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The 2012 college baseball season begins later in February, but top 25 polls have already come out. The LSU Tigers are at No. 8 and one reason for that is pitcher Kevin Gausman, a native of Colorado and former 2010 sixth round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gausman was just named to Perfect Game USA's 2012 Preseason All-America second team.
The first team pitchers are South Carolina's Michael Roth, Stanford's Mark Appel, Texas A&M's Michael Wacha and Florida's Hudson Randall, all very deserving candidates. Joining Gausman on the second team are Florida's Karsten Whitson, Georgia Southern Chris Beck and Rice's Austin Kubitza.
Making the All-America third team are two former 2011 Colorado Rockies draft picks: catcher Peter O'Brien and pitcher Ross Stripling. O'Brien was a third-round pick by the Rockies, but he had family issues that kept him in college and led him to transfer to the Miami Hurricanes. He has big-time power but his future as a catcher is murky. Stripling helped pitch Texas A&M deep into the NCAA Baseball Tournament, but he decided he wanted to return for his senior year. He could head back to the College World Series in 2012.