Courtesy: Bill Simmonds

Diamond Dogs Climb Back Into Rankings

April 30, 2012

STARKVILLE, Miss. - A third straight home SEC series win over the weekend has helped propel Mississippi State back into the national rankings.

State (27-17/10-11 SEC) is ranked 29^th in this week's poll compiled by Tucson-based Collegiate Baseball, the oldest of the nation's college baseball polls.

Baylor (38-8), coached by former MSU assistant coach Steve Smith, heads up this week's Collegiate Baseball national rankings, which include five other SEC teams: No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 LSU, No. 8 Florida and No. 13 Arkansas.

Mississippi State was ranked in the top 25 by Baseball America and in the ESPN/USA Today polls in back-to-back weeks in March.

State takes aim on its fourth SEC weekend series win in five weeks this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a three-game, graduation weekend series against the Crimson Tide (17-28/6-15 SEC). The Bulldogs are in a three-way tie for third place in the SEC Western Division and in the thick of a tight race for a berth in the upcoming 10-team SEC Baseball Tournament May 22-27 in Hoover, Ala.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's
NCAA Div. I Poll
(As of April 30, 2012)

Rank School (Record) Points Previous

1. Baylor (38-8) 499 T-1

2. Florida St. (36-7) 498 5

3. Kentucky (36-9) 497 T-1

4. South Carolina (33-11) 496 7

5. Louisiana St. (35-10) 495 3

6. Arizona (29-13) 484 6

7. Oregon (30-13) 481 9

8. Florida (33-12) 480 4

9. Rice (30-12) 476 8

10. Stanford (28-11) 474 13