ASU Vaults To The Top Of Another Poll

The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of April 18 and do not include ties.

UCLA Takes Over The Top Spot This Week

DURHAM, N.C.—There’s a new No. 1 in the Baseball America Top 25 rankings for the second week in a row, as UCLA won a series at Oregon State to take over the top spot.

Since starting the season 22-0, the Bruins have kept up their winning ways in Pacific-10 Conference play, defeating a pair of ranked opponents in Stanford and Oregon State. Last week’s No. 1, Arizona State, dropped a weekend series for the first time all year, losing two of three at Washington State to fall to No. 3. Meanwhile, the hottest team in the country might be Texas, the preseason No. 1 team, which has won eight in a row and swept its second straight conference series last weekend against Kansas. The Longhorns moved up to No. 4.

The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of April 11 and do not include ties.

A Look At Some Movement From Opening Weekend Action

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia associate head coach Kevin McMullan has earned the 2009 ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year Award, the ABCA and Baseball America have announced. McMullan helped Virginia win an ACC Championship and reach the College World Series last season.McMullan will be presented his award at an honors luncheon at the national coaches’ convention in Dallas on Jan. 9, 2010.

“Thank you to the ABCA and Baseball America for choosing me as the recipient of the 2009 National Assistant Coach of the Year,” McMullan said. “I believe any time individual awards come a person’s way, it is more about the program they are

McMullan

involved with than about the individual person. This award is about the players and coaches in our program more so than about me. I am very thankful to the players and coaches who have played and coached at The University of Virginia for the sacrifices they have made to make our program amongst the best in college baseball.”

McMullan is starting his seventh season at Virginia and has been a member of head coach Brian O’Connor’s staff since O’Connor was hired prior to the 2004 season. McMullan serves as Virginia’s recruiting coordinator and hitting coach and works defensively with the Cavaliers’ infielders and catchers.

“Kevin is very deserving of this award because of his ability as a recruiter and evaluator of talent, combined with his ability to develop position players at the college level,” O’Connor said. “As our recruiting coordinator, Kevin has continued to bring in outstanding players who are the right fit for The University of Virginia.

“One of the most important reasons for our continued success at UVA has been the loyalty and commitment of our assistant coaches. Kevin has been 100 percent dedicated to the players in our program for the last six years. His everyday interaction with our players and assistance in their development is what separates Kevin from other coaches. He is completely committed to helping our players reach their potential.”

UVA Head Coach Brian O'Connor

The Cavaliers went 49-15-1 last season and played in the College World Series for the first time in program history. As a team, Virginia hit .327 and had a .972 fielding percentage last season – each total ranks as the third-best mark in UVa history.

The Cavaliers exploded offensively in 2009, leading the ACC in batting (.327) and setting six offensive team records, including hits (767), runs (507), doubles (138), triples (28), RBI (486) and at bats (2343). UVa had a school-record five players earn first-team All-ACC honors, while utility Danny Hultzen and outfielder Jarrett Parker each gleaned All-America laurels. Hultzen also was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, while Parker set the Virginia single-season records in runs (75), hits (94) and total bases (176) and tied the record for triples (7).

In his six years at Virginia, McMullan has helped guide Virginia to 265 wins – by far the most wins ever at Virginia over a six-year period and an average of 44 wins per season. Virginia also has earned six-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances as well as three No. 1 seeds. The NCAA appearances culminated in the Cavaliers’ first-ever appearance in the College World Series in 2009.

Thirteen of his Virginia position players have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, including Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals), Mark Reynolds (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Joe Koshansky (Colorado Rockies) – all of whom have already made their MLB debuts.

Zimmerman took just two months to jump to the major leagues and was selected as a National League All-Star in 2009, becoming the first former Cavalier to appear in the MLB All-Star Game. Reynolds and Koshansky each made their big league debuts in 2007.

McMullan has been instrumental in landing the most highly-touted recruiting classes to sign with Virginia. The 2004 class was ranked 12th nationally, while the 2005 class rated 10th, the 2006 group eighth, the 2007 class 13th, the 2008 group 14th and the 2009 class ninth.

Defensively, the Cavaliers have shined under McMullan. Five of the six teams have ranked among the nation’s top 40 in fielding percentage, with a program-record .975 mark (seventh nationally) in 2005.

(Press Release)

WICHITA, Kan. – The 2010 Wichita State baseball schedule features games with traditional national powers and conference champions along with 30 home games, head coach Gene Stephenson announced Oct. 22.

Shocker Head Coach Gene Stephenson

“Once again we have a great schedule for the fans and players alike,” Stephenson said.  “It will be very challenging for this team.  I think we have an especially challenging road schedule. It will require us to grow up in a hurry to be successful.  I think we’ll have a much better team overall, but we need to prove it on the field in the spring.  With the improvements at our facility, it should be an exciting season.”
Complete 2010 Wichita State Schedule (PDF)
The Shockers begin the 2010 season on Feb. 23 in Lawrence, Kan., against 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Kansas.  The Jayhawks return the trip to Wichita on April 27.  WSU then travels to Mobile, Ala., for the Coca-Cola Classic, Feb. 26-28.  In the tournament, WSU will face North Florida, Eastern Michigan and host South Alabama.

WSU then opens the home portion of its schedule with seven-straight games, two against North Dakota on March 2-3, three against Florida Gulf Coast, March 5-7 and two against Central Arkansas, March 9-10.  FGCU is coming off of two-straight Atlantic Sun regular-season titles.

WSU again hits the road for five-straight games against national powers including a three-game series at Long Beach State, March 12-14.  The Shockers wrap up the road trip with a two-game series in Tucson, Ariz., against Arizona, March 16-17.

The Shockers return home for a three-game series with 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Washington State, March 19-21.  The two teams met in the Norman Regional with the Cougars earning a 3-2 victory.

On March 23-24, the Shockers play a two-game set at Oral Roberts, another 2009 NCAA Tournament participant.  ORU returns the trip to Wichita on May 4 and May 18.

Missouri Valley Conference play gets underway for the Shocks on March 26-28 in Wichita against Bradley and then WSU travels to Manhattan, Kan., on March 30 to face 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Kansas State.  The Wildcats finished the season ranked 19th by Baseball America and 22nd by Collegiate Baseball, USA Today/ESPN and the NCBWA.  KSU visits Eck Stadium on April 20.

The final 2009 NCAA Tournament participant on WSU’s schedule is Oklahoma State.  The Shockers travel to Stillwater, Okla., on April 6, while the Cowboys visit Wichita on April 28.  OSU finished the 2009 season ranked 27th by Collegiate Baseball.

2009 Western Athletic Conference champion San Jose State visits Eck Stadium April 23-25, while independent powerhouse Dallas Baptist visits Wichita May 20-22.

The Shockers will play at Creighton on May 7-9 and will get to play at Rosenblatt Stadium on May 7-8.  It is the final season of Rosenblatt Stadium.

Other teams that will visit Eck Stadium in 2010 include Southern Illinois (April 9-11) and Missouri State (May 14-16).

Wichita State will also play host to the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the 24th time, May 26-29.

(Press Release)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. ­ Eleven games against Pac-10 Conference teams and three-game home series against USC, Houston, California, Long Beach State and UC Irvine highlight the 2010 Cal Poly baseball schedule announced Tuesday by head coach Larry Lee and director of athletics Alison Cone.

Full 2010 Cal Poly Schedule (PDF)

The Mustangs will open the 2010 campaign, Lee’s eighth as head coach at Cal
Poly, with a three-game set against the Southern California Trojans on Feb.
19-21 in Baggett Stadium.

Cal Poly also hosts the Cal Bears on March 19-21, visits UCLA for a
three-game series March 25-27 and will play Arizona State and Oregon State
in the Coca-Cola Classic hosted by the City of Surprise, Ariz., in Surprise
Stadium, the spring training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City
Royals.

The Mustangs will host four Big West series, including Long Beach State on
April 30 through May 2 and UC Irvine on May 7-9. In all, Cal Poly will play
29 of its 56 games in Baggett Stadium.

The schedule also includes 10 midweek games against some of the best teams
from the West Coast and WAC conferences.

“Our 2010 schedule will be very challenging with 11 games against the likes
of the best the Pac-10 has to offer and strong midweek games versus
Pepperdine, Fresno State and Loyola Marymount,” said Lee.

Other three-game sets at home include non-conference games against Houston
and Cal State Bakersfield and Big West series against UC Santa Barbara and
Pacific. The Mustangs also host Northern Illinois for two games March 9-10.

The 2009 Cal Poly baseball season will go into the Mustang record book as
one of the most successful campaigns, thanks in large part to the
achievement of its first NCAA regional playoff berth at the NCAA Division I
level.

The Mustangs won 37 games (one shy of the school’s Division I mark),
finished third in the Big West Conference, compiled a .325 team batting
average, posted their fifth winning season in the last six years, cracked
the 30-win mark for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons and earned a
spot in the national polls for 13 consecutive weeks.

Lee is now 223-175-2 overall in seven seasons at the helm of the Cal Poly
program.

The Mustangs, who finished third in the Big West, produced a pair of
eight-game winning streaks last season, another six-game string of victories
and a national ranking as high as No. 12 by both Baseball America and
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Mustangs, who won 11 of 14 weekend
series.

Cal Poly won eight of its first nine games and 17 of 21 for its best start
since the 1997 squad went 18-2 to open the year. The Mustangs won 13 more
games than they did in all of 2008 and were 20 games above the .500 mark
three times last season — 30-10, 32-12 and 37-17 — and only the fourth
time since moving to Division I 15 years ago. The 2004 squad was 33-13-1 in
mid-April. Twenty is still the school’s Division I record.

(Courtesy Press Release)