2) |
#9 |
(2-1) |
|
2-1 at Lipscomb; |
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|
#8 |
Florida Atlantic |
(6-1) |
#12 |
(3-1) |
|
3-1 Manhattan; |
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|
#9 |
Troy |
(3-3) |
#8 |
(1-2) |
|
1-2 at Southern Miss; |
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|
#10 |
Samford |
(6-2) |
#13 |
(4-1) |
|
1-0 Alabama A&M; 1-0 at Jack St; 2-1 at South Alabama; |
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|
#11 |
Charlotte |
(5-2) |
#11 |
(2-2) |
|
0-1 at High Point; 2-1 Toledo; |
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|
#12 |
Dallas Baptist |
(3-4) |
#6 |
(0-4) |
|
0-1 at Oklahoma St; 0-3 at Rice; |
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|
#13 |
Purdue |
(5-1) |
#16 |
(2-1) |
|
1-0 at ECU; vs 0-1 Maryland; 1-0 vs Western Carolina |
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|
#14 |
Pepperdine |
(6-2) |
#21 |
(4-1) |
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2-0 VCU; 2-1 Fresno St; |
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|
#15 |
Stony Brook |
(4-0) |
#17 |
(4-0) |
|
2-0 Alabama St; 2-0 Nicholls St; |
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|
#16 |
Jacksonville |
(2-5) |
#14 |
(2-2) |
|
0-1 at Florida St; 2-1 Northeastern; |
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|
#17 |
Missouri St |
(5-3) |
#18 |
(3-1) |
|
2-0 Stephen F Austin; 1-0 UT-Arlington; 0-1 Houston Baptist |
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|
#18 |
Gonzaga |
(7-0) |
NR |
(4-0) |
|
2-0 vs Illinois; 2-0 at Lamar; |
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|
#19 |
St Johns |
(2-4) |
#10 |
(1-2) |
|
0-2 at Texas Tech; 1-0 vs Northern Illinois; |
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|
#20 |
Appalachian St |
(4-2) |
NR |
(2-1) |
|
2-1 at LSU; |
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|
#21 |
Fresno St |
(4-4) |
#15 |
(1-3) |
|
0-1 at Cal St Bakersfield; 1-2 at Pepperdine; |
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|
#22 |
Creighton |
(3-2) |
#19 |
(0-2) |
|
0-2 at Portland; |
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|
#23 |
Coastal Carolina |
(3-3) |
#24 |
(2-1) |
|
1-0 Iowa; 0-1 Virginia Tech; 1-0 NC State |
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|
#24 |
SE Louisiana |
(7-0) |
NR |
(4-0) |
|
1-0 La-Lafayette; 3-0 Eastern Illinois; |
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|
#25 |
Florida International |
(1-5) |
#20 |
(1-2) |
|
1-2 at Florida St; |
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|
Dropped Out |
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|
#22 |
UNC-Wilimington (2-5) | |||
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#23 |
UCONN(2-4) | |||
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#25 |
Belmont(3-4) | |||
|
Bubbles |
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|
San Francisco (5-2) Rhode Island (4-2) |
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Liberty (8-1) |
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San Diego (5-2) |
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Portland (5-0) |
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Mercer (8-1) |
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UNCG (7-0) |
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Wichita St (5-3) |
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Santa Clara (6-2) |
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Bethune-Cookman (4-3) |
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UCONN (2-4) |
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Texas A&M CC (6-2) |
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