N.C. STATE NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — N.C. State (19-1) is ranked No. 1 in the latest Collegiate Baseball NCAA Div. I baseball poll presented by Big League Chew.

It marks the first time in Wolfpack history the team has been No. 1 in baseball by any poll. N.C. State started the season with 19 straight wins before losing the finale of a 3-game series against Florida St. The Wolfpack won the 3-game series, two games to one.

N.C. State (5-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) has belted 55 doubles (No. 1 in nation) and 23 homers in 20 games and is averaging 8.8 runs per game. On defense, the Wolfpack has only committed 11 errors all season (third in nation with .985 fielding percentage).

Florida St., ranked No. 1 the previous two weeks, fell to 14th this week after losing three times last week. Among the losses were a 20-7 setback against Florida and 16-0 loss to N.C. State.

Poll Notes: Several teams are red-hot. Arizona St. is the only undefeated NCAA Div. I team in the nation with 19 consecutive wins and has a 3-0 record in the Pac-12 with three victories over against Washington St. It is the third best start in program history along with the 2008 Sun Devil squad. Auburn has won 13 straight, Georgia 9 in a row, U.C. Santa Barbara 12 of its last 13 and Illinois 6 in a row.

In key matchups over the weekend, UCLA took two of three at home against Oregon St., Texas A&M beat Vanderbilt two of three at home, Mississippi St. won two of three at Florida, Texas won two of three at home against Texas Tech., Louisiana St. swept a 3-game series at home against Kentucky, Georgia swept a 3-game series at South Carolina, North Carolina won two of three at home against Miami (Fla.), Louisville swept a 3-game series at Duke, Mississippi won two of three at home against Alabama and Auburn swept a 3-game series at home against Tennessee.

Three teams fell out of the top 30 in South Carolina (1-3 last week), Tennessee (2-3) and Alabama (2-2). New to the top 30 is U.C. Irvine (12-4, won 7 of last 8), Oklahoma (16-4, won 5 of last 6) and Michigan (13-4, won 4 in row).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1959 college baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball’s

NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll

(As of March 18, 2019)

Presented By

www.bigleaguechew.com



Rank Team (Record) Points PVS 1. N.C. State (19-1) 494 2 2. Mississippi St. (18-2) 493 5 3. UCLA (14-4) 491 6 4. Oregon St. (14-3-1) 490 3 5. Arizona St. (19-0) 488 9 6. Vanderbilt (15-5) 486 4 7. Louisiana St. (15-5) 484 10 8. Stanford (12-3) 480 8 9. Georgia (18-2) 478 13 10. Arkansas (17-2) 476 17 11. Coastal Carolina (16-4-1) 474 11 12. Auburn (18-2) 471 23 13. Florida (15-7) 468 16 14. Florida St. (14-4) 466 1 15. Louisville (16-4) 463 15 16. North Carolina (16-5) 461 14 17. Texas (15-7) 458 20 18. Texas Tech. (12-5) 457 7 19. Texas A&M (17-5) 456 21 20. Clemson (14-5) 455 12 21. East Carolina (15-6) 453 30 22. U.C. Santa Barbara (14-3) 451 25 23. Illinois (13-3) 449 29 24. U.C. Irvine (12-4)` 446 — 25. Oklahoma (16-4) 444 — 26. Baylor (13-5) 442 27 27. San Diego (14-6) 439 24 28. Mississippi (14-6) 437 19 29. Miami, Fla. (15-5) 434 28 30. Michigan (13-4) 431 —



Collegiate Baseball’s

National Players Of The Week

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LHP Jake Kuchmaner, East Carolina: Kuchmaner tossed the 28th perfect game in NCAA Division I history during a 3-0 win over Maryland. He struck out 8 as he set down 27 consecutive batters. Of the 27 batters faced, he only went to a full count on four hitters. He inducted 10 fly outs, nine ground outs along with his eight punch outs on 103 pitches. On the week, he appeared in two games, allowing one run (earned) on one hit with 14 strikeouts over 14 2/3 innings.

OF Chris Lanzilli, Wake Forest: Lanzilli hit 3 home runs with 3 doubles and collected 16 RBI over four games. He also walked twice and stole one base.

LHP Levi Prater, Oklahoma: Prater struck out a career-high 15 batters over 7 innings during a 6-1 win over Missouri St. Prater is the first Sooner pitcher since 1999 to strike out 15 batters in a game. He allowed only one hit, one walk and hit two batters.

SS Shay Whitcomb, U.C. San Diego: Whitcomb hit 5 doubles, 4 home runs, scored 8 runs and collected 13 RBI over four games as he went 11-for-22 at the plate. He compiled 28 total bases.

RHP Zak Kent, Virginia Military Institute: Kent tied a school record with 15 strikeouts during an 11-1 win over Lehigh in seven innings of work. The Mountain Hawks’ first batter of the game flew out. Kent’s next 11 recorded outs were via the strikeout. He only allowed one hit, one walk and one run.

2B Craig Larsen, Pennsylvania: Larsen went 8-for-20 at the plate as he hit 3 homers (including two grand slams) and compiled 13 RBI. He also hit two doubles and scored 9 runs over five games.

RHP Tanner Burns, Auburn: Burns turned in his third straight scoreless start and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 22 2/3 innings pitched. Against Tennessee in a 2-0 win, Burns struck out 9 and only walked 1. He has struck out 48 batters and issued 5 walks in 33 1/3 innings this season.

LHP Ethan Small, Mississippi St.: Small struck out 11 University of Florida batters over 6 innings as he only allowed 2 hits on the road. His only blemish was a fourth inning solo home run with two outs. His 11 strikeouts marked the fourth time this season he fanned double-digit batters.