Week 4 of the 2024 NCAA college baseball season ended on March 10, a week that saw upsets aplenty. Wake Forest lost their first in-conference series of the year, while LSU lost to Xavier on March 10. Thus, a new team has taken over the top spots in the college baseball rankings, as the Arkansas Razorbacks have jumped to #1.
Razorbacks Atop College Baseball After Week 4
For the first time this season, a team other than Wake Forest sits atop the USA Today/Coaches Poll in 2024. Arkansas moves into the top spot after a sweep of McNeese State. The Razorbacks are 13-2 on the year.
It’s been a softer schedule to this point for the Razorbacks, at least compared to some of their contemporaries in the top 25. Arkansas has yet to play a conference game, although that will change this weekend when Missouri heads to Fayetteville. The Razorbacks’ lone game against a ranked opponent was on February 23, when Arkansas defeated Oregon State.
Still, that doesn’t diminish the team’s start. Five starting Razorbacks, including Kendall Diggs and Jared Sprague-Lott, have a batting average of at least .350.
Arkansas wasn’t the only team to rise after this past weekend. Oregon State (#3), Texas A&M (#4), and Tennessee (#6) all moved up two spots. The Volunteers, in particular, have been on a tear offensively. Infielder Billy Amick has nine home runs in his first 17 games.
The Duke Blue Devils, meanwhile, jumped up four spots to #7 after beating Wake Forest two out of three times this past weekend in Winston-Salem. Freshman A.J. Gracia played a major role this past weekend for Duke, as he netted five hits and two home runs over the series.
Wake Forest, the former #1 team in the nation, went down to #5.
Florida, TCU Fall
Dating back to Opening Day, the Florida Gators have had their issues to contend with. Their struggles continued this past weekend, as Florida narrowly won two of three against Saint Mary’s. The Gaels defeated Florida on Saturday in Gainesville and nearly won Friday’s contest, which went to Florida in extra innings.
Florida’s offense, led by Jac Caglianone and Colby Shelton, has been terrific. On the flip side, Cade Fisher (22 H, 27 K, 4 BB over 16.2 IP) has been hit hard, while freshman Liam Peterson has struggled with command throughout the year. At 10-5, Florida went down four spots to #11.
TCU, meanwhile, had issues with Kansas in the Horned Frogs’ first taste of Big 12 conference play. The Horned Frogs lost the first two games of their weekend series and scored just five combined runs. TCU won the last game 13-4 but dropped four spots to #8.
Other notes
Texas Tech lost two of three in Austin to the Longhorns this past weekend. The Red Raiders gave up 31 combined runs over their two losses to Texas. Texas Tech went down eight spots to #25, while Texas fell two spots to #24.
Florida State continued their perfect season this past weekend. Across their three games this past weekend, the Seminoles scored a combined 47 runs. Cam Smith ended play on March 10 second in the nation in total hits (31).
The man atop the hits leaderboard this season is Georgia 1B/OF Charlie Condon. Georgia didn’t make it to the top 25 after the fourth weekend. The Bulldogs, did, however, receive 38 votes.
Condon, who’s making a strong push to be the top pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, has played a massive role in the Bulldogs’ success. The slugger ended play on March 10 with a .565 average and 12 home runs in 17 games.