LSU received more recognition as one of the top baseball programs in the country Friday, as the Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the 2009 USA Today/ESPN coaches’ preseason poll. The USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association.”It’s a great honor to receive that kind of recognition from the coaches, and it certainly generates a lot of excitement among our fans,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “However, we realize the polls don’t affect what happens on the field. We have to earn everything we receive by working hard every day. We’re not going to put extra pressure on ourselves because of the No. 1 ranking; we’re going to go out each day and do what we know it takes to be successful.”LSU was also ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Baseball magazine preseason poll released last month. The Tigers are ranked No. 2 in the NCBWA and Baseball America preseason polls.LSU is No. 1 in a preseason poll for the first time since 1996, when the Tigers began the year at the top of the Baseball America rankings.North Carolina is No. 2 in the USA Today/ESPN poll, followed by Rice, Georgia and Texas A&M. Stanford, Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Florida State and Texas round out the Top 10.No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 23 Florida join LSU and Georgia as the Southeastern Conference teams appearing in the poll. 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.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.