Top 25 Tracker (March 14)


The Top 25 Tracker, powered by Louisville Slugger, recaps the weekend action.
1. Florida
Last Week: 5-0
Overall: 17-1, 0-0 in SEC (2-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
The Gators ran their winning streak to 11 games, highlighted by Alex Faedo’s carrying a perfect game into the seventh in the finale of their series with Harvard. The degree of difficulty ramps up with week with rival FSU coming to Gainesville, followed by the opening of SEC play against Missouri.
RESULTS
March 8-9: @/vs. North Florida: W 6-2, W 5-4
March 11-12: Harvard: W 16-5, W 9-2, W 3-1
UPCOMING
March 15: (13) Florida State
March 18-20: Missouri
2. Texas A&M
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 15-1, 0-0 in SEC (0-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
The Aggies cooled off a previously hot Fresno State team, winning a pair of close games before blowing the Bulldogs out on Sunday. They were down to their final out before scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the 10th Saturday, with Walker Pennington’s walk-off double completing the rally.
RESULTS
March 8: Northwestern State: W 7-6, CCD
March 11-13: Fresno State: W 3-2, W 4-3 (10 innings), W 12-1
UPCOMING
March 15: Texas
March 18-20: @ Auburn
3. Oregon State
Last Week: 2-1
Overall: 12-2, 0-0 in Pac-12 (0-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 1-0
Oregon State won its home-opening series against San Francisco, although Sunday’s loss was still unexpected—it was just USF’s third win of the year and snapped OSU’s 11-game winning streak. Sophomore ace Drew Rasmussen struck out a career-high 12 on Friday.
RESULTS
March 11-13: San Francisco: W 8-5, W 4-0, L 5-0
UPCOMING
March 18-20: Arizona State
4. Louisville
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 13-2, 3-0 in ACC (1-2 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-1
Louisville—which his still never lost an ACC series, mind you—opened league play with a sweep of Notre Dame. Two of the games easily could’ve gone the other way, but Nick Solak’s walk-off homer won the opener and Drew Harrington’s eight shutout innings led the way in the finale.
RESULTS
March 8: Longwood: W 10-1
March 11-12: Notre Dame: W 4-3 (11 innings), W 8-2, W 1-0
UPCOMING
March 15: Xavier
March 16: Wright State
March 18-20: @ (6) Miami
5. Vanderbilt
Last Week: 5-0
Overall: 15-1, 0-0 in SEC (0-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
The Commodores’ second 5-0 week of the season included two shutouts, while their Overall winning streak stretched to seven. Jordan Sheffield’s star continues to rise, as he took a no-hitter into the eighth against Xavier on Friday.
RESULTS
March 8-9: Radford: W 13-4, W 12-0
March 11-13: Xavier: W 7-0, W 14-3, W 5-2
UPCOMING
March 15: Northern Illinois
March 18-20: (15) Mississippi State
6. Miami
Last Week: 4-1
Overall: 13-3, 2-1 in ACC (1-2 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-1
The Hurricanes had to overcome rocky starts from Thomas Woodrey (2.2 IP, 8 ER) and Michael Mediavilla (4 IP, 4 ER) on Friday and Saturday to pull out their ACC-opening series at Virginia Tech. They finally got a strong outing on Sunday as Danny Garcia went seven innings, while Zack Collins and Jacob Heyward homered.
RESULTS
March 8: Maine: W 6-2
March 9: Stetson: W 4-2
March 11-13: @ Virginia Tech: L 14-3, W 11-6, W 7-2
UPCOMING
March 16: @ Central Florida
March 18-20: (4) Louisville
7. Louisiana State
Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 12-3, 0-0 in SEC (0-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
After getting upset by Ball State on Friday, the Tigers fell into a 2-0 hole early on Saturday before finally breaking through with an eight-run fourth inning. Sophomore Michael Papierski’s first career three-hit game led LSU in Sunday’s win.
RESULTS
March 8: Louisiana Tech: W 6-3
March 9: McNeese State: PPD
March 11-13: Ball State: L 7-1, W 9-3, W 10-6
UPCOMING
March 16: New Orleans
March 18-20: Alabama
8. Texas Christian
Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 12-3, 0-0 in Big 12 (2-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-0
Saturday’s wild game saw TCU give up a five-run lead against USC in the eighth inning, then fall behind in the 10th, only to come back with two in the bottom half, winning on Dane Steinhagen’s walk-off walk. USC’s A.J. Ramirez went deep twice on Sunday, the first home runs allowed by TCU pitching all season.
RESULTS
March 8: Texas-Arlington: W 5-1
March 11-13: Southern California: W 8-3, W 12-11 (10 innings), L 16-6
UPCOMING
March 15: @ Rice
March 18-20: West Virginia
9. California
Last Week: 1-1
Overall: 10-4, 0-0 in Pac-12 (0-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1-1
Rain plagued Cal’s series with Texas Tech, ultimately turning what was supposed to be a four-game set into a two-gamer, which the teams split. Daulton Jefferies struck out nine over seven innings on Friday, picking up his fourth win in as many starts.
RESULTS
March 11-13: Texas Tech: W 9-2, L 11-8, CCD, CCD
UPCOMING
March 17-10: @ Southern California
10. Virginia
Last Week: 4-1
Overall: 11-5, 2-1 in ACC (0-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
Virginia won its ACC-opening series for the eighth straight year, taking two of three at Duke. Connor Jones tossed eight shutout innings Friday while Matt Thaiss led the offense, hitting a three-run homer in that game and going 3-for-5 in Saturday’s win.
RESULTS
March 8-9: Wagner: W 6-2, W 20-7
March 11-13: @ Duke: W 6-0, W 7-6, L 3-0
UPCOMING
March 15-16: Towson
March 18-20: Wake Forest
11. North Carolina
Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 12-2, 2-1 in ACC (5-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
UNC’s one-two punch of junior righthander Zac Gallen (8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) and J.B. Bukauskas (7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K) didn’t give Pitt much of a chance on Friday or Saturday as the Tar Heels continued to roll. Sunday’s loss snapped an 11-game winning streak.
RESULTS
March 8: Gardner-Webb: W 11-5
March 11-13: Pittsburgh: W 14-2, W 4-0, L 5-0
UPCOMING
March 15: @ East Carolina
March 16: Elon
March 18-20: @ Duke
12. Mississippi
Last Week: 5-0
Overall: 15-1, 0-0 in SEC (3-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-0
There’s been no slowing down the Rebels, whose 10-game winning streak is the longest since a 12-game winning streak in 2013. Head coach Mike Bianco also won his 700th career game—600th at Ole Miss—on Friday night.
RESULTS
March 8-9: Southeast Missouri: W 9-2, W 6-4
March 11-13: Grambling State: W 15-2, W 7-3, W 6-1
UPCOMING
March 15-16: @ Alabama-Birmingham
March 18-20: @ Tennessee
13. Florida State
Last Week: 5-0
Overall: 13-3, 3-0 in ACC (3-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
Maybe no team had a better week than the Seminoles, who threw a combined no-hitter against Toledo and followed it up with a sweep of what had been an undefeated Georgia Tech team. The FSU offense is clicking, scoring at least eight runs in four games in the week.
RESULTS
March 8: South Florida: W 12-4
March 9: Toledo: W 3-2
March 11-13: (20) Georgia Tech: W 8-2, W 14-9, W 8-3
UPCOMING
March 15: @ (1) Florida
March 18-20: @ Pittsburgh
14. UCLA
Last Week: 2-2
Overall: 8-7, 0-0 in Pac-12 (1-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
After a sour start to the week, the Bruins rallied to take the final two games against Texas and win the series. DH Kort Peterson had a big weekend, homering twice and driving in at least one run every game.
RESULTS
March 8: @ Cal State Northridge: L 20-12
March 11-13: Texas: L 7-5, W 5-4, W 6-3
UPCOMING
March 18-20: Washington State
15. Mississippi State
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 12-3-1, 0-0 in SEC (3-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 1-0
Mississippi State broke out against Oregon, sweeping away the Ducks and their vaunted rotation. The Bulldogs have averaged 7.5 runs in their last six games, and they’ll need their bats to stay hot this week as they face another strong staff at Vanderbilt.
RESULTS
March 8: South Alabama: W 7-3
March 11-13: (11) Oregon: W 10-4, W 9-3, W 5-3
UPCOMING
March 15: Eastern Kentucky
March 16: Oral Roberts
March 18-20: @ (5) Vanderbilt
16. Louisiana-Lafayette
Last Week: 2-2
Overall: 10-6, 2-1 in Sun Belt (0-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-0
Spending the week on the road, the Ragin’ Cajuns lost a midweek tilt with Tulane but managed to win their series at Troy and started off Sun Belt play on a strong note. Lefthander Gunner Leger continues to set the tone on Fridays, moving to 1-1, 1.52 in four starts.
RESULTS
March 8: @ Tulane: L 5-3
March 11-13: @ Troy: W 4-2, L 4-1, W 8-3
UPCOMING
March 16: @ Northwestern State
March 18-20: Arkansas-Little Rock
17. Arkansas
Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 13-3, 0-0 in SEC (1-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-0
The Razorbacks came out on the wrong end of a slugfest against Gonzaga midweek, but their pitching staff came together on the weekend, holding Western Illinois to five total runs in a sweep.
RESULTS
March 8-9: Gonzaga: CCD, L 15-10
March 11-13: Western Illinois: W 3-2 (10 innings), W 9-3, W 3-0
UPCOMING
March 15-16: Grambling State
March 18-20: @ South Carolina
18. Michigan
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 11-3, 0-0 in Big Ten (1-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
The Wolverines enjoyed their getaway to Hawaii, sweeping the Rainbow Warriors in four games, including a Sunday doubleheader. Michigan might have a tougher time taking on Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
RESULTS
March 10-12: @ Hawaii: W 6-0, W 5-4 (10 innings), W 9-4 (7 innings), W 5-3 (7 innings)
UPCOMING
March 18-20: @ (22) Oklahoma State
19. Oregon
Last Week: 0-3
Overall: 8-5, 0-0 in Pac-12 (0-3 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-1
The Ducks knew they would be tested heading into SEC territory, and were they ever. A weekend rotation that had been outright dominant faltered against the Bulldogs, the worst of which came Saturday with lefthander Matt Krook lasting just 2/3 of an inning. The Ducks will look to rebound against Utah in their first Pac-12 series.
RESULTS
March 10: @ (23) Alabama: CCD
March 11-13: @ (24) Mississippi State: L 10-4, L 9-3, L 5-3
UPCOMING
March 18-20: Utah
20. Houston
Last Week: 2-1
Overall: 8-6, 0-0 in American (2-2 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-0
With lefthander Seth Romero back from suspension and pitching behind righthander Andrew Lantrip, Houston finally had its dynamic 1-2 punch atop its rotation. Lantrip and Romero delivered on the big stage, combining for 24 strikeouts and just two walks in two wins at Alabama.
RESULTS
March 8: Prairie View A&M: CCD
March 11-13: @ (23) Alabama: W 3-1, W 3-2, L 7-6
UPCOMING
March 15: @ Lamar
March 16: Texas Southern
March 18-20: Grand Canyon
21. North Carolina State
Last Week: 3-2
Overall: 13-4, 1-2 in ACC (1-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 1-1
After winning nine straight games, the Wolfpack had a difficult time with the surging Eagles. Committing four errors put the Wolfpack in too deep a hole Friday. N.C. State had a chance to win the series with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth Sunday but couldn’t cash in.
RESULTS
March 8-9: Fairfield: W 4-2, W 4-0
March 11-13: Boston College: L 7-0, W 3-2, L 1-0
UPCOMING
March 15-16: Indiana State
March 18-20: Notre Dame
22. Oklahoma State
Last Week: 3-0
Overall: 9-6, 0-0 in Big 12 (0-3 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
Oklahoma State has now posted back-to-back winning weekends after a slow start to the season. The competition level steps back up this week, however, with Big Ten favorite Michigan coming to town.
RESULTS
March 8: @ Missouri State: W 6-5 (10 innings)
March 11-13: Abilene Christian: W 8-2, W 16-0, PPD
UPCOMING
March 14: Abilene Christian
March 15: @ Dallas Baptist
March 18-20: (18) Michigan
23. College of Charleston
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 11-4, 0-0 in CAA (2-2 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 3-1
Charleston has won eight straight since losing a series at Florida State. Friday starter Nathan Helvey improved to 3-0, 0.98 with another win this weekend, helping the Cougars to a sweep of Mercer, the Southern Conference preseason favorite.
RESULTS
March 8: Richmond: W 5-3
March 11-13: Mercer: W 6-2, W 5-4, W 17-13
UPCOMING
March 15: @ Furman
March 16: Charleston Southern
March 19-20: Virginia Commonwealth
24. Long Beach State
Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 10-5, 0-0 in Big West (1-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 4-0
Strong pitching and defense has helped Long Beach win its first four Weekend Series, a formula it followed this weekend at Oklahoma. The Dirtbags also added another quality midweek win, defeating Fresno State on Monday.
RESULTS
March 7: Fresno State: W 4-3
March 11-13: @ Oklahoma: W 6-3, W 7-3, L 6-3
UPCOMING
March 15: Loyola Marymount
March 17-20: Columbia
25. Michigan State
Last Week: 5-0
Overall: 13-1, 0-0 in Big Ten (0-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 0-0
The Spartans began the season with 14 different opponents in 14 games and came out with just one blemish. Michigan State pounded out at least 10 hits in all five of its games Last Week, giving its pitching staff (which has a 2.16 ERA) plenty of support.
RESULTS
Snowbird Classic @ Port Charlotte, Fla.:
March 8: Illinois State: W 15-0
March 9: Florida Gulf Coast: W 7-6
March 11: Butler: W 9-2
March 12: St. Joseph’s: W 8-7
March 13: North Dakota State: W 9-5
UPCOMING
March 18-20 @ South Florida
DROPPED OUT
Georgia Tech
Last Week: 1-3
Overall: 12-3, 0-3 in ACC (0-3 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
The Yellow Jackets traveled to Tallahassee having won their first 12 games of the season, but they couldn’t continue the magic against their first ranked opponent of the year. Pitching was the culprit; Georgia Tech allowed 30 runs in three games.
RESULTS
March 8: @ Auburn: W 4-1
March 11-13: @ (15) Florida State: L 8-2, L 14-9, L 8-3
UPCOMING
March 15: Auburn
March 18-20: Virginia Tech
Alabama
Last Week: 1-2
Overall: 11-4, 0-0 in SEC (1-3 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
Alabama had no answer for Lantrip and Romero in the first two games of its series against Houston but bounced back to salvage a victory Sunday. Things get no easier this week as the Crimson Tide begin Southeastern Conference play at Louisiana State and its 1-2 punch of lefthander Jared Poche’ and righthander Alex Lange.
RESULTS
March 10: (11) Oregon: CCD
March 11-13: (21) Houston: L 3-1, L 3-2, W 7-6
UPCOMING
March 15: @ Southern Mississippi
March 18-20: @ (7) Louisiana State
East Carolina
Last Week: 3-2
Overall: 11-5, 0-0 in American (2-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Series: 2-1
East Carolina started the week strong with a pair of wins against George Mason but stumbled while facing old Conference USA rival Rice. After scoring 10 runs in the first game of the series, the Pirates managed just three runs over the next two days.
RESULTS
March 8-9: George Mason: W 8-1, W 6-0
March 11-13: @ Rice: W 10-1, L 7-2, L 4-1
UPCOMING
March 15: (11) North Carolina
March 18-20: Monmouth
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