Two Southeastern Conference teams dropped out of the Baseball America Top-25 poll this week while another SEC team joined the ranks.The highest-ranked team to plunge from the polls was Vanderbilt.The Commodores (26-8, 6-6) were ranked No. 20 in last week’s poll, but they find themselves outside the polls after a 2-2 week which featured a series loss to South Carolina.Their 6-6 record is good enough for No. 3 in the SEC East.Alabama, ranked No. 24 in prior week polls, also fell.The Crimson Tide (21-11, 5-7) won only two of five games this week and lost their weekend series against Kentucky.”Hopefully for our team this is the turning point,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard said in a news release following the Tide’s only win Sunday. “There were some great efforts today, but I think as much as anything it was about competing and having the will to find a way to win the ballgame.”The Crimson Tide’s conference record is good enough for sole possession of fifth place in the SEC West.The conference’s lone newcomer to the polls is No. 23 Auburn.The Auburn Tigers (22-11, 7-5) went 4-1 last week, including a series win against No. 8 LSU.Auburn took the series on a squeeze play in the bottom of the ninth inning of game three.Auburn junior outfielder Justin Fradejas laid down a bunt that allowed Auburn sophomore infielder Casey McElroy to score.”Before the pitch, [Auburn coach John Pawlowski] told me that we were going to safety squeeze, and I was just thinking about getting a bunt down in a good spot so that Casey could score,” Fradejas said in a news release. “This is a huge win for us. They are the defending national champion, and they are ranked.”Five other SEC teams appeared in the polls this week with four occupying spots 7-10.No. 7 Florida jumped one spot after a 3-1 week and is now the highest-ranked team in the conference.LSU fell three spots from No. 5 last week following a 3-2 week.Arkansas went undefeated in the four games of the week, ending at No. 9 — up one spot from last week.South Carolina also moved up one spot in this week’s polls and sits at No. 10. The Gamecocks went 3-1 last week.Player of the WeekFradejas’ squeeze bunt against LSU may have been a deciding factor in this week’s Player of The Week selection.He received the honor Monday afternoon to become the third Auburn player this season to earn the designation.Fradejas batted .474 this week and is currently riding a 14-game hitting streak.He had two RBIs going into the week but hit six more in the four-game stretch to bring his season total to eight.He went 9-for-19 with three doubles on the week and crossed home plate a total of six times.The conference’s top pitcher last week was South Carolina’s Jay Brown.The senior righty pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-hit baseball in the Gamecocks’ 2-0 win on the road against Vanderbilt.He also struck out two batters and allowed no walks in the appearance. It was only his second start of the season.”I am so proud of our team,” South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said after Brown’s win. “We played hard and pitched great today. We didn’t dominate. We were able to win both games that were close and on the road against a great club, one of the better hitting and pitching teams in the country.”—————Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]