A By The Numbers Look At Another Week Of Action

Kyle Parker (Clemson photo)

Kyle Parker.  The quarterback/outfielder threw 20 touchdowns for the Tigers last fall and became the first “20-15″ player in Division One history after belting a grand slam in Tuesday’s 22-4 win over USC Upstate.  He also tallied his 16th homer of the season in Sunday’s win over North Carolina.

3 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by Parker’s teammate, John Stinson, in that same Tuesday game.  The three HR tied a Clemson single-game record.  Clemson scored 17 of its 22 runs in the first three innings alone.

5…Former college football/baseball players taken in the weekend’s NFL draft- Stanford’s Toby Gerhart (#51-Minnesota Vikings), Notre Dame’s Golden Tate (#60-Seattle Seahawks), LSU’s Chad Jones (#76 New York Giants), Minnesota’s Eric Decker (#87-Denver Broncos), and Florida’s Riley Cooper (#159-Philadelphia Eagles).  Gerhart and Tate were second round picks, Jones and Decker went in the third round, while Cooper was tabbed in the fifth round.

5…At-bats, hits, runs scored, and RBIs by Georgia Tech’s Thomas Nichols, whose two home runs were among his five hits, in Wednesday’s 18-4 win over Georgia Southern.

48…Consecutive seasons Arizona State has won at least 30 games.  The current campaign also marks the 50th time overall the Sun Devils have reached the 30-win mark.

11…Teams, including ASU (33-5), that notched their 30th win before losing their 10th game this season.  Virginia (34-9), Texas (34-7), Georgia Tech (34-7), LSU (32-9), Arkansas (33-8), Coastal Carolina (36-5), South Carolina (32-8), Connecticut (33-7), Louisville (32-7), Vanderbilt (32-10), and TCU (30-8) also accomplished the feat.  UCLA (29-7) and Appalachian State (29-8-1) still have the chance to do it as well.

6…Home runs surrendered in 9.0 innings by UCLA in Tuesday’s 16-5 loss to Long Beach State.  Dirtbag  DH Jordan Cases connected for two of the long balls.

17….Home runs surrendered by UCLA pitchers in the previous 295.0 innings prior to Tuesday’s loss.  The 16 runs and 18 hits allowed by the Bruin pitching staff were also season-highs.

2…Wins by Kansas State over intrastate rival Wichita State both this season and last season.

1952 & 1953…The last time K-State took back-to-back season series from the Shockers.

Christian Bergman (UCI photo)

1…Batter who reached base vs. Christian Bergman in Sunday’s 13-0 UC Irvine win over UC Davis.  Aggie center fielder Daniel Cepin singled on the first pitch he saw, and Bergman then proceeded to retire the next 26 batters he faced.  Cepin was thrown out on a stolen base attempt.

12…Combined errors (six each) by North Carolina State and East Carolina in the Wolfpack’s 8-6 Wednesday win over the Pirates.  The miscues led to a total of eight unearned runs scored.

1977…The last time Notre Dame played in Ann Arbor prior to Michigan’s 3-2 home win on Tuesday.  (The teams played several neutral site games near Grand Rapids, MI over the years.)

13…Two-out runs scored by the Wolverines in Wednesday’s 13-1 win over the Irish in their return trip to Notre

Mike Olt homered twice to help UConn sweep Rutgers (UConn photo).

Dame.

17…Straight wins by Coastal Carolina after a 3-game sweep of VMI.  It’s the second longest winning streak in program history, and the best since the 1983 team won 19 straight.

21…Straight wins by Connecticut-a program record and the third longest winning streak in the nation in 2010-after the weekend’s 3-game sweep of Rutgers.  UConn (33-7, 13-2) entered the weekend tied with the Scarlet Knights for first place in the Big East Conference, but now owns sole possession of the top spot.

300…Career hits by Bryant’s Nick Campbell, who reached the school-record milestone with a double in Saturday’s win over Fairleigh Dickinson.

56 & 2…Respective strikeouts and walks in 64.0 IP this season by Minnesota’s Seth Rosin.  The right-hander had 7 Ks and no walks in 7 2/3 innings in Friday’s 14-0 win over Indiana, the top offensive team in the Big Ten entering the weekend’s action.

15…Strikeouts by North Carolina’s Matt Harvey in Friday’s complete game 5-3 win over Clemson.

156…Pitches thrown by Harvey (including 101 for strikes) to pick-up the victory.

13…Game winning streak by #6 Arkansas that was snapped when #9 Florida won the last two games of their series in Gainesville.

0…Earned runs surrendered in 12 2/3 combined innings by Gator starters Brian Johnson and Hudson Randall Florida’s wins in games two and three of the series.

3 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Gator reliever Greg Larson to earn his third save of the year in Saturday’s win that ended the Razorbacks’ 13-game streak.

9…Runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings by Pittsburgh’s Corey Baker en-route to his 9th win of the season.  The Panthers led West Virginia 12-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning and then held-on to win 13-9.

3…Pitchers, including Baker, who lead the nation with nine victories.  He is tied with Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers and Cole Green of Texas.

4…Hits apiece given-up by Wimmers and Green with respective complete game wins over Penn State and Oklahoma State to earn their ninth wins of the year.  Wimmers recorded 10 strikeouts while Green notched five.

Taylor Jungmann (Texas photo)

18-2…Wimmers‘ record over the last two seasons.  The junior is just the third Ohio State pitcher in the last 127 years to start a season 9-0.

19 & 1…Strikeouts recorded and runs allowed in his last two starts (16 innings) by Green’s teammate, Taylor Jungmann.

16…Consecutive wins by Texas, including 14 straight Big 12 contests, after a 3-game sweep of Oklahoma State.  The 16 straight wins are the most for the Longhorns in five years.

4…Runs allowed in their last 49 2/3 innings of Big 12 action by Texas starting pitchers.

2…Consecutive wins by Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech to hand the Yellow Jackets (34-7, 16-5) their first back-to-back losses of the season.  GT salvaged a 14-12 win in Sunday’s series finale.

23:40…Hours and minutes of the rain delay of game two of the series, which Va. Tech won 10-3.  The game was halted by rain Saturday with the Hokies leading 6-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.

7-5…Virginia Tech’s (28-14, 11-10) record vs. top-10 teams over the last four weekends.

3…Wins by Ole Miss over LSU in their weekend series in Oxford, MS. It’s the first time the defending national champs have been swept in an SEC set since 2008.

Ole Miss freshman Alex Yarbrough

2…Of the Rebel wins that came in walk-off fashion.  They won game two 9-8 in 11 innings after Alex Yarbrough’s game winning single on Saturday, and then capped the sweep on Sunday with a 7-6 win thanks to a game-ending RBI single by Kevin Mort.

14…Combined runs allowed in a total of 4 2/3 IP by LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo (9 R in 1 2/3 IP) and Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz (5 R in 3.0 IP) in the opener of the series, which was played early Saturday afternoon instead of  Friday night after heavy rains forced postponement.

23…Combined strikeouts by UCLA starters Gerrit Cole (10K in 8 IP) and Trevor Bauer (13K in 9 IP) to help the Bruins take two of three games at Arizona in their three game series.

50…Total runs scored by Texas Tech and Kansas in two games played on Sunday in Lawrence, KS.  The Red Raiders won by finals of 11-8 and 21-10 to win the series 2-1.

12…Doubles hit by the Red Raiders in the 21-10 victory.  The binge of two-baggers ties a Big 12 single-game record.

7…Of those doubles that came in the top of the second inning-one shy of the NCAA record.

Phoenix Hosts 2010 Elon Classic To Open Season

“I believe that we’ve put together a very challenging schedule again in 2010,” said Kennedy. “This is the kind of schedule that, if we play well, will put us in a position to make a third straight trip to the postseason. The Southern Conference is always a competitive and balanced league. Our non-conference portion of the schedule is as tough as you

Elon Head Coach Mike Kennedy

will find with the likes of Rice, Nebraska, North Carolina, Clemson and East Carolina. The obvious challenge will be how well we handle such a demanding schedule.”

Bulldogs open the 2010 season on Feb. 19 vs. Marshall

Samford Head Coach Casey Dunn

single games on Feb. 19 and 21, and a doubleheader on Feb. 20.

Complete 2010 Samford Schedule

“We’ve brought in some quality non-conference opponents,” Dunn said. “We’re bringing in Marshall out of Conference USA and also Minnesota and Michigan State out of the Big 10. These are teams that play good baseball but who people in our state are not used to seeing on a regular basis. We feel like the strength of our non-conference schedule should be great for us as we prepare for a tough conference schedule.”

The Bulldogs will play their next four games on the road. Samford plays at Troy on Feb. 23, and then plays a three-game series at Kennesaw State Feb. 26-28.

Samford will play host to the University of Alabama on Mar. 2. The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide will square off at 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford will welcome Evansville to Joe Lee Griffin Field for a three-game series Mar. 5-7. The Bulldogs will play host to the first of two Big 10 opponents when they take on Michigan State on Mar. 9 at 6 p.m.

After paying at in-state rival Jacksonville State on Mar. 10, Samford will open Southern Conference play at College of Charleston, Mar. 12-14.

“This is a great conference with very good baseball,” Dunn said as his team prepares for its second season as a member of the Southern Conference. “We are excited about year two in the league. We are excited about the opportunity to compete and we feel like we have a Southern Conference caliber team this year.”

Samford will then play its next nine games at home. The Bulldogs will play host to Jacksonville State on Mar. 16, and they will play a four-game series with Minnesota Mar. 18-21.

Samford will play host to Auburn University on Mar. 23. The game between the Bulldogs and the Tigers is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford will host its first home conference series of the season Mar. 26-28, when the Bulldogs take on the Furman Paladins. The following weekend, Apr. 1-3, Samford will play at SoCon foe Davidson.

The Bulldogs will return home on Apr. 6, when Samford hosts in-state rival Troy at 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford will then play host to the UNC Greensboro Spartans in another SoCon series, Apr. 9-11. After playing a midweek game at Alabama, Apr. 13, Samford will travel to Georgia Southern for a conference series Apr. 16-18.

Next up, Samford will play two midweek games against cross-town rival UAB. The teams will play Apr. 20 at UAB’s Young Memorial Field, and Apr. 21 at Samford’s Joe Lee Griffin Field.

The weekend of Apr. 23-25, the Bulldogs will play host to Appalachian State in a league series. After playing at Auburn on Apr. 27, the Bulldogs will play host to The Citadel in a SoCon series Apr. 30-May 2.

The Bulldogs will play at conference foe Wofford, May 7-9, and then Samford will play its final home games in a SoCon series against Western Carolina, May 14-16.

Samford will wrap up its regular season with a SoCon series at Elon. The Bulldogs and Phoenix will meet May 19-21 in Elon, N.C.

The 2010 SoCon Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 in Charleston, S.C.

(Release)

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 7, 2009) – Road trips to Charleston, S.C. and Eugene, Ore., in addition to 30 home contests are all on tap for the 2010 ETSU baseball team, as head coach Tony Skole and his staff released their schedule Monday afternoon.

ETSU Head Coach Tony Skole

throughout the season.

Complete 2010 ETSU Schedule (PDF)

“We have a great schedule this season,” Skole added.  We will be challenged early, there is no doubt about that, but we saw our schedule as an opportunity to help us get better early.  The first part of our non-conference schedule will help us to get ready to open the Atlantic Sun season.  I anticipate the Atlantic Sun Conference to once again be one of the top Division I baseball conferences in the country.”

ETSU opens the season on Feb. 19 against The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. The Buccaneers will also face Kansas State (Feb. 20) and Delaware (Feb. 21) to close out the opening weekend.

The team will close out its non-conference schedule as the Bucs make their first ever west coast trip on May 14-16 to Eugene, Ore.  ETSU will face a reestablished Oregon program coached by George Horton, who led Cal State Fullerton to a national title in 2004.

St. Peter’s comes to town on Feb. 26-28 for the ETSU home opener as the Bucs will play 18 home non-conference games. Other notable non-conference home games include a weekend series against St. John’s (March 5-7) and games against Virginia Tech (March 31), Appalachian State (April 21) and Tennessee Tech (April 28).

“We are excited to have 30 home games so that our fans will be able to watch as many Buccaneer games as possible,” Skole said.

The Bucs face a tough conference schedule in 2010 as they will face Lipscomb (March 26-27), Jacksonville (April 9-10), Campbell (April 23-24), Florida Gulf Coast (May 8-9) and Kennesaw State (May 20-21) on the road.

ETSU opens Atlantic Sun play at home against USC Upstate on March 19-20. North Florida (April 2-3), Mercer (April 16-17) and Stetson (April 30-May 1) also come to Cardinal Park in 2010.

(Release)

WCU’s 56-game schedule features 28 home dates and 30 SoCon games

WCU Head Coach Bobby Moranda

Carolina. Our players and coaches are honored to participate in an event that was named for one of our most respected alum. I am a big believer in a strong schedule that will challenge our players to execute the game of baseball at the highest possible level each and every time they take the field.”

Complete 2010 Western Carolina Schedule

Western Carolina will open its 2010 season at home at Ronnie G. Childress Field at Hennon Stadium on Friday, Feb. 19 as it welcomes the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs to town for an afternoon game. The two will complete the three-game series in Forest City, N.C., at McNair Field, the home of the Coastal Plain League member, Forest City Owls, Feb. 20-21.

Additional early-season, non-conference foes visiting Cullowhee include Eastern Kentucky – Moranda’s alma mater – on Feb. 26-28, with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville coming to town for a two-game set March 9-10. It will be the first meeting between the two since 1978.

Between the EKU and SIU-Edwardsville dates, the Catamounts will again travel to Greenville, N.C., to participate in the Seventh Annual Keith LeClair Classic at East Carolina’s Clark-LeClair Stadium. The three-day tournament includes the host Pirates and Catamounts, as well as meetings with West Virginia and Illinois. The tournament is named in honor of WCU Hall of Famer, former head coach at WCU and ECU, Keith LeClair, who passed away in July of 2006 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Western hosts first-time foe, New York Tech, in Cullowhee at the beginning of April.

The Catamounts will also have home-and-home, non-conference meetings with Charlotte, UNC Asheville and High Point. Also, after a meeting in Knoxville on April 7, former WCU head coach Todd Raleigh will bring his Tennessee Volunteers to Childress Field/Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee on Wednesday, April 21.

“It is a testament to our program’s great tradition that Coach Raleigh and a very talented Tennessee squad will visit Cullowhee in 2010. Over the last two seasons, we have attracted BCS conference schools such as Clemson, BYU, Georgia Tech and now UT to Cullowhee. I know our fans will be very excited to welcome Todd back for this mid-week match-up,” Moranda added.

Other headline road trips include visiting Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 2 and Georgia on Wednesday, April 28.

Western Carolina, which finished 35-22 overall and 19-10 in SoCon play a season ago and won 18 of its 30 home games, will host conference opponents College of Charleston (March 26-28), Wofford (April 9-11), UNC Greensboro (April 30-May 2) and Furman (May 7-10). The Catamounts will wrap-up their 2010 regular season slate by hosting Davidson on May 20-22 before traveling to Charleston for the conference championship.

SoCon road trips this season include visiting The Citadel for its conference opener, March 12-14, with a trip to Boone and arch-rival, Appalachian State, the following weekend (March 19-21). Other road three-game conference series include at Elon (April 16-18), Georgia Southern (April 23-28) and Samford (May 14-16).

Western Carolina will resume individual preparations for the 2010 season on January 11, with the first official team practice scheduled for February 1, per NCAA regulations.

(Release)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate baseball team has proven, even with the move to Division I, that it is not afraid of a challenge, and the 2010 season will be no exception, as the Spartans will play 32 of its 56 games in 2010 against teams that finished 2009 with non-losing records, 21 against teams with 30 or more wins, 18 against teams with an RPI of better than 100 and seven against teams that competed in the NCAA Regionals, as head coach Matt Fincher announced the schedule on Monday.

USC Upstate Head Coach Matt Fincher

Upstate, celebrating its 25^th season of play in 2010, will not stray from the path that Fincher has laid out for the team in its move to the Atlantic Sun Conference and Division I play. Once again, the team will find itself challenged every step of the way, beginning with a game against Appalachian State, which went 33-21 and finished 83^rd in the RPI in 2009, on Feb. 20.

Complete 2010 USC Upstate Schedule (PDF)

The Spartans will have a few more advantages up its sleeves in their schedule during the 2010 season, thanks mainly to 30 games in the friendly confines of Harley Park and no non-conference mid-week games more than three hours from the Spartanburg campus, heading only as far south as Charleston and as far north as Knoxville, Tenn.

Upstate will also continue to develop rivalries with traditional regional foes and powers, like the Atlantic 10’s Charlotte (at Charlotte, March 31; at Harley Park, April 6), the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Clemson (at Clemson, April 21), the Southern Conference’s The Citadel (at Charleston, March 10; at Harley Park, May 12) and the Southeastern Conference’s South Carolina (April 20, Columbia), and Tennessee (March 23, Knoxville). Upstate will also keep rivalries with the Big South’s Presbyterian (Feb. 20, Harley Park; Feb. 21, Clinton; April 7, Clinton), UNC Asheville (March 30, Harley Park; April 14, Asheville) and Gardner-Webb (March 3, March 24, Harley Park), all within an hour’s drive of Spartanburg, and Charleston Southern (March 9, Charleston; March 16, Harley Park).

The team will also start a few other non-conference relationships, including home-and-home agreements with SoCon power the College of Charleston (April 13, Harley Park; May 11, Charleston) and 2009 NCAA Regional participant Georgia State (Feb. 23, Atlanta; Feb. 24, Harley Park).

Fincher has also worked to keep developing the working relationship with Wofford for the Courtyard by Marriott Classic, a co-operative classic run by the two schools. This season, the tournament will occur on the second weekend of the season, from Feb. 26-28, with five games occurring in three days at Harley Park and Wofford playing four games at Russell C. King Field. The Spartans will host Dayton, NJIT and Butler during the tournament.

A reduction in the number of conference games from 30 to 27 in the 2010 season will also allow Upstate to play three more games at home, as the Spartans host George Washington for a three-game non-conference set on March 6-7. The Spartans will also play a two-game homestand to end the season on May 18-19 against the Colonial Athletic Association’s William & Mary.

The conference season favors Upstate this year as a mix of tough match-ups will head to Harley Park, as both the 2009 A-Sun Tournament champions and the two-time defending A-Sun regular season champions will visit Upstate. FGCU, the regular-season champs will kick off Upstate’s A-Sun season on March 12-13 while 2009 A-Sun Tournament champs Jacksonville visit on April 2-3. Also on Upstate’s home slate in A-Sun series are Campbell (April 16-17) and Kennesaw State (May 14-15).

The Spartans will hit the road five times for three-game A-Sun series, heading to ETSU (March 19-20), Belmont (March 26-27), North Florida (April 10-11), Mercer (April 23-24) and Stetson (May 7-8).

The Spartans return four starters and six pitchers from a squad that went 17-37 overall in 2009. The Spartans will be led by senior catcher Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr’s Mill), who was an All-Star this summer in the Northwoods League, and senior Matt Branham (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley), who went struck out a school-record 82 batters in 82 innings before being drafted in the 47th round of the MLB draft by the Houston Astros in June.

(Release)

A three-game home series with SEC member Alabama, road games at South Carolina and North Carolina, and 30 Southern Conference contests highlight the College of Charleston’s 2010 baseball schedule.

Cougar Head Coach Monte Lee

“We are excited about our 2010 schedule,” said second-year Cougar coach Monte Lee. “We have a three-game home series with SEC powerhouse Alabama, which has never happened here, along with non-conference games with South Carolina, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina and UNC Wilmington.

“We feel like we have a strong non-conference schedule to go along with an always competitive Southern conference schedule. We are excited about the challenge this schedule presents.”

The Cougars, who open the season with a three-game home series against Radford (Feb. 19-21), play 18 of their first 19 games at Patriots Point Stadium. Overall, Charleston plays 32 home games.

Charleston plays host to the Crimson Tide, March 5-7.  The Cougars have Southern Conference home series with Samford, Georgia Southern, Wofford, Elon and The Citadel.  The Cougars also play host to non-league members UNC Asheville, Holy Cross, Charleston Southern, Toledo, Ball State, Jacksonville, USC Upstate, UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina.

The Cougars play league series at UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, Furman, Davidson and Appalachian State.  Charleston also plays at Charleston Southern, South Carolina, USC Upstate, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, UNC Wilmington and a non-conference matchup with rival The Citadel on April 20.

The Southern Conference Tournament will be played at Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. from May 26-30.

(Press Release)