Aztecs To Begin Play In 2014…

CLICK HERE to read more about SD State’s move to the Big West as well as how other conferences (specific to college baseball) are being affected by conference realignment.

“We are extremely excited about joining the Big West Conference,” said SDSU President Dr. Elliot Hirshman. “The Big West provides extraordinary opportunities for our student-athletes, coaches and staff, alumni and supporters and the entire community.”

“The Big West is a great fit for San Diego State geographically, academically and athletically,” Aztec Director of Athletics Jim Sterk said.

San Diego State rejoins a league it helped form as a charter member when it was known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA). The PCAA was created in time for the 1969-70 campaign and SDSU was a member until the end of the 1977-78 season before moving to the Western Athletic Conference. The PCAA began its 20th year of existence in 1988 and officially changed its name to the Big West Conference.

The Aztecs are coming off a pair of seasons in which they enjoyed their best showing in school history in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings.

Last year, SDSU turned in one of its most successful performances as a department in recent memory with five programs posting top-3 efforts within conference action, three capturing league championships and the football team hoisting the Poinsettia Bowl trophy. The two-time defending conference champion men’s basketball squad was one of the best in the nation as it advanced to the Sweet 16, finished 34-3 and ended the season ranked sixth in the Associated Press Top-25 poll and 11th in the coaches’ poll. The women’s swimming and diving team and the men’s golf program also won conference titles with the former finishing 24th in the final national poll, and the golf team reaching the NCAA national championship.

Women’s golf, meanwhile, reached the NCAA Regionals, as did softball, which earned its way to the regional final. Additionally, SDSU’s women’s outdoor track and field program placed at the national meet and the women’s water polo team completed their season ranked ninth nationally.

Two seasons ago in 2009-10, seven Aztec squads finished in the top three in their respective standings with men’s and women’s basketball and women’s soccer claiming conference titles. The women’s hoops team advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA tournament and finished the campaign ranked 20th nationally. The men’s basketball team, meanwhile, earned an NCAA tournament berth, as did women’s soccer, which advanced to the second round.

Men’s and women’s golf, softball, women’s swimming and diving, and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field all qualified for postseason play, while the women’s water polo team finished the year No. 9 in the final poll.

(Release)

New Addresses, More Uncertainty For Many Teams…

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

It’s all about football (and BCS money), but the latest round of conference shuffling – brought to you by the Big East Conference – will ripple through college baseball as well.

As of this writing, an official announcement is apparently imminent that Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, Central Florida (UCF), and Southern Methodist (SMU) will all join the Big East to bolster its sinking BCS football status. Boise State and San Diego State would join as football only members, while the other three would be full fledged Big East members in all sports. The planned moves would go into effect for the 2013-2014 academic year.

We’re not going to go into all of the football implications. You can find that on 800 other sites. We also won’t touch the irony that the new look “Big East” will include schools that are not even remotely in the “east”.

The question we are most concerned with is:  How does all this affect college baseball?

First, neither Boise State nor SMU have baseball teams, so those schools are out of this discussion (how SMU does not have a baseball team though is a head-scratcher). So, let’s start out west and work our way back east to look at how this latest conference shuffle will affect the college baseball landscape.

San Diego State currently plays in the Mountain West Conference in all sports. Since the Aztecs are joining the Big East in football only, the other sports are in line for a new landing spot. According to multiple reports, that landing spot will be the Big West Conference.

It’s a move that would make perfect sense for Tony Gwynn‘s baseball team. The farthest his team would travel for a conference game would be Hawaii (set to join the Big West for the 2013 season) every other year, rather than current jumps to Colorado Springs, Albuquerque and Ft. Worth.

Gwynn would also add another big name to the coaching ranks in the conference. The Big West already includes another former Big Leaguer – Ed Sprague (Pacific) – as well as Hall of Famer Mike Gillespie (UC Irvine) and a hot up and comer – Rick Vanderhook (Cal State Fullerton) – who is returning to his roots after helping UCLA reach the College World Series as an assistant.

The conference that will feel the most ill effects from all the maneuvering is the Mountain West. The conference, which has been somewhat underrated when it comes to college baseball anyway, has just five teams – Air Force, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, and UNLV – that will field baseball teams in 2012.

TCU, which was originally set to join the Big East, will leave the Mountain West after the current season to align with the Big 12. Fresno State and Nevada have agreed to leave the WAC for the MWC next year, but they could easily reconsider that move considering there will be no Boise State and no San Diego State in two years. And don’t forget, Utah left the MWC to help form the Pac-12 this season, while BYU left the conference for football independence, while baseball and other BYU sports are now in the WCC.

As it stands, the Mountain West would be left with just Air Force, New Mexico, UNLV and possibly Fresno State in 2014. Odds are those schools will either all be somewhere else or the MWC will align with another conference – the WAC? – before then.

From a baseball standpoint, it’s just a shame. The MWC, especially with the addition of Fresno State, was shaping into what would have been a great conference. The Bulldogs won the 2008 national championship, TCU went to Omaha in 2010, New Mexico is coming off back-to-back NCAA appearances, and Utah and San Diego State have each gone to NCAA regionals in the last three years as well.

Moving east…

Houston and UCF will leave Conference USA to join the Big East in all sports, including baseball starting with the 2014 baseball season.

Houston has experienced an NCAA drought in recent years. The Cougars were a win away from a Super Regional in 2008, but that is their only NCAA appearance over the last five seasons. Houston improved from 25 wins to 27 victories in Todd Whittling’s first season as head coach in 2011.

UCF has made upward movement in head coach Terry Rooney‘s three seasons as head coach after helping LSU reach the CWS as an assistant in 2008. The Knights were one of four C-USA teams to receive an NCAA bid in 2011.

The move to the Big East for those two schools comes as Syracuse and Pittsburgh head to the ACC and West Virginia exits to the Big 12. Syracuse does not have baseball, while neither Pitt nor WVU have sniffed the NCAA Tournament in nearly two decades.

The argument can be made that the addition of two southern schools like UCF (located in Orlando) and Houston will make the Big East a better baseball conference. That argument was made when South Florida (USF-located in Tampa) joined the Big East after the 2005 season, but it hasn’t turned out that way.

USF has not received an NCAA bid in its six seasons as a Big East member. The Bulls compiled a 7-10 record at the Big East Tournament from 2006-2010, but did not qualify for the Big East’s postseason tournament in 2011.

Meanwhile, northern teams in the same conference have been more successful in that stretch. Notre Dame, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and UConn (all dugout space heater spots in March and early April) have all received NCAA bids since 2006, while UConn advancing to the program’s first Super Regional this past season. Louisville also earned NCAA bids from 2007-2010, but the Cardinals are the only Big East school not in Florida to play home games in February.

The losses of Houston and UCF leaves C-USA with seven baseball playing schools, while the net for the Big East is unchanged at 12 baseball schools (lose Pitt and West Virginia and gain UCF and Houston).

Other smaller conferences are set to shuffle as well. UT San Antonio and Texas State (as well as Denver, which doesn’t play baseball) will soon join the WAC. Houston Baptist will join the Southland after leaving the Great West Conference (a conference that does not an automatic NCAA bid), while Oral Roberts will leave the Summit League for the Southland Conference.

Dallas Baptist, which went all the way to a Super Regional in 2011 as a DI Independent, joined the Missouri Valley Conference this year, but will leave to join the WAC for the 2012-2013 season.

Nebraska is also in its first season in the Big Ten after leaving the Big 12 after last season, while Missouri and Texas A&M will jump to the SEC next year. As of now, the only change in the ACC will be the addition of Pitt.

The X-factor in the entire situation is the BCS contract will likely be redone prior to the 2013-2014 season, so this latest move by the Big East might not even keep the conference in the BCS.

Confused?

The only certainty in any of this is – there is bound to be much more uncertainty before the smoke clears.

Here’s a look at how many of the aforementioned conferences are currently aligned and how they will potentially look in 2014. Keep in mind that seemingly every move is tentative and all of this could be moot before any of the changes actually take place.

Potential College Baseball 2014 Conference Baseball Alignment

29 Home Games Slated For Anteaters…

UC Irvine has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Anteaters open their season February 17-19 at the RBI Tournament in Houston, TX. Their three opponents at the event are yet to be determined.

The Anteaters play their home opener on Feb. 20 when they host UNLV. Washington visits Feb. 24-26 for a three game series.

UCI heads back to Texas for four games at the Baylor Tournament March 2-4. Two games each against Baylor and Lamar are scheduled at the event.

BYU visits Irvine for a three game series March 8-10. Other notable non-conference opponents are UCLA, Pepperdine, San Diego State, San Diego (all three home and home), Dartmouth (three games), Washington State, and Cal State Bakersfield (three game home series).

Big West Conference play begins March 30-April 2 when the Anteaters host Pacific. Other conference home series are against Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara. Irvine hits the road to play Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, and UC Davis in conference action.

The Dugout in Omaha is your one stop for the most officially licensed 2011 College World Series apparel.

The Dugout is located right across the street from the Road To Omaha statue outside TD Ameritrade Stadium, but if you left Omaha without that College World Series hat, shirt or memorabilia you were thinking about you can still get it at Dugouthats.com!  The Dugout also has fitted college and minor league caps – just like the ones the players where on the field.

The best part is, when you click on one of the red links to Dugouthats.com you will save 20% on your order when you enter the coupon code CB360!

29 Home Games, Challenging Schedule Set For Dirt Bags…

Long Beach State has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Dirt Bags open their season with a seven game homestand and 12 of their first 16 overall games at home.

The season starts February 17-19 with a three game series against Virginia Commonwealth. After a visit from USC on Feb. 21, Cal comes to town for a three game set Feb. 24-26.

LBSU hits the road for the first time when it visits UCLA on Feb. 28. Three more games against a Pac-12 school are on tap when it visits Oregon for three games March 2-4. The Dirt Bags host another Pac-12 team, Arizona State, for three games March 9-11. They’ll host Washington State on March 26 and play one more game each against both USC and UCLA to give them a total of 14 games against six Pac-12 teams.

Long Beach plays a non-conference series at Cal State Fullerton March 16-18 and visits Kansas for a three game set vs. Wichita State March 23-25.

Big West Conference play opens March 30-April 1 when the Dirt Bags visit Cal Poly. Other conference road series are at UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge, and UC Davis. They host UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Pacific, and Cal State Fullerton in conference play.

The Dugout in Omaha is your one stop for the most officially licensed 2011 College World Series apparel.

The Dugout is located right across the street from the Road To Omaha statue outside TD Ameritrade Stadium, but if you left Omaha without that College World Series hat, shirt or memorabilia you were thinking about you can still get it at Dugouthats.com!  The Dugout also has fitted college and minor league caps – just like the ones the players where on the field.

The best part is, when you click on one of the red links to Dugouthats.com you will save 20% on your order when you enter the coupon code CB360!

Sun Devils Eye NCAA Return After Sweep Of Long Beach…

Brady Rodgers

In the Sun Devils 6-3 win over the Dirtbags on Friday Devils ace pitcher sophomore Brady Rodgers dominated en route to picking up his 7^th win of the season. Rodgers (7-2 2.92 ERA) went 7.1 innings allowing three runs on 8 hits while striking out five.

Rodgers seemed to get stronger as the night worn on before he was hit in the ankle by a come-backer off the bat of LBSU freshman catcher Royce Murai in the 8^th. Rodgers allowed the next three hitters to reach after the Murai single. Prior to being hit in the leg Rodgers had retired 13 of the previous 14 Dirtbag hitters. The injury is not believed to be serious.

Long Beach rallied against ASU in the 8^th cutting the deficit to 6-3. The Dirtbags had the tying run at the plate with two outs, but Devils junior LF Johnny Ruettiger made a spectacular sliding catch in the left center field gap off the bat of LBSU sophomore Matt Duffy to end the inning and the threat.

ASU struck first with a run in the bottom of the first leading off the inning with Ruettiger double, and a single by junior Zach MacPhee. Ruettiger scored on an error by Long Beach starter junior Andrew Gagnon (4-7, 2.73 ERA).

In Saturday’s win ASU jumped out early and were never threatened in the 9-2 win. ASU led 4-0 after three innings and 9-0 after five.

Arizona State starting pitcher Kramer Champlin (7-2 2.82 ERA) bounced back from his loss to Stanford last weekend pitching eight strong innings allowing two earned on eight hits, with seven strikeouts. Champlin didn’t allow a run until the 8^th inning.

Joey DeMichele

Joey DeMichele continued his offensive tear with hit second five hit game of the season going 5-for-5 with a double and 3 RBIs. Junior DH Austin Barnes was 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. DeMichele (.406 average), and Barnes (.362) currently rank number one, and five respectively in the Pac-10 in hitting.

ASU got 14 hits in Saturday’s win with MacPhee, and Newman having multiple hit games for the second straight night. Duffy was the offensive leader for LBSU going 3-for-4 with a double, and 2 RBIs.

Long Beach’s pitching staff struggled with starter junior Branden Pinder (3-5 5.53 ERA) lasting just three innings allowing 4 runs (3 earned). Junior Matt Johnson relieved Pinder and he allowed five earned in just two innings.

In the series finale ASU exploded for its highest scoring output of the season in there 17-9 win. The Devils broke the game wide open with a six run 5^th pushing their lead to 11-2.

The Dirtbags scored six runs in the 9^th inning to make the final score look closer than the game really was.

Andy Workman led the offensive charge going 4-for-5 with 7 RBIs, a double, and two HRs. DeMichele was 2-for-5 on Sunday, he was 9-for-14 (.643) in the series. Zach Wilson was 3-for-4, and MacPhee was 2-for-3 in the win.

MacPhee was 6-for-12 in the series as the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year raised his average from .270 to .286. MacPhee hit .398 in 2010.

Long Beach starter freshman Ryan Strufing (3-2 3.92 ERA) took the loss allowing eight runs (five earned) in four innings. Freshman Kyle Friedrichs went two innings in relief of Strufing allowing five runs.

The Dirtbags fielders were no help to the team’s pitchers committing four errors, leading to five unearned runs.

ASU has been with out sophomore shortstop Deven Marrero since May 1 because of an ankle injury. Riccio Torrez was also out the last two games of the series because of injury. Neither injury is believed to be serious.

Currently ASU is second in the Pac-10 in hitting with a (.312), on base percentage (.383), runs scored (.299), hits (497), and RBIs (269). The pitching staff is fifth in the conference with a team ERA of 3.17.

The Devils sit in second place in the Pac-10 with three weekends left in the conference schedule. ASU is one game back of conference leader Oregon State. The Beavers hold the tiebreaker over ASU after sweeping the Sun Devils in Corvallis last month.

Arizona State, which went 6-2 in eight games played in ten days, now travels to USC next weekend followed by a series at Washington. The Sun Devils finish their season at home vs. UCLA.

ASU remains eligible for the NCAA Tournament, because the NCAA appeal process continues. The school is set to have its appeal heard a couple of weeks before the NCAA Tournament selections are made May 30, and it is unlikely the appeals committee will have a ruling before the 30^th.

If ASU remains eligible and continues to play well down the stretch it could find itself in position not only to be in the tournament, but also as one of the Top-8 National Seeds.

Despite not picking up any wins this weekend, Long Beach State still has some chances for some quality resume wins down the stretch.  They travel to Cal State Fullerton next weekend, and finish the year at UC Irvine.

They also have a Big West series at home vs. Cal State Northridge, and non-conference home games vs. UCLA, and Pepperdine.

(Front page photo courtesy Arizona State)

Pacific is the latest Big West Conference school to announce its 2011 college baseball schedule. The Tigers open the season February 18-21 when they host Kansas State. The three games are among 14 Pacific will have against teams that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers head to South Carolina the following weekend for three games at the Baseball at the Beach Tournament against North Carolina State, Kansas State and Western Kentucky.

CLICK HERE to see the complete 2011 Pacific baseball schedule.

A five-game homestand follows from March 2 through the eighth with games against Sacramento State, Gonzaga (3) and San Jose State. The Tigers then play a three-game series at Nevada followed by three games at USC.

Head coach Ed Sprague takes leads his team against his alma mater when Pacific hosts Stanford on March 23.  They will return the trip to Palo Alto on April 12. Pacific also has a home and home series against Cal. In all, the Tigers play 24 games against teams from California.

Pacific opens Big West play when they host Long Beach State April 1-3. Other conference home series are against UC Irvine, UC Davis and Cal Poly. Conference road series are at UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Santa Barbara.

Give a unique gift this Christmas from Dugouthats.com.  The Dugout in Omaha has officially licensed 2010 College World Series memorabilia that would make the perfect gift this holiday season (click on the image to left to enlarge).

From t-shirts and caps to limited edition prints commemorating the last CWS ever played at historic Rosenblatt Stadium. Dugouthats.com also always  hats of your favorite college teams like LSU, Texas, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UCLA, South Carolina, Miami and more.

The UC Irvine 2011 college baseball schedule is out. the Anteaters open the season by hosting a three-game series February 18-20 against Nevada. They follow that with a Feb. 22 game at San Diego State. The Aztecs make a return trip to Irvine on April 12.

Mike Gillespie’s club then hosts Bethune-Cookman, Southern and Grambling State Feb. 25-27 in the RBI Tournament. The Feb. 26 game against Southern will be televised on MLB Network.

CLICK HERE to see the complete 2011 UC Irvine schedule.

The Anteaters head to Moraga, CA the following weekend for a three-game set vs. St. Mary’s and then return to Anteater Park to begin a five-game homestand that starts on March 8 against Connecticut.

Irvine opens Big West Conference play April 1-3 when it hosts Cal State Northridge. Other conference home series are against UC Davis, Cal Poly and Long Beach State. UCI visits Cal State Fullerton, Pacific, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Riverside in other conference action.

The Anteaters also home home and home games scheduled with USC, San Diego and 2010 College World Series runner-up UCLA.

CLICK HERE to see our comprehensive page of 2011 college baseball schedules.

The place to find authentic college baseball caps is Dugouthats.com. The Dugout has four different styles of UC Irvine caps as well as officially licensed College World Series hats, t-shirts, memorabilia and more!

Event Highlights Southern California College Media Day

Top Chef winner Steve Rodriguez of Pepperdine (Photo Matt Brown)

Media Day event. Combined with the SoCal Media Day was the second annual NCAA Baseball Coaches Cook-Off as coaches from the Big West, Pac-10, Mountain West and West Coast conferences showed off their skills behind the hot plate.

Competing from the Big West in this “Iron Chef”-style competition were Larry Lee (Cal Poly), Dave Serrano (Cal State Fullerton), Steve Rousey (Cal State Northridge), Mike Gillespie (UC Irvine), Doug Smith (UC Riverside), and Bob Brontsema (UC Santa Barbara). Joining them in the competition were defending champion Chad Kreuter from USC, Jason Gill from Loyola Marymount, John Savage from UCLA, Rich Hill from San Diego and Steve Rodriguez from Pepperdine.

Coaches teamed with an ESPN Zone chef to prepare an entree in a 20-minute time period and present their creations to a panel of judges. The dishes were

USCB's Bob Brontsema (photo Matt Brown)

graded on presentation, creativity, and most importantly taste. Along with competing for top honors in all three categories the coveted “Top Chef” honor was also awarded for the highest overall score.

Serrano redeemed himself from last year where he won the “Dug Out” award, given to the lowest scoring entree, with the most creative award this year as his Hot Corner spicy tacos impressed the judges. For the second straight year, Brontsema came out on top as the winner for best presentation. His secret…showing his school spirit by spelling UCSB in red peppers on the side of the dish. Completing a Big West-sweep of the three honors was Lee, who used a family secret recipe for his cajun tacos that garnered him best taste accolades.

As the Big West coaches were celebrating the sweep of the three initial awards, they were quickly silenced when Rodriguez was announced as the “Top Chef” of the event with his delicious spicy chicken alfredo dish.

The most surprising announcement of the day was the recipient of the “Dug Out” and “Kitchen Nightmare” awards. Both honors were handed to Kreuter, last year’s “Top Chef” winner, for his chicken pasta creation. Along with the title of worst chef, he was given a Paula Dean cookbook, bottle of Pepto Bismol, Easy-Bake oven and a fire extinguisher.

“I have now been on both ends of the spectrum,” commented Kreuter. “Sometimes you get knocked down and you just have to get back up and fight. I will be back next year swinging.”

(Release)

It was another busy week.  Here’s a look at some of the new stuff we had this week on Collegebaseball360.com (just in case you blinked)!

#24 Oregon Brings Back Baseball

#23 LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

#22 Freshman Levi Michael Starts For North Carolina

#21 Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Long Balls

#20 Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge (along with Willie Argo podcast interview)

Two Sport Stars Golden Tate & Toby Gerhart win the Biletnikoff & Doak Walker Awards, respectively

A By The Numbers look at Golden Tate’s college baseball & football careers

Tate announces he is going to the NFL with video from the press conference as well

Training year round with Villanova Two Sport Star Matt Szczur

Szczur helps the Wildcats to the FCS playoff national semifinals

Monmouth adds Karl Nonemaker & Jim Belanger to its coaching staff

Former Kent State pitching coach Richard Schoonover dies

A scholarship fund established to honor former Arkansas Pine Bluff pitcher Kevin Edwards

Schedules from around the country including the Pac 10, Big 12, Big West, Big 10, Big East. CUSA, Summit, and other conferences