Tennessee's dominance through the first month of the season has become so apparent that one of the most authoritative college baseball media outlets demoted an LSU team on a 15-game winning streak from No. 1 in its Top 25 and replaced the Tigers with the Volunteers on Monday.
At 20-0, the Vols are the only remaining unbeaten team in Division I. They're off to the best start in program history and coming off a three-game home sweep against what was a top-10 Florida.
D1Baseball.com promoted the defending national champions over a now-No. 2 LSU (15-1) that went 4-0 last week and swept Missouri. D1Baseball said that since it began its rankings in 2015, it had never taken a No. 1 team off the top perch after an unbeaten week.
Tennessee, ranked No. 1 by Baseball America for a third straight week, is now the consensus top team. Arkansas (18-2) remains No. 3.
“Just got to keep going,” said Cannon Peebles, whose pinch double gave Tennessee the lead in a 7-4 win Sunday. “Last year we were very fortunate to do what we did. Last year doesn't really matter anymore. Every single person on this team is focused on this year and we take it game by game, and I think that's why we've had this start.”
There are no weaknesses. Liam Doyle, who leads the nation with 53 strikeouts, heads a staff that ranks first with a 1.72 ERA and 5.61 hits allowed per nine innings. Offensively, the Vols lead the nation with 2.65 homers per game and .662 slugging percentage and are second at 11.3 runs per game.
Tennessee hosts East Tennessee State (15-4) on Tuesday before traveling to a top-10 Alabama (20-1) for a Thursday-to-Saturday series. The Crimson Tide swept Texas A&M on the road over the weekend.
It took 66 at-bats for Stanford freshman Rintaro Sasaki to break through with his first collegiate home run. Japan's all-time high school leader went deep three times over six at-bats Saturday and Sunday as the Cardinal swept Duke. He was 6 of 14 with eight RBIs in the series and is batting .338/.424/.500 through 18 games.
Northwestern's Trent Liolios had three homers in a 13-5 win over Penn State and a total of four in the doubleheader split Saturday. Liolios had nine homers and batted .209 in 52 games last season. So far this season he has eight homers and a .382 batting average through 17 games.
Arizona State's offense, held to a combined four runs in two straight losses last week, unleashed some pent-up frustration in the second game of its road series with TCU on Saturday.
The Sun Devils won 26-9, the most runs they've scored in a conference game since 2000 and tied for the most TCU has ever allowed. ASU's 28 hits also were a TCU opponent record. Kyle Walker hit the first of ASU's five homers leading off the game. The Sun Devils won 12-11 on Sunday to take the series.
Kansas (17-3) hit nine home runs while winning two of three against Baylor. The Jayhawks, who are third in the nation in scoring at 10.4 runs per game, have gone deep 46 times through 20 games. Jackson Hauge, a transfer from Division II Mankato State, has a team-best 11. ... Oregon State's Ethan Kleinschmit has allowed just six hits and a run with two walks and 15 strikeouts in his last 11 2/3 innings over two appearances. ... Florida State left-hander Wes Mendes allowed no earned runs and struck out eight over a career-high seven innings as the Seminoles beat Boston College 6-2 Saturday to complete a three-game sweep. ... Texas Southern stole 17 bases in a 20-7 win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday, the most since Alabama State had the same number of steals against Tuskegee in 1991.
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
FILE - Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello pictured before an NCAA College World Series baseball game against Florida State on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mike Buscher, File)
Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.
The strikes killed at least 235 people, according to local hospitals.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
Hamas warned that Israel’s new airstrikes breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
Here's the latest:
A United Nations staffer in the Gaza Strip described a “very tough night” as Israel resumed heavy strikes across the territory after a nearly two-month ceasefire.
Rosalia Bollen, a communications specialist with the U.N. children’s agency, said she woke up around 2 a.m. on Tuesday to “very loud explosions.”
She said the UNICEF bass near the southern city of Rafah “was shaking very heavily.” When the strikes subsided, she heard “people yelling, people screaming and ambulances.”
“The bombardments have continued throughout the night,” though at a lower intensity than the initial barrage, she said. “The whole night, there’s been just the constant buzzing of drones and planes flying over.”
She said the strikes hit tents and structures housing displaced families. “We’re seeing, as of this morning, at least several dozen children killed,” she said.
The main group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has slammed the decision to return to fighting, saying the move shows the government “chose to give up on the hostages.”
The Hostages Families Forum said “military pressure endangers hostages.” It asked the government in a post on X why it “backed out of the agreement” with Hamas that set out a release of all the living hostages in exchange for an end to the war.
“We are shocked, angry, and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the group said.
A key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the return to fighting in Gaza.
Bezalel Smotrich had threatened to leave the government if fighting did not resume, which would imperil Netanyahu’s rule. Critics said those political considerations were influencing Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making.
“We remained in the government for this moment despite our opposition to the (ceasefire) deal, and we are more determined than ever to complete the task and destroy Hamas,” Smotrich posted on X.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 235 people, according to local hospitals.
The toll from the strikes overnight and into Tuesday is based on records from seven hospitals and does not include bodies brought to other, smaller health centers.
Rescuers are still searching for dead and wounded.
North Korea has criticized the United States over its new campaign of airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The state-run KCNA news agency on Tuesday quoted Ma Tong Hui, North Korea’s ambassador to Egypt, as describing the attacks as a “wanton violation of all international laws including the U.N. Charter and it is an open encroachment upon the sovereignty of other nation that can never be justified.”
He also criticized “U.S. hooliganism.”
The criticism comes after Trump in his first term held summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seeking a nuclear agreement that was never reached between Pyongyang and Washington.
A senior Hamas official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch widespread strikes on the Gaza Strip amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages held there.
In a statement early Tuesday, Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, accused Netanyahu of resuming the war to try and save his far-right governing coalition.
“Netanyahu’s decision to return to war is a decision to sacrifice the (Israeli) occupation’s captives and a death sentence against them,” he said.
He said Israel didn’t respect its commitments in the ceasefire deal reached in January and urged mediators to “reveal facts” on which side broke the agreement.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading mediation efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price.”
Israeli officials said the latest operation was open-ended and was expected to expand.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the “Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight.”
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran — all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America — will see a price to pay: All hell will break lose,” Leavitt continued, speaking to Fox News on Monday evening.
Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First- and Fifth-Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A dead person killed during an Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday March 18, 2025.(AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and building in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
