The widely anticipated three-game series between two of the nation’s most prominent private faith-based institutions will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 31 to April 2. Pepperdine and BYU have faced each other once in the last decade – a 5-0 road victory for BYU in February of 2004 – but regularly battled throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s with the Waves winning 13 of 18 meetings.

The BYU series concludes a March schedule that features 15 home games for Pepperdine, including weekend wars with 2010 NCAA qualifiers Louisville (March 11-13) and Coastal Carolina (March 18-20) and Dayton (March 25-27) of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Waves will also play host to regional rivals UC Santa Barbara (March 1), UC Riverside (March 9) and Cal Poly (March 22).

Overall, Pepperdine will battle six clubs that qualified for NCAA postseason play. The national runner-up UCLA Bruins play host to the Waves for a night game on Feb. 22 and make their return trip to Malibu on May 3. Pepperdine visits UC Irvine the following night on May 3 and has games scheduled with NCAA Super Regional participant Fullerton on April 5 and May 10.

Complete Pepperdine 2011 Baseball Schedule

The combined record of Pepperdine’s 2011 opponents from last season is 598-527 (.522).

“I’m excited for us to play this kind of schedule with so many good teams coming out west to play us,” head coach Steve Rodriguez said, “and we are always willing to travel anywhere in the country to play quality teams. It is going to be a tremendous experience for our guys and Pepperdine to have some great teams coming to Malibu”.

Before the Waves get rolling through its prolonged March homestand, they will make weekend road trips to Fresno State (Feb. 25-27) and East Carolina (March 4-6). Pepperdine last faced Fresno State in 2007 – the year prior to the Bulldogs’ NCAA Championship run – and pulled off a three-game sweep, winning by scores of 4-0, 3-2 and 10-4 in Malibu.

The Pirates of ECU visited the West Coast last year with a No. 13 ranking, but were overmatched by Waves’ pitching in games one and two before salvaging a 3-2 victory in the series finale.

Pepperdine’s WCC campaign begins April 8 with a trip to Portland, which was the conference’s surprise club of 2010. The Pilots were pegged to finish last in the WCC coaches’ preseason poll, but instead finished second to San Diego at 14-7 and registered the conference’s best overall mark of 34-18. Portland appeared destined to challenge USD for the league title and earn an NCAA postseason berth at one point, but a nine-game losing streak in mid May (which included sweeps by San Diego and San Francisco) quickly derailed the Pilots’ dream season.

San Diego is Pepperdine’s second conference opponent and will welcome the Waves on the weekend of April 15-17. The Toreros won 19 of 21 WCC games this past season and were victorious through 15 straight games to open the season before being shutout by the Waves 5-0 on May 21.

Pepperdine will host four conference series in 2011, beginning with Loyola Marymount (April 21-23) and Santa Clara (May 6-8), followed by Gonzaga (May 20-22) and Saint Mary’s (May 27-29). The Waves visit San Francisco from May 13-15.

Eastern Kentucky, which finished a game over .500 at 28-27 and 9-12 in the Ohio Valley Conference, will open Pepperdine’s 72nd (and 38th in Malibu) season of competition for game one of a three-game series on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m.

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Auburn, AL- The defending Southeastern Conference Western Division champion Auburn baseball team will play 26 games against teams that made the 2010 NCAA Tournament as the team released the 2011 schedule on Thursday. Auburn will play a total of 33 games at home, beginning with the season-opener against Arkansas State on Friday, Feb. 18 at 6pm.

The opener is a part of the Auburn Tournament, which in its second season will also include Virginia from the Atlantic Coast Conference and UAB from Conference USA, which were both top-five conferences in 2010 according to WarrenNolan.com.

Auburn will also play in a pre-conference tournament at the College of Charleston the weekend of March 4-6 before playing host to College World Series participant Arizona State from March 11-13 at Plainsman Park.

Complete 2011 Auburn Baseball Schedule

“The 2011 schedule presents a great challenge to this young team as we prepare for another quest to make the SEC Tournament and post-season play,” Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. “We host a tough preseason tournament and we have a return trip from Arizona State which should pose big challenges for the 17 new faces on our team as we head into the rigors of the SEC schedule.”

The SEC slate begins on March 18 with Arkansas visiting Plainsman Park. Of the five SEC teams that heads to Auburn this season, four of them played in last season’s NCAA Tournament in Arkansas, Vanderbilt (April 1-3), Ole Miss (April 22-24) and Alabama (May 13-15). The other conference foe to head to the Plains is Georgia (May 6-8).

Auburn will play at Mississippi State (March 25-27), at Kentucky (April 8-10), at LSU (April 15-17), at defending National Champion South Carolina (April 29-May 1) and at Tennessee (May 19-21) in conference play.

Midweek home-and-homes are scheduled with Jacksonville State (Feb. 22 and Mar. 22), Troy (Mar. 29 and Apr. 5), South Alabama (Apr. 20 and May 17) and Samford (Apr. 26 and May 10), with the first game of each series being played at Plainsman Park and the second on the road.

The third annual Capital City Classic takes place on Tuesday, March 15 at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium. Auburn has defeated Alabama in each of the first two Classics.

The 2011 SEC Tournament returns to Hoover May 25-29 and NCAA Regionals begin on June 2.

(Release)

September 2, 2010 

Dear Mr. Rosenblatt: 

I am writing to thank you for the vision you had in the 1940s to build a baseball park on the southern edge of Omaha. At the time, our country was still feeling the impact of the Great Depression and was very much focused on the war effort. I’m sure you received your share of criticism for your insistence that Omaha needed to build Municipal Stadium in order to attract a professional baseball team to town. Sixty-plus years hence, I say with confidence, “Good move!” 

Pictured: Omaha's Municipal Stadium that would become Rosenblatt Stadium

By all accounts, you were an accomplished player and passionate fan of the game with big dreams to share your passion with the City of Omaha. I wonder if you dreamed this big. The demand for the stadium you helped bring to life far outweighed what she could supply. In response, she expanded her waistline and endured multiple facelifts as more and more people came to share in her glory. Three generations of would-be legends have clamored to make an appearance on your field of dreams and left humbled by the honor. Fans have come to love her as a family member, forming annual traditions and hosting gatherings in her shadow. 

Today the final game of baseball will be played at the legendary diamond on the hill that now bears your name. We knew this day was coming and we’ve had time to prepare for it. Still, the moment is painful. It hurts to look forward to a day without Rosenblatt Stadium. 

We must move on, but we need never forget. The Rosenblatt name will always be synonymous with baseball and the City of Omaha. We will never forget the indelible legacy you left for us all to cherish. 

With greatest regards, 

Paul Fiarkoski (on behalf of your fans) 

Collegebaseball360 correspondent Paul Fiarkoski grew up in the South Omaha neighborhood west of Rosenblatt Stadium.  He has been chronicling Rosenblatt Stadium’s final year via blogs here and on Facebook and Twitter.

P.J. Finigan

Finigan, who was an infielder/pitcher for the Salukis from 2002-05, was the 2005 Joe Carter Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. He was a seventh-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers and pitched for four seasons in its system.

Finigan said that it means everything to him to come back and join Callahan’s coaching staff at Southern Illinois.

“There is not another place that I would want to get my start at, and if you asked me for a perfect scenario, this is it,” Finigan said. “This is the same coaching staff that I played for and the same school that I played at, so there is a vested interest in me to work that much harder and battle that much more in recruiting to try to get the program back to where it was in the College World Series days. ”

Callahan said that he is very excited to have a former Saluki in a position to make an impact with the young men in the program.

“P.J. was very high-energy as a student-athlete, and we hope he can bring that same energy level to Saluki Baseball from a coach’s perspective,” Callahan said. “I feel strongly that he is at a great stage in his life where he’s young enough to be able to relate well with our pitchers, yet still be in a position to where he can say `this is the way I want it done, and I’ll show you how to do it.’

“He’s mature beyond his years, as far as his knowledge of the game, and I think because of his experience in professional baseball, he will be able to bring even that more to the table. We thought the world of P.J. as a player, and now it’s great to see him come full circle and become a member of our coaching staff.”

Finigan, a Springfield, Ill.-native, had a monster senior season at the plate in 2005 for the Salukis, leading the conference with a .386 batting average and had 48 RBIs, four triples and six home runs.

However, Finigan did his real damage on the mound.

There he posted a 9-3 record with a 3.24 ERA. He tossed four complete games and struck out 107 batters in 105 innings pitched. He finished his career with a 12-5 record and his 218 games played in is the fifth-most by a Saluki in program history.

Finigan also ranks fourth at SIU in at-bats (837), fifth in doubles (47) and is seventh in hits (251), triples (13) and RBIs (135).

After being drafted into Detroit’s system, Finigan became the first pitcher of his draft class to reach Double A, doing so in 2006. He remained there until 2007, when he went on the disabled list for two seasons. Injuries to his elbow, where he had three surgeries, including two Tommy John surgeries, forced him to retire from playing.

Now Finigan shifts his focus back to the program where he helped lead SIU to three 30-win seasons in four years.

He said that there is potential for this year’s pitching staff to be really good right away, and also “scary good” down the line.

“We are going to be young, but we have a ton of potential.,” Finigan said. “We have a lot of good athletes and we’re all going to grow together. That’s something from an outside prospective that might look a little bit scary, but from inside, it’s going to be a great chance for us to build some chemistry and really become a tight-knit group.”

“When scheduling for the spring there are two aspects to consider: likeable competition and playing teams that we would see in regional play,” coach Vittorio said. “With trips to California and South Carolina, plus many games against quality competition I think this season’s schedule matches both of those expectations.”

The Flyers open the season with a five-game road swing through the south, beginning in Nashville, Tenn. The first series of the season begins at Lipscomb on Feb. 18, followed by a rematch with South Carolina Upstate and Wofford in the Wofford South Carolina Classic from Feb. 25-27. In the third straight week on the road Dayton will face High Point in a weekend series beginning March 4.

Complete 2011 Dayton Schedule (PDF)

Dayton opens the home season on March 11 against Oakland – the first game of the four-team Dayton Baseball Classic which also includes Wright State and Canisius.

The longest home stand of the Flyers’ 24 games at Time Warner Cable Stadium features five games in mid-April against Butler, Richmond, and Bowling Green State. The last series of the regular season will be played at home with Rhone Island from May 20-22.

Also of note on the Flyers’ 53-game schedule is a first-time meeting with Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., on March 25.

The Flyers will try for a second conference title in three years at 2011 Atlantic 10 Championships being held at Campbell’s Field in Camden, N.J., from May 25-28.

Game times will be announced at a later date.

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JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame announced today the 2011 induction class which includes former Southern Miss head baseball coach Corky Palmer.

Former USM head coach Corky Palmer (USM photo)

“I am very honored and humbled to be a member of such an elite fraternity of Mississippians,” Palmer said. “I consider this one of the highest honors in my career, right there with being named the head coach at Southern Miss and taking the Golden Eagles to Omaha in 2009. It is truly special to be inducted in your home state’s hall of fame.”

Palmer coached baseball at all levels for 32 years in the state of Mississippi, but is most remembered for turning his Alma Mater at Southern Miss into one of the nation’s elite programs.

In his 12 years at the helm of the Golden Eagles, Palmer amassed a 458-281-1 record while guiding Southern Miss to eight NCAA Regionals, including each of his final seven seasons. It was also Palmer who guided Southern Miss to the 2009 College World Series, one of the most memorable events in the history of Southern Miss athletics.

Joining Palmer in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame 2011 induction class is former Southern Miss punter Jerrel Wilson, who is the only punter in NFL history to led league in punting average four times. In his fourteen-year pro career he played more games in a Kansas City Chiefs/Dallas Texans uniform than any other player in franchise history. He was selected by Pro Football Hall of Fame to All-Time AFL team.

The other members of the induction class includes: Jeff Brantley, Con Maloney, Rita Easterling, and Mike Kinnison.

The six will be enshrined at the 49th annual BancorpSouth Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Weekend on July 29-30, 2011.

(USM Release)

The Hornets open up the 2011 campaign, Christiansen’s first as head coach after serving two years as the team’s top assistant, against UC Davis on the road on Feb. 18  and conclude the season at against Louisiana Tech on May 22.

Sacramento State plays six series in Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play, hosting Fresno State and San Jose State in addition to Louisiana Tech while playing at Hawaii, New Mexico State and Nevada.

CLICK HERE for complete 2011 Sacramento State Schedule

Other non-conference games highlighting the schedule includes a two-game series at home versus Minnesota on May 15-16 and three-game home sets against in-state rivals UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge.

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(Release)

FRESNO, CA – Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole announced the hiring of Steve Rousey as the new assistant coach. Rousey, the former CSU Northridge head coach, joins the staff with over 22 years of coaching experience and knowledge.

Steve Rousey

“We are happy to have attracted one of the premier pitching coaches in the country to our university, in Steve Rousey,” said head coach Mike Batesole. “Steve has played for and coached for, some of the most respected coaches in Division I baseball history. He pitched on the 1984 National Championship team at Cal State Fullerton for former Bulldog Augie Garrido and later was the pitching coach at Long Beach State under Dave Snow. This has us very excited to see him in a Bulldog uniform.”

Rousey will serve as the Bulldogs pitching coach and work with the catchers. He will also assist with recruiting and team travel.

“It is a truly a privilege to have the opportunity to work for Coach Batesole and Fresno State,” said Rousey. “It took no longer than one day on the job to experience the integrity of Bulldog Athletics, University operations, and all the people contributing. So many Fresno community members have gone out of their way to welcome our family. It’s humbling for our family to be blessed with so much unsolicited care and concern. Every day in Bulldog Baseball promises to be better than the next. It is an exciting opportunity to contribute to further building the success and winning ways of Bulldog Baseball!”

Rousey finished his eighth season as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors with a 29-27 overall record and going 9-15 mark in the Big West. After successfully recruiting his second top-40 class in as many seasons, Rousey finished the 2010 season with the program’s first winning season since the 2002 campaign.

Rousey had six players, Ryan Pineda, Dominic D’Anna, Billy Ott, Brian Longpre, Brad Decater and Drew Muren, from the 2010 sqaud, who were drafted or signed by a Major League Baseball organization. He also had four student-athletes ear All-Big West honors in Pineda, D’Anna, CJ Belanger and Jimmy Jolicoeur.

The top assistant coach at Northridge for the 2001 and 2002 seasons, Rousey helped lead Northridge to a two-year record of 75-39 and the Matadors claimed the Big West title in 2002. Working primarily with the pitchers, Rousey saw his staff finish the 2002 season with 41 wins, 13 saves and 478 strikeouts.

Northridge pitchers ended 2001 second in the Big West in strikeouts and third in earned runs allowed. In 2001, Rousey’s pitching staff included current Milwaukie Brewers pitcher Kameron Loe and former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Bill Murphy. The Matadors saw two pitchers earn all-conference honors and one pitcher, Murphy, named to the All-West Region team.

In Rousey’s first season with the Matadors he guided the pitching staff to a 4.60 earned run average and 459 strikeouts in 492.2 innings during the 2001 season. The Matadors ranked second in the Big West Conference in strikeouts, fourth in ERA and gave up the third-fewest earned runs in the conference.

Before coaching at Cal State Northridge, Rousey’s 12-year coaching career included stints at Long Beach State and Los Angeles City College.

As the head coach at Los Angeles City College (`95-’00), Rousey compiled a 24-18 record in his first year after taking over a team that had no players after being cut and then reinstated. His teams compiled 50 wins over his last two seasons while 56 of Rousey’s players went on to play at the university or professional level.

Before taking the helm of Los Angeles City College, Rousey was the pitching coach at Long Beach State (`93-’95). While with the 49ers, the team claimed two Big West titles while making three regional appearances. His staff helped Long Beach State make it to the College World Series semifinals in 1993. During his stay, the 49ers had three pitchers earn All-American honors and one named the National Pitcher of the Year Daniel Choi, ‘93.

The 1994 staff posted a 3.47 earned run average, which ranks third all-time on the Long Beach State Career List, while the 1993 pitching staff finished with a 3.55 team earned run average, which ranks fourth all-time. His 1993 pitching staff finished the season third all-time in saves with 19, fifth in fewest runs per nine innings with 4.6 and third in strikeouts with 495. His 1995 squad is first in saves with 21 and second in total strikeouts with 528.

Rousey has also coached with several summer collegiate teams, including as the pitching coach for the Alaska Goldpanners (`98-’99) and as the head coach for the Brewster Whitecaps of the prestigious Cape Cod League (`95).

Before his career as a coach, Rousey was a top pitcher at Cal State Fullerton. In three seasons with the Titans, he compiled an impressive 15-5 record with 120 strikeouts. Rousey played in the College World Series twice (`82 and `84), helping the team to the national championship in ‘84 while compiling an 8-3 record with a 3.47 earned run average.

A fourth-round pick by the Seattle Mariners in 1984, he spent five years playing professionally in the Mariners and Montreal Expos organization.

(FSU Release)

The 2010 season was an historic one for TCU baseball.  Head coach Jim Schlossnagle guided his team to the College World Series for the first time in program history, and they did it by beating one of the most tradition rich programs in college baseball, Texas, in the Super Regionals to get there.  In this interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires Schlossnagle discusses his memories of Omaha, a new expectation level that’s been set for this year’s team, what he’s looking to accomplish this fall, and more.

Schlossnagle

CLICK HERE to read the Q&A with Schlossnagle.

Authentic college baseball caps are hard to find, unless you know where to look.  Find the hat of your favorite college baseball team at The Dugout, where you can also still get College World Series t-shirts and more!