The fifth week of the 2024 NCAA college baseball season ended on March 17. The past weekend of action saw one undefeated team continue their rampage, while two other college baseball powers — the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and TCU Horned Frogs — struggled in conference action.
Seminoles Among Risers in 2024 College Baseball Season
After a dominant win in Gainesville this past weekend and a sweep of ACC rival Notre Dame this past week, the still-undefeated Florida State Seminoles jumped up 10 spots in the post-Week 5 USA Today/Coaches poll to #12.
Florida State’s offense has played a massive role in their success this season, as the Seminoles are tied for seventh in total hits (236) in Division I and first in batting average (.364). The 18-0 Seminoles have four hitters — Cam Smith, James Tibbs, Daniel Cantu, and Drew Faurot — who are batting .364 or higher on the season.
And on the pitching side of things, sophomore lefty Jamie Arnold has 44 strikeouts over 27.2 IP and has the lowest ERA (0.33) in all of Division I.
Vanderbilt and Kentucky Also Jump
Vanderbilt got off to an inauspicious start in February. But after this past weekend, the Commodores are back on track.
Vanderbilt swept SEC foe Auburn over the weekend, highlighted by an 11-1 win on March 15 in Nashville. Carter Holton struck out nine in that game and gave up just one run over seven frames.
The Commodores, led by Alan Espinal and RJ Austin, jumped to #3 in the Coaches poll after those three wins. Vanderbilt slots in right behind Arkansas and Oregon State, the latter of whom jumped to #2.
LSU (#4) and Clemson (#5) round out the top five.
Kentucky, meanwhile, jumped to #25 after a sweep of Charlie Condon and the Georgia Bulldogs. The Wildcats outscored Georgia 37-15 over the weekend.
Wake Forest, TCU Fall Yet Again
The TCU Horned Frogs’ Big 12 schedule has not gotten off to an ideal start. One week after dropping a series to the Kansas Jayhawks, TCU was swept by Oklahoma in Week 5.
The sweep pushed the Sooners to #20, while TCU dropped to #18.
It’s the second straight week TCU’s fallen in the college baseball rankings. And, the same can be said for Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons dropped their second ACC series in a row, as Wake Forest lost two of three to Virginia. Wake Forest gave up 27 runs in their two losses. On Friday night, ace Josh Hartle gave up seven runs (6 ER) in 1.2 IP.
Four schools — NC State, South Carolina, Texas, and Texas Tech — all dropped out of the top 25.