LSU No. 9 in Final Baseball America Rankings
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Updated: June 26, 2012
DURHAM, N.C. - LSU is No. 9 in the final Baseball America magazine rankings released Tuesday, marking the Tigers' third Top 10 finish in the past five seasons.
The 2012 Tigers posted a 47-18 record and won the Southeastern Conference championship, LSU's second SEC title in the past four seasons. The Tigers were the No. 7 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, winning a Regional in Alex Box Stadium before playing host to a Super Regional.
LSU was 7-2 on the year against three SEC teams that advanced to the College World Series - Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina. The Tigers won two of three games at Florida and at South Carolina when both the Gators and Gamecocks were ranked No. 1 in at least one national poll.
LSU swept three games from Arkansas in Alex Box Stadium when the Razorbacks were rated No. 3 in the country.
The 2012 Tigers also were undefeated in midweek non-conference games for the first time in school history, and LSU captured its third SEC Western Division title in the past five seasons.
Arizona completed a perfect 10-0 run through the NCAA Tournament to win its first national title since 1986 and finish atop Baseball America's final Top 25 rankings. The Wildcats were ranked No. 5 in the preseason and never dropped below No. 14, where they sat for two weeks in May. They entered the NCAA tournament with a No. 13 ranking, then caught fire in the postseason. The Wildcats last topped Baseball America's rankings on March 10, 2008.
National runners-up South Carolina ends the season at No. 2, a jump of five spots from the end of the regular season. Florida, which entered the season and the postseason ranked No. 1, fell to No. 3 after an 0-2 showing in the College World Series.
Team W-L NCAA tourney Prev.
1. Arizona 48-17 10-0 13
2. South Carolina 49-20 9-3 7
3. Florida 47-20 5-2 1
4. Florida State 50-17 7-2 5
5. UCLA 48-16 6-2 9
6. Arkansas 46-22 7-3 NR
7. Stony Brook 52-15 6-4 25
8. Kent State 47-20 6-3 NR
9. LSU 47-18 4-2 3
10. Baylor 49-17 5-3 4
11. Oregon 46-19 4-2 10
12. North Carolina State 43-20 4-3 18
13. Stanford 41-18 3-2 19
14. Oklahoma 42-25 4-3 NR
15. St. John's 40-23 3-2 NR
16. Texas Christian 40-22 4-3 NR
17. North Carolina 46-16 2-2 6
18. Rice 41-19 1-2 8
19. Texas A&M 43-18 1-2 9
20. Kentucky 45-18 2-2 11
21. Cal State Fullerton 36-21 1-2 12
22. Mississippi State 40-24 1-2 14
23. Purdue 45-14 1-2 15
24. Oregon State 40-20 2-2 16
25. Virginia 39-19 1-2 17
