Tigers earn top-spot in national poll

| | | |

Ryan Eades named SEC Pitcher of the Week

Tiger Rag News Services

LSU is ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll released Monday. The Tigers (30-7) have won 13 of their last 14 games, including the last six in a row, and are tied for first place in the SEC standings with No. 2 Kentucky.

LSU and Kentucky meet in Lexington, Ky. this weekend in a three-game league series beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT Friday in Cliff Hagan Stadium.

The 2012 club becomes the third LSU team to be ranked No. 1 during the six-season tenure of coach Paul Mainieri. The 2009 team, which won the national championship, was ranked No. 1 in seven different weeks. The 2010 Fighting Tiger squad held a No. 1 ranking for three weeks.

“We’re certainly very proud of the No. 1 ranking,” Mainieri said. “It brings a lot of notoriety, but it also brings a lot of responsibility. We are not going to ask our players to do anything more that what they’ve been doing. We want them to continue to play relaxed and aggressive, and have fun. It’s a great honor, but it’s most important to be No. 1 at the end of the year.”

LSU’s next game is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, when the Tigers play host to Lamar in Alex Box Stadium.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper                               
NCAA Div. I Poll
(As of April 16, 2012)                     
Rank School (Record)                     Points   Previous
1. LSU (30-7)                                       497                         3
2. Kentucky (32-5)                           496                         1
3. Baylor (30-7)                                  495                         5
4. Florida (28-8)                                 492                         4
5. Florida St. (29-7)                          490                         2
6. Oregon (24-10)                             487                         10
7. UCLA (24-8)                                   486                         11
8. Arizona (24-11)                             479                         8
9. Texas A&M (28-8)                       477                         6
10. North Carolina (27-9)               474                         12
11. Rice (27-11)                                 472                         13
12. Central Florida (30-8)               469                         15
13. South Carolina (27-10)            467                         18
14. Cal St. Fullerton (23-12)          466                         14
15. Miami, Fla. (25-11)                    464                         7
16. Arkansas (25-10)                       463                         9
17. San Diego (29-8)                        461                         19
18. N.C. State (24-10)                     460                         17
19. Stanford (22-9)                          458                         16
20. Sam Houston St. (25-10)        456                         20
21. Arizona St. (23-13)                    454                         24
22. Purdue (28-5)                             453                         22
23. Texas (20-13)                              451                         25
24. Mississippi (24-12)                    449                         21
25. New Mexico St. (27-10)          448                         23
26. Oklahoma (22-14)                     446                         -
27. Louisville (25-11)                       439                         26
28. Texas Christian (20-13)           436                         -
29. Missouri St. (27-10)                  434                         -
30. Oregon St. (23-11)                    430                         -

Tigers take home consecutive league Pitcher of the Week honors

LSU sophomore right-hander Ryan Eades was named Monday as the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week by the league office.

Eades pitched brilliantly in Saturday’s win over Alabama, limiting the Crimson Tide to only two hits in 7.1 innings. He fired 116 pitches in the outing, allowing just one run with four walks and five strikeouts.

Eades gave up just two singles to Alabama, one in the fourth inning and one in the seventh. He improved his record to 5-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.51, the best among LSU’s starting pitchers.

Eades’ recognition marked the second consecutive week an LSU hurler was named SEC Pitcher of the Week. Junior left-hander Brent Bonvillain received the honor last Monday.

A total of five LSU players have received either SEC Player or Pitcher of the Week designations this season including Eades, Bonvillain, sophomore right-hander Kevin Gausman, junior leftfielder Raph Rhymes and junior rightfielder Mason Katz.