As March conference play amps up, here are my latest Power 10 baseball picks.
1. Arkansas (Previous: 1)
My top two remain the same. The Razorbacks won the series over Auburn to move to 19-3. Hagen Smith posted yet another stellar performance; he fanned 12 over six scoreless innings to lead the Razorbacks to a 1-0 shutout win.
2. Oregon State (2)
The Beavers looked dominant with a sweep over Washington this weekend, scoring 31 runs over the series and allowing just three.
3. Clemson (4)
At No. 3, Clemson moves up at showing out with a sweep over previously unbeaten Florida State. If you didn’t catch the series, it was a good one. Clemson trailed 8-1 in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday before scoring eight runs, including a Blake Wright grand slam, to walk it off and win the series. Then on Sunday, they again trailed 11-2 before scoring five in the sixth inning and six runs in the seventh. This time, Wright had a go-ahead grand slam and the Tigers won it 14-12. Crazy series for Wright.
4. Texas A&M (8)
I put Texas A&M at No. 4 after the Aggies won a big series over Mississippi State. Justin Lamkin struck out a career-high 12 batters on Sunday for the series win.
5. Tennessee (9)
Tennessee also slides up after picking up a big SEC win — it split the series with Ole Miss before finishing the rubber game with 13 hits and five homers for a run-rule win on Sunday.
6. Virginia (7)
The Cavaliers swept Putt over the weekend to improve to 20-4.
7. Vanderbilt (3)
Vandy was swept by South Carolina, so it plummeted out of the three-spot down to 7. The Commodores have good wins and a sweep over Auburn so they stay in the top 10 for now.
8. Florida (NR)
Most publications have Florida above Virginia and Vandy, but I really struggle with where to place the Gator. They’ve now won two SEC series but continue to drop mid-weeks and now have nine losses on the season. I ended up putting Florida at No. 8 with the nine losses, but just above LSU who they beat last weekend in 2-of-3 at No. 9.
9. LSU (6)
LSU lost its second straight SEC series at the hands of the Florida Gators, so they had to drop a lot, too.
10. Dallas Baptist (NR)
And at 10, Dallas Baptist makes a grand appearance. It is now 19-4 with two big ranked wins including a big win over Oklahoma last week.
Dropped out: Florida State, Alabama
