LSU Baseball Ranked No. 1 In The Nation And Up To 7th In RPI

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

In the end, LSU’s 7-4 loss to Arkansas on Sunday did not matter.

The Tigers (40-12, 17-10 Southeastern Conference) won the first two games of the series, 5-4, on Friday in the bottom of the 10th and, 13-3, on Saturday night by the 10-run rule in seven innings. That was enough for LSU on Monday to jump five spots to No. 1 in the nation in the Baseball America poll and two spots in the D1Baseball poll to No. 1.

“Thought last night’s performance was maybe the best game of the year,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said of the 13-3 win on Saturday night. “We’ve had a lot of good ones, but I thought that was really good. And we won an Omaha-caliber game on Friday night – close, back and forth, great opponent. There’s so much value in that and how we found a way to do that.”

The polls agreed.

LSU bumped Georgia (40-13, 16-11 SEC) from the No. 1 spot in Baseball America after the Bulldogs lost to of three at No. 25 Alabama (39-13, 15-12 SEC), which is now No. 18. Texas (40-20, 20-7 SEC) fell from No. 1 in D1Baseball to No. 6 after losing two of three at home to unranked Florida (35-18, 13-14 SEC), which is now No. 23.

Arkansas (41-11, 18-9 SEC) dropped to No. 7 from No. 3 in the Baseball America poll and to No. 8 from No. 7 in the D1Baseball poll.

LSU also rose from No. 9 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings to No. 7, which are more important and considered more strongly in determining the all-important top eight national seeds for the NCAA postseason that begins next month. Top eight seeds host in the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds.

“We’ve definitely earned the right to play home baseball,” Johnson said of the postseason. “Let’s just make it simple for the people who decide that this weekend.”

LSU closes the regular season at South Carolina (26-26, 5-22 SEC) this Thursday through Sunday. Then it’s off to Hoover, Alabama, for the SEC Tournament from May 20-25 with LSU likely opening on May 22 or May 23 as a one of the top four finishers in the league. LSU is third in the SEC standings now.