Baseball: Cajuns dealing with No. 1 – Who’s No. 1 – Extra, Extra – Lagniappe

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, March 28, 2014

UL coach Tony Robichaux doesn’t want his team getting hung up on, and potentially bogged down by, its place in various national polls.

He doesn’t even want their No. 1 ranking by Collegiate Baseball, in fact, played up publicly during games at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.

But there’s no getting around it.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are ranked first in one of five notable college baseball polls as of last Monday, and – especially in the midst of a nine-game homestand – it’s an especially hard fact to get around.

Visiting teams know it.

Cajun players know they know it, too.

“I think people are going to try to throw their best people at us, and come at us hard,” catcher Michael Strentz said. “But we’re gonna just keep doing our thing, and everything should fall in place.”

“It’s expected for us,” outfielder/pitcher Ryan Wilson added. “We’ve just got to keep our head down, and keep going to work, and keep grinding, day-in and day-out.”

The Cajuns, coming off Wednesday’s 17-3 non-conference win over SWAC-member and heading into this weekend’s three-game Sun Belt Conference series with 13-12 Western Kentucky, are riding a 14-game win streak that is the nation’s longest active.

Key to keeping it going, Wilson suggested, is simply not overthinking it.

“Just don’t worry about it,” he said. “Just keeping playing the same game we’ve been playing our whole lives.”

WHO’S NO. 1

Collegiate Baseball having 24-2 UL No. 1 is the highest any major Cajun athletic program has ever been ranked in-season.

But it’s not a consensus selection.

Who is No. 1 in college baseball’s other national polls?

Perfect Game, which has UL No. 3, has 19-5 Florida State No. 1. So does Baseball America, which has UL No. 4, and the USA Today coaches’ poll, which has UL No. 6.

However, the Seminoles fell 4-1 Tuesday to Florida in Jackson – one day after the polls came out. They have a three-game ACC road series vs. Boston College this weekend.

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s poll, which has UL No. 5, has 20-4 Virginia No. 1.

FSU is No. 2 in that one, followed by LSU (which UL beat in a rain-shortened game earlier this season) and South Carolina (which opened the season 16-0 before losing to Ole Miss).

Virginia beat NCAA Division I Longwood University 8-1 on Wednesday night and has a three-game ACC series with Virginia Tech this weekend.

FSU and Virginia face off in a late-April ACC series at Tallahassee.

The polls are updated each Monday.

EXTRA, EXTRA

The Cajuns have 270 hits through 26 games this season.

After collecting five against Southern, 100 of them have been for extra bases, including 30 home runs, 12 triples and 58 doubles.

That’s an average of 3.8 extra bases per game.

LAGNIAPPE

Strentz, centerfielder Seth Harrison and second baseman Jace Conrad each have a team-high five RBIs for the Cajuns. … Conrad leads UL with 29 RBIs, five more than any other Cajun. … Harrison, shortstop Blake Trahan and third baseman Ryan Leonards each have scored a team-high 24 runs.