USC up four spots in baseball Top 25; SEC honors Schrock
South Carolina's baseball team moved up four spots in latest Baseball America Top 25 released Monday.
The Gamecocks (26-7) are No. 11 in the newest rankings, up from No. 15 last week. The team was 4-1 last week, including a series sweep on the road against Tennessee. The lone loss came Wednesday to Furman.
USC hosts The Citadel at 7 p.m. Tuesday before traveling to Florida for a three-game series that starts Thursday night.
The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences with seven ranked teams this week, including four of the top 11.
Also Monday, South Carolina second baseman Max Schrock was named SEC Freshman of the Week. He hit .500 (11-for-22) last week with seven runs scored and eight RBI to earn the award for the first time this season.
Schrock’s game-winning RBI double in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Gamecocks to a 5-4 win over Tennessee in the series opener. He followed that up with a double, a homer and two RBI in Saturday’s 12-8 win over the Volunteers. In the series finale, Schrock had a career-high four hits with a career-high four RBI as well as two runs scored in the 19-2 win over Tennessee. The four hits matched an individual high for a Gamecock player in a game this year. He was 7-for-12 (.583) in the Tennessee series with five runs scored and seven RBI against the Volunteers.
Schrock has raised his season average to .264 (32-for-121) with six doubles, two triples and two homers. He has 24 RBI as well, tied for second highest on the team. For the season, Schrock leads the Gamecocks with 10 multi-hit games.
Baseball America Top 25
| Rk. | Team | Wins-Losses | Last Week | Prev. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | North Carolina | 29-2 | 5-1 | 1 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt | 29-4 | 4-0 | 2 |
| 3. | Louisiana State | 30-2 | 4-0 | 3 |
| 4. | Cal State Fullerton | 28-4 | 4-0 | 4 |
| 5. | Virginia | 29-3 | 4-0 | 5 |
| 6. | Oregon State | 25-5 | 3-1 | 6 |
| 7. | Florida State | 27-5 | 3-1 | 8 |
| 8. | Louisville | 25-6 | 3-1 | 9 |
| 9. | Oklahoma | 27-6 | 2-1 | 13 |
| 10. | Arkansas | 23-9 | 2-1 | 14 |
| 11. | South Carolina | 26-7 | 4-1 | 15 |
| 12. | Indiana | 25-4 | 3-1 | 16 |
| 13. | Kentucky | 22-9 | 1-3 | 7 |
| 14. | Rice | 23-11 | 3-1 | 18 |
| 15. | Arizona State | 19-9 | 4-1 | 24 |
| 16. | Oregon | 23-8 | 1-2 | 11 |
| 17. | UCLA | 19-9 | 1-3 | 10 |
| 18. | Notre Dame | 19-10 | 4-1 | 20 |
| 19. | NC State | 24-10 | 5-0 | NR |
| 20. | Georgia Tech | 23-9 | 2-3 | 12 |
| 21. | Mississippi State | 26-9 | 3-1 | NR |
| 22. | Clemson | 21-11 | 5-1 | NR |
| 23. | Mississippi | 23-9 | 0-3 | 17 |
| 24. | Houston | 24-9 | 1-3 | 19 |
| 25. | Campbell | 28-5 | 5-0 | NR |
This story was originally published April 8, 2013 at 1:26 PM with the headline "USC up four spots in baseball Top 25; SEC honors Schrock."