Around The Bases-March 11

A Look At Teams Trending In Different Directions

The fourth week of the college baseball season is under way, and we are starting to get a true feel for what teams are (and aren’t).  UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton were each top 10 teams at the start of the season, so who could have predicted they would be a combined 9-12 heading into this weekend’s action?

Here are a few teams that caught my eye this week:

Stock-Up

UCLA:  The Bruins lost a lot of offensive production from last year’s team, but they’re 11-0 thanks to solid contributions throughout the line-up as well as stellar pitching.  UCLA is batting .372 and averaging 8.7 runs a game while the pitching staff has a 2.00 ERA with 130 strikeouts and just 24 walks in 90 innings.  Dean Espy (.440, 3 HR, 12 RBIs), Steve Rodriguez (.400, 5 HR, 11 RBIs)  and Niko Gallego (.314, 3 HR, 13 RBIs) have powered the offense, while Gerrit Cole (3-0, 2.50 ERA) and Trevor Bauer (2-0, 2.45 ERA) have combined for 49 strikeouts with just 6 BB in 32 2/3 IP.

Duke:  Since going 1-3 to open the season in Waco, TX vs. Baylor and Georgia (with a win over the Bulldogs) Duke has rattled-off eight straight wins.  Granted, the wins have been over Fordham, Temple and Quinnipiac, but 3 of the Blue Devil’s last four wins have been by shutout.  The Duke pitching staff has a 0.80 ERA over its last five games with 55 strikeouts and 13 walks.  It would  be easy to write the Blue Devils off as they prepare to open ACC play this weekend vs. arch rival North Carolina, but Duke did take 2 of 3 games from the Tar Heels last year.  Could this be the year Duke gets to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1961?

Kansas State:  The Wildcats, fresh off the program’s first NCAA Tournament in 2009, had a lot of questions coming into the season.  They lost Big 12 Pitcher of the Year A.J. Morris as well as several key bats, including Justin Bloxom.  They’re 9-2, and while they don’t have a “signature” win, they’re hitting .342 with 30 stolen bases and averaging 9.6 runs a game.  Carter Jurica leads the way with a .449 average, 15 runs, 20 RBIs, and 6 SB.  But what’s most impressive is K-State’s pitching.  The Wildcats aren’t overpowering anyone, but they don’t walk anyone either.  The pitching staff has a 3.83 ERA with 77 Ks and just 17 walks in 101 IP.   Ryan Daniel (3-0, 2.81 ERA) has 10 strikeouts and just one free pass in 16 IP, while Evan Marshall (2-0, 1.71 ERA) is yet to walk a batter with 13 Ks in 20 IP.

Villanova:  If we’re going to mention the K-State Wildcats we have to mention the Villanova Wildcats, which handed KSU its last loss last week in Winter Haven, FL.  The win over K-State along with an 8-1 victory over Indiana at the the Big Ten/Big East Challenge gives VU two wins over 2009 NCAA Tourney teams.  Outfielder Justin Bencsko is batting .525 with a 1.218 OPS to lead the Wildcats (10-2) to their best start in head coach Joe Godri’s nine years at the helm.  The senior has spearheaded an offense that is averaging 9.0 runs a game despite just one home run.

Stock-Down

Georgia:  The Bulldogs have lost five straight after Tuesday’s 11-1 drubbing at the hands of Kennesaw State.  Georgia (6-7) was outscored 62-11 in those games by KSU, Alabama and Florida State (3 games).   Bulldog batters are hitting just .288 and they’ve struckout 95 times while drawing just 45 walks.  Those numbers combined with 21 errors (.957 fielding %) and a 7.55 staff ERA make it easy to see why Georgia is struggling.  They’ll hope to get better with a 3-game series with Siena this weekend and a midweek game at Georgia Tech before opening SEC play next week vs. Auburn.

San Diego:  Since opening the season with three home wins over Indiana, the Toreros have lost 7 of their last 10 games to fall to 6-7.  San Diego has plenty of pop with 11 home runs, but it’s batting just .283 with a .363 on-base percentage.  18 errors have led to 12 unearned runs that have proven costly.

San Diego State:  The Aztecs are just 5-7 heading into their SDSU Invitational this weekend.  With the losses of Stephen Strasburg and two other starters pitching would have appeared to be the concern heading into 2010.  However, Addison Reed, who saved 20 games last year, has transitioned nicely into a starter.  The junior (2-1, 3.20 ERA) leads the pitching staff with 23 strikeouts and has issued just five walks.  Bryan Crabb (1-1, 1.72) has also been solid.  Tony Gwynn’s .963 fielding percentage (17 errors) and .261 batting average have been the biggest problem.

Fresno State:  Just two years removed from a National Championship, Fresno State is a shell of the 2008 Wonderdog team.  The Bulldogs are hitting .312 with 16 home runs but….(drum roll please)…defense (the recurring theme this week) is the worst of any team mentioned this week.  FSU (6-6) has committed 26 errors already this season to lose 6 of their last 9 games since opening 2010 with three wins over Nebraska.  Fresno State should be fine once WAC play begins if Mike Batesole’s defense can cure itself.

Around The Bases-March 3

A Look At Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In College Baseball

March is here and week three of the college baseball season is underway.  Most parts of the Midwest and Northeast are still digging out of the snow, but it’s only a matter of time before it melts and spring officially gets here.  It won’t be long until everyone is smelling the green grass that’s taken for granted in the nation’s sunbelt states.

With more games under everyone’s belts we’re getting a better gauge for what each team has.  Here’s a look at this week’s Stock-Up/Stock-Down around college baseball.

Stock-Up

TCU:  The Horned Frogs went to Cal State Fullerton and took two of three games from the Titans to improve to 5-1.  They did it by out-scoring Fullerton 13-3 in their two wins.  Those wins were against All-Americans Daniel Renken and Tyler Pill.  TCU is batting .341 with a .943 team OPS, while the pitching staff has a 2.82 ERA with 47 Ks in 51 IP.

Coastal Carolina:  The Chanticleers were already ranked, and then they went and swept two games from UC Irvine last Saturday.  It wasn’t like they were facing the Anteaters’ 3rd & 4th starters either.  Coastal beat Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis on the same day.  Bibona was 12-1 last year with a 2.63 ERA, while Pettis was 5-2 with 17 saves as Irvine’s closer.

Texas:  After losing two of three games at home to New Mexico to open the season the Longhorns swept a Stanford team that had swept Rice on opening weekend.  The vaunted Longhorn pitching staff showed why it’s considered the best in the nation in the process.  Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green, Chance Ruffin, and  Brandon Workman combined to give-up just two runs with 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings during the series.

East Carolina:  Typically a 4-3 team wouldn’t be considered one whose stock is rising, but the Pirates have essentially played two Super Regionals to open the season.  They lost two of three vs. a loaded Virginia team and then then took two of three from a very good South Carolina squad.   ECU will rack-up a lot of wins by season’s end.

St. John’s:  The Red Storm is off to a 6-0 start with wins over New Orleans (3), Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.  They won their three games at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge by a total of four runs.  The biggest long-term question Ed Blankmeyer’s team would appear to have is pitching.   Bruce Kern and Nick Cenatiempo have both been good so far, but while it’s still early, neither has gone deep into a game yet.  In their combined four starts neither has pitched more than five innings.

Washington State:  The Cougars’ 6-0 start is their best since 1988.  They have a staff ERA of 3.74 and a batting average of .363 in those six games.   Wins over the likes of Seattle, Bethune-Cookman and Texas Tech haven’t been the stiffest of tests, but it’s been more than 20 years since they started as well against similar schedules as well.

Southeastern Louisiana:  A 3-game sweep at Mississippi State last week has earned the Lions (8-0) the program’s first ever national ranking (#29 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Poll).   They’ve done it with good pitching and a well-rounded offense.  Tyler Watkins and Brandon Efferson have each made two starts and have totaled 14.0 and 12.0 innings, respectively.  Three relievers have also combined to post four saves for a staff with a 2.70 ERA.  Meanwhile, the team is hitting .304 and 11 different batters have at least 3 RBIs.

Tim Esmay:  One of the questions we raised coming into the season was whether Esmay could continue what Pat Murphy had done for the last 15 years.  ASU is 7-0 in Esmay’s first seven games as head coach at his alma mater.  Northern Illinois and Towson haven’t provided high-octane competition, but games vs. Cal Poly, Oregon State and Florida International this week should test the Sun Devils more.

Stock Down

UC Irvine:  In addition to the previously mentioned losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also lost to North Carolina State last weekend at the Baseball By The Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach.  They also lost 6-0 Tuesday

night at Pepperdine to fall to 4-4.  Irvine is built on pitching, but it must improve its 6.75 staff ERA.

Cal State Fullerton:  First the Titans lost to Oregon and Pepperdine on opening weekend, then they suffered two more home losses to TCU last weekend.  The four losses at Goodwin Field are half as many as they had all of last year.   Stud pitchers Daniel Renken, Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez are a combined 1-4, while the offense has hit just .236 during the 3-4 start.

Minnesota:  The Golden Gophers’ 0-3 performance at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge was probably the shocker of the event.  They did face arguably the toughest slate of anyone in the field with losses to St. John’s (5-4), UConn (8-2) and Louisville (5-4).  Those could be the top three teams in the Big East by season’s end.  Minnesota has a solid 2.89 staff ERA, but like St. John’s their starters have not gone deep into games yet.  The offense is hitting just .273 during a 2-4 start, but the Gophers should still be alright once Big Ten play starts.

Oregon:  Yes, I did have the Ducks on the “Stock-Up” list last week after wins over Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount, but I also warned not to get too excited too quickly.  Sure enough, Oregon went to Hawaii and lost 3 of 4 games to the Warriors.  It’s likely to be a roller coaster ride again for the Ducks in George Horton’s second season.

Southern Mississippi:  The curse of a Cinderella going to the College World Series is the expectation(and bulls eye on the back) it brings the following year.  That appears to be what happened to the Golden Eagles after they dropped 2 of 3 home games last weekend to LeMoyne.  They also lost at home to Northwestern State on opening weekend.  USM is hitting and pitching solidly, but they’re going to get the best effort of every team they play all season.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 2

A By The Numbers Look At The First Full Week Of The Season

3…Weekend wins over Stanford by Texas.  The Longhorns had dropped 2 of 3 games at home to New Mexico on opening weekend, while the Cardinal had started the season with a home 3-game sweep of Rice.

20-5…Combined score of Texas’ three wins.

1…Home run by Longhorn DH Russell Moldenhauer in the series.  The single longball surpasses his 2009 regular season total.  All four of Moldenhauer’s home runs last season were at the College World Series.

0…Hits allowed in five innings of relief by UT pitcher Cole Green.  He fanned 6 with no walks in the series finale.

18…Strikeouts by UT Arlington pitcher Jason Mitchell in Friday’s win over Missouri State.  Mitchell lost a no-hitter with one out to go in the game, which the Mavericks won 1-0 in 14 innings.   The 18 Ks breaks a school and Southland Conference record.  He struck out at least two batters in all but the 8th inning (1).

0…Runs allowed in 5 innings of relief in that same game by Arlington reliever Adam Boydston, who fanned 8 himself with just one walk and one hit allowed.

2…Wins in three games  by TCU at Cal State Fullerton over the weekend.

4…Home losses by the Titans already this season.

8…Home losses by Fullerton in 2009.

2…Losses in his first two starts by Cal State Fullerton pitcher Daniel Renken after allowing 3 ER in 6 IP in Friday’s loss to the Horned Frogs.

3…Losses by Renken all of last year.

2…Wins by #19 Coastal Carolina over #4 UC Irvine on Saturday in Myrtle Beach, SC.

9…Runs in the 8^th inning of game two of the doubleheader by the Chanticleers to beat the Anteaters 13-6.

2…Combined losses by Irvine pitchers Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis in Saturday’s twin bill.

3…Combined losses by Bibona and Pettis in 2009.

109…Pitches thrown in 5 1/3 IP by Bibona in his loss.

119…Pitches thrown in 6 2/3 IP by Pettis in his loss.

5…RBIs by Coastal Carolina catcher Jose Iglesias in the doubleheader sweep.  He was 6-for-8 at the plate in the games.

6…Runs scored by Irvine in the 8th inning on Sunday to beat James Madison 15-9 for their only win in Myrtle Beach.  In addition to their losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also fell to North Carolina State.

8…Strikeouts and earned runs allowed in 3 ½ innings by Tennessee’s Bryan Morgado in Friday’s 17-1 loss

to Oregon State.

0…Runs allowed with 9 strikeouts by Oregon State’s Greg Peavey in Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Vols.  Peavey allowed just three hits with one walk in his first win of the season.

0.64…Peavey’s ERA in his first 14 innings pitched this season.

9…Strikeouts in 6 innings by Louisville pitcher Thomas Royse in Friday’s 2-0 win over Michigan.

10…Strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings by Todd McInnis in 26th ranked Southern Mississippi’s 8-2 loss to LeMoyne.

2 of 3…Games Southern Miss. dropped to LeMoyne after falling 12-11 in the series finale.

20…Runners left on base by the Golden Eagles in the pair of defeats.

5…RBIs by Dolphin LF Chris Edomonson in the 12-11 win over USM.

84…Runs scored by Arizona State in its 7-0 start to the season.

18…Runs allowed by the Sun Devils (two unearned) for a 2.36 staff ERA.

15…Runs and hits by Georgia Tech in Saturday’s 15-0 win over Xavier.

1…Win over a top 10 team in the history of Xavier baseball after Sunday’s 7-6 win over #4 Georgia Tech.

4 & 3…Respective errors and unearned runs allowed by the Yellow Jackets in their first loss of 2010.

13…Errors in three games committed by Notre Dame en-route to a 1-2 weekend at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.

6…Of those errors committed by the Fighting Irish in Sunday’s 8-7 10-inning win over Penn State.

1…Win this season for Maine (1-5) after Saturday’s 5-3 upset of #12 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

1…Career win for Black Bear pitcher Jeffrey Gibbs, who earned the win vs. the Tar Heels.  He struckout seven and allowed 2 ER in 5 1/3 IP.

2…Career starts by Gibbs-a 6′4-190 lb. freshman from Toronto, Ontario.

12…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Virginia sophomore Danny Hultzen in a 13-0 win over Rhode Island.  The lefty allowed no runs and no walks on two hits to improve to 2-0.

43…Runs scored by the Cavs in their 3-game sweep of URI while allowing just 7 runs to improve to 6-1.

0…Runs allowed in 4 IP by Manhattan freshman reliever John Soldinger in Sunday’s 12-7 win over the 10th ranked Miami Hurricanes.

7…Earned runs allowed in 5 IP by Jasper starting pitcher Mike Gazzola who got credit for the win after exiting with his team leading 9-5.

7 & 9…Combined runs scored and RBIs, respectively, by Manhattan 2-5 batters Mark Onorati, Mike McCann, Chad Salem, and Austin Sheffield in the upset of the Hurricanes.  The quartet also combined to hit .500 (10-for-20).

6-0…Washington State’s record after Sunday’s 10-7 win over Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX.  It’s Wazzou’s best start since going 9-0 to start the 1988 season.

4, 11 & 13…Home runs, RBIs & runs scored by New Mexico State shortstop Ryan Aguayo.  The junior hit .440 with an 1.120 slugging percentage in six games last week.

3…Of Aguayo’s home runs that came in one game-a 17-5 win over Akron.  He hit half of the Aggies’ 6 HRs in the contest.

4 & 9…Home runs and RBIs by Eastern Kentucky’s Anthony Ottrando in the Colonel’s season-opening 3-game series vs. Western Carolina.

11…RBIs with 3 home runs in 3 games by Auburn’s Brian Fletcher.  His 10th inning walk-off home run gave the Tigers a Friday win over Boston College.

15…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz in a win over Oakland.  He allowed just a run on a solo HR.

8-0…The deficit top-ranked LSU faced in the middle of the 6th inning at home Saturday vs. William & Mary. The Tigers scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 6th and then added two more runs in the 7th to win 10-9.

22…Years since LSU had overcome as big a deficit.  They came back from 10 runs down to beat Ole Miss in 1988.

13 1/3…Total innings pitched in two outings last week by Kansas pitcher Cameron Selik.  The junior allowed just one earned run with 10 strikeouts vs. Eastern Michigan and Sacramento State.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll – March 1

Five New Teams Enter This Week’s Rankings

TUCSON, Ariz. — Defending national champion Louisiana St. is ranked No. 1 for the second straight time in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s NCAA Division I baseball poll.

The Tigers (7-0) swept a 3-game series over the weekend against William & Mary.

On the season, LSU is averaging 8.8 runs per game with 8 total home runs, 16 doubles and 20 stolen bases. Catcher Micah Gibbs has only allowed five stolen bases in seven games. The pitching staff has struck out 59 batters and walked only 21.

Poll Notes: Several teams had quality wins last week. Coastal Carolina knocked off highly regarded U.C. Irvine twice as well as N.C. State. Texas Christian beat Cal. St. Fullerton two of three in Fullerton, Calif. Texas swept a 3-game series at home against Stanford. UCLA, off to its best start since the 1997 season at 6-0, beat Long Beach St., Vanderbilt and Southern California last week. Western Kentucky (5-1) knocked off Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas St. Southeastern Louisiana swept a 3-game series at Mississippi St. to run their record to 7-0. Louisville (7-0) is off to its best start since the 1957 ball club started 15-0. Teams that fell out of the poll this week include Cal. St. Fullerton (2-4), San Diego (4-4), Oregon (4-4), Southern Mississippi (4-3) and Texas A&M (5-2 overall, 2-2 last week). New to the poll are Western Kentucky, Kentucky (6-0), Washington St. (6-0), Southeastern Louisiana and Vanderbilt.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s
NCAA Div. I Poll (As of March 1, 2010)
www.baseballnews.com
Rank School (Record)	Points	Previous
1. Louisiana St. (7-0)	492	1
2. Arizona St. (7-0)	490	2
3. Virginia (6-1)	489	5
4. Texas (5-2)	488	4
5. Georgia Tech. (7-1)	486	3
6. Florida St. (6-0)	485	7
7. Florida (5-0)	482	9
8. Coastal Carolina (7-1)	479	21
9. Texas Christian (5-1)	476	14
10. Oregon St. (5-2)	473	10
11. Miami, Fla. (5-1)	471	11
12. Clemson (6-0)	468	15
13. Louisville (7-0)	466	16
14. UCLA (6-0)	465	17
15. North Carolina (6-1)	464	12
16. Ohio St. (5-1)	462	13
17. Oklahoma (6-1)	459	20
18. Mississippi (6-1)	457	28
19. Arkansas (5-1)	453	30
20. New Mexico (5-2)	451	19
21. East Carolina (4-3)	449	22
22. South Carolina (4-2)	447	23
23. Western Kentucky (5-1)	442	—
24. Wichita St. (3-0)	439	27
25. Kentucky (6-0)	437	—
26. U.C. Irvine (4-3)	434	8
27. Stanford (4-3)	430	18
28. Washington St. (6-0)	428	—
29. S.E. Louisiana (7-0)	425	—
30. Vanderbilt (6-1)	422	—

College Baseball Stock Up/Stock Down – Week 1

A Look At Some Movement From Opening Weekend Action

It’s only one weekend, but there were plenty of statements made over the course of the season’s first three days.  Granted, the trends are a little skewed right now, since everything is based on mostly head-to-head match-ups, but we’ll do this every week throughout the season.   Here are three teams whose stock is up and three whose stock is down after opening weekend:

Stock Up

New Mexico:  Ray Birmingham’s Lobos did the nearly unthinkable when they went to Disch-Falk Stadium in Austin and took two of three games from top-ranked Texas.   Both teams stranded a lot of runners, but the Lobos out-pitched the team with last year’s second best ERA (2.95) by compiling a 1.73 ERA compared to 2.67 for the Longhorns.  The biggest difference was the late innings where New Mexico outscored Texas 6-1 in the series from the 6th-9th innings.  The Lobos now find themselves in the national polls the earliest in program history.  Last year’s #21 Baseball America ranking on March 23 was the previous earliest national ranking.

Oregon:  Did the stars align for George Horton’s Ducks, or are they that good?   Horton returned to the place where he won the 2004 National Championship and six College World Series berths and beat his former team, Cal State Fullerton, 7-3 on opening night.  They’re off to a 3-1 start after wins over Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount along with an 11-7 loss to Pepperdine.  Not bad for a team that won just 14 games in its first season of DI baseball since 1981 last year.  The opening night win also snapped a 13-game losing streak that ended the 2009 campaign.  Before anyone gets too excited though remember this:  Oregon won its season opener and then took 2 of 3 games from defending National Champion Fresno State last year.  They were 8-8 in their first 16 games only to win just 6 more times after March 15th.  Their stock is up now, but wait and see might be the better approach for now where the Ducks are concerned.

Stanford:  Stanford missed the NCAA Tournament in 2009, but made a big splash to start the 2010 campaign with a 3-game sweep of #5 Rice at Sunken Diamond.  The biggest question for the Cardinal coming into the season appeared to be offense, but that question was answered at least for a week.  Eleven different batters had at least one RBI over the weekend as Stanford outhit the Owls .327 to .233.  Mark Marquess will find out a lot more about his team this weekend when they go to Austin for a 3-game set with Texas.

Stock Down

Texas:  After a National Runner-Up finish last year Augie Garrido’s Longhorns were the consensus number one team entering the season.  Texas opened 2009 with 11 straight wins and didn’t lose a home game until March 14.  In fact, the Longhorns only suffered six setbacks at Disch-Falk Stadium all of last year.  However, they dropped 2 of 3 games at home to New Mexico last weekend to unanimously fall from the top spot in each of this week’s rankings.  Stat of the weekend:  19 combined runners left on base in their 6-5 & 3-1 losses.  All the key parts are there, it’s just a matter of getting them in-synch.   Texas hosts a hot Stanford team this weekend.

Rice: Credit Wayne Graham for going to California to start the season for a second straight year, but he and his Owls took 3 on the chin while being swept at Stanford.  Rice hit just .233 as a team, but the 9.49 staff ERA along with 19 walks and 23 strikeouts in 24 2/3 IP  have to be the most concerning stats from the weekend..  The longest outing by a Rice starter was 3 1/3 innings pitched by Jared Rogers in Saturday’s 14-5 loss (Stanford exploded for 11 runs in the 7th inning).  To make matters worse, the Owls lost their home opener to Lamar 13-7 Wednesday night to fall to 0-4.  Rice can point to the fact that his team bounced-back nicely after losing 2 of 3 games at Cal Poly to open last season.  The Owls host Elon, Nebraska and Texas A&M Corpus Christi this weekend.

Cal State Fullerton:  Dave Serrano’s Titans followed their season opening 7-3 loss to Oregon with a 6-0 setback to  Pepperdine before beating Long Beach State 8-1 for their first win of the season.  Fullerton hit just .240 in their three games, with the trio of Gary Brown, Billy Marcoe and Christian Colon combining for 12 of the team’s 23 hits.  Meanwhile, starting pitchers Daniel Renken and Noe Ramirez yielded 7 earned runs in 11 2/3 combined IP.  A 3-game home series with 2009 Super Regional team TCU is one of this weekend’s more intriguing match-ups.

Week One College Baseball Notebook By The Numbers

Milestones & Upsets Highlight The First Week Of 2010

2…wins by unranked New Mexico at #1 Texas in Austin.  The Lobos lost the season-opener on Friday, but came back with 3-1 and 6-5 wins Saturday and Sunday.  The wins are the first ever for New Mexico over a #1 ranked team.  Texas topped every national poll heading into the season.

.636…batting average by Lobo Max Willett in the 3-game series.  He had a 1.615 OPS with two doubles and a triple.  Willett also had the game-winning RBI in Saturday’s win.

23…runs by Washington State in Sunday’s 23-o rout of Seattle-the most runs by a Cougar team since 1999.  15 different Cougars had at least one hit.

5…Wazzou pitchers who combined in the shutout.

1,001…Career wins by LSU head coach Paul Mainieri after his Tigers’ 3-game weekend sweep of Centenary.  Mainieri hit the 1,000 win mark with Saturday’s 25-8 victory.

1,000…Career wins by Ohio State head coach Bob Todd after his Buckeyes won three games over the weekend in Jacksonville, FL.  OSU pounded Richmond 20-9 Sunday to get Todd to the milestone.

901…career wins for Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall after a weekend sweep of Missouri State.

36…runs scored by Canisius in a doubleheader sweep of Illinois-Chicago Saturday at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, NC.  The Golden Griffins won the first game 20-4 and took the second game 16-10.

3…games Stanford won vs. 5th ranked Rice in Palo Alto.

11…runs Stanford scored in the 7th inning of game two of the series on Saturday.  The Cardinal was trailing 4-2 at the time.

5…pitchers Rice used during Stanford’s biggest inning in nearly two years.

265…wins at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field by Oregon (and former Fullerton) head coach George Horton after Friday’s upset of the 4th ranked Titans.

6-5…the score of Friday’s Louisiana-Monroe win over Ole Miss.  It was the Rebels’ first season-opening loss since 1981.

1 & 15…combined hits and strikeouts by St. John’s starting pitchers Bruce Kern (5 IP-0H-0BB-8K) and Nick Cenatiempo (4 IP-1 H-0R-BB-7) in Friday and Saturday wins over New Orleans.

3…home runs by Red Storm 1B Paul Karmas in Sunday’s 31-6 win over UNO.

5…total runs by West Virginia in weekend losses to #17 Coastal Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.

9 1/2…runs a game scored by the Mountaineers last year-which ranked 12th in the nation.

14,922…fans who saw #2 Virginia win two of three games over #11 East Carolina at ECU’s Clark-LeClair Stadium.  Friday’s opening day crowd of 5,012 is the largest in stadium history.  Saturday’s crowd of 5,136 marked the first time ECU ever had back-to-back attendance of more than 5.000.

14…combined pitchers used by the Cavaliers (6) and Pirates (8) in Sunday’s 14-11 UVA series-clinching win.

3 2/3…innings pitched by UVA starter Cody Winiarski.  It was the longest stint for any of the 14 hurlers.  Virginia had 19 hits while East Carolina totaled 11.

4:11…the total time of the 9-inning game.

4:39…time of Lamar’s 5-4 win in 17-innings over Maine.  The game is the longest in Lamar history.  The two teams had played a 2 hour and 27 minute 9-inning game prior to the marathon.

12…strikeouts in 6 innings by Georgia Tech’s Jed Bradley in Sunday’s 13-0 win over Missouri State.  The lefty allowed just four hits and retired 6 of the first 8 batters he faced via strikeout.

13…strikeouts in 6 innings by Arizona freshman Kurt Heyer.  Heyer allowed just three hits and fanned 13 of the 22 batters he faced in Sunday’s win over Utah Valley in his collegiate debut.

2,500…all-time wins for the Arizona baseball program after Heyer’s performance Sunday.

8…straight wins by UC Irvine pitcher Daniel Bibona after his 10 strikeout performance in a 5-1 win over Loyola Marymount.

3…the magic number during opening weekend for Illinois State’s Kevin Tokarski.  The redshirt sophomore tripled on the Redbirds’ first pitch of 2010.  He stole 3 bases with 3 doubles in his team’s first three games of the season.   Tokarski was a 2008 Freshman All-American, but missed last season due to wrist surgery.

8,803…total attendance of TCU’s season-opening 3-game sweep of 2009 NCAA participant Sam Houston State.  The mark is a single-series TCU record.

.800…batting average by Horned Frog freshman Josh Elander.  He was 8-for-10 with a team-high six RBIs to start his career.

1…hit allowed in 6 innings on the mound by Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis.  The Southern Mississippi hurler didn’t give-up a hit until there were two outs in the 5th inning of Friday’s win over Northwestern State.  He exited the game after he reached his 75 pitch limit.

10 of 10…Pac 10 Conference teams that finished opening weekend with a winning record.  The Pac 10 is the only BCS conference that claimed that distinction over the first three days of the 2010 season.

Intriguing Week One College Baseball Match-Ups

Some Big Match-Ups Highlight The Start Of 2010 Campaign

We’re almost there.  The 2010 college baseball season starts tomorrow.  Most of the nearly 300 teams that open their seasons Friday haven’t played together in a real game since last May.

Not every team is playing this weekend.  Maine is the only team from the America East Conference that has a series scheduled.  The Black Bears are in Beaumont, TX to face Lamar.  There are a lot of Northern teams that didn’t add a week to their schedules this year even though the NCAA decided to do so last summer after Feb. 26th was the originally scheduled starting point.  In fact, all eight Ivy League teams don’t get 2010 started until the weekend of March 5th, while none of the nine Northeast Conference teams will take the field this weekend either.

A majority of teams are playing this weekend though.  Here’s a look at some intriguing interconference games across the country.

(CLICK HERE to see any of the 301 Division I college baseball schedules.)

Virginia at East Carolina

(3-game series)

Bam!  Right off the bat a prime time match-up.  Q: How did East Carolina end its 2009 season?  A:  With a Super Regional loss to ACC power North Carolina, which earned a fourth straight CWS berth.  Q:  Where did Virginia end its 2009 season?  A:  Omaha after a trip to the program’s first ever College World Series appearance.

With a young squad last year Brian O’Connor eased into the start of the season by winning its first 19 games against the likes of Bucknell, Fordham, and Canisius.  That’s not the case this year though.  The Cavaliers go to Greenville, NC at

Clark-LeClair Stadium, where East Carolina beat South Carolina in last year’s NCAA Regional, in what is likely to be Super Regional-like atmosphere in week one.

Danny Hultzen, meet Kyle Roller.  Brad Mincey, this is Jarrett Parker.  If you can’t get excited about this one you probably liked the movie “Valentine’s Day” (my wife drug me there and she didn’t like it either).

New Mexico at Texas

(3-game series)

This is a classic match-up of hitting vs. pitching.  New Mexico led the nation last year with its .363 team batting average while Texas had the second-best ERA in the land at 2.95.  The Lobos haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1962, but the Longhorns have been to the College World Series 26 times with four National Championships in the time since then.

On the flip side, New Mexico had a 5.26 ERA while Texas sported just a .288 team batting average last year.  Augie Garrido’s Longhorns thrived on “small ball” last year with 104 sacrifice bunts compared to 54 home runs.  New Mexico only hit 51 long balls, but they led the nation by legging-out 47 triples.

Texas returns the bulk of its pitching staff, including Taylor Jungmann (11-3, 2.00 ERA) and Chance Ruffin (10-2, 3.32 ERA),  and is the consensus #1 team in the nation entering the season.  Catcher Rafael Neda (.415, 1.133 OPS) and Ryan Honeycutt (.406, 6 HR, 53 RBIs) lead the Lobo offense.

UNM head coach Ray Birmingham knows he’s putting his team’s feet to the fire with this series and other road trips to Arkansas and Arizona this season, but he hopes the tough tests pay off by season’s end.

Rice at Stanford

(3-game series)

Talk about tradition.  This is a College World Series match-up in February between two teams that traditionally thrive on pitching.  Stanford has been to Omaha 16 times, including five times in the last decade.  Rice has seven CWS appearances of its own, and they have all been since 1997.

Stanford missed the NCAA Tournament last year after joining Rice in Omaha in 2008, and they had trouble scoring

runs last year.  The Cardinal ranked seventh in the Pac 10 with 341 runs scored.  Their .416 slugging percentage was also seventh in the league, while they were sixth with a .360 on-base percentage.  That didn’t combine well with a 5.12 ERA that ranked seventh as well.

Rice is led by 2009 National Freshman of the Year Anthony Rendon (.388, 20 HR, 72 RBIs) at the plate and Mike Ojala (5-0, 2.17 ERA) on the mound.  Rendon is one of eight returning starters from last year’s Super Regional team.  Sophomore LHP Brett Mooneyham (6-3, 4.14 ERA) gets the Friday start for Stanford.  Cardinal shortstop Jake Schlander is the reigning Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year.  OF Kellen Kilsgaard (.313, 9 HR, 46 RBIs) is Stanford’s top overall returning offensive player.

This is just the third meeting between Wayne Graham and Mark Marquess’ teams.  The Cardinal swept a series at Sunken Diamond in 1991, while Rice won two out of three games at the 2003 College World Series.

Rhode Island at Mississippi State

(3-game series)

Rhode Island was the team that was perceived as the biggest snub last year after the NCAA Tournament bids were announced.  Jim Foster’s Rams won 37 games in 2009, but won neither the Atlantic 10’s regular season nor tournament titles.  Oliver Palmer (.342, 11 HR, 44 RBIs) and Mike LeBel (.323, 7 HR, 41 RBIs, 17 SB) lead the URI offense.  The pitching staff must replace its top two starters and its closer from last year’s squad.

Mississippi State has missed the last two NCAA Tournaments after going to the 2007 College World Series.  The Bulldogs have finished a combined 14 games under .500 with back-to-back 9-win seasons in SEC play in John Cohen’s first two years as the MSU head coach.  Connor Powers (.301, 19 HR, 63 RBIs) and Ryan Duffy (.339, 10 HR, 33 RBIs) head a group of solid returning players in the line-up.

Oregon at Cal State Fullerton

This is just a one-game match-up to open the season on Friday.   Both teams aslo play Pepperdine and Long Beach State over the weekend.  The season-opener is a homecoming for Oregon head coach George Horton, who graduated from Fullerton in 1978 and later coached the Titans for 11 seasons.  Horton played on Fullerton’s first College World Series team in 1975 and later coaches the Titans to six CWS berths, including the 2004 National Championship.  He is one of just nine men to appear in Omaha as a player and head coach.  He left his alma mater after the 2007 College World Series when he was hired to revive a program at Oregon that had been

defunct since 1981.

Current Titan head coach Dave Serrano was an assistant under Horton at Cal State Fullerton from 1997 to 2004.  He coached UC Irvine to the 2007 CWS, and prevailed against Horton and the Titans in a 5-4 13 inning game that’s the longest game (in time) in CWS history.  Horton has a 7-6 head to head advantage when the two have met as head coach.

Horton, known as “The Commissioner” at Fullerton, ranks 19th among active head coaches with a .665 career winning percentage, while Serrano ranks 25th at .660.

Ten College Baseball Questions For 2010

Ten Questions On The Eve Of The College Baseball Season

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

A new college baseball season is about to begin.  It’s a season that is started a week earlier than it was originally slated to begin, and one school (James Madison) has already canceled its season opener, because (spoiler) it snows in roughly two-thirds of the country in mid-February.

Anyway, from time to time different thoughts pop into my head and I have managed to corral a few of them here.  So, here are Ten College Baseball Questions For 2010… (in no particular order)…

1.  Can LSU Repeat? The odds say it’s not going to happen.  Oregon State (2006-2007), LSU (1996-1997) and Stanford (1987-1988) are the only teams to win back-to-back crowns since Rod Dedeaux’s USC Trojans ended a streak of five straight titles from 1970-1974.  Paul Mainieri’s Tigers have a lot of key elements returning, like Blake Dean’s bat and Anthony Ranaudo & Matty Ott’s arms, but the odds just aren’t in their favor.  On the other hand…

2.  Can Texas Be Stopped? The odds (along with a sick pitching staff and a lot of returning everyday players) would seem to be in Augie Garrido’s favor.  The Longhorns return three starters, Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green and Chance Ruffin who could all be just about anyone’s number one starter.  The trio combined to win 26 games last year.  Cameron Rupp, Kevin Keyes and Omaha long ball ace Russell Moldenhauer are also back to lead the offense.  With all that back the biggest question right now seem to be can they stay number one from now until season’s end?

3.  Would An LSU vs. Texas Championship Re-Match Be Good For College Baseball? It would be good for TV ratings, but I don’t know that it would actually be good for the game as a whole.  Does anyone who’s not a Yankees fan think that the cash cow’s 27th title is good for any other MLB team other than the one in the Bronx with the new stadium and overpriced (and often empty) seats?  Texas and LSU at the College World Series is good for college baseball, because it gets casual fans a little more interested.  But when it comes time for all the marbles David vs. Goliath  is just more fun.

4.  Speaking Of David…Who Will Be This Year’s Cinderella? Fresno State was the ultimate Cinderella two years ago, but Mike Batesole’s great-great-great grand children will be playing before we see that kind of run again.  But that doesn’t mean there won’t be more Cinderellas.  They’re quite common when it comes to the CWS.  Fresno State, Southern Mississippi, Louisville, Southwest Missouri State, Notre Dame, and San Jose State all made it to Omaha in the last decade in what was either their first appearance or their first trip after a long CWS drought.  The odds say there’ll be a Cinderella, but the waiting is the hardest (and most fun) part.

5.  Will Bryce Brentz Win the NCAA’s Triple Crown? The Middle Tennessee State slugger just about did it last year.  He led the nation with his .465 batting average, and he tied Alabama’s Kent Matthes for the home run title with 28.  Brentz also topped the charts with his .930 slugging percentage, but he missed the Triple Crown with “just” 73 RBIs.  That technically tied for 31st nationally, but Brentz was just 14 RBIs behind NCAA leader Paul Goldschmidt of Texas State.  Logical thinking would say Brentz, now a junior, doesn’t have a chance, but logic never pitched to Brentz.

6.  Can Arizona State Overcome The Loss Of Pat Murphy? Love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue with the success that Murphy had in his 15 years in the ASU dugout.   But it’s not like ASU had never won prior to Murph’s arrival.  He led his team to Omaha four times, but the program has 21 CWS appearances since 1964 thanks to Bob Winkles and Jim Brock.  Now it’s Tim Esmay’s turn to guide the cruise ship Sun Devil.  Esmay, a former Utah head coach, himself played for Brock in Omaha twice, and he was also on Murphy’s staff for the last five seasons.  He also has a lot of experience sitting with him in the dugout.  Ken Knutson is in his first year as an assistant on the ASU staff after 17 seasons as the Washington Huskies’ head coach.  ASU’s line-up is loaded again, and there’s plenty of pitching too.  For now anyway the good ship ASU doesn’t show any signs of running aground.

7.  Is Virginia The Next National Power Or A One-Hit Wonder? The Cavaliers can hardly be considered a Cinderella.  Yes, last year was their first-ever College World Series trip, but they are from the ACC and they won their conference tournament last year.  Glass slippers aside, it would be easy to write-off UVA as a team that got hot and made a big run.  However, last year’s CWS squad included 23 underclassmen and set 11 school records…and the most prominent components-like Danny Hultzen, Jarrett Parker and Kevin Arico to name a few-are all back this year.  Who saw North Carolina coming prior four years ago?  Mike Fox’s Tar Heels hadn’t been to Omaha since 1989 prior to 2006 & now they’ve gone four straight times.  Cavalier head coach Brian O’Connor has now guided the Cavs to six straight NCAA berths, and he has been a guy whose destiny has always seemed to be Omaha.  He grew-up in the shadow of Rosenblatt Stadium in Council Bluffs, NE, pitched in the ‘91 CWS for Creighton, helped Notre Dame get to Omaha in 2002 as the Irish pitching coach, and finally took his own team to the promised land last year…not to mention the fact that his mug is one of the players on the famed “Road To Omaha” statue outside Rosenblatt.  So, if you’re asked what lies in the shadow of the statue the safe answer might be “O’Connor’s Cavaliers”.

8.  Is A Northern Team Ready To Make A Real National Statement? Michigan and Notre Dame flirted with it last decade.  St. John’s has had its moments, and Ohio State and Minnesota have each had some success, but it all comes down to pitching.  Or more specifically, pitching depth.  The biggest difference in teams in the good southern teams and the good northern teams is pitching depth.  There are guys coming out of the bullpen in the ACC and SEC who could be starters on most Big Ten and Big East teams.  Just look at last year’s save numbers in those conferences:  157 in the SEC & 160 saves in the ACC compared to 110 and 121 in the Big Ten and Big East, respectively.  But save totals don’t even tell half the story.

When it comes to playing in an NCAA Regional winning the first game is important, but for a northern team winning the first two games of a regional is critical.  The team that starts 2-0 at a regional is at least one starting pitcher ahead of each opponent it plays the rest of the weekend.  Look at Minnesota last year:  They lost their regional opener to Baylor, then out-slugged Southern 11-8 and Baylor 15-12 atfter that before falling 10-3 to LSU.  They played respectably, but they gave-up 10 runs a game over their last three contests, while LSU gave-up 3 runs with its third starter on the mound.   Ohio State lost 24-8 to Georgia to its regional opener last year, then won 6-4 and 13-6 in elimination games before getting trounced 37-6 by Florida State in game four (game 3 for FSU).  OSU’s starting pitcher gave-up 7 runs without getting an out in that game.  But what about Michigan in 2007?  The Wolverines won the first two games of their regional, lost game three, but then beat Vanderbilt in the deciding game four to advance to a Super Regional.  In 2002 Notre Dame used just five pitchers while going 3-0 at their Regional en-route to being the only northern team to advance to Omaha since the ’80s.  The Irish also used just two pitchers in their two Super Regional wins over Florida State the following week.   It’s no coincidence that in recent years only teams from the south have come back  to win a Regional after losing one of their first two games.

9.  Is Conference USA The Most Underrated Baseball Conference In The Country? Quick question…what three conferences have sent at least one team to the College World Series in each of the last five seasons?  If you said the SEC, Pac 10 and Conference USA you get the gold star for the day (but remember to raise your hand before blurting out the answer next time).  Rice, Tulane and last year’s darling Southern Mississippi have all gone to Omaha in that stretch.  Terry Rooney left LSU after a trip to the 2008 CWS in part because C-USA had earned a reputation as a three bid league.  But Conference USA didn’t just get three bids last year.  Rice, Southern Miss. and East Carolina all advanced to Super Regionals, and ECU and USM did it by beating South Carolina and Georgia Tech, respectively, in Regional action.  USM then beat Florida on the road to advance to Omaha, Rice lost to eventual National Champ LSU in its Regional while ECU fell to a North Carolina team that made a fourth straight CWS appearance.  C-USA has arrived, and based on the talent the aforementioned ‘09 Super Regional teams have back, the conference doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

10.  Will The Season Just Start Already? Really, aren’t you tired of waiting?  Oops, that’s another question, we don’t have room for eleven.  Is it here yet?  That’s another questions too…

The College Baseball Season: To Extend Or Not To Extend

NCAA To Decide Season’s Length This Week

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

An NCAA Committee will vote this Friday (Jan. 15) on whether or not to extend the length of the college baseball season from 13 to 14 weeks.  Actually, it will vote on whether to override a vote that has already added a 14th week to the beginning of the season.  What?

The 2010 season was originally supposed to start on Feb. 26, but in July a week was added at the front of the season, making the start date Feb. 19.

The vote on the issue was split pretty geographically.  Most Southern schools wanted the extra week, while most Northern schools opposed adding the extra week to the start of the season.  (Anyone who can look out their window and see the snow that I see on the ground right now can understand why.)

Here’s a compromise:  Add the week, but Southern schools from BCS Conferences have to start returning some hospitality & travel north at the end of the season.

We have the Big Ten/Big East Challenge again this year, but how about the Big Ten/SEC Challenge and the Big East/ACC Challenges next year?   Rutgers already traditionally goes to Miami (FL) and Georgia Tech early in the year.  Let the ‘Canes or Yellow Jackets go to Bainton Field in May & listen to that rock clank against the backstop for a weekend.  (Seriously.)  How about Ole Miss, Florida or LSU rolling into Columbus to face Ohio State in May?

Forget about Northern teams going South to start their seasons when many of them are seeing real ground balls  and high skies for the first time.  With the extra week at the end of the season the teams from the North can play host to their Southern counterparts in May in midweek contests when classes and finals are over.  Most schools have a conference bye week in May anyway, so it shouldn’t be hard to find room in the schedule.

I’ve talked before about being creative to grow college baseball in the Northern areas, and there would be nothing better than to get some of those traditional powers from the South to come North to create some buzz prior to postseason play.

How excited do North Carolina fans really get about having Maine, Michigan or St. John’s come to town?  It’s nice, but North Carolina going to Maine, Michigan or St. John’s would get Red Storm fans a lot more excited than another midweek game against Iona or NYIT.

It’s only fair for those teams from the South to make Northern cameos even if only once every couple years.  The whole issue is supposed to be about missed class time caused by playing more midweek games in 13 instead of 14 weeks.  How are Southern schools missing more class time than their Northern counterparts when they are playing roughly 35 home games compared to about 23 home games for teams in the North?

It’s not a stretch to think the issue is less about missed class time and more about not worrying about finding a fifth starter to pitch an extra midweek game every week.  Teams like Texas and Rice have already lightened their regular season slates by playing games in the fall to compensate for the shorter season.  Teams in the North that are serious about an NCAA at-large bid don’t have that luxury, because they need every game to try to get to 40 wins to build their NCAA case.

Here’s a quick look at the differences in a few schedules based on geography:

Texas:  Plays its first 27 games in the state of Texas, including 20 of those games in Austin.  Trips to Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas State are their only games outside of Texas prior to the postseason.  36 home games.

Florida State:  Plays its first 16 games in the state of Florida.  Doesn’t make its first road trip until March 19 at North Carolina.  35 home games.

Arizona State:  Plays its first 17 and 23 of its first 25 games in Arizona.  Plays 30 home games plus four more games in nearby Surprise, AZ.

North Carolina:  Doesn’t leave North Carolina until starting an ACC series on April 2 at Mayland.  23 of the Tar Heel’s first 27 games are in Chapel Hill, with a 3-game series just a Levi Michael line drive away in Durham vs. Duke.  38 home games.

LSU:  Plays its first 12 and 20 of its first 21 games at home (the other game in Natchitoches, LA).  March 26 is the first venture outside of Louisiana for the defending national champs.  38 home games.

Now the Northern schools:

Ohio State:  Plays its first 22 games on the road.  Plays its home opener on March 31.  21 home games.

Notre Dame:  Plays its first 15 games on the road.  Home opener is March 20.  25 home games.

St. John’s:  Plays its first 13 games on the road.  Home opener is March 16.  24 home games.

Michigan:  Plays its first 18 games on the road.  Home opener is March 26.  22 home games.

It’s easy to see that there’s an inherent competitive disadvantage for Northern teams.  They don’t just have to travel for those extra road games, they also have to fly to most of those games while many if not all of the road trips for the Southern teams are via bus.  That means even more cost (there’s no airline discount for baseball teams for checking 70 plus bags per trip.)

The argument can be made that the Northern schools I’ve mentioned are from BCS Conferences, so they should be able to afford the travel.  But what about teams from conferences like the America East, Atlantic 10 & Horizon League (and others)?  They don’t have the BCS trickle down (or even windfall from multiple NCAA basketball tourney bids), but they still have to fly south while their counterparts in the Big South, Atlantic Sun, etc. have shorter bus trips (mostly) and they also occasionally get teams from the ACC and SEC to play in their home parks.

A case can also be made that if Northern teams are serious about winning they should invest more in their baseball programs.  Scaling down their travel costs and adding a few more marquee games to get more fans through the turnstiles won’t change any program overnight, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Look at the Big Leagues.  Kansas City doesn’t come close to packing Kauffman Stadium on a daily basis, but they (and every other team) see attendance spikes when the Yankees and Red Sox come to town.  That’s the kind of effect teams like LSU, UNC, Florida State and the rest would have.

Fans in the South get to see top teams all the time, but most fans in the North don’t get to see those same teams until they’re on TV in Super Regionals and at the College World Series.

I have talked to a couple of coaches who don’t want to say anything on the record right now, but there is a good chance we will see a “major” program or two venture North in the near future.

True equity is never going to happen, because there are so many schools in so many parts of the country involved.  But what’s better for college baseball in May – Louisiana Tech vs. Texas in Austin or Texas vs. Michigan in Ann Arbor?

By the way, mercury actuall does exceed 80 degrees in Michigan in May.

Around The Bases

A Few Things I’m Thinking About Right Now…

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

1.  A new year is here, but the question is how do you say the year?  You would think “2010″ is pretty simple, but maybe not.  I guess ESPN has directed its employees to say “Twenty-Ten”.  I prefer “Two Thousand Ten”.   I think most people say “N-C-Double-A” when referring to the “NCAA”, but I have know some people who call it the “N-C-Two-A”.   It’s all “tomato-tomahto” to me.

2.  There’s a big part of the Mike Leach/Craig & Adam James situation at Texas Tech that hasn’t been talked about much that applies to all sports.  First a disclaimer, what Leach did with Adam James was wrong, so I am not condoning Leach putting Adam in a closet by any means.  That said, Leach and his staff have characterized Craig James as a “helicopter dad”.  They say he has hovered around the practice field, called repeatedly and lobbied for more playing time for his son, Adam.  James has downplayed that characterization, but there has to be something to it.  My point is, by the time a parent send their kid to college that “kid” is a young adult.  At that time it’s time for “junior” to take care of things on his own.  If Adam James or any other 18-22 year old has playing time issues they should approach their coach themselves.  Is Craig James preparing Adam for life if he’s still calling coaches to talk about playing time?  I’ve seen and heard too many instances of parents crossing the line to think there’s nothing to Leach’s claim.  From parents calling the press box during a game to question a hit/error scoring decision to a high profile booster verbally lambasting a head coach for not playing his silver spooned kid more.  If the Adam James’ of the world can’t take care of themselves without hiding behind their parent’s coat tails by their third year in college, when are they ever going to take care of themselves?

3.  I love college baseball and college football, but I don’t love college football overtime rules.  I’m not a huge hockey or soccer fan, but I follow them a little bit, and I don’t like their OT rules either.  I wish both college football and the NFL would just go to a system where they kickoff in overtime and just ensure that both teams get the ball at least once.  Hockey and soccer at least play overtime periods, but if things still are not resolved they go to a shootout to break the tie.  What if baseball did something similar?  What if they started an extra inning with one out an a runner at second base like they do in some little leagues?  The epic Texas-Boston College 25-inning game might have ended after 12 innings.  Are you kidding me?  It’s not natural.  It’s not the real game.  The other sports should take a lesson from baseball (and basketball as well).  Either play the game from start to finish by one set of rules or just let it end in a tie.

4.  There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of weeks about teams like the Colts and Saints not playing their starters at the end of the NFL season.  Things like competitive fairness and fairness to fans paying for tickets to a game absent of stars are being looked into by the NFL.   College baseball (and really most college sports) really doesn’t have the luxury to sit players regularly, because every game really does mean something.  The best players typically play almost every game.  What about the MLB though?  Big League baseball players get frequent rests throughout the season, and that’s just the way it is.  I’ve gone to a Cubs-Giants game expecting to see Barry Bonds in the line-up only to see him sit on the bench for nine innings instead.   I might not like it, but that’s the way it goes.  To the victor go the spoils, and resting players is the spoil of teams that win.

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