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Fall Ball Stirs Interest & Aids Evaluation…

By College Baseball 360 Editor Sean Stires

The sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing and there were thousands of fans milling around taking-in a college baseball game. It wasn’t Baton Rouge on a Friday night in the spring. It was South Bend, Ind. this past Saturday.

For the second straight year the Notre Dame and Michigan State baseball teams got together for a fall exhibition game on the same day their schools went head to head on the football field. They played in East Lansing, Mich. last year and they hooked-up in South Bend this year.

The two schools are not alone in connecting during the fall. It’s a trend that has been growing in recent years since the NCAA mandated the late February uniform start date to the college regular season spring schedule.

Michigan St. pitchers in the bullpen at Saturday's fall exhibition game prior to the Notre Dame - Michigan State football game.

“(The game was) a good chance for especially our first year guys to get out and compete at this level and compete against somebody else other than interquad,” Spartan head coach Jake Boss, Jr. said Saturday. “We learned a lot of things about our ball club and we got a lot of things that we can address as we move forward in practice this fall.”

Texas, Rice, Vanderbilt, and Cal State Fullerton are among the higher profile programs that have scheduled fall games.

They do it in part to evaluate their players (especially the younger ones) in live competition, but some also do it because those fall games count against their 56-game limit in the spring- meaning the two or three games they play in the fall are two or three fewer games they have to schedule in the spring.

The time is right for the NCAA to take the fall games a step farther. It’s time to make three or four of these games “exempt” each year so that they do not count against the 56-game limit.

“I think certainly I’d like to see some exempt games,” Irish head coach Mik Aoki told me after the game. “Especially if you’re not spending a ton of dough, you know? It’s not like you’re going to try to fly to California and you’re not missing any classes. I really don’t see the harm in a couple of thousand dollars getting spent on a bus to go to Michigan State to play.”

It’s just good for college baseball.

The fall games are a good thing, and Notre Dame and Michigan State have it figured out. Play them the day of a big football game when a lot of people are around.The Eck Stadium grandstand and surrounding area of the stadium had around 1,000 fans at any given time watching the game, with fans moving in and out taking-in parts of the game throughout the 10-inning exhibition.

“I think what we’ve done here, us and Notre Dame, is tying the game into a football game, Boss said. “I think really it’s a neat atmosphere. It’s a good experience for our kids. Unfortunately it counts against one of our 56. It is what it is and we understand that. It can be tough sometimes to get all 56 in regardless of where you’re at in the spring. It’s a good opportunity to compete in a good environment. It would be outstanding if we could do more of it.”

The fact of the matter is, most southern and warm weather schools don’t have to worry about lopping-off three or four games from their regular season, because they know their RPI is typically going to be strong enough when it comes to at-large bids at NCAA selection time. That is not the case for northern schools, who need every game they can get for the chance to get as close to 40 wins as they can to merit NCAA selection.

Michigan State (36-21) found that out first hand in 2011 when they shared the Big Ten regular season championship, but missed an NCAA bid when Illinois won the conference tournament.

However, making a handful of fall games is not just about getting a few schools a few more games to try to pad or add to its NCAA resume. It’s also about fairness and allowing coaches from northern schools to better evaluate their players, especially incoming freshmen, in an outdoor setting.

“(Fall games are) a good chance for especially our first year guys to get out and compete at this level and compete against somebody else other than intersquad,” Boss said. ” We learned a lot of things about our ball club and we got a lot of things that we can address as we move forward in practice this fall.”

Those same things are much tougher for a Michigan State, St. John’s, Notre Dame, Illinois, Penn State, or any other northern school to evaluate in January and February when they are trying to do it indoors.

About half of the roughly 300 schools that play college baseball are located in northern climates, which means that those schools are preparing for a late February start to the regular season inside gyms, makeshift bubbles and indoor batting cages in January and early February. Meanwhile, their sun belt counterparts are out in the grass and the dirt every day in preparation for the start of a new season.

There’s a reason Major League Baseball teams go to Florida and Arizona at that same time of year for Spring Training and there’s no reason college baseball coaches shouldn’t be allowed to take advantage of better weather in the fall to better evaluate their teams without it counting against their spring schedules.

The NCAA lets college basketball play a pair of exhibition games every year, so what’s the harm in allowing college baseball teams to do the same thing?

The fall exhibition format also allows for a more flexible format that allows coaches to insert and remove players at will without worrying about strict substitution rules that come with regular season games. Notre Dame and Michigan State each sent 10 pitchers to the mound in Saturday’s 10-inning game (the agreed upon format was 14 innings or three hours, whichever came first). They also each used nearly every one of their position players.

The Irish have 13 freshmen on their 2011-2012 roster, while the Spartans have eight. The at-bats, innings pitched and time in the field were crucial to both coaches for outdoor evaluation that they won’t get in the middle of winter on the eve of the regular season.

Obviously, not every school has the advantage of scheduling a fall game around a big college football game, but there are other options. DI basketball schools play their games against lower division competition and DI baseball schools could do the same.

“If we had the opportunity to…I think it would be a big deal for the fledgling program at Holy Cross to come over here and play against us,” Aoki said of the new NAIA program right across the street from Notre Dame. “Or to play a Bethel or Goshen in our own area (both of those schools are located within 40 minutes of the ND campus). There’s almost no cost involved. You don’t miss any class time.”

There are plenty of similar smaller programs around the country- in Florida, Texas, California and other warm weather states-that could benefit from similar opportunities. They wouldn’t get that same experience in the spring, because there’s no benefit for Florida or Texas to play those schools when it counts.

Why not let Webber International or Trinity have a chance to mix it up with the big boys too. They typically only get the chance if they’re a late add to someone’s schedule due to a rain out.

“I don’t think you want to get carried away,” Aoki added. “But three exempt games would I think be pretty good.”

Good for college baseball and everyone who loves it and plays it.

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Switch Could Mean More Northern Exposure…

OpEd By College Baseball 360 Editor Sean Stires

(July 19, 2011)

We could be playing college baseball right now.

If the college baseball season started in late March instead of February the College World Series would have started this past Saturday  instead of its traditional Father’s Day weekend.

If Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney had his way that’s exactly how things would go. Delaney has been joined by others to push back the start of the college baseball season by at least a month to help level the playing field for northern teams, and it’s actually one of the best ideas he has had.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney

Delaney wants to see more northern representation at the College World Series. His other ideas to help that cause include placing less emphasis on RPI when it comes to NCAA Tournament selections and expanding the CWS field from eight to 10 teams, with the additional two teams being from the northern part of the country.

If my support for his ideas was measured in fastballs, Delaney would get a 95 (mph) for the schedule, an 88 for the RPI and a crafty lefty’s 67 for his plan to rubber stamp two teams from the north for the College World Series.

Let’s take them one at a time.

A Summer Schedule

Roughly half of the 300 Division One college baseball teams come from the northern part of the country, yet college baseball began its season on February 18 in 2011.

Who plays baseball in February?

Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers are just beginning to report when college baseball is cranking-up its schedule in late February. Where are the MLB guys reporting? Florida and Arizona. You know, where it’s actually warm in February!

That’s exactly where northern teams have to go, again and again, until the snow and ice thaws at the start of the season. It doesn’t take much to figure out that Michigan State, Ohio State, Connecticut, et. al have to go on the road more than their counterparts at places like Florida State, Arizona State and UCLA if they want to play in late February and early March.

Do you think folks in  Tallahassee and Tempe could even identify a snow blower if I walked down the street with one (maybe the retirees who’ve transplanted themselves, but that’s another story)? I’m not talking about the snow plows that clear the streets, I’m talking about the ones my neighbors use to clear their driveways in February and March after that white stuff hits the ground…again and again.

There are plenty of schools in smaller conferences like the Ivy League and America East Conference (to name just a couple) that have foregone even playing the first couple weeks of the season, because it just doesn’t fit into the budget.

Delaney’s idea to push back the start of the college baseball season by at least a month just makes sense, and he’s not the only one who’s floated the idea.

Sunny Golloway

Oklahoma head coach, Sunny Golloway, has vocally floated the idea of shifting the season into the summer as well. Golloway, who is one year removed from taking the Sooners to Omaha, thinks college baseball currently gets lost in the shadow of March Madness with its current start date. He also thinks there would be a better chance to get college baseball more TV exposure by pushing the season further into the summer months.

There are a few obstacles to this idea. The increased cost to schools to house and feed their student athletes while most other students are gone for the summer is one reason.

Another obstacle would be the actual scheduling of games. It’s easy for the Big Ten and other northern conferences to say they want to push back the start of the season to ease their travel woes, but starting the season in late March doesn’t give SEC and ACC schools any incentive to actually go to Columbus or Ann Arbor.  Delaney could get his wish for warmer weather in Ann Arbor to start the season, but that won’t make Texas or Florida want to go there to play.

Probably the biggest obstacle to the schedule shift though is…drum roll…TELEVISION. Nobody wants to hear it, but ESPN and Omaha both want the College World Series exactly where it is- in mid June.

Think about it, as it is the CWS fits perfectly into an open window for programming on ESPN, and more and more television drives the bus when it comes to sports (how about that 8:40 p.m. ET first pitch for last week’s All-Star game).

Less RPI Emphasis At Selection Time

Delaney’s biggest argument here is that because of their location, northern teams don’t have the inherent advantage that teams in the south have to play strong competition and build RPI during conference play. Northern schools aren’t the only ones who say the RPI formula favors southern schools though. Schools on the west coast, which obviously have the advantage of warmer weather, say the current system puts them at a disadvantage as well.

The NCAA did seem to make a step toward placing less importance on RPI this year though with the at-large selection of St. John’s rather than LSU, despite an RPI gap of about 30 spots.

It’s hard to have sympathy for Big Ten schools though who don’t even try to build early season RPI by playing a challenging early season schedule.

Michigan State and Illinois tied for the Big Ten regular season crown, while Purdue finished third in the regular season standings. Michigan State’s games against Clemson and Boston College and Purdue’s game at Vanderbilt were the only regular season games among those three teams in 2011 against schools from conferences that sent teams to Omaha (in fairness to Illinois, they did play three games at LSU two years ago).

Contrast that to Stanford, which went into the season knowing it would have to play conference series vs. UCLA and Arizona State (both 2010 CWS teams). The Cardinal started its 2011 season with three game series at Rice, at Vanderbilt and at Texas.

Or how about New Mexico? The Lobos played a total of 12 road games this past season at Arizona State, Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma. Big Ten schools could make those same trips (and get paid in the process) if they wanted to.

Those Lobos come from the same Mountain West Conference that Delaney has continually stiff-armed when the conversation of a Division One college football playoff comes up.

That’s right, while Delaney has pounded the pulpit to get more exposure (and the TV money that comes with it) for his Big Ten brethren, he has also stood in the way as the biggest road block to breaking-up the BCS football system (and the money that it funnels into his conference).

Add Two Northern Teams To The CWS

This is the absolute worst idea of the bunch. Prior to the 1980s, NCAA Tournament Regionals were exactly that-“regional”. That’s why teams like Minnesota, Michigan and Maine were regulars in Omaha, because they were playing other northern teams, so they were guaranteed that one of them would make it. That’s what Delaney wants to go back to.

Four Regionals and two Super Regionals would be dedicated to northern schools under Delaney’s proposal, thus guaranteeing two teams from the upper part of the country a clear road to Omaha.

Delaney’s north-south line would be drawn between Oklahoma and Kansas, though I’m not really sure how teams on the west coast would fit into the equation. But that’s part of the problem.

Under the Delaney plan, a school like Virginia would be a “northern” team even though they play in what’s considered a “southern conference” (the ACC). Seems like the Cavaliers have done alright over the last three years with two trips to Omaha and another Super Regional under their belt.

Oregon State, Wichita State, Nebraska, and Notre Dame are other schools north of that line that have all been welcomed to Omaha. Connecticut came within spitting distance of the CWS this year as well by winning the Clemson Regional before falling to eventual national champion South Carolina in Super Regional play.

Maybe pitting UConn against Virginia would have been the more “fair” thing to do (for the Huskies anyway), but that’s still a net of one northern team at the CWS.

Solutions

Hey, we’re equal opportunity here, we don’t just rip apart ideas without having other options. We have beaten this drum in different ways over the last couple of years, but we’ll keep beating it anyway. For change to happen guys like Delaney have to think outside the box in other ways. Rather than asking college baseball to drastically change its landscape, Delaney must first be willing to till his own immediate terrain.

If You Build It…

Assuming the college baseball calender/schedule is going to stay the same (which it is for the foreseeable future) then Delaney and the Big Ten (and possibly his counterparts in the Big East) have to step up to the plate in a big way to make something happen.

Build a domed stadium.

That’s right, build a 15-20,000 seat retractable roof stadium near Chicago and play college baseball in it from mid-February right on through the month of March (and for as long as the thermometer dictates).

Chicago could be the backdrop if the Big Ten shelled out the money for a retractable roof stadium.

The Big Ten could take that BCS money that Delaney doesn’t want to relinquish and sink it right into the college baseball programs he wants to help. He would have the most unique structure in college baseball.

The conference could host multiple Big Ten series in the same weekend in the building. Minnesota vs. Northwestern at Noon Friday-Sunday and Michigan-Illinois at 7 p.m. those same days. The Big Ten could lease the place to Horizon League, Summit League and MAC teams for mid-week and conference series as well. Even schools like St. Louis (Atlantic 10) and Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley) could get in on the action.

The one of a kind building could also be used for conference post season tournaments (to include the Big Ten as well as potentially the other aforementioned leagues) as well as a potential Regional or Super Regional host site.

Delaney has also floated the idea of a northern answer to the College World Series, and the new building could host the event if it ever comes to fruition.

While we’re at it…

Challenge Yourself…

The Big Ten (which of course is now really 12) has taken part in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge for the last three seasons in Florida. It was a good idea, because teams from both northern conferences got to start the season on equal footing (and in the sunshine to boot) against each other. It was also great for pro scouts, because they could see nearly every big prospect from those conferences by making just one trip.

But maybe it’s time to take it up a notch. If a retractable roof stadium is in play, then think big. Ditch the games against Big East schools and crank-up the Big Ten/Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, and SEC Challenges (not all at the same time, but in varying seasons).

The season could start with Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon making the trip to Chicago to play three games in three days against Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. At the same time, Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State would be in the San Francisco Bay or Los Angeles area playing games against Cal, UCLA and Oregon State. The rest of the teams from the two conferences could play their “Challenge” games the following weekend.

Such an event reduces travel, keeps scouts interested, creates early season college baseball publicity, and builds RPI.

The draw wouldn’t be exclusive to Big Ten teams though. How about an event similar to the Houston College Classic, which is held annually at Minute Maid Park? Invite teams from all corners of the country to take part in the domed event. Considering it would be in Chicago, it would be easily accessible for most schools.

But don’t stop there…

Lights, Camera…

In case you hadn’t heard, the Big Ten has this thing called…(wait for it)…The Big Ten Network. On this network they televise Big Ten sporting events, including…(wait)…Big Ten baseball games!

The Big Ten could televise all of the previously mentioned games on its own TV network-further promoting its own product.

Cha-ching!

A New Format

The idea to add two more teams to the College World Series is just too drastic. If we’re going to guarantee two northern teams (regardless of merit) two slots at college baseball’s biggest event we might as well just have Michael Roth and Preston Tucker go hand out ribbons at youth soccer games and call it a day.

Rather than reworking the entire NCAA Tournament format to meet the needs of a few, there is a better compromise.

Augie Garrido

A plan to rework the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s format has been floated recently, and it’s gaining traction. Texas head coach Augie Garrido is among those who favor the change, which would keep the tournament field at 64 teams, while giving more people in different parts of the country the chance to go to the games.

It goes something like this:

Round One: The 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament would play at 32 different locations. Two teams at each site would play a best-two-of-three series (like the current Super Regional format). The winners would move on to the second round.

Round Two: The remaining 32 teams would again play a best-two-of-three series in 16 different locales. The winners would move to round three.

Round Three: The remaining 16 teams would play a best-two-of-three series. The eight winners would advance to the College World Series.

Under this format 32 different teams would have the chance to host a first round series, compared to the current 16 teams that get to host. Second and third round match-ups would be predetermined by seeding, so first round upsets would give more teams the opportunity to host in the next two rounds-meaning northern teams would have a much greater chance to host an NCAA event than they presently do.

Connecticut, Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame (northern schools who also play in “northern conferences”) are among the select truly “northern” teams that have hosted even a Regional over the last decade.

The landscape of college baseball has changed drastically since Michigan last represented the Big Ten in Omaha in 1984. If Delaney and the Big Ten want to think big, it’s time to think big and step-up to actually make things happen.

It was another huge day for the underdogs on Friday, as 39% of the games (16-of-41) involving CB360 top-50 teams resulted in upsets. The upset victims included four top-10 teams (#1 Florida, #3 Vanderbilt, #4 Arizona State, #9 Oklahoma) – along with #13 Stanford, #15 TCU, #16 Clemson, #18 Auburn, #22 Tulane, #24 UC Irvine, #27 Rice, #29 Oregon, #31 College of Charleston, #41 Rhode Island, #43 Texas Tech and #48 UNLV. See full listing of results, linescores and links below.

FRIDAY’S TOP-50 MATCHUPS (3/25/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)

#6 South Carolina 9-13-0 won at #1 Florida 2-10-2
Final Stats |  SC Recap |  FL Recap

at #26 Arkansas 2-6-2 def. #3 Vanderbilt 1-6-0
Final Stats |  ARK Recap |  VAN Recap

#19 Arizona 5-12-0 won at #4 Arizona State 2-7-1
Final Stats | AZ Recap | ASU Recap

#11 Georgia Tech 8-13-4 won at #30 Miami 3-10-6
Final Stats |  GT Recap |  MIA Recap

at #49 Mississippi State 7-12-0 def. #18 Auburn 6-8-0
Final Stats |  MS Recap |  AUB Recap

#38 Central Florida 7-12-0 won at #27 Rice 2-7-3
Final Stats |  UCF Recap |  Rice Recap

at #28 Southern Mississippi 16-11-2 def. #22 Tulane 4-10-3
Final Stats |  SoMiss Recap |  TUL Recap

#34 Mississippi 6-9-0 won at #46 Tennessee 1-5-0
Final Stats |  OleMiss Recap |  Tenn Recap

at #29 Oregon 2-5-0 def. #39 Wichita State 1-8-2  (gm-1)
Final Stats |  ORE Recap |  WICH Recap

#39 Wichita State 6-8-0 won at #29 Oregon 5-8-0 (gm-2)
Final Stats |  WICH Recap |  ORE Recap

at #36 Stetson 15-18-1 def. #42 East Tennessee State 4-12-5
Final Stats |  STET Recap |  ETSU Recap

FRIDAY’S OTHER TOP-50 GAMES (3/25/11)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings … upsets in italics)

at #2 Virginia 14-15-0 def. Maryland 1-4-5
Final Stats |  VA Recap |  MD Recap

at #5 Florida State 12-9-2 def. Wake Forest 4-3-2
Final Stats |  FSU Recap |  WF Recap

#7 Texas 1-6-1 won at Oklahoma State 0-7-1 (15 inn.)
Final Stats |  TX Recap |  OSU Recap

at #8 Texas A&M  2-6-0 def. Kansas 1-11-1 (10 inn.)
Final Stats |  A&M Recap |  KU Recap

#9 Oklahoma 3-6-0 won at Missouri 1-8-2 (gm-1)
Final Stats |  OU Recap | MO Recap

at Missouri 2-10-0 def. #9 Oklahoma 1-8-0 (11 inn.; gm-2)
Final Stats | OU Recap | MO Recap

#10 LSU 7-10-0 won at Georgia 3-6-2
Final Stats | LSU Recap |  GA Recap

at #12 Fresno State 6-8-0 def. def. San Diego 0-1-1
Final Stats | FRES Recap |  USD Recap

Long Beach State 6-11-1 won at #13 Stanford 3-9-2
Final Stats | LBSU Recap | STAN Recap

at #14 North Carolina 8-11-0 def. Duke 5-7-1
Final Stats |  UNC Recap |  Duke Recap

Houston 7-9-1 won at #15 TCU 6-13-1
Final Stats | TCU Recap | HOU Recap

at North Carolina State 6-12-0 def. #16 Clemson 0-4-1
Final Stats |  NC-St Recap |  CLEM Recap

#17 Cal State Fullerton 3-5-2 won at Hawaii 0-2-2
Final Stats |  CSF Recap |  UH Recap

#20 UCLA 8-7-2 won at USC 4-8-2
Final Stats |  UCLA Recap |  USC Recap |  Video Highlights

at #21 Oregon State 6-9-0 def. UC Santa Barbara 3-8-0
Final Stats | OrSt Recap |  UCSB Recap

at #23 California 7-12-1 def. Washington State 0-1-3
Final Stats |  Cal Recap |  WSU Recap

at Gonzaga 4-8-0 def. #24 UC Irvine 1-6-4
FINAL STATS |  GON Recap |  UCI Recap

at #25 Baylor 5-9-0 def. Kansas State 4-9-1
Final Stats |  BAY Recap |  KSU Recap

#32 Louisville 11-13-1 won at Rutgers 2-7-1
Final Stats |  LOU Recap |  RUT Recap

#33 Coastal Carolina 13-2-2 won at UNC Asheville 2-7-4
Final Stats |  CC Recap |  UNC-A Recap

Georgia Southern 11-13-0 won at #31 College of Charleston 7-11-3
Final Stats |  GS Recap |  CofC Recap

at #35 East Carolina 3-7-0 def. Memphis 2-5-0
Final Stats |  ECU Recap |  MEM Recap

#40 Southeastern Louisiana 6-9-4 won at Central Arkansas 5-11-2
Final Stats | SE-La. Recap |  CenArk Recap

at Charlotte 4-6-0 def.  #41 Rhode Island 2-9-1
Final Stats |  CHAR Recap |  URI Recap

Nebraska 15-19-0 won at #43 Texas Tech 5-8-4
Final Stats | NEB Recap | TT Recap

at #44 Elon 10-14-3 def. Samford 8-10-2
Final Stats |  Elon Recap |  SAM Recap

#47 Texas State 7-15-1 won at Lamar 1-4-0
Final Stats | TxSt Recap | LAM Recap

New Mexico 3-6-1 won at  #48 UNLV 1-4-0
Final Stats | UNLV Recap | UNM Recap

at #50 Jacksonville 10-14-4 def. Lipscomb 5-10-1
Final Stats |  J’ville Recap |  LIP Recap

Wright State beat #2 Virginia 2-1, but there were only four other top-50 upsets on Friday, spanning 43 games involving teams in the CB360 top-50. The other upsets: at Arizona 8, #23 CS Fullerton 7 (11 inn.) … Iowa 5, at #29 Kansas 3 … #44 Florida Gulf Coast 7, at #30 Wichita State 2 … UC Riverside 4, #42 Florida International 3 (Surprise, Ariz.).  (front-page photo courtesy of Wright State)

The 11 top-50 showdowns are listed below, as are 32 other Friday games involving teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings. All 43 final scores are posted below, with postgame links (stats/recaps/photos/video, etc.) to be added on a continuing basis (time permitting). The bottom of the page includes pregame and season team links (such as game notes, rosters, season stats, media guides and “quick facts”).

CLICK HERE for the wrapup page from Thursday’s top-50 action (March 4).

Results (upsets in italics)

• at #1 LSU 13, Brown 7  |  Final Stats
LSU Recap |  Brown Recap

•  Wright State 2, at #2 Virginia 1 | Final Stats
WSU Recap |  UVa Recap

• #3 Texas 2, #21 Rice 1 (Minute Maid Park)  |  Final Stats
TX Recap |  Rice Recap

• at #4 Florida State 12, #27 Georgia 1  |  Final Stats
FSU Recap |  UGa Recap |  Photos

• #5 Florida 7, at #12 Miami 1  |  Final Stats
FL Recap (w/ link to postgame notes) |  Miami Recap

• #6 Arizona St. 6, #16 Oregon St. 4 (Surprise, AZ)  |  Final Stats
ASU Recap |  OSU Recap

• at #7 Georgia Tech 5, Rutgers 0  |  Final Stats
GT Recap |  RUT Recap

• #8 TCU 11, Texas Tech 2  (Minute Maid Park)  |  Final Stats
TCU Recap |  TT Recap |  TT postgame video

• at #9 Clemson 4, #19 South Carolina 3  |  Final Stats
CLEM Recap (w/ video hi-lites) |  SC Recap |  SC Postgame Blog |  Photos

• at #10 Coastal Carolina 14, Toledo 4  |  Final Stats
CC Recap |  TOL Recap

•  at #11 Louisville 8, Le Moyne 1  | Final Stats
LOU Recap |  LEM Recap |  Photos

• at #13 UC Irvine 11, St. Mary’s 9 (gm-1)  |  Final Stats
UCI Recap  |  SMC Recap

• at #13 UC Irvine 12, St. Mary’s 8 (gm-2) |  Final Stats
UCI Recap  |  SMC Recap

• #14 Arkansas 7, at #44 California 3  |  Final Stats
ARK Recap |  Cal Recap

• at #15 North Carolina 4, Michigan 2  |  Final Stats
UNC Recap |  MICH Recap |  Photos

• at #17 UCLA 13,  Nebraska 1 (gm-1)  |  Final Stats
UCLA Recap |  NEB Recap

• at #17 UCLA 5,  Nebraska 3 (gm-2)  |  Final Stats
UCLA Recap |  NEB Recap

• at #18 East Carolina 7,  Illinois 5  |  Final Stats
ECU Recap |  ILL Recap |  Photos 1 |  Photos 2

•  #20 Mississippi 6, at Tulane 4  |  Final Stats
Ol’Miss Recap |  TUL Recap

• #22 Kentucky 6, at #37 San Diego 0  |  Final Stats
KY Recap (w/ postgame audio)  |  USD Recap

• at Arizona 8, #23 Cal State Fullerton 7 (11 inn.)  | Final Stats
ARIZ Recap |  CSF Recap

• #24 Ohio State 9, Duquesne 8  (Port Charlotte, FL) |  FINAL STATS
OSU Recap |  DUQ Recap

• at #25 Stanford 6, UC Santa Barbara 5  |  Final Stats
STAN Recap |  UCSB Recap

• at #26 Oklahoma 12,  Western Illinois 1  |  Final Stats
OU Recap |  WIU Recap

• at #28 Vanderbilt 7, Kent State 1  |  Final Stats
VAN Recap |  Kent Recap

• at #29 Kansas 8, Iowa 1 (gm-1)  |  Final Stats
KU Recap |  Iowa Recap |  Photos

• Iowa 5, at #29 Kansas 3 (gm-2) |  Final Stats
Iowa Recap |  KU Recap |  Photos |  KU Quotes

• #30 New Mexico 3, at USC 2  |  Final Stats
UNM Recap |  USC Recap |  Video Replay

• #44 Florida Gulf Coast 7, at #30 Wichita State 2 |  Final Stats
FGC Recap |  WICH Recap

• at #32 Western Kentucky 14, Illinois-Chicago 4  |  Final Stats
WKU Recap |  UIC Recap

• #33 Alabama 6, at #50 College of Charleston 2  |  Final Stats
AL Recap |  CofC Recap

• #34 St. John’s 10, at East Tennessee State 2  |  Final Stats
SJU Recap |  ETSU Recap

• at #35 Washington State 5, Utah 1 (gm-1)  |  Final Stats
WSU Recap |  Utah Recap

• at #35 Washington State 6,  Utah 2 (gm-2)  |  Final Stats
WSU Recap |  Utah Recap

• at #36  Southeastern Louisiana 14, Texas Southern 8  |  Final Stats
SELA Recap |  TS Recap

• at #38 Texas A&M 7,  #50 Winthrop 0  |  Final Stats
A&M Recap |  WIN Recap

• at #39 North Carolina State 17, Quinnipiac 6  |  Final Stats
NCS Recap |  QUIN Recap

• #40 Oregon 7, at #44 Fresno State 2  |  Final Stats
ORE Recap |  FS Recap

• #42 Middle Tennessee State 10, at Jacksonville State 3  |  Final Stats
MTSU Recap |  JSU Recap

• UC Riverside 4, #42 Florida International 3 (Surprise, AZ)  |  Final Stats
UCR Recap |  FIU Recap

• #44 Southern Mississippi 4, at Louisiana-Lafayette 0  |  Final Stats
SM Recap |  LL Recap

• at #48 UAB 9, Eastern Illinois 2  |  Final Stats

• at #49  Liberty 8  Delaware State 1  |  Final Stats

Friday’s Big-Game Matchups (all teams top-50)

• 7:00 ET – #5 Florida at #12 Miami

• 7:00 ET (4PT) – #6 Arizona State vs. #16 Oregon State (Surprise, AZ)
ASU info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS
OSU info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE

• 6:30 ET – #19 South Carolina at #9 Clemson

• 8:00 ET (7CT) – #21  Rice vs. #3 Texas (Minute Maid Park)

• 6:00 ET – #27 Georgia at #4 Florida State

• 5:00 ET (2PT) – #22 Kentucky at #37 San Diego
KY info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE

• 4:30 ET (1:30PT) – #14 Arkansas at #44 California

• 9:00 ET (6PT)– #40 Oregon at #44 Fresno State

• 4:00 ET (3CT) – #44 Florida Gulf Coast at #30 Wichita State

• 7:00 ET (6CT) – #33 Alabama at #50 College of Charleston

• 7:30 ET (6:30CT) – #50 Winthrop at #38 Texas A&M

Friday’s Other Top-50 Games

• 1:00 ET (12 CT) – #8 TCU vs. Texas Tech (Minute Maid Park)
live coverage: Live Stats |  Audio
TCU info: Game Notes |  Roster |  2010 Stats |  Media Guide

• 1:00 ET – Duquesne vs. #24 Ohio State (Port Charlotte, FL)
live coverage: Live Stats
OSU info.: Game Notes |  Roster |  2010 Stats |  Media Guide |  Quick Facts

• 2:00ET (1:00 CT) Iowa at #29 Kansas (gm-1)

• 3:00 ET – Le Moyne at #11 Louisville
live coverage: Live Stats |  Video |  Audio
LOU info.: Game Notes |  Roster |  2010 Stats |  Quick Facts

• 3:00 ET – Michigan at #15 North Carolina
live coverage: Live Stats
UNC info. – PREGAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE |  QUICK FACTS

• 6:00 ET (3PT) – #42 FIU vs. UC Riverside (Surprise, AZ)
FIU info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE

• 3:00 ET – Quinnipiac at #39 North Carolina State
• 3:00 ET – Delaware State at #49 Liberty

• 4:00 ET – Wright State at #2 Virginia
• 4:00 ET – Rutgers at #7 Georgia Tech
• 4:00 ET – Toledo at #10 Coastal Carolina

• 4:00 ET (3CT) – Western Illinois at #26 Oklahoma
OU info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE |  QUICK FACTS
Sooner Classic MAIN PAGE (March 4-7; field includes USF, W. Illinois & S.F. Austin)

• 4:00 ET – Eastern Illinois at #48 UAB
• 4:00 ET  (1PT) – Utah at  #35 Washington State (gm-1)
• 4:00 ET – Illinois-Chicago at #32 Western Kentucky

• 5:00 ET – Illinois at #18 East Carolina
• 5:00 ET (2PT) – Nebraska at #17 UCLA (gm-1)
• 5:00 ET – Kent State at #28 Vanderbilt

• 5:30 ET (4:30 CT) Iowa at #29 Kansas (gm-2)

• 6:00 ET – St. Mary’s (CA) at #13 UC Irvine (gm-1)

• 7:00 ET – #34 St. John’s at East Tennessee State
• 7:00 ET (6CT) – Texas Southern at #36  Southeastern Louisiana

• 7:30 ET – #20 Mississippi at Tulane
• 7:30 ET (4:30 PT) – Utah at  #35 Washington State (gm-2)

• 8:oo ET – Brown at #1 LSU
LSU info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE
• 8:00 ET (5PT) – #23 Cal State Fullerton at Arizona
• 8:00 ET (7CT) – #42 Middle Tennessee State at Louisiana-Monroe
• 8:00 ET (7 CT) – #44 Southern Mississippi at Louisiana-Lafayette

• 8:30 ET (5:30PT)– Nebraska at #17 UCLA (gm-2)

• 8:30 ET (5:30PT) – UC Santa Barbara at #25 Stanford
STAN info. – GAME NOTES |  ROSTER |  2010 STATS |  MEDIA GUIDE |  QUICK FACTS
• 9:30 ET – St. Mary’s (CA) at UC #13 Irvine (gm-2)
• 9:30 ET (6:30 PT)– #30 New Mexico at USC

Defending WAC Champs To Play 30 Of 56 Games At Home

San Jose State Head Coach Sam Piraro

56 games, 36 will be against teams with a .500 or better overall record in 2009.
Complete 2010 San Jose State Schedule
Piraro, the four-time WAC Coach of the Year who has earned that distinction in back-to-back seasons, leads San Jose State into Moraga, Calif., to begin the new campaign at Saint Mary’s College on Friday afternoon, February 19. First pitch at Louis Guisto Field is at 2:00 p.m.

The Spartans open the home schedule the following day against the same Saint Mary’s Gaels, at 1:00 p.m. inside San Jose Municipal Stadium, with the three-game set against their area rivals concluding back in Moraga on Sunday, February 21, also at 1:00 p.m.

The Spartans host UC Santa Barbara of the Big West Conference for three to close the month of February. San Jose State welcomes West Coast Conference rival USF for the home leg of its annual two-game set with the Dons on Tuesday night, March 2, at 6:00 p.m. inside Muni.

This year’s three-game series with South Bay foe Santa Clara will see two games at the Broncos’ Stephen Schott Stadium around a 1:00 p.m. meeting at Muni on Saturday, March 6.

After a home date with Southern Illinois on Wednesday night, March 10, San Jose State is proud to co-host the inaugural Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament with Santa Clara, March 11-14. Five of the games are set to take place at Municipal Stadium, including a neutral-site match-up between Air Force and UC Davis to kick things off on March 11. The final day will have the Spartans in action twice, against Air Force at 11:00 a.m. and UC Davis at 3:00 p.m.

On the weekend of March 19-21, San Jose State travels by bus down to Cal State Bakersfield for a three-game set. After a mid-week home contest against UC Davis, the Spartans take on another Big West opponent in Pacific three times, March 26-28, with the first two in San Jose.

A three-game home series with BYU of the Mountain West Conference begins the month of April for San Jose State. That leads into a season-long six-game road stretch which starts at USF, goes through Ruston, La., and ends at UC Davis with a third attle against the Aggies.

The WAC portion of the 2010 schedule opens at Louisiana Tech for four games, April 9-11. The WAC slate, for a second year in a row, features 24 games, with 12 at home and 12 on the road.

New Mexico State heads into town for a four-games-in-four-days league set, April 16-19. All four contests will thus be of the regulation nine-inning variety, whereas nightcaps of the usual WAC doubleheaders will again go seven frames in 2010. The first two meetings with the Aggies, who, like the Spartans, notched 40-plus wins a year ago only to get left out of the NCAA post-season, will be day affairs at Blethen Field, with the last two, including a Monday night finale, at Muni.

That series will set the stage for a much-anticipated appearance in Wichita, Kan., and Eck Stadium-Home of Tyler Field for three games against one of college baseball’s more storied programs in long-time head coach Gene Stephenson’s Wichita State Shockers, April 23-25. The two schools have never before met in baseball.

San Jose State welcomes retiring 32nd-year head coach John Smith’s Sacramento State Hornets to Blethen Field for all four games of their league match-up, April 30-May 2, before travelling up the freeway to take on the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday, May 4.

What follows is a bus trip to Reno, Nev., and Peccole Park, home of the Nevada Wolf Pack, May 7-9. The home-and-home with Stanford concludes at Municipal Stadium on Wednesday night, May 12, at 6:00 p.m. The Spartans round out the WAC road schedule with another bus ride south to Fresno, Calif., for four games with the rival Bulldogs of Fresno State, May 14-16.

For the fifth successive year, the Spartans finish the regular season in San Jose, but after completing it three straight times against Nevada, the Rainbows of the University of Hawai’i pay a visit in 2010. All four games will be played at Muni, with Senior Day slated for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, May 23.

The 2010 season will be the first in a three-year agreement to hold the WAC Tournament at a neutral site, Hohokam Park, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs, in Mesa, Ariz. The six-team, double-elimination tournament takes place May 26-30.

The 64-team NCAA Championship starts with 16 four-team Regionals, June 4-7. The eight two-team Super Regionals will be held at campus sites, June 11-14, with the 2010 Men’s College World Series set once again for Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., June 19-30.

San Jose State went 41-20 a year ago and won the WAC regular-season championship, its first league title since the 2000 team shared the crown on its way to the program’s first College World Series. The 2010 campaign marks the 10-year anniversary of that achievement, when the Spartans won an identical 41 contests, tied for the third-best total in program history.

Over the past three seasons, the Spartans have produced the most wins and best overall record among the nine Division I baseball programs in Northern California. They have gone 106-71 for a winning percentage of .599, finishing ahead of those nine squads in two of the last three years with marks of 41-20 (.672) in 2009 and 34-26 (.567) in 2007. Stanford is 99-77-2 (.562) while fellow Pacific-10 Conference contender California is 86-76-2 (.530) during this three-year span, with UC Davis, Pacific, Sacramento State, Saint Mary’s, USF and Santa Clara all finding lesser amounts of success since the start of the 2007 season.

“I feel that the schedule is very challenging,” commented Piraro, now in his 23rd season. “I don’t see a series or opponent that we’re going to be successful against if we don’t perform at our best. We face a lot of California teams, and people know that there are no weak teams in California. We have a difficult travel schedule, with some great opponents. Obviously, the one that might catch more attention than others is Wichita State. To me, it’s a regular series, but of course it is a great opportunity for our players to go back to the Midwest and compete in an environment and setting in which college baseball is really big. The crowds will be large, but that’s not to take away from any of the other non-conference opponents that we are playing.

“We have our (Jack Gifford Memorial) tournament, we play UC Santa Barbara at home, which will be a great series, we have the series with Santa Clara, we have a series with Saint Mary’s, USF, Pacific, UC Davis, we go to Cal State Bakersfield, and BYU comes in for a series in April, just prior to starting conference.

“We open up the conference schedule at Louisiana Tech, which is one of the most challenging travel venues in college baseball. We are going to have home series against New Mexico State and Sacramento State. We have to go on the road to Nevada and Fresno State, which is a large task, and end the regular season with Hawai’i at home.

“We have a tremendous challenge in front of us (to repeat). Winning the championship last year was a great accomplishment, but we lost almost our entire pitching staff. We return just four wins out of 41. We are really going to have to develop these pitchers through January and February in preparation for the new season, because we have a daunting task ahead. That’s not to be negative, but it is pragmatic. This time last year, we were very confident that we had the makings of an experienced team, which carries a lot of weight in college baseball. We no longer have that in the pitching ranks. It’s inexperienced, it’s young, it’s unproven, and that’s an area where I would prefer not to be unproven.

“The positive is that the future is going to be very good, because these young men are going to get some great experience through their process of maturing, and could be a quality unit within a year. My goal is to have them develop quicker. That is our objective.

“The schedule will be demanding and unrelenting,” concluded Piraro. “Every competition is going to demand our ultimate excellence on the field. We need to stay healthy, and we need to develop our pitching staff as we go along.”

(Release)