The Gators poured it on this past weekend, and the latest rankings took note.
Florida returned to No. 1 in the D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, ending Oregon State’s three-week run at the top. The Gators opened the season at No. 1 and spent the first three weeks there before slipping a spot to No. 2 in Week Four, but they’ve still yet to lose a series this weekend, and now they’re riding a six-game winning streak — with all six runs coming against opponents ranked in the top 10. After shutting out rival Florida State midweek, Florida outscored then-No. 8 Vanderbilt 26-8 in a dominating three-game sweep this weekend.
Oregon State dropped three spots to No. 4 after a stunning series loss to Utah, which entered the weekend with a 4-19 record. The Utes started the season 0-13, while Oregon State began 13-0, but OSU’s vaunted pitching allowed 24 runs in three games against Utah this weekend.
RELATED: Full D1Baseball.com Top 25 rankings
Stanford and Ole Miss moved up one spot apiece to Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, after bouncing back from series-opening losses to win their weekend series. Ole Miss took two of three at home from No. 5 Arkansas, which stayed put after a 2-2 week capped by its second straight road series loss against a top-five opponent.
Indiana made its debut in the top 10 after a 4-0 week, climbing one spot to 10th. Other notable climbers this week include East Carolina (up four spots to No. 12 after winning a series against Wichita State) and Duke (up five spots to No. 14 after improving to 9-3 in the ACC, tied with No. 8 NC State for the best record in the league).
A big shutout victory for @ECUBaseball over Wichita State earns the Pirates a second straight @American_BSB series victory. Tyler Smith (@Timmy562) throws a career high 7.1 innings. Checkout the highlights from Saturday's rubber match here: pic.twitter.com/KZbchB7iWZ
— Zach Maskavich (@ZachMaskavich) March 31, 2018
There was serious upheaval in the bottom half of the rankings, as five teams dropped out, and five new teams entered. SEC upstarts Georgia and Missouri vaulted into the rankings at Nos. 16 and 18, respectively. The Bulldogs improved to 7-2 in the league with a series win against Texas A&M, while the Tigers won a huge road series at Auburn. Oklahoma jumped into the rankings at No. 20 after sweeping its second straight Big 12 series, this one against Baylor. Conference USA leader Louisiana Tech made its season debut in the rankings at No. 22, and Missouri Valley Conference power Missouri State entered at No. 23.
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Texas A&M and Louisville both tumbled out of the rankings after each lost its third straight series, and TCU fell all the way out from No. 18 after getting swept by Oklahoma State to fall to 14-10 overall. San Diego State and Illinois also dropped out after losing series in their first weekends in the rankings.
D1Baseball editors Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers determine the Top 25 rankings. Records are through games of April 1.
