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Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

(With the end of the year fast approaching, we’re counting down some of the top moments from the 2009 college baseball season.  We’ll have one a day through New Year’s Eve.)

Rhode Island came into the 2009 season on the heels of winning 31 games in 2008 with veteran experience and big expectations., and Jim Foster’s Rams made a statement on trips to Florida and Oklahoma.

Rhode Island had started the season with a win over 2008 Super Regional team

Rhode Island head coach Jim Foster

North Carolina State in Raleigh, NC, but its biggest statements came in games on the home fields of two highly ranked teams in 2009.

Rhody was just 4-2 heading into its March 3 match-up vs. the Miami Hurricanes in Coral Gables, but 67 degree weather proved agreeable to the New England club.  The Rams downed the Hurricanes 3-0 thanks to 8 shutout innings from Eric Smith, who scattered three singles vs. the 8th ranked team in the nation.  Luke Demko pitched a perfect 9th inning for his first save of the season.

Rob Deveney, Zoey Angulo (a Miami native) and Mike LeBel each had an RBI in what is probably the biggest win in the history of the URI program.  Miami was

Eric Smith is the first URI player to ever be taken in an MLB draft.

ranked in five national polls, including 8th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. They were also coming of the program’s 23rd appearance in the College World Series.

“This is just an unbelievable win for us,” Foster would say after the game. “To come out and shut down a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country last year says a lot about our guys. They have been playing so well. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

Smith’s first win of the season earned him national recognition after making Rhode Island the first unranked team to blank Miami on its home field since 2000.

The Rams closed their Florida trip with wins over Fairfield and #25 Ohio State and then headed to Oklahoma.

On March 15 Smith and URI held their ground, but lost 4-3 to 4th ranked Cal State Fullerton in Stillwater and then played host Oklahoma State that same day.

Angulo’s 5th inning two-run home run gave the Rams the boost they needed in a 5-4 win over the 11th ranked Cowboys.  The homer put URI up 5-1 at the time, and then they held on after OSU added two runs in the 6th and another in the 9th inning.  Demko again finished it to earn his 3rd save.

The wins gave Rhode Island plenty of national attention, but ultimately they were not enough to land a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  The Rams finished with a 37-20 overall record with a 19-6 mark and 2nd place finish in the Atlantic 10.  Dayton won the conference regular season crown, while Xavier earned the A-10’s automatic NCAA berth by winning the conference tournament.

Dan Rhault was named the A-10 Player of the Year after leading the Rams with a .393 average and 57 RBIs.  Smith finished the season with a 5-2 record and 3.38 ERA.  He became the highest URI player ever taken in the MLB draft when he went 60th overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

18.  Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19.  North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20.  Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21.  Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22.  Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23.  LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24.  Oregon Brings Back Baseball

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Stankiewicz Named Minor League Field Coordinator For Seattle Mariners

Andy Stankiewicz

The Mariners are managed by former Sun Devil standout Don Wakamatsu, who was an All-Pac-10 catcher for ASU from 1982 to 1985.

Stankiewicz played seven seasons of Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Montreal Expos and Arizona Diamondbacks. He also managed the Staten Island Yankees, single A affiliate of the New York Yankees prior to joining ASU.

ASU has not named an interim coach since Pat Murphy resigned as the Sun Devils’ head coach on November 20th.

(Release and staff report)

MACOMB, Ill – Western Illinois University has announced the hiring of Mike Villano as its new head baseball coach, Monday, Nov. 23.

Mike Villano (Courtesy CMU)

eight seasons.

“This is a bittersweet announcement in that we will always remember Stan Hyman as a great person and a great baseball coach,” Western Illinois Director of Athletics Dr. Tim M. Van Alstine said.

“However, I am pleased to announce that Mike Villano will continue in Stan’s footsteps as the new Leatherneck baseball coach. Mike has an impressive and extensive background that spans from his time as a student-athlete to his professional playing career and his time as a coach.”

Villano spent the past six seasons at Central Michigan University, where he served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator and spent last season as the team’s hitting coach.

“I am very excited about this great opportunity at Western Illinois,” Villano said. “I believe the program has tremendous potential because of its location in an area of the country that produces many great baseball players.”

Under his guidance, the Chippewa pitching staff led the Mid-American Conference in team ERA in 2008 (4.62) and 2005 (3.31). His pitching staff finished second in the MAC and 14th nationally in ERA (3.71) while also finishing second in the conference in opponent batting average (.256) and strikeouts (387) during the 2007 campaign.

His 2007 staff included the MAC Pitcher of the Year in Josh Collmenter, who was eventually drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

On the recruiting trail, Villano helped compile a class that was ranked 27th nationally and first in the Midwest Region by Collegiate Baseball in 2006. He has coached a total of 27 players who have gone on to professional careers.

The Chippewas posted an overall record 202-137 (.596) and a conference record of 99-55 (.643) in Villano’s time as an assistant.

Prior to his career at Central Michigan, Villano spent one season as the pitching coach at Oakland (Michigan) where he helped lower the pitching staff’s ERA from 7.00 in 2002 to 4.90 in 2003.

Villano enjoyed a successful playing career at both the collegiate and professional levels. He was a four-time all-conference selection as a pitcher at Saginaw Valley State University and was named as the Great Lakes Conference Freshman of the Year in 1991.

He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round of the 1994 amateur draft and played professionally for nine seasons, culminating with a Major League call-up from the Florida Marlins in 1998.

Villano earned his bachelor’s degree from Saginaw Valley State in 2001 and also earned a master’s degree in physical education from Central Michigan in 2008.

(Release)

Gonzaga opens the 2010 season at the Cactus Classic in Arizona

Mark Machtolf

The Bulldogs, coming off of their third consecutive 30-win season and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1981, will open the season Feb. 19-21 with the Cactus Classic held at Tucson Electric Park, the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training complex, in Tucson, Ariz. There the Zags will match up with NCAA Tournament participant Missouri twice and also play single games against New Mexico State and Washington.

Complete 2010 Gonzaga Schedule (PDF)

The following weekend will see Gonzaga return to Arizona, this time for the Peoria Spring Training Classic held at the San Diego Padres spring training home field in Peoria, Ariz. The Bulldogs are scheduled to meet up with NCAA Tournament participant Kansas and Western Athletic Conference member Sacramento State each twice throughout the weekend.

The first weekend of March the Zags will begin a stretch that will see them play 11 games in 12 days, starting with a trip to Shreveport, La. for a three-game series with Summit League member Centenary. Following the series with the Gents, Gonzaga heads to Lubbock, Tex. for a two-game series with Big-12 member Texas Tech Mar. 9-10. GU then travels to San Antonio, Tex. for the Irish Baseball Classic where the Zags will face Pacific, Bradley and Notre Dame.

“The early season tournaments always provide some good challenges and this season will be no different,” commented Machtolf. “The trips to Louisiana and San Antonio will be exciting because it gives us a chance to play a couple different teams in a different region of the country.”

Mar. 15-16 will be the first set of home games for the Zags as they wrap up the 11 games in 12 day stretch with a two-game set against BYU. The ensuing weekend has the Bulldogs traveling to southern California for a three-game series against 2009 Big West Conference champion and NCAA Regional host UC Irvine Mar. 19-21. This will be the first year of a home-and-home series with the Anteaters who will come to Spokane for a weekend series in 2011.

“The series with UC Irvine will be a very tough competitive series against a very good ball club that was the top-ranked team in the country at one point last season,” stated Machtolf. “That weekend will be a difficult test that will get us ready for WCC play.”

Gonzaga continues on the road the following week facing in-state rival and 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Washington State in Pullman, Wash. Mar. 23 before traveling to face Utah Valley Mar. 25-27. Following a midweek home matchup with WSU Mar. 30 the Zags will head to Honolulu for a three-game series with the University of Hawaii.

After the Hawaii series, the Bulldogs welcome another in-state rival out of the Pac-10 in Washington for a two-game midweek set at the Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field Apr. 6-7.

Apr. 9-11 the Zags begin defense of their conference crown at San Francisco. They then play six of their next seven games at home, starting against Arizona Apr. 12. Following at trip to WSU to close out the season-series with the Cougars Apr. 14, GU opens up its WCC home schedule with a three-game weekend series against Pepperdine . The Bulldogs then close out the home stand with a two-game set against another Pac-10 opponent in Oregon Apr. 20-21.

“Those midweek matchups with the Pac-10 teams are always exciting,” stated Machtolf. “All of the Pac-10 teams on our schedule have really improved from last season and will provide us with some tough tests.”

The weekend of Apr. 23-25 will provide a showdown between the past two conference champions as the Zags head to San Diego for a weekend series with the University of San Diego. Gonzaga will wrap up its non-conference schedule at Washington Apr. 27-28 before returning home for a conference series against Santa Clara Apr. 30-May 2.

Following a conference series at Saint Mary’s May 14-16, the Zags are slated to close out the regular season playing their final six games at home, hosting a pair of WCC foes in Loyola Marymount May 21-23 and Portland May 28-30.

“Playing four conference series at home is a huge advantage for us,” explained Machtolf. “We were very tough at home in WCC play last year and playing those last two conference series in front of our home crowd here in Spokane could really help us down the stretch.”

The Bulldogs are coming off of arguably the best season in school-history, posting the sixth most wins in program history (36), capturing the school’s inaugural WCC Regular Season and Championship Series crowns, earning the program’s eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a No. 22 national ranking and having a program-best five players drafted by Major League Baseball.

(Press Release)