News And Notes On College Baseball Happenings…

• Auburn was the most high profile school to release its 2011 baseball schedule. The Tigers open their season by hosting a tournament Feb. 18-20, with Virginia, Alabama-Birmingham and Arkansas State in the field. The highlight of their non-conference schedule is a three-game home series March 11-13 vs. College World Series participant Arizona State.  Auburn opens SEC play a weekend later vs. Arkansas.

• Pepperdine unveiled its 2011 schedule as well.  The Waves open at home vs. Eastern Kentucky and then play this year’s CWS runner-up UCLA two days after that three-game set concludes.  The Bruins are one of six 2010 NCAA teams on Pepperdine’s schedule.

• Michigan State and Notre Dame have a fall game slated for later this month.  The Spartans will host the Irish at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 18th in East Lansing. Later that night Michigan State and Notre Dame meet on the football field at 8 p.m. ET at Spartan Stadium. Former ND volunteer assistant Graham Sikes is in his first year as an assistant coach at Michigan State.

• Rosenblatt Stadium hosted its last College World Series in June, but it hosted its last baseball game last week. College Baseball 360 contributor Paul Fiarkoski wrote a great letter to Johnny Rosenblatt on our site last week. It’s worth a read.

• Fresno State made an interesting coaching hire recently when head coach Mike Batesole named former Cal State Northridge head coach Steve Rousey to his staff.  With 22 years of coaching experience, Rousey is more than experienced. The twist is former Bulldog assistant Matt Curtis left Fresno early last month when he was named to replace Rousey as head coach at Northridge.

• We did a podcast interview recently with TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle, who says his team is still in the “honeymoon” period after the program’s first College World Series. Schlossnagle’s team is back at “ground zero” now, and he says one of his top priorities this fall is to find a replacement for departed catcher Bryan Holaday. That won’t be an easy task considering the leadership Holaday provided the Horned Frogs.
  

  Tucker Nathans

• Fairfield’s Tucker Nathans isn’t know for his two sport abilities in the same way as Clemson’s Kyle Parker, but we talked to both of them in the last couple weeks as well. Parker recently signed a contract with the Colorado Rockies, but he’s still playing quarterback at Clemson. Meanwhile, Nathans just gave-up soccer after three years of playing two sports for the Stags. Nathans wants to devote his attention to baseball full-time in the hopes of opening the eyes of more MLB scouts. He had a good start this summer playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

• The Big 12 Baseball Tournament is up for an award. The event is nominated for Sports Travel magazine’s 2010 Sports Travel Award. Criteria for nomination and voting include superior organization of and attendance at the event, a superior experience for the competitors and/or spectators at the event, and how the site or venue served to enhance the event. Ballots for the award can be cast through September 13th at www.SportsTravelMagazine.com. The winner will be announced in mid October in Charlotte, NC.