The LSU Tigers' season went from bad to worse this past weekend as they opened SEC play with a series loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores.
They were able to take the final game on Sunday to avoid a sweep, but their record fell to 14-7 on the year, and their conference record begins at 1-2.
D1Baseball released its updated Top 25 on Monday after the series. Just two weeks after the Tigers were ranked second, they have now completely fallen out of the rankings.
LSU fell to No. 13 last week after suffering four losses in the same week. The momentum of going just 3-6 in their last nine games has them sliding. While the Commodores have been good in recent years, they're an unranked team.
The Tigers' once-conference-best offense now ranks 11th in the SEC with an average of just .288 The offense has had its moments, but his widely inconsistent. Even when the bats do deliver, they can't count on pitching to do the same.
LSU's pitching staff continues to rank dead-last in the conference with a 5.24 ERA. No other team in the SEC is either at 5.00 or above. This was viewed as a concern for this team, given the talent lost from last year's squad, and it has proven to be the case.
Good news for Tigers, though, as they could control their own destiny in getting back into the rankings. They have their first home SEC series this weekend against the No. 8-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. They'll also need to take care of business against the Grambling State Tigers, which is no longer a sure win.