April 5, 2009

Kendall Rogers
Rivals.com College Baseball Editor

Coleman threw in relief Friday night against the Bulldogs, but returned to the mound for the start in the series finale. He didn't disappoint and led the Tigers to a 7-5 win and a huge road series win over Dave Perno's team.

LSU isn't the only team that was a big winner this week. Other teams that had good weeks include George Mason, East Carolina, Georgia Southern, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Washington State, UC Irvine, North Carolina and San Diego.

On the negative side of the spectrum, New Mexico had a dismal weekend at TCU while former Sun Belt leader Middle Tennessee State was swept at Louisiana-Lafayette. Other teams that had weeks to forget include Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, Duke, Ohio State, Michigan, Missouri, UTSA and UCLA.

We unveil the week's winners and losers.

Winners

LSU: The Tigers had a rather interesting week on the diamond and really showed what they're made of in a weekend series against Georgia. After dropping an 8-7 decision to Tulane in a hard-fought mid-week contest, the Tigers wasted little time bouncing back with an 8-4 triumph in the series opener. The Tigers dropped Game 2 to the Bulldogs but bounced back to win Game 3 by a score of 7-5. The Tigers now have won four-straight series, all in conference play.

George Mason: UNC Wilmington entered the weekend atop the CAA standings, and conventional wisdom suggested it probably would take this weekend's series at George Mason. However, that didn't happen and the Patriots made a huge statement. The Patriots began the week with mid-week wins over Georgetown and Mt. St. Mary's. But against the Seahawks, they won all three games by scores of 6-1, 4-2 and 6-3. With a 24-5 record and a league-leading 7-2 mark, the Patriots are in business.

East Carolina: The Pirates have their most important week of the season coming up this week, but they did a great job of not looking forward to matchups with North Carolina, UNC Wilmington and Rice. ECU began the past week with a pair of nice mid-week wins over Elon and N.C. State. They also took care of business at UAB over the weekend. ECU won the series opener 6-3 before winning the next two games 15-9 and 10-9. ECU made a statement this past week but could accomplish even more this week.

Georgia Southern: After losing two of three to Elon two weekends ago, the Eagles desperately needed to take care of College of Charleston at home to stay in the Southern Conference title race. The Eagles didn't disappoint. They began the three-game series with a thrilling 15-14 victory before winning Game 2 16-7. The Eagles completed the series sweep Sunday afternoon with a 20-8 triumph. GSU's RPI received a huge boost from the series against the Cougars.

Oklahoma: The Sooners made their case as the Big 12's premier team this past week. The Sooners began the week with a dominating win over struggling Nebraska, and really stepped up on the road against Missouri. The Sooners won Games 1 and 2 by scores of 2-1 and 7-4 before losing the series finale. OU probably can't wait to play Texas in Austin, Texas, in two weekends, but it first must take care of business against Wichita State in the mid-week and Texas Tech at home next weekend. OU currently is looking pretty good in the Big 12 race.

Mississippi: The Rebels had their most impressive week of the season. After winning three mid-week games against Arkansas State, Jackson State and Memphis, the Rebels took care of Kentucky in impressive fashion over the weekend. They defeated the Wildcats 4-3 and 10-3 in Games 1 and 2 and completed the series sweep Sunday afternoon with a dominating 8-0 victory. With another good SEC series win, the Rebels are in business and should take two games from South Carolina at home next weekend. The Rebels certainly are back in the hosting mix.

Washington State: The Cougars played an incredibly tough non-conference schedule an appeared to be in trouble entering Pac-10 play. But after a pair of league series, the Cougars actually are in very good shape. WSU started conference play with an impressive road series win over California. The Cougars put together another nice series win over UCLA this weekend. The Cougars won the series opener 7-2 and beat the Bruins 4-2 in Game 2. They dropped the series finale to the Bruins, but still had a great weekend on the diamond. WSU now has a 4-2 conference record.

UC Irvine: What a phenomenal week for the surging Anteaters. Irvine swept Cal Poly last weekend and didn't skip a beat this past week. The Anteaters began the week with a dominating 19-8 win over Loyola Marymount before playing Cal State Fullerton this weekend. The 'Eaters didn't disappoint against the Titans. Irvine won the series opener 2-1 before clinching a series win with a 6-1 triumph in Game 2. Irvine lost the series finale to the Titans, but the damage already was done. The 'Eaters certainly made a huge statement with an impressive series win over Fullerton.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels had only played one road series before this weekend and that was against an average Virginia Tech team. Naturally, many observers felt Georgia Tech might give the Tar Heels a rude awakening. Well, that didn't happen. The Heels began the series with a 4-2 win before losing Game 2 10-6. The Heels, though, bounced back to win Game 3 13-10 to earn the series win. In other weekly action, the Tar Heels took care of Davidson and Old Dominion in mid-week action. UNC is on cruise control with a huge week of games coming up.

San Diego: The Toreros raised some eyebrows with a series sweep over preseason favorite Pepperdine last weekend, but they took another step forward this weekend by completely dominating Santa Clara. The Toreros won the series opener 9-4 and captured a 22-10 victory in Game 2. The series finale, meanwhile, also went heavily in their favor. After suffering some bad injuries the past few weeks, the Toreros have seemed to rally around those setbacks. Give coach Rich Hill credit for keeping this team together through thick and thin.

Losers

New Mexico: Perhaps the Lobos didn't like the idea of being ranked after all. The Lobos began the horrendous week with a pair of mid-week games against Texas Tech. They split the series with an 8-4 loss in Game 1 and a 15-7 in Game 2. This weekend, though, the Lobos were welcomed to the real world against TCU. The Lobos dropped the series opener 7-3 before losing Game 2 4-2. The series finale, meanwhile, ended with an embarrassing 19-3 loss to the Horned Frogs. After a dismal week, the Lobos head back to the drawing board looking for answers.

Cal State Fullerton: We're probably being a little tough on the Titans by putting them in this category, but we know coach Dave Serrano is ultra disappointed with his team. The Titans began the week with a mid-week split against Arizona State, but really failed to impress against conference rival UC Irvine this weekend. The Titans dropped the series opener 2-1 before dropping Game 2 6-1. The Titans came back to win the series finale, but the series loss already was official. Not a good week for Fullerton.

Pepperdine: We really didn't think things actually could get worse for the Waves, but they did this weekend. The Waves didn't play a mid-week contest this week but played host to a solid Gonzaga team. It wasn't pretty from an offensive standpoint. The Waves dropped the series opener 3-1 before losing Game 2 by a score of 4-1. The Waves held on to win the series finale, but the damage was already done. The Waves now have a 17-13 record and a 1-5 record in conference.

Middle Tennessee State: Want a perfect example of what not to do when you're leading a conference race and have a high RPI? Just look at the Blue Raiders. MTSU entered the week leading the Sun Belt, but now has some questions to answer. The Raiders began the week with a mid-week win over Austin Peay before traveling to the state of Louisiana to face Louisiana-Lafayette. The Raiders didn't do much. ULL won the series opener 5-2 and captured the series win with a 10-5 triumph in Game 2. Game 3, meanwhile, finished at 14-7 in the Ragin' Cajuns favor.

Duke: The Blue Devils appeared to be in fantastic shape after upsetting rival North Carolina a few weekends ago, but they've since taken a huge step back. The Devils dropped two of three to Wake Forest two weekends ago and didn't exactly impress against Clemson this weekend. The Devils dropped the series opener 7-3 and bounced back to win Game 2 by a score of 10-7. The series finale, though, went Clemson's way to the tune of 10-1. The Blue Devils have a 20-11 record and a 7-8 mark in conference. That probably wouldn't get it done for a regional berth.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes entered the week as a pretty safe bet to be a regional host if they continued their winning ways. Unfortunately, they didn't do that. The Bucks began the week by splitting a pair of mid-week games against Xavier and Marshall. They didn't fare any better against Minnesota this weekend. The Bucks lost the series opener 7-5 before bouncing back to win Game 2 by a score of 3-2. The series finale, though, was a disaster as the Golden Gophers captured a 16-3 victory. The Bucks desperately need to take care of business against Michigan State next weekend.

Missouri: The Tigers appeared to be turning the corner when they took two of three from Texas A&M at home a few weekends ago, but that hasn't been the case. The Tigers dropped two of three at Oklahoma State last weekend and didn't fare any better against Oklahoma at home this weekend. The Tigers dropped the first two games of the series by scores of 2-1 and 7-4 before winning the series finale 5-4. The Tigers now have a 15-16 record and a 5-7 mark in conference play. Not good at all.

Texas-San Antonio: The Roadrunners entered the season as a strong candidate to earn an at-large berth despite being in the Southland Conference. But now they just hope to find a way to win the conference tournament at the end of the season. After all, that's the only way they reach an NCAA regional. The Roadrunners dropped a tough home series to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi two weekends ago and took another step back with a road series loss to SFA this weekend. It's time for the 'Runners to figure out what's going on, but that may not be easy.

UCLA: The Bruins just can't seem to establish any consistency. They picked up a home series win over Arizona two weekends ago, but took another step back this past week. The Bruins began the week with a tough mid-week loss to Loyola Marymount before heading to Pullman, Wash., to play Washington State. That series didn't turn out too well for the Bruins. UCLA dropped the series opener 7-2 before losing Game 2 by a score of 4-3. They captured the series finale but it was a case of too little and too late. UCLA now has a 11-17 record and a 5-4 mark in conference.

Michigan: The Wolverines entered the season as the favorite to win the Big Ten regular season title, but they may need some things to go their way for that to happen in late May. The Wolverines took two of three from Iowa two weekends ago and hoped to take care of business at home against Penn State. They were unable to accomplish that goal. The Wolverines dropped the series opener 6-4 before bouncing back to earn a 9-5 win in Game 2. Game 3, though, was a disaster as the Nittany Lions captured a dominating 16-5 victory. UM now has a 18-10 record.

Kendall Rogers is the college baseball editor for Rivals.com and Yahoo! Sports. He can be reached at rogersk@yahoo-inc.com.