Top 25 Poll

By John Manuel
April 26, 2002

Sometimes, people do things that are unexplainable, because they love the game of baseball.

Like Allan Simpson starting Baseball America in his garage in White Rock, British Columbia, in 1981. While it's not quite as ambitious, Rick Rollins has been doing the same thing for a couple of years on the Internet, compiling Division I statistics because he loves college baseball. If you haven't already visited his site, the link is now on BA's College page. His page is an invaluable tool for this column, and instead of focusing mostly on the Top 25 this weekend, we'll take a hard look at each conference race, with Rollins' page as our guide.

Sorry, we didn't have time to look at every league, just the ones with really tight league races.

AMERICA EAST
Quite a race, with four teams tied for first place after Vermont upset Maine last weekend, winning three of four games to hand the Black Bears their first three losses in league play. Vermont and Maine are 5-3, with Stony Brook and Binghamton--both new to Division I and the league--tied at 7-5.

Catamounts coach Bill Currier, in his 15th season (all in Burlington), reached the 300 win mark April 9 in a win at Dartmouth and has his team playing well. The Cats swept Brown on Wednesday and have won nine of their last 12, including four straight. Vermont plays host to Binghamton this weekend, while Stony Brook plays out of the conference against New York Tech. Maine plays host to fifth-place Albany (5-7).

ATLANTIC 10
It's a showdown weekend in the league, with No. 22 Richmond (35-6, 14-1) at George Washington (27-13, 13-2), the preseason league favorite. The teams play a doubleheader Saturday with one game Sunday. Richmond has relied heavily on righthanders Tim Stauffer (11-1, 1.40) and Mike McGirr (9-1, 3.50) all year, but now has sophomore lefthander Thomas Martin back from offseason elbow surgery. He was won his first two outings, pitching eight solid innings, and is scheduled to start the second game of the double-dip on Saturday.

While Richmond gets more attention for its pitching (league-best 3.70 ERA), the Colonials lead the league in batting (.320), slugging (.519), on-base percentage (.410), runs (314), hits, RBIs and doubles, and is tied with Richmond with 53 home runs. While Spiders third baseman David Reaver (.434) leads the league in batting and has a 34-game, school-record hitting streak, GW has senior third baseman Mike Kimmel (.509 on-base, 40 runs), and senior outfielder Mike Bassett, who ranks second in the league (to Richmond's Matt Craig and Vito Chiaravalloti, respectively) in RBIs (51) and homers (11).

ACC
The biggest matchup in the nation has the teams with the best and second-best records in the country meeting at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. No. 1 Clemson plays host to No. 3 Wake Forest, which has never been ranked this high before. But Wake Forest--13-2 on the road this year--has never had pitchers like sophomore righthander Kyle Sleeth (8-0, 2.99) and senior righthander David Bush (4-1, 0.48 ERA with three saves in 14 ACC games), who needs 10 appearances and seven saves to become the ACC's career leader in both categories.

This tidbit from the Wake notes: the Demon Deacons are 66-0 when leading after seven innings over the last two seasons. Incredible.

Jack Leggett Photo: Robert Gurganus

Clemson is only the nation's top-ranked team, coming off an impressive 4-1 win at South Carolina, and held Duke to five runs in last weekend's three-game sweep. Clemson holds a 33-6 edge in the series all-time at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and won two of three in the series last year at Hooks Stadium, including a win on Friday against Bush in extra innings.

Clemson's hottest hitter is junior outfielder Kyle Frank, riding a 13-game hitting streak to boost his average to .385. The Tigers have junior outfielder Jarrod Schmidt back this week, but All-America third baseman Jeff Baker is listed as day-to-day after missing Wednesday's game with strained quadriceps.

The rest of the league schedule includes Miami visiting No. 19 North Carolina. The Hurricanes have played better of late, winning two of three last weekend from Long Beach State and then rallying for an important win against No. 17 Florida Atlantic on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the league, North Carolina State is at No. 8 Florida State, Duke visits Maryland, and No. 14 Georgia Tech plays host to Virginia.

ATLANTIC SUN
It's another huge series for Stetson, which has had it rough of late. The Hatters lost two of three at home to FAU last weekend, lost sophomore Brian Snyder to a broken hand, then had to face Canadian prep phenom Adam Loewen in an exhibition game on Wednesday. Loewen, facing a lineup filled with backups, held Stetson in check before it rallied for a 16-10 win against the Canadian junior team.

This weekend, Stetson plays Central Florida, last year's nemesis and league champion. The Golden Knights don't have top draft picks Jason Arnold and Justin Pope this year, but they have better pitching depth and have improved after a rough start to stand second in the league, a half game ahead of the Hatters at 14-4.

"We're playing a lot of freshmen, and we knew we'd be better in the second half than we were early," assistant coach Greg Frady said. "Our freshmen outfielders, Clay Timpner and Dee Brown, are the real deal, and our leadoff hitter, (sophomore DH) David Mann, is hitting .433 and doing a great job in that role."

Young pitchers are helping on the mound, as freshman righthander Taylor Cobb has moved into the weekend rotation to join junior transfers Lincoln Mincks and Mark Michael. The Kentucky transfer Michael has been dominant at times, while Mincks (from Iowa State) has been an innings eater.

First-place Florida Atlantic plays host to fourth-place Jacksonville and senior righthander Bryan Williams, he of the ridiculous 0.18 ERA and three straight complete-game shutouts.

BIG EAST
The three-way tie atop the league will be broken, if only because Notre Dame--knotted with Boston College and Virginia Tech at 11-6 in league play--and Hokies both play out of the league this weekend. The Irish plays host to Arizona State in what should be an emotional weekend, as Pat Murphy returns to South Bend.

Murphy laid the foundation for Notre Dame's current success, stringing together several 40-win seasons and coaching the likes of Diamondbacks infielder Craig Counsell before succeeding Jim Brock as ASU's coach after the 1993 season. Paul Mainieri, the Irish's current coach, succeeded Murphy and has taken the program to greater heights, though a trip to Omaha remains elusive. A series win against Arizona State would have sentimental value as well as prove to its many naysayers that Notre Dame is a legitimate national contender, a distinction it has to earn on the field, not in the polls.

Boston College is the only league leader engaged in league play this weekend, playing host to two-way star Charlie Bilezikjian and St. John's. Rutgers, alone in fourth place at 10-7, plays host to West Virginia. The team that could make a move is fifth-place Connecticut (21-16, 9-7), which plays host to last-place Georgetown.

BIG SOUTH
Another showdown at the top of a league, with first-place Coastal Carolina (27-15, 8-4) visiting third-place Elon (26-13, 7-5). Second-place Liberty (21-18, 9-6) has the weekend off in league play, instead playing a two-game set against the Big East's Virginia Tech.

BIG 10
The big series in the Big 10 has Purdue (9-7) traveling to Ohio State (23-11-1, 11-4), where the first-place Buckeyes are coming off a series win against Indiana. The Hoosiers are tied for second place with Michigan State at 9-6 and play at Minnesota (17-20, 8-6), while Michigan State (26-9, 9-6) plays at Iowa (6-10, second-to-last in league).

BIG 12
The best matchup in the Big 12 has Oklahoma State visiting conference leader Texas (12-6), but it will do so with a different lineup than it had last week. A clerical error left freshman DH Josh Fields off the Cowboys roster, leaving them short with their best righthanded bat unavailable. Suffice it to say Fields will be in the lineup when Oklahoma State faces Texas' two lefthanders, 11-game winner Justin Simmons and Brad Halsley (5-1, 2.45). Texas is all about pitching. The Longhorns lead the nation with a 2.47 ERA and have 344 strikeouts in 401 innings.

But OSU can pitch it too. Sophomore righthander Scott Baker has returned to the front of the Cowboys rotation after back-to-back complete-game wins against Oral Roberts and Nebraska. He's 5-0, 2.68 after becoming the first Cowboy since current assistant Jason Bell in 1994 to throw back-to-back CGs.

Elsewhere in the league, it's Baylor at Kansas State; Kansas at Nebraska; Missouri at Texas A&M; and Oklahoma at Texas Tech.

BIG WEST
It's the biggest weekend of the season in the Big West, with UC Irvine visiting 15th-ranked Long Beach State while No. 23 Cal State Northridge plays No. 11 Cal State Fullerton.

Irvine is 25-18, 6-3, trailing LBSU (26-12, 8-1), which leads the league by percentage points. The Titans (28-13, 10-2) are a half-game up in the win-loss department entering the series with the Matadors (29-13, 9-3), one game back. It's really a four-team chase for regional berths, and after last season, when the Big West finished fourth in the NCAA's RPI ratings, four regional spots might not be too much of a stretch. For that to happen, though, UC Irvine would have to upset the Beach and finish strong in the league.

The Titans are red-hot, having won seven straight and 17 of 20 overall. But the Matadors are also hot, winning nine of 11 in April behind a powerful offense. Their 72 home runs are almost twice as many as any other league team. The Friday matchup of CSUF's sophomore righthander Wes Littleton (7-2, 1.46) and CSUN junior lefty Bill Murphy (8-2, 2.85) will be one of the nation's best this weekend.

CAA
The biggest series in the Colonial matches the second-place teams in the two divisions, with James Madison (9-2) visiting George Mason (8-2). The Patriots were scheduled for six games in seven days this week, capped by this series. Junior righthander Chris Murray has gotten hot on the mound, going 4-1, 2.08 in his last five starts.

The league leaders, North Carolina-Wilmington (10-2) and Virginia Commonwealth (10-2), play host to Towson and Delaware, respectively. UNCW has gotten a major lift from senior transfer Kiley Vaughn, whose defense at shortstop and offense from the leadoff spot have keyed the club all year. UNCW ranked in the top 10 nationally in ERA and in fielding percentage.

C-USA
Houston and Louisville (13-5 in the league) are tied for the Conference USA lead, but the Cougars have a chance to get some separation this weekend when they visit Saint Louis (5-12), second-to-last in the league. Louisville plays host to fourth-place Texas Christian (11-7), last week's co-leader with Houston before it was swept by Tulane.

The Green Wave have finally started putting things together, winning five straight to move to 25-18, 10-8, just three games out of first place. Tulane visits disappointing Cincinnati (5-12-1); third-place Southern Mississippi visits last-place UAB, while fifth-place East Carolina (10-7-1) visits Memphis (7-11) in a series set for AutoZone Park.

METRO ATLANTIC
It's a two-team race, with red-hot Marist trailing LeMoyne (14-1) by a game. The Red Foxes play host to Manhattan, while the Dolphins visit Canisius.

MID-AMERICA
It's a showdown in the MAC between the top teams in the Western Division. Ball State (10-6) prospects Bryan Bullington (6-2, 2.30, league-best 79 strikeouts, eight walks) and Luke Hagerty lead the Cardinals into a four-game set at Eastern Michigan (11-5). The Eagles were 3-13 at one point this season, but have won 13 of their last 18 to take the division lead.

Ball State's coming off a series loss at home to Kent State, which won three of four in Muncie last weekend to take over first place in the Eastern Division. The Golden Flashes (8-2) play host to Akron (6-5).

MISSOURI VALLEY
Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State are tied atop the league with .750 winning percentages, and for the second straight weekend, one of them will play Creighton. The Blue Jays split a four-game set against the Shockers last weekend in Omaha, but have to go to Springfield, Mo., to play the Bears this weekend. Wichita State plays its last non-conference series of the season on a weekend, against Howard.

NORTHEAST
Monmouth had won its first 16 games in the league before dropping a doubleheader to Sacred Heart last Sunday. That's two games better than Maryland-Baltimore County, which plays host to Quinnipiac this weekend. Monmouth faces Mount Saint Mary's.

PACIFIC 10
Very interesting weekend in the disappointing Pac-10, which has only one ranked team, No. 4 Stanford. The Cardinal travels to Corvallis this weekend to face Oregon State in the first-ever night game at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, the Beavers' home field for 96 years.

"If you can't get yourself ready to play this weekend, then you'd better take a look in the mirror," Beavers coach Pat Casey said. "We've got a lot of things on the line as far as trying to improve our position for getting into a regional, we've got the first (home) night game in school history, and we get a chance to play what might be the best team in the country. It's about as big as weekends get."

Stanford has its own agenda, starting with its modest 5-4 league record. The Cardinal will finish a stretch of having three of its first four league series on the road, and has started to struggle a bit on the mound. Lefty Tim Cunningham's ERA has ballooned to 4.24, and righthander Jeremy Guthrie left his last start after six innings with a sore arm. The team ERA is an un-Stanford-like 3.98, almost half a run higher than last season.

League-leading Southern California is the Pac-10's hottest team, coming off a 10-8 win against No. 25 San Diego State that included a triple steal. Outfielder Michael Morales stole home at the front of the triple steal to rally the Trojans past closer Royce Ring. USC also beat UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, giving it a season-high six-game winning streak and moving it to 26-16, 9-3 in the league. Arizona comes to Dedeaux Stadium this weekend.

Washington (17-19, 5-4) plays at California (26-19, 8-7) in matchup where a sweep would make one of these teams a regional favorite. Also, it's Washington State at UCLA.

PATRIOT
Lafayette leads the league at 9-3 in the conference and plays host to last-place Bucknell for four. Lehigh, one game back at 8-4 and having tied its school record with 23 wins overall, plays at third-place Navy (10-6).

SOUTHEASTERN
It usually doesn't take 2,500 words to get to the SEC, but oh well. As usual, several crucial series in the nation's deepest conference.

The best matchup might be the baseball version of the world's largest cocktail party, as Georgia visits Florida. Both teams are 11-7 in the league, a half-game behind South Carolina in the Eastern Division. The first-place Gamecocks play at Kentucky, a shocking 3-15 in the league, the SEC's worst record.

Alabama, still carrying the league's best record at 13-5, plays host to Auburn in one of the league's hottest rivalries. The Crimson Tide has won five of the last seven series and hasn't lost in Tuscaloosa since 1994, but Auburn swept the series last year.

Sixth-ranked Mississippi plays host to Tennessee in teams with opposite league records (12-6, 6-12), and the Rebels have to guard against looking ahead to next weekend's series at South Carolina. LSU plays host to Arkansas, which has the same overall record as Georgia (23-15) but is just 7-8 in the league, two wins behind the Tigers. Mississippi State (9-8) visits Vanderbilt (just 3-13).

SOUTHERN
This competitive league has settled down into a four-team race between The Citadel (16-5) and Western Carolina (14-7), with UNC Greensboro a game back of WCU at 11-6. The Spartans play host to College of Charleston, which has cooled off to 10-8 in the league. The Catamounts play at fourth-place Georgia Southern (13-8), three games off first place. The Bulldogs play host to Wofford.

SOUTHLAND
Northwestern State has heated back up after a March swoon and stands tied for the league lead with streaking Louisiana-Monroe. The Indians have won 11 of 13 and play host to Texas-San Antonio this weekend. The Demons are off this weekend. Third-place McNeese State, one game back, plays host to Texas-Arlington.

SUN BELT
League-leading South Alabama plays host to Florida International this weekend. The Golden Panthers, one of three Sun Belt teams to have been ranked this year, got back on track with a sweep last weekend but have struggled on the road. The Jaguars have won nine in a row and have averaged 12 hits per game during the streak. Second baseman Josh Touchstone has five homers and nine RBIs during the streak, while junior left fielder Ryan Mulhern has four homers and 11 RBIs.

After taking a weekend off, second-place Louisiana-Lafayette (9-3) returns to action at Middle Tennessee State, while third-place Western Kentucky (8-3), also returning to league play after a weekend off, plays host to New Orleans.

WAC
For those who don't know, Rice is pretty freaking good. The second-ranked Owls have a 2.77 Team ERA, better by more than a run than anyone else in the WAC (San Jose State is next at 3.98). The Owls are the only WAC team hitting over .300 (OK, so the Spartans are behind by a hare, hitting .299), batting a robust .333 with a league-best 50 home runs, 106 doubles and 14 triples. Only San Jose State has more walks, no one has more stolen bases and no one averages more runs per game.

In other words, it's Rice's league. The Owls play host to Louisiana Tech in a series that started Thursday with a 3-2 Owls victory, behind a 10-strikeout complete game by freshman righthander Philip Humber (9-1). Second-place San Jose State (33-12, 12-6) plays at disappointing Nevada.

WEST COAST
Finally, the West Coast Conference is wide open. San Diego has struggled ever since the injuries to middle infielders Mike McCoy (he's back) and Ben Quinto (he's not), and took a 21-3 pounding Wednesday against Long Beach State. The Toreros have the most wins in the league at 12-9 and lead the West Division heading into this weekend's matchup with Gonzaga (11-7), which trails Pepperdine by two in the loss column in the Coast division. The Bulldogs are led by senior first baseman Nate Gold, the nation's home runs leader with 28.

The Waves play at Portland (9-9), which is tied with San Diego in the loss column in the West. And Saint Mary's (9-6) will try to follow everyone else's lead by fattening up on San Francisco (2-18) this weekend in the Bay Area.