Baseball Southern Conference

Western Carolina Cracks National Polls

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina baseball team, winners of 22 of its last 27 and sitting atop the Southern Conference standings with a 13-2 record, is ranked 29th in the nation, according the Collegiate Baseball, the nation's oldest college baseball poll.

The Catamounts (23-10 overall) were last ranked nationally at this time in 1998, when the team jumped out to a 27-7 overall record and a 14-1 scoresheet in the SoCon to rank 28th in Collegiate Baseball. The highest Western has ever risen in the polls was 17th by Collegiate Baseball to end the 1992 season.

"It is a tremendous honor to ranked," said WCU head coach Todd Raleigh. "I did not come easy, but I think it is well deserved. The credit goes to our players, especially our seniors. They have been here in the low times and have certainly learned a lot over four years to get us to this point. To be recognized nationally when you look at all the other programs on the list is very special."

Western, who was picked no higher than fourth in any preseason poll, got off to a 1-5 start with losses at Coastal Carolina and East Carolina. Of Western's 10 losses, seven have been by two runs or less, with setbacks at South Carolina (5-3), ranked sixth at the time, and at Clemson (5-3). Since then, the Catamounts reeled off eight straight wins before falling to The Citadel on March 8. In addition to the close losses to national powers, Western's 9-5 win over Clemson, who was ranked 10th at the time, has boosted the team's stock. In conference play, the Cats took 2-of-3 from The Citadel in the opening weekend, swept at Davidson, swept East Tennessee State, won 2-of-3 at Furman and swept Georgia Southern.

Western Carolina currently leads the SoCon in earned run average (3.32), ranks second in fielding (.967) and third in hitting (.298). Individually, Alan Beck and Todd Buchanan pace the SoCon, each hitting 10 home runs. Buchanan also leads the league in RBI (45) and ranks fourth with a .368 batting average, while ranking among the top 10 in five other categories. Beck, batting .424 in SoCon games, also ranks among the league leaders in eight of 12 offensive categories. Others to make the league leaders include Wayne Kilmer (batting average, hits, runs scored and stolen bases), Todd Roper (stolen bases, runs scored and doubles) and Rod Goldston (doubles). On the mound, WCU is led by Brad Josey. The sophomore ranks fifth in ERA (2.60) and teams are only batting .238 against him. Josey (5-1) and Derrick Hawk (5-0) are tied for third in win in the SoCon. Also, Ryan Foster is second in saves (6) and Ryan Basner is second in innings pitched (63.0).

The Catamounts are additionally receiving votes in the Triple E Sports college baseball Top 25.


Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's
NCAA Div. I Poll (As of April 7, 2003)
Rank School (Record) Points Prev. Rank
1. Rice (32-1) 497 1
2. Florida State (31-5) 492 2
3. Cal. State Fullerton (27-7) 488 3
4. Stanford (20-10) 484 4
5. Georgia Tech (24-6) 480 8
6. Arizona State (34-7) 479 5
7. Mississippi State (24-5-1) 477 6
8. Louisiana State (21-10-1) 475 10
9. North Carolina State (27-7) 473 12
10. Auburn (27-7) 472 11
11. Long Beach State (20-11) 470 9
12. Miami, Fla. (25-6) 467 7
13. Clemson (23-7) 465 15
14. Nebraska (23-7) 461 18
15. Texas (25-11) 460 19
16. Notre Dame (20-6) 456 24
17. Oklahoma State (21-9) 453 23
18. Florida Atlantic (30-8) 450 25
19. Wake Forest (20-10) 447 14
20. Missouri (23-8) 444 -
21. Baylor (23-12) 442 16
22. Richmond (23-6) 439 17
23. Florida (23-9-1) 438 13
24. Texas A&M (26-10) 436 26
25. Arkansas (25-6) 435 27
26. Arizona (24-11) 433 21
27. Southern Miss (23-9) 430 29
28. UNLV (26-9) 427 -
29. Western Carolina (23-10) 424 -
30. South Alabama (21-9) 421 -