College World Series Tickets

Six teams secure College World Series bid

The field for the 2008 College World Series is almost set, with one game/two games scheduled for Monday to determine the final spots in the field. Here's a recap of Sunday's action:

Left Bracket

Miami hangs on, beats Arizona

Miami scored three runs in the top of the first and made it stand up as they advanced to the College World Series with a 4-2 win over Arizona Sunday night.

Yonder Alonso hit a two-run homer in the first to help spark the Hurricanes to the early lead. Arizona had a chance to come back and tie the game late, but left the bases loaded as reliever Carlos Gutierrez pitched Miami out of trouble and picked up the save.

The win secured Miami's 23rd trip to the College World Series and first since 2006.

Georgia wraps up tournament trip

Gordon Beckham hit a pair of homers and drove in four runs as Georgia pounded North Carolina State 17-8 to secure the Bulldogs' third CWS bid in five years.

The Bulldogs jumped Wolfpack starter Eric Surkamp and put nine runs on the board in the botom of the first inning to put things out of reach early.

Georgia also got homer runs from Ryan Peisel, Bryce Massanari and Joey Lewis.

Seminoles explode against Shockers

Florida State continued its trend of offensive explosions with a six-run first inning on their way to an 11-4 win over Wichita State to clinch a College World Series bid.

Jack Rye hit a three-run homer in the first inning to spark the Seminoles to their 13th College World Series trip. Florida State has scored 99 runs in their six tournament wins, all coming while facing elimination.

Right Bracket

Tar Heels going back to Omaha

North Carolina ended Coastal Carolina's dreams of a first College World Series appearance, scoring six in the second on their way to a 14-4 win and a two-game series sweep.

Adam Warren took a no-hitter into the fifth and threw two-hit ball over six innings to get the Tar Heels the win. Dustin Ackley drove in three runs to highlight the Tar Heels' offensive output.

Tigers avoid elimination

LSU was three outs from elimination before making an improbable comeback to beat UC Irvine 9-7 and force a deciding third game Monday on its home field.

The Tigers got RBI singles from Blake Dean and Sean Ochinko with the bases loaded to help the Tigers storm from behind. Eric Pettis got the win in relief for the Tigers, who avoided back-to-back losses for the first time in well over a month.

Late comeback gives Owls victory

Adam Zornes' two-run homer in the eighth helped Rice come from behind to sweep Texas A&M with a 6-5 win and earn the Owls' third straight College World Series appearance.

It was the second straight year the Owls swept the Aggies to earn a CWS trip. Bobby Bell, who missed all of last year with Tommy John surgery, pitched two scoreless innings of relief to close the door on the Aggies.

Slam helps Bulldogs force third game

Arizona State looked to be in command and cruising toward a super regional sweep, but Fresno State had other plans as they came back for an 8-6 win to force a third game Monday.

The Bulldogs were trailing 5-3 in the fourth when Gavin Hedstrom changed things with a two-out grand slam to left center. Hedstrom drove in another run later to finish with five RBIs.

Greg Bordes was 3-for-4 with a two-run triple that helped Arizona State to a 5-2 lead in the fourth before Hedstrom's slam changed the momentum.

Stanford advances to College World Series

Stanford is the first team to punch their ticket to the 2008 College World Series, and three super regional series will need a third game to decide the champion. Here's a rundown of Saturday's results:

Left Bracket

Stanford sweeps Titans

A three-run rally in the sixth inning helped Stanford hold off a Cal State Fullerton comeback, giving the Cardinal an 8-5 win and a trip to the College World Series.

Stanford, which swept the Titans in an earlier series this year, got a big lift from Jason Castro, who hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth to give Stanford the lead for good. The hit came after Cal State Fullerton tied the game in the top of the inning on an RBI double by Erik Komatsu.

The loss was only the second time Cal State Fullerton lost a super regional in its history and the first time they were swept in 30 super regional appearances.

Wolfpack ties series with Georgia

A four-run seventh inning helped North Carolina State avoid elimination with a 10-6 win over Georgia Saturday.

The Wolfpack got two RBIs each from Jeremy Synan, Ryan Pond, Tommy Foschi and Russell Wilson to make a Sunday winner-take-all game neccessary.

Georgia has never lost a regional or super regional at home. North Carolina State is trying for their first CWS appearance since 1968.

Seminoles bounce back again

Last week, Florida State was shut out in its regional opener, then exploded for over 50 runs to win their regional.

They did it again Saturday, bouncing back from a first-game defeat to pound Wichita State 14-4 and require a third game in the super regional Sunday.

Matt Fairel threw eight innings of solid ball for the host Seminoles and ended Wichita State's 10-game winning streak. Dennis Guinn's two-run single sparked a five-run third inning that broke a 3-3 tie.

Miami hangs on against Arizona

Facing elimination at home, Miami hung on down the stretch and outscored Arizona 14-10 to tie their super regional series at 1-1.

Mark Sobolewski homered in the sixth to spark a four-run inning that gave Miami the lead for good. Miami trailed 4-1 going into the fourth and scored six to take the lead, but Arizona answered with three runs of their own to tie the game at 7-7 after four innings.

Right Bracket

Anteaters snap Tigers' winning streak

UC Irvine has no problem going on the road to earn a trip to the College World Series, and they proved it by beating LSU 11-5 in their super regional opener Saturday.

The win is a huge one, as it not only moves the Anteaters to within one game of a second straight CWS appearance, but it ended LSU's nation-leading 23-game win streak.

Sean Madigan and Brock Bardeen both homered for the Anteaters, who broke the game open with eight runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

UNC takes advantage of errors

North Carolina made the most of six Coastal Carolina miscues to post a 9-4 win in their regional opener on Saturday.

Kyle Seager, Kyle Shelton and Seth Williams each drove in a pair of runs to move the second-seeded Tar Heels to within a game of a third straight CWS trip. Alex White pitched well in the winning effort, striking out six and scattering eight hits over seven innings.

Owls hold off Texas A&M

Cole St. Clair pitched very well in relief and got some timely hitting to help Rice beat Texas A&M 9-7 in their first super regional matchup Saturday.

Jordan Dodson drove in four runs, two coming on a double in the fifth inning. He later came home on an error to help Rice regain the momentum after the Aggies tied the game at 5-5 with three in the top of the fifth.

Rice is one win away from their seventh CWS appearance in the last 12 seasons. They haven't lost a regional or super regional game since 2006.

Sun Devils have no problems

Arizona State took command early and got a pair of homers from Ryan Sontag to blast Fresno State 12-4 in their first super regional matchup.

The Sun Devils have been in double digits three times in four postseason games. Petey Paramore had a pair of RBIs and Jason Kipnis and Brett Wallace each had three hits for the Sun Devils.

Hurricanes stay on top in Baseball America Top 25

Miami remains the number one team in the Baseball America Top 25 rankings as super regional play gets started tomorrow.

The Hurricanes blew through their regional bracket and will face 14th-ranked Arizona in the super regional round. All eight national seeds advanced to the super regional round and all are ranked in the top 10 according to Baseball America.

Baseball America's Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (50-8, 1), 2. Florida State (52-11, 2), 3. North Carolina (49-12, 3), 4. Arizona State (48-11, 4), 5. Louisiana State (46-16, 5),

6. Cal State Fullerton (41-20, 8), 7. Rice (45-13, 9), 8. UC Irvine (41-16, 11), 9. Georgia (39-22, 10), 10. Texas A&M (46-17, 14),

11. Stanford (37-22, 15), 12. Coastal Carolina (50-12, 17), 13. Wichita State (47-15, 21), 14. Arizona (41-17, 23), 15. North Carolina State (41-20, 25),

16. Oklahoma State (44-18, 6), 17. Fresno State (40-28, NR), 18. San Diego (44-17, 7), 19. Missouri (39-21, 12), 20. Nebraska (41-16, 13),

21. Texas (39-22, 19), 22. Michigan (46-14, 16), 23. TCU (45-19, 18), 24. Kentucky (44-19, 24), 25. Long Beach State (38-21, 22).

Hurricanes top Baseball America rankings

Miami returned to the top of the Baseball America Top 25 rankings after beating Virginia to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title.

The 4-0 sweep in the tournament put Miami ahead of ACC rivals North Carolina and Florida State, as well as Arizona State, which lost two of three to in-state rival Arizona.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 rankings are as follows:

1. Miami (47-8, 3), 2. Florida State (48-10, 4), 3. North Carolina (46-12, 1), 4. Arizona State (45-11, 2), 5. LSU (43-16, 10),

6. Oklahoma State (42-16, 7), 7. San Diego (41-15, 11), 8. Cal State Fullerton (37-19, 6), 9. Rice (42-13, 5), 10. Georgia (35-21, 8),

11. UC Irvine (38-16, 14), 12. Missouri (38-19, 9), 13. Nebraska (40-14, 12), 14. Texas A&M (43-16, 13), 15. Stanford (33-21, 16),

16. Michigan (45-12, 17), 17. Coastal Carolina (47-12, 21), 18. TCU (44-17, 22), 19. Texas (37-20, 24), 20. California (33-19, 15),

21. Wichita State (44-15, 23), 22. Long Beach State (37-19, 25), 23. Arizona (38-17, NR), 24. Kentucky (42-17, 19), 25. North Carolina State (38-20, 20).

Top eight seeds still up in the air

Four days from now, we'll know who the top eight national seeds are, as well as the entire 64-team field, for the NCAA Div. I baseball tournament.

After this past weekend, six of the eight positions look to be a lock, while the final two spots are up in the air. A lot of those questions could be answered by how things play out in the Big 12 tournament, where any one of three teams could snag one of the top eight seeds.

Last week, Baseball America projected the 64-team field and had Texas A&M and Nebraska listed as No. 5 and No. 8 seeds, respectively. That likely will change after what happened this past weekend, as both teams were swept.

Nebraska's three-game loss to Missouri may have done less damage to the Huskers' chances than the Aggies' sweep at the hands of in-state rival Texas. The losses to Texas extended Texas A&M's losing streak to three, and two of those losses were to Nebraska the previous weekend.

The result of those two series opens the door for Oklahoma State, who slipped into second place in the Big 12; and LSU, which has surged back into the national picture this season, to get into the conversation for a top-eight seed.

Right now, it would appear that Miami, Arizona State, North Carolina and Rice all have seeds wrapped up, and Florida State and Georgia look to be in great position to be in the top eight. Either Nebraska or Texas A&M will probably have to play their way into the Big 12 championship game to get back in the top eight. After that, any one of a number of teams could slip in the back door to get a top-eight seed and, assuming they get through regionals, secure a host big for super regionals.

North Carolina replaces Miami at No. 1

North Carolina defeated Miami on the road in a three-game series and took over the top spot in this week's Baseball America Top 25 rankings.

The Tar Heels won games Saturday and Sunday to claim the weekend series as a final tuneup before conference tournament play. The Hurricanes fell two spots to No. 3, falling behind Arizona State.

Nebraska one of two Big 12 teams in the top 10 to drop out this week, falling seven spots to No. 12 after being swept by Missouri, which leaped six spots to No. 9 this week. Texas A&M, which was swept by Texas, dropped from No. 9 to No. 13.

LSU joined Missouri as the big mover of the week, slipping into the top 10 in the No. 10 position. Rice, Cal State Fullerton and Oklahoma State all made moves up in the top 10.

Texas and Long Beach State joined this week's rankings, replacing Vanderbilt and Tulane.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows:

1. North Carolina (45-10, 2), 2. Arizona State (44-9, 3), 3. Miami (43-8, 1), 4. Florida State (46-9, 4), 5. Rice (42-11, 6),

6. Cal State Fullerton (35-17, 8), 7. Oklahoma State (40-15, 10), 8. Georgia (35-19, 7), 9. Missouri (37-17, 15), 10. LSU (39-16, 16),

11. San Diego (39-15, 11), 12. Nebraska (39-12, 5), 13. Texas A&M (42-14, 9), 14. UC Irvine (36-15, 12), 15. California (32-17, 13),

16. Stanford (31-19, 14), 17. Michigan (42-12, 17), 18. St. John's (41-12, 18), 19. Kentucky (41-15, 21), 20. North Carolina State (37-18, 20),

21. Texas Christian (40-16, 24), 22. Coastal Carolina (43-11, 23), 23. Wichita State (41-15, 22), 24. Texas (34-19, NR), 25. Long Beach State (34-18, NR).

Rankings unanimous on Miami, UNC at top

The four major rankings for college baseball are in agreement on the top two teams in the nation, and are pretty much in agreement on the top six.

Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina are the leaders in the polls run by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/ESPN and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. After that, each of the four polls likes Florida State, Arizona State, Rice and Nebraska in some particular order.

After that, only Texas A&M and Oklahoma State are ranked in the top 10 of all four rankings. Georgia and San Diego are both in the top 10 in three of the four, while Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine earned top 10 rankings in Baseball America and the NCBWA rankings, respectively.

College Baseball Insider, which takes the composite of all four rankings to rank its top 20, has Miami and North Carolina at the top, with Florida State and Arizona State tied for third. Rice is fifth, followed by Nebraska, Texas A&M, Georgia, Oklahoma State and San Diego. The second 10 includes Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Cal tied at 14, Stanford, Michigan, Wichita State, Coastal Carolina and LSU.

Top five unchanged in Baseball America rankings

The top five stayed put and only one team dropped out in this week's Baseball America Top 25 rankings.

Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, Arizona State, Florida State and Nebraska still lead the way going into the final weekend of the regular season. Georgia and Cal State Fullerton both moved into the top 10 as San Diego and Stanford both fell out of the top 10.

The only new team this week is Tulane, which replaced South Carolina and comes in at the No. 25 slot.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (41-6, 1), 2. North Carolina (42-9, 2), 3. Arizona State (40-9, 3), 4. Florida State (43-8, 4), 5. Nebraska (38-9, 5),

6. Rice (39-11, 7), 7. Georgia (33-17, 11), 8. Cal State Fullerton (32-17, 12), 9. Texas A&M (42-10, 9), 10. Oklahoma State (35-12, 10),

11. San Diego (39-15, 8), 12. UC Irvine (33-13, 13), 13. California (32-16, 16), 14. Stanford (29-18, 6), 15. Missouri (34-17, 15),

16. Louisiana State (35-16, 22), 17. Michigan (38-11, 20), 18. St. John's (39-11, 21), 19. Vanderbilt (37-15, 18), 20. North Carolina State (35-16, 19),

21. Kentucky (38-14, 23), 22. Wichita State (38-14, 14), 23. Coastal Carolina (41-11. 24), 24. Texas Christian (35-16, 25), 25. Tulane (36-15, NR).

Team Feature: Nebraska Cornhuskers

One team that has been a big surprise during the 2008 season has been the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The Huskers saw a talented team tank late last season, and there were a lot of question marks headed into the 2008 campaign. Those questions appear to have been answered, as the Huskers are playing very well and look to be a regional host and a potential top-eight seed for the NCAA tournament.

At 36-8-1, the Huskers have won 12 of their last 14 and had a 14-game winning streak early in the year after opening with a series loss at Stanford. They have posted some impressive series wins over teams like UC Riverside, Texas, Creighton and Baylor, and will get a big test this weekend when they host Big 12 Conference leader Texas A&M.

The Huskers have done it with solid pitching and timely hitting this year. On the mound, the Huskers are led by senior Johnny Dorn, who has a 5-1 record with a 2.69 ERA and a team-best 84 strikeouts. Thad Weber (8-2, 3.75) has been a pleasant surprise for coach Mike Anderson, and the Huskers found a couple of dependable starters in Aaron Pribanic and Dan Jennings, who has gone 5-0 with four saves this year.

Offensively, the Huskers have several players they can rely on, including catcher Mitch Abeita, who leads the team with a .360 average and seven home runs. Other solid performances have been turned in by people like Jake Opitz (team-leading 40 RBI's), Nick Sullivan, Bryce Nimmo and Craig Corriston.

The Huskers have played the last couple of weeks without Corriston at first base, who was sidelined for a few weeks for arthorscopic knee surgery. Anderson feels he will be back for the Big 12 tournament later this month, and will certainly be available for regional play at the end of the month.

The Huskers haven't been to the College World Series since 2005, but with their close proximity to Rosenblatt Stadium, you can bet the place will be buzzing if Nebraska can get through regionals and super regionals and make their fourth trip to the College World Series later this summer.

Not much movement in Baseball America Top 25

While there is a little adjusting, the top 10 in Baseball America's Top 25 is essentially the same as last week.

Miami (Fla.) is still the top team and North Carolina is second, but Stanford falls from the top five after losing twice during the past week, making room for Nebraska to join Arizona State and Florida State in the top five.

Texas A&M and Oklahoma State switch places to round out the top 10. LSU swept Kentucky to move into the top 25 for the first time, and Texas Christian also jumps into the rankings this week as Oregon State and Long Beach State both dropped out.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (39-5, 1), 2. North Carolina (38-8, 2), 3. Arizona State (37-8, 4), 4. Florida State (38-7, 5), 5. Nebraska (36-8, 6),

6. Stanford (27-15. 3), 7. Rice (34-11, 7), 8. San Diego (37-13, 8), 9. Texas A&M (40-8, 10), 10. Oklahoma State (35-12, 9),

11. Georgia (31-15, 11), 12. Cal State Fullerton (29-16, 12), 13. UC Irvine (30-12, 13), 14. Wichita State (36-11, 14), 15. Missouri (31-16, 15),

16. California (29-15, 16), 17. South Carolina (33-15, 17), 18. Vanderbilt (34-13, 22), 19. North Carolina State (32-14, 19), 20. Michigan (34-11, 21),

21. St. John's (35-10, 24), 22. Louisiana State (32-16, NR), 23. Kentucky (34-13, 18), 24. Coastal Carolina (38-11, 20), 25. Texas Christian (33-16, NR).

Miami leads Baseball America tourney projections

Baseball America has projected the field for the NCAA Div. I baseball tournament that begins with regional play later this month.

The SEC has seven teams listed and the ACC has six teams on the Baseball America list. Miami (Fla.) is listed as the No. 1 seed right now, according to the magazine. The other top eight seeds are Arizona State, North Carolina, Rice, Georgia, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Stanford.

Two of the 16 schools projected as top seeds would give up the host site because of stadium issues. San Diego would have to travel to Michigan for its regional at Ann Arbor, Mich., while Coastal Carolina's regional would be hosted by East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.

Baseball America's latest projected "field of 64" for the Div. I baseball tournament is as follows (national seed in parenthesis):

Miami (Fla.) Regional -- 1. Miami (Fla.) (1), 2. Florida, 3. Tulane, 4. Florida Atlantic

Columbia (S.C.) Regional -- 1. South Carolina, 2. North Carolina State, 3. Charlotte, 4. Jackson State

Athens (Ga.) Regional -- 1. Georgia (5), 2. Georgia Tech, 3. College of Charleston, 4. Jacksonville State

Tallahassee (Fla.) Regional -- 1. Florida State, 2. Southern Mississippi, 3. Ole Miss, 4. Bethune-Cookman

Tempe (Ariz.) Regional -- 1. Arizona State (2), 2. St. John's, 3. Dallas Baptist, 4. Dartmouth

Irvine (Calif.) Regional -- 1. UC Irvine, 2. Arizona, 3. Texas, 4. Army

College Station (Texas) Regional -- 1. Texas A&M (6), 2. Vanderbilt, 3. Houston, 4. Texas-San Antonio

Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional -- 1. San Diego, 2. Michigan, 3. LSU, 4. Wright State

Cary (N.C.) Regional -- 1. North Carolina (3), 2. UNC-Wilmington, 3. Elon, 4. Stony Brook

Greenville (N.C.) Regional -- 1. Coastal Carolina, 2. East Carolina, 3. Virginia, 4. Monmouth

Stillwater (Okla.) Regional -- 1. Oklahoma State (7), 2. Wichita State, 3. Arkansas, 4. USC

Corvallis (Ore.) Regional -- 1. Oregon State, 2. Long Beach State, 3. Oklahoma, 4. Canisius

Houston (Texas) Regional -- 1. Rice (4), 2. Missouri, 3. TCU, 4. Louisiana-Monroe

Lincoln (Neb.) Regional -- 1. Nebraska, 2. Kentucky, 3. Oral Roberts, 4. Kent State

Palo Alto (Calif.) Regional -- 1. Stanford (8), 2. Pepperdine, 3. UC Davis, 4. Lipscomb

Fullerton (Calif.) Regional -- 1. Cal State Fullerton, 2. Cal, 3. Clemson, 4. Fresno State

CWS Feature: Rice Owls

There have been a number of programs that have risen to a high level of success in the past decade, and one of the teams that has made a big move up in recent times has been the Rice Owls.

Led by longtime coach Larry Graham, the Owls have reached the College World Series four times in the past six seasons, winning it all in 2003 when the tournament format changed to its current best-of-3 championship series.

The Owls started the 2008 season as one of the teams to keep an eye on, and after a sluggish start they have managed to put themselves into position to be among the top contenders to make it back to Rosenblatt Stadium this summer.

Rice has been on a roll during the month of April after getting off to a 20-10 start. During the month of April, the Owls went 15-2 with wins over Texas and a three-game sweep of East Carolina highlighting the month's effort.

The Owls are pretty solid up and down the lineup. Infield Diego Seastrunk is the team's leading hitter, batting .375 on the season with a team-best 44 RBI's. Catcher Adam Zornes leads the Owls with nine home runs on the season (to go with his 42 RBI's), and Rick Hague has even round-trippers and 41 RBI's. Jimmy Comerota has proven to be a threat on the basepaths with 10 stolen bases so far this season.

On the mound, the Owls weekend rotation of Ryan Berry (5-3, 3.10 ERA), Chris Kelley (5-1, 3.31) and Matt Langwell (4-0, 4.45) has not been overpowering, but has been dependable and kept the Owls in games this season. Cole St. Clair is also pitching well, going 7-2 with a 3.30 ERA and a team-high three saves.

Coach Graham has done a great job building the Owls program into one of the top teams in the country, and you can bet the Owls will be among the teams to watch in the battle for the 2008 College World Series.

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Three teams break Baseball America Top 10

The top two teams in the Baseball America Top 25 remain the same, but there was a lot of movement below Miami and North Carolina as three teams fell out of the top 10.

The biggest drop of the week came from Missouri, which fell 11 spots from No. 4 to No. 15 after being swept at Texas A&M. The three-game series win by the Aggies propelled them into the top 10, as they were the big mover up this week coming up eight spots from No. 18.

California was another big slip, as they dropped nine spots from No. 7 to No. 16 after being swept by Arizona State, which moved back up into the top five. Georgia fell one spot to No. 11, making room for San Diego and Oklahoma State to enter the top 10.

The Toreros were a preseason top 10 team that struggled early, but seem to be back in the groove now. Oklahoma State has been a pleasant surprise in giving the Big 12 Conference three teams in the top 10, joining No. 6 Nebraska and the Aggies.

Two-tim defending College World Series champion Oregon State is back in the ratings, coming in at No. 23. St. John's makes its first appearance of the year in the rankings, slipping in at No. 24.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows:

1. Miami (36-5, 1), 2. North Carolina (38-8, 2), 3. Stanford (25-13, 5), 4. Arizona State (35-7, 6), 5. Florida State (35-7, 3),

6. Nebraska (32-8, 8), 7. Rice (34-11, 9), 8. San Diego (35-11, 11), 9. Oklahoma State (32-11, 13),

10. Texas A&M (37-7, 18),11. Georgia (29-14, 10), 12. Cal State Fullerton (26-15, 15), 13. UC Irvine (28-10, 16), 14. Wichita State (33-9, 14), 15. Missouri (29-14, 4),

16. California (27-13, 7), 17. South Carolina (31-14, 12), 18. Kentucky (33-11, 22), 19. North Carolina State (30-13, 24), 20. Coastal Carolina (36-9, 20),

21. Michigan (30-10, 19), 22. Vanderbilt (31-13, 17), 23. Oregon State (20-14 2-1 NR), 24. St. John's (31-10, NR), 25. Long Beach State (26-15, 25).

Hurricanes still on top in Baseball America Top 25

Miami stays on top of the Baseball America Top 25 rankings after winning a big in-state rivalry with Florida State.

Despite losing two of three to the Hurricanes, the Seminoles don't move from their No. 3 ranking of a week ago. North Carolina, though, does leapfrog Florida State into the No. 2 spot after a weekend sweep of Boston College. Arizona State, the former No. 2 team, dropped to No. 6 after losing two of three at home to Oregon State.

Stanford made the big move up in the top 10 this week, jumping from 10th to No. 5, right behind Missouri, which gets a two-spot promotion. Rice and Georgia move into the top 10 as Wichita State and UC Irvine fell from their spots in the top 10. The Shockers fell seven spots, while the Anteaters took the big fall of the week with an 11-spot demotion to No. 16.

Oklahoma State moved up five spots as one of the big upward movers of the week. Arizona and Long Beach State re-entered the rankings at No. 23 and No. 25, respectively, while North Carolina State makes its first trip to the rankings at the No. 24 spot.

This week's Baseball America rankings are as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami (33-4, 1), 2. North Carolina (34-7, 4), 3. Florida State (34-5, 3), 4. Missouri (28-10, 6), 5. Stanford (21-12, 10),

6. Arizona State (31-6, 2), 7. California (26-10, 8), 8. Nebraska (28-7, 9), 9. Rice (31-10, 11), 10. Georgia (27-12, 13),

11. San Diego (31-11, 12), 12. South Carolina (29-11, 14), 13. Oklahoma State (27-11, 18), 14. Wichita State (30-7, 7), 15. Cal State Fullerton (23-13, 15),

16. UC Irvine (24-9, 5), 17. Vanderbilt (28-11, 17), 18. Texas A&M (33-7, 19), 19. Michigan (28-8, 21), 20. Coastal Carolina (33-7, 22),

21. Mississippi (25-15, 16), 22. Kentucky (30-9, 25), 23. Arizona (25-11, NR), 24. North Carolina State (27-12, NR), 25. Long Beach State (23-14, NR).

No change at the top in Baseball America ratings

The top four spots remain the same in this week's Baseball America Top 25, and three new teams make their 2008 debut in the rankings this week.

Miami, Arizona State, Florida State and North Carolina maintain their top four spots after winning weekend series. UC Irvine, Missouri and Wichita State all move up this week, while Cal and Nebraska drop down in the ratings.

There weren't any big moves up this week, with Oklahoma State's three-step move up to No. 18 the biggest ascension of the week. Two teams took significant drops, with Texas falling from 12th to 20th and Kentucky from 17th to 25th.

Long Beach State, UNC Wilmington and Florida fell out of the rankings, making room for first-time entries Texas A&M, Pepperdine and East Carolina.

This week's Baseball America rankings are as follows (record and last week's ranking in parenthesis):

1. Miami Fla. (30-3, 1), 2. Arizona State (30-4, 2), 3. Florida State (31-3, 3), 4. North Carolina (29-7, 4), 5. UC Irvine (23-6, 7),

6. Missouri (25-9, 8), 7. Wichita State (27-5, 9), 8. California (23-9, 5), 9. Nebraska (25-6, 6), 10. Stanford (17-11, 10),

11. Rice (27-10, 11), 12. San Diego (27-11, 13), 13. Georgia (23-12, 14), 14. South Carolina (25-10, 15), 15. Cal State Fullerton (20-12, 16),

16. Ole Miss (24-12, 18), 17. Vanderbilt (24-10, 19), 18. Oklahoma State (23-10, 21), 19. Texas A&M (30-6, NR), 20. Texas (23-12, 12),

21. Michigan (22-8, 23), 22. Coastal Carolina (28-7, 24), 23. Pepperdine (23-11, NR), 24. East Carolina (26-9, NR), 25. Kentucky (26-8, 17).

Miami new No. 1 in Baseball America rankings

Miami replaces Arizona State at the top of the Baseball America Top 25 rankings this week after going 5-0 and sweeping Clemson in an ACC clash over the weekend.

The move comes after Arizona State dropped a weekend series at Stanford, which moved into the top 10 this week along with Nebraska and Wichita State. The Huskers swept Texas Tech while the Shockers took two of three from Missouri State.

Both Vanderbilt and South Carolina dropped out of the top 10 after being swept by Ole Miss and Georgia, respectively. Both the Rebels and Bulldogs found their way back into the rankings as a result.

Long Beach State, which lost four of five last week, also fell out of the top 10, dropping 10 spots to 20. Vanderbilt fell 11 spots to No. 19.

Oklahoma State also entered the Top 25 this week after taking a series on the road at Missouri, which fell four spots. Virginia, Arizona and UCLA fell out of the rankings this week.

This week's Baseball America Top 25 is as follows (record and last week's rankings in parenthesis):

1. Miami (26-2, 2), 2. Arizona State (28-3, 1), 3. Florida State (28-3, 6), 4. North Carolina (25-6, 3), 5. California (21-7, 7),

6. Nebraska (24-4, 11), 7. UC Irvine (20-5, 5), 8. Missouri (22-8, 4), 9. Wichita State (24-4, 12), 10. Stanford (15-9, 13),

11. Rice (23-10, 15), 12. Texas (21-10, 16), 13. San Diego (22-11, 17), 14. Georgia (20-10, NR), 15. South Carolina (20-10, 9),

16. Cal State Fullerton (18-10, 25), 17. Kentucky (25-5, 21), 18. Mississippi (20-11, NR), 19. Vanderbilt (19-10, 8), 20. Long Beach State (18-11, 10),

21. Oklahoma State (20-9, NR), 22. UNC Wilmington (23-5, 20), 23. Michigan (17-8, 22), 24. Coastal (Carolina 24-7, 24), 25. Florida (21-10, 19).