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LSU Ranked #2 In Baseball America Preseason Poll

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU is ranked No. 2 in the 2009 Baseball America preseason poll released Tuesday. The Tigers are one of three 2008 College World Series teams to appear in the preseason Top 10, along with No. 3 North Carolina and No. 7 Rice.

LSU was ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball magazine preseason poll released last month, and the Tigers were No. 2 in the NCBWA poll released last week.

Texas A&M is No. 1 in the Baseball America poll, which ranks three other Big 12 teams in the Top 10 ? No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Missouri.

Other SEC teams in the poll include No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 14 Georgia, No. 21 Alabama and No. 22 Arkansas.

LSU advanced to the CWS last season, finishing the year with a 49-19-1 mark. The Tigers posted an SEC-record 23-game win streak from April 22-June 1 and captured the SEC Western Division and SEC Tournament titles.

LSU returns 25 players who were significant contributors to the 2008 squad, including five who have received 2009 preseason All-America recognition ? outfielder Blake Dean, pitcher Louis Coleman, second baseman Ryan Schimpf, shortstop DJ LeMahieu and catcher Micah Gibbs.

The ?09 Tigers are presently engaged in individual workouts and conditioning drills at the original Alex Box Stadium. The first full-squad practice is scheduled for Sunday, February 1 at the New Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers open the 2009 season at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 20 when they play host to Villanova in the New Alex Box Stadium.