East Carolina has released its 2011 college baseball schedule. The Pirates open the season February 18-20 with a three game home series against Youngstown State and then hit the road the following weekend with a three game set in Charlottesville, VA against Virginia.

CLICK HERE to see the complete 2011 ECU schedule (PDF).

ECU opens Conference USA play by hosting Memphis March 25-27. Other home C-USA series are against Rice, Central Florida, and Southern Mississippi. They hit the road for conference series against UAB, Houston, Marshall, and Tulane.

The Pirates have notable mid-week non-conference games at North Carolina and NC State.

In all, ECU will play 14 games against teams that earned a bid to the 2010 NCAA Regionals; 30 against teams with 30-plus wins, nine that topped the 40-plus win plateau and eight that finished ranked in the national polls.

The Conference USA Tournament is May 25-29 in Pearl, MS.

Authentic college baseball caps are hard to find, unless you know where to look.  Find the hat of your favorite college baseball team at The Dugout, where you can also still get College World Series t-shirts and more!

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Dan Roszel, who spent the past two seasons at the College of Charleston, has been appointed the pitching coach at East Carolina University according to an announcement from head coach Billy Godwin Thursday.

Roszel

We are excited to have Dan Roszel join our coaching staff at East Carolina,” Godwin said. “He is well respected in baseball circles, has an outstanding reputation as a pitching coach and recruiter and will be a great asset to our program.”

During his two seasons with the Cougars, Roszel served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He produced some of his best work in 2010, helping the Cougars receive an at-large bid and No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament. The College of Charleston advanced to the Myrtle Beach Regional Championship Game before falling to No. 4 national seed Coastal Carolina 11-10. The Cougars ended the season ranked 27th in the final National Baseball Writers Association poll.

“I am extremely excited to have been given the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing university and coaching staff,” Roszel said. “Coach Godwin’s enthusiasm and passion for East Carolina and the baseball atmosphere are second to none.  I am thrilled to be able to share my love of pitching with our talented staff.  I can’t wait to get started.”

Roszel helped three CofC hurlers, Heath Hembree (fifth round), Kevin Decker (39th round) and Casey Lucchese (39th round), get selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. In all, Roszel has seen 16 of his pitchers sign pro contracts, including former major leaguer, current Durham Bull and 2006 International League Most Valuable Pitcher, Heath Phillips.

In 2010, Decker was a SoCon Sports Media Association All-Conference and SoCon All-Conference Second-Teams member while rookie Christian Powell was named to the league’s all-freshman team.

During Roszel’s first season with the Cougars, the pitching staff led the team to a 35-22 overall record as it recorded 367 strikeouts in 496.2 innings. At the end of the campaign, Jesse Simpson was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 40th round of the MLB draft. Simpson was a media and coaches second-team SoCon selection as a senior. Roszel also guided David Peterson to Coaches All-Freshman Team honors.

Roszel joined the Cougars after spending two seasons as an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he helped the Eagles to a 78-32 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Regional as well as an Atlantic Sun Conference championship. In 2007, his pitching staff ranked 21st nationally in team ERA with a 3.50 mark. The staff also stood second in Division II in strikeouts per game (9.16), fourth in strikeouts (486) and held opponent hitters to a .254 batting average, all records at FGCU.

During 2008, his staff helped the Eagles to another record breaking season, becoming the only team in NCAA history to win a conference championship in its first year of Division I competition upon arrival from Division II. That year the Gulf Coast staff compiled a 3.17 earned-run average, surrendering just 170 runs in 482.1 innings pitched. Richard Bleier led the way as he was the unanimous selection for the Atlantic Sun Pitcher-of-the-Year award, going 7-1 overall with a 2.09 ERA and 76 strikeouts. Reliever J.J. Crumbley joined Bleier on the conference first team while starter Pete Woodworth was a second-team honoree. Richie Erath and Chris Sale were also all-freshman selections for Roszel. Sale was later selected in the first round as the 13th overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft.

“Coach Roszel brings a great amount of knowledge and passion for baseball and pitching,” Godwin added. “He will help East Carolina continue to win championships and reach our goal of playing in the College World Series in Omaha.”

Prior to his time at FGCU, Roszel spent four years at Gardner-Webb University. While at Gardner-Webb, Roszel worked as the pitching coach and the recruiting coordinator. In four years at GWU, Roszel had two of his players get drafted on the first day of the MLB draft.

He has coached four of the top-six pitchers on Gardner-Webb’s career wins list. In 2003, his pitching staff threw a school-record 20 complete games. Before becoming Gardner-Webb’s pitching coach, Roszel spent two years at Lake City Community College as an assistant coach.

Roszel, a 2000 graduate of the University of North Florida, and his wife Melissa have two daughters, Madyson (6) and Makenna (2). Roszel received his degree in criminal justice with a minor in political science.

GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina junior shortstop Dustin Harrington and junior pitcher Sthil Sowers have been dismissed from the baseball team according to an announcement from head coach Billy Godwin Thursday

Dustin Harrington

afternoon.

Godwin could not elaborate on a reason for the dismissal, citing federal student privacy laws.

Harrington, the reigning Conference USA Hitter-of-the-Week, started 25 games and is currently ranked fourth in the conference with a .443 (47-for-106) average. The Taylorsville, N.C., native also has five home runs, 21 RBI and 31 runs scored, all among the team leaders.

Sthil Sowers

Sowers appeared in five games out of the bullpen, allowing six runs on 15 hits in 11.0 innings of work while posting a 4.09 ERA. In his first four outings, Sowers did not allow an earned run, which included a shutout inning of relief against then No. 2 Virginia Feb. 21.

The 23rd-ranked Pirates (17-9) are set to host Tulane this weekend in their C-USA opener at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch for Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the two teams will play a double header Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. (EDT).

(ECU Release)

A Look At Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In College Baseball

Jason Coats led TCU with 6 RBIs vs. Cal State Fullerton

Stock-Up

TCU:  The Horned Frogs went to Cal State Fullerton and took two of three games from the Titans to improve to 5-1.  They did it by out-scoring Fullerton 13-3 in their two wins.  Those wins were against All-Americans Daniel Renken and Tyler Pill.  TCU is batting .341 with a .943 team OPS, while the pitching staff has a 2.82 ERA with 47 Ks in 51 IP.

Coastal Carolina:  The Chanticleers were already ranked, and then they went and swept two games from UC Irvine last Saturday.  It wasn’t like they were facing the Anteaters’ 3rd & 4th starters either.  Coastal beat Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis on the same day.  Bibona was 12-1 last year with a 2.63 ERA, while Pettis was 5-2 with 17 saves as Irvine’s closer.

Texas:  After losing two of three games at home to New Mexico to open the season the Longhorns swept a Stanford team that had swept Rice on opening weekend.  The vaunted Longhorn pitching staff showed why it’s considered the best in the nation in the process.  Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green, Chance Ruffin, and  Brandon Workman combined to give-up just two runs with 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings during the series.

East Carolina:  Typically a 4-3 team wouldn’t be considered one whose stock is rising, but the Pirates have essentially played two Super Regionals to open the season.  They lost two of three vs. a loaded Virginia team and then then took two of three from a very good South Carolina squad.   ECU will rack-up a lot of wins by season’s end.

St. John’s:  The Red Storm is off to a 6-0 start with wins over New Orleans (3), Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.  They won their three games at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge by a total of four runs.  The biggest long-term question Ed Blankmeyer’s team would appear to have is pitching.   Bruce Kern and Nick Cenatiempo have both been good so far, but while it’s still early, neither has gone deep into a game yet.  In their combined four starts neither has pitched more than five innings.

Washington State:  The Cougars’ 6-0 start is their best since 1988.  They have a staff ERA of 3.74 and a batting average of .363 in those six games.   Wins over the likes of Seattle, Bethune-Cookman and Texas Tech haven’t been the stiffest of tests, but it’s been more than 20 years since they started as well against similar schedules as well.

Southeastern Louisiana:  A 3-game sweep at Mississippi State last week has earned the Lions (8-0) the program’s first ever national ranking (#29 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Poll).   They’ve done it with good pitching and a well-rounded offense.  Tyler Watkins and Brandon Efferson have each made two starts and have totaled 14.0 and 12.0 innings, respectively.  Three relievers have also combined to post four saves for a staff with a 2.70 ERA.  Meanwhile, the team is hitting .304 and 11 different batters have at least 3 RBIs.

Tim Esmay:  One of the questions we raised coming into the season was whether Esmay could continue what Pat Murphy had done for the last 15 years.  ASU is 7-0 in Esmay’s first seven games as head coach at his alma mater.  Northern Illinois and Towson haven’t provided high-octane competition, but games vs. Cal Poly, Oregon State and Florida International this week should test the Sun Devils more.

Stock Down

UC Irvine:  In addition to the previously mentioned losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also lost to North Carolina State last weekend at the Baseball By The Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach.  They also lost 6-0 Tuesday

All-American Daniel Renken is 0-2 in his first two starts in 2010.

night at Pepperdine to fall to 4-4.  Irvine is built on pitching, but it must improve its 6.75 staff ERA.

Cal State Fullerton:  First the Titans lost to Oregon and Pepperdine on opening weekend, then they suffered two more home losses to TCU last weekend.  The four losses at Goodwin Field are half as many as they had all of last year.   Stud pitchers Daniel Renken, Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez are a combined 1-4, while the offense has hit just .236 during the 3-4 start.

Minnesota:  The Golden Gophers’ 0-3 performance at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge was probably the shocker of the event.  They did face arguably the toughest slate of anyone in the field with losses to St. John’s (5-4), UConn (8-2) and Louisville (5-4).  Those could be the top three teams in the Big East by season’s end.  Minnesota has a solid 2.89 staff ERA, but like St. John’s their starters have not gone deep into games yet.  The offense is hitting just .273 during a 2-4 start, but the Gophers should still be alright once Big Ten play starts.

Oregon:  Yes, I did have the Ducks on the “Stock-Up” list last week after wins over Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount, but I also warned not to get too excited too quickly.  Sure enough, Oregon went to Hawaii and lost 3 of 4 games to the Warriors.  It’s likely to be a roller coaster ride again for the Ducks in George Horton’s second season.

Southern Mississippi:  The curse of a Cinderella going to the College World Series is the expectation(and bulls eye on the back) it brings the following year.  That appears to be what happened to the Golden Eagles after they dropped 2 of 3 home games last weekend to LeMoyne.  They also lost at home to Northwestern State on opening weekend.  USM is hitting and pitching solidly, but they’re going to get the best effort of every team they play all season.

Top Performers Shine During Opening Weekend

Max Willett (NewMexico/CF)

CollegeBaseball360.com has recognized a group of players from throughout the nation for their “primetime performances” during the season’s opening weekend (Feb. 19-21). Leading the way are three top honorees – as New Mexico senior centerfielder Max Willett (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Oregon sophomore second baseman Danny Pulfer (Cypress, Calif.) share the inaugural honor as Co-Primetime Players of the Week while Ball State senior righthander Morgan Coombs (West Terre Haute, Ind.) is the first Primetime Pitcher of the Week. These three players headline the first Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll (listed below).

Willette batted 7-for-11 (RBI, 3R, 2B) in leading New Mexico to a series win at top-ranked Texas, while Pulfer hit .412 (7-for-17) and had a hand in nearly 40% of Oregon’s 32 runs (6 RBI, 6 R) during the Ducks’ breakout southern-California roadswing (highlighted by wins over #3 Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State). Coombs delivered in a pressure-packed situation at #15 Arkansas, closing Ball State’s 5-2 win with 5.0 strong innings (UER, 4H, 8K) despite 8,000-plus spirited Razorbacks fans cheering against him.

Danny Pulfer (Oregon/2B)

Similar to the weekly awards presented on sister site CollegeSoccer360.com, the CB360 Primetime Performer honors various players based on any/all of the following “primetime” criteria…not solely based on raw stats.

Primetime Performer Award Criteria

• Must have been playing for or against a CB360 top-50 team (in the Composite National Rankings)  or performed a high level in a game that could be key to a team’s conference/NCAA postseason qualification.

Morgan Coombs (Ball St./RHP)

• Involved in clutch performances, such as late game-winning hits, noteworthy comebacks, game-changing plays, team leadership, etc.

• Performing at a top level against a team rated highly nationally (or within its conference), with bonus consideration given for key performances away from home field.

• Overcoming adversity or extreme circumstances (for the team and/or individual).

Additional information and bio. data on the Primetime Performers, along with headshots and action photos, is being added to this release.

The other 17 members of the CB360 Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll include New Mexico senior 1B Justin Howard, two sophomores (LHP/1B Danny Hultzen and 3B Steven Proscia) from the Virginia team that took 2-of-3 at East Carolina en route to the #1 national ranking, and two players (so. RHP Jordan Pries, jr. SS Jake Schlander) from the Stanford team that swept Rice, along with the following clutch performers: Northwestern State so. OF/1B Colin Bear … Hawaii so. RF Collin Bennett … Georgia Tech so. LHP Jed Bradley … East Carolina so. LHP Kevin Brandt … Louisiana-Monroe jr. RHP Wil Browning … Pepperdine jr. LHP Matt Bywater … Florida sr. CF Matt den Dekker … TCU fr. RF/C Josh Elander … Gonzaga sr. CF Drew Heid … Kentucky so. RHP/1B Braden Kapteyn … Baylor sr. RHP Willie Kempf … and Fresno State jr. 1B Jordan Ribera.

The 20 honorees include nine pitchers (pair of 2-way players; 5 RHP/4 LHP), five first baseman (including both 2-way players, plus one who also played OF), three centerfielders, three corner outfielders (one also played 1B, one C), one second baseman, one shortstop, one third baseman and one catcher (also played OF). TCU’s Elander is the only freshman among the Primetime players, which also include a fifth-year senior, six seniors, three juniors and a big sophomore-class representation of nine honorees.

The group includes four Texas natives – Bear, Elander, Howard and Kempf – and four more from California (Bywater, Pries, Pulfer and Ribera), along with two Primetime players from Washington and one each from Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York and North Carolina.

(from left) Oregon second baseman Danny Pulfer, Ball State closer Morgan Coombs and New Mexico centerfielder Max Willett headline CB360’s first group of Primetime Performers (photos courtesy of each school).

WILLETT – batting from the #6 spot – combined with Howard to lead a Lobos offense that hit .284 with 10 extra-base hits in a three-game road series versus #1-ranked Texas and its vaunted pitching staff. UNM shocked the college baseball world by taking the series in Austin (2-6/6-5/3-1), with Willett batting 7-for-11 (.636, RBI, 3 R, 3B, 2B, HBP, SF) and playing error-free in center field.

After a solid showing in the opener (2-for-4, 2B), Willett went 3-for-4 in UNM’s game-2 upset. He led off the 6th by placing and opposite-field triple into the right-center gap and scored moments later for a 5-4 deficit. Three innings later, moments after Howard’s game-tying home run, Willett delivered in a situational plate appearance – flying out the left field for a sacrifice fly that plated Devon Conley as the eventual winning run.

Willett’s game-3 effort (2-for-3, 2R, 2B) helped produce another win over the Longhorns. He hit a 1-out single up the middle and scored the game’s first run in the 4th, later adding the game’s final run in the 8th (after a 2-out double down the leftfield line).

A second team all-Mountain West Conference selection in 2009 (.355, 46 RBI, 4 HR, 15 2B, 12-13 SB, 15 sac. bunts, 0 errors), Willett played sparingly in his first three seasons at UNM – totaling only 59 games played and 31 starts spanning the 2006-08 seasons. He batted only .229 as a sophomore in 2007 before seeing his junior season (12 GS) cut short by a hand injury. He is a product of Colorado’s Thunder Ridge High School, where he played on state-championship teams in both baseball and football.

Primetime Performer Weekly Honor Roll (Feb. 19-21)

“It’s not so much what you do, as it is when you do it.”

Player (Pos.) … School … Yr., Ht./Wt. … Hometown … Stats & Notes

Colin Bear (OF) … Northwestern St. … So., 6-3/210 … Houston, TX

Collin Bennett (RF) … Hawaii … So., 6-1 … Bellevue, WA

Jed Bradley (LHP) … Georgia Tech … So., 6-4/210 … Huntsville, AL

Kevin Brandt (LHP) … East Carolina … So., 6-2/190 … Fuquay Varina, NC

Wil Browning (RHP) … La. Monroe Jr., 6-3/200 … Kosciusko, MS

Matt Bywater (LHP) … Pepperdine … Jr., 6-2/195 … Thousand Oaks, CA

*Morgan Coombs (RHP) … Ball State … Sr., 6-1/190 … West Terre Haute, IN

Matt den Dekker (CF) … Florida … Sr., 6-1/210 … Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Josh Elander (RF/C) … TCU … Fr., 6-0/205 … Round Rock, TX

Drew Heid (CF) … Gonzaga … Sr., 5-10/175 … Touchet, WA

Justin Howard (1B) … New Mexico … Sr., 6-0/205 … Ennis, TX

Danny Hultzen (LHP/1B) … Virginia … So., 6-3/200 … Bethesda, MD

Braden Kapteyn (RHP/1B) …Kentucky … So., 6-4/220 … Lansing, IL

Willie Kempf (RHP) … Baylor … Sr., 6-0/195 … Castroville, TX

Jordan Pries (RHP) … Stanford … So., 6-0/190 … Alameda, CA

Steven Proscia (3B) … Virginia … So., 6-2/215 … Suffern, NY

*Danny Pulfer (2B) … Oregon … So., … 5-10/190 … Cypress, CA

Jordan Ribera (1B) … Fresno State … Jr., 6-0/220 … Fresno, CA

Jake Schlander (SS) … Stanford … Jr., 6-2/195 … Scottsdale, AZ

*Max Willett (CF) … New Mexico … Sr., 5-10/190 … Highlands Ranch, CO

* – Note: Pulfur and Willett shared the CB360 Primetime Player of the Week award, while Coombs was the inaugural Primetime Pitcher of the Week

Milestones & Upsets Highlight The First Week Of 2010

Max Willett (UNM photo)

2…wins by unranked New Mexico at #1 Texas in Austin.  The Lobos lost the season-opener on Friday, but came back with 3-1 and 6-5 wins Saturday and Sunday.  The wins are the first ever for New Mexico over a #1 ranked team.  Texas topped every national poll heading into the season.

.636…batting average by Lobo Max Willett in the 3-game series.  He had a 1.615 OPS with two doubles and a triple.  Willett also had the game-winning RBI in Saturday’s win.

23…runs by Washington State in Sunday’s 23-o rout of Seattle-the most runs by a Cougar team since 1999.  15 different Cougars had at least one hit.

5…Wazzou pitchers who combined in the shutout.

1,001…Career wins by LSU head coach Paul Mainieri after his Tigers’ 3-game weekend sweep of Centenary.  Mainieri hit the 1,000 win mark with Saturday’s 25-8 victory.

1,000…Career wins by Ohio State head coach Bob Todd after his Buckeyes won three games over the weekend in Jacksonville, FL.  OSU pounded Richmond 20-9 Sunday to get Todd to the milestone.

Danny Hall (GT photo)

901…career wins for Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall after a weekend sweep of Missouri State.

36…runs scored by Canisius in a doubleheader sweep of Illinois-Chicago Saturday at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, NC.  The Golden Griffins won the first game 20-4 and took the second game 16-10.

3…games Stanford won vs. 5th ranked Rice in Palo Alto.

11…runs Stanford scored in the 7th inning of game two of the series on Saturday.  The Cardinal was trailing 4-2 at the time.

5…pitchers Rice used during Stanford’s biggest inning in nearly two years.

265…wins at Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field by Oregon (and former Fullerton) head coach George Horton after Friday’s upset of the 4th ranked Titans.

6-5…the score of Friday’s Louisiana-Monroe win over Ole Miss.  It was the Rebels’ first season-opening loss since 1981.

Paul Karmas (St. John's photo)

1 & 15…combined hits and strikeouts by St. John’s starting pitchers Bruce Kern (5 IP-0H-0BB-8K) and Nick Cenatiempo (4 IP-1 H-0R-BB-7) in Friday and Saturday wins over New Orleans.

3…home runs by Red Storm 1B Paul Karmas in Sunday’s 31-6 win over UNO.

5…total runs by West Virginia in weekend losses to #17 Coastal Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.

9 1/2…runs a game scored by the Mountaineers last year-which ranked 12th in the nation.

14,922…fans who saw #2 Virginia win two of three games over #11 East Carolina at ECU’s Clark-LeClair Stadium.  Friday’s opening day crowd of 5,012 is the largest in stadium history.  Saturday’s crowd of 5,136 marked the first time ECU ever had back-to-back attendance of more than 5.000.

14…combined pitchers used by the Cavaliers (6) and Pirates (8) in Sunday’s 14-11 UVA series-clinching win.

3 2/3…innings pitched by UVA starter Cody Winiarski.  It was the longest stint for any of the 14 hurlers.  Virginia had 19 hits while East Carolina totaled 11.

4:11…the total time of the 9-inning game.

4:39…time of Lamar’s 5-4 win in 17-innings over Maine.  The game is the longest in Lamar history.  The two teams had played a 2 hour and 27 minute 9-inning game prior to the marathon.

12…strikeouts in 6 innings by Georgia Tech’s Jed Bradley in Sunday’s 13-0 win over Missouri State.  The lefty allowed just four hits and retired 6 of the first 8 batters he faced via strikeout.

13…strikeouts in 6 innings by Arizona freshman Kurt Heyer.  Heyer allowed just three hits and fanned 13 of the 22 batters he faced in Sunday’s win over Utah Valley in his collegiate debut.

2,500…all-time wins for the Arizona baseball program after Heyer’s performance Sunday.

Kevin Tokarski (ISU photo)

8…straight wins by UC Irvine pitcher Daniel Bibona after his 10 strikeout performance in a 5-1 win over Loyola Marymount.

3…the magic number during opening weekend for Illinois State’s Kevin Tokarski.  The redshirt sophomore tripled on the Redbirds’ first pitch of 2010.  He stole 3 bases with 3 doubles in his team’s first three games of the season.   Tokarski was a 2008 Freshman All-American, but missed last season due to wrist surgery.

8,803…total attendance of TCU‘s season-opening 3-game sweep of 2009 NCAA participant Sam Houston State.  The mark is a single-series TCU record.

.800…batting average by Horned Frog freshman Josh Elander.  He was 8-for-10 with a team-high six RBIs to start his career.

1…hit allowed in 6 innings on the mound by Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis.  The Southern Mississippi hurler didn’t give-up a hit until there were two outs in the 5th inning of Friday’s win over Northwestern State.  He exited the game after he reached his 75 pitch limit.

10 of 10…Pac 10 Conference teams that finished opening weekend with a winning record.  The Pac 10 is the only BCS conference that claimed that distinction over the first three days of the 2010 season.

Cavs Win Battle Of Ranked Teams

Steven Proscia (UVA photo)

Sophomore ace Danny Hultzen (1-0) picked up the win for UVA after working six strong frames where he allowed two runs on four hits, walked three and fanned four. Tyler Wilson picked up the three-inning save surrendering just two hits and striking out four.

ECU’s Seth Maness (0-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs (all earned) on six hits in 5 2/3 innings, where he fanned four and walked one. For Maness it was his first regular season loss since his all- america freshman campaign when he dropped a 5-4 decision against Tulane on May 9. Zach Woods made his Pirate debut logging one inning (4 H, 2 R, 2 ER) and Patrick Somers closed out the final 2 1/3 frames with a pair of strikeouts.

The Pirates struck early in the bottom of the first taking a 2-0 lead off Virginia’s southpaw. Dustin Harrington extended his current hitting streak to nine games with a one out single then took third on Kyle Roller’s double to left center. After Devin Harris drew a four-pitch walk, Austin Homan drove in the first run on Hultzen’s second-straight walk of the frame. Senior Jared Avchen pushed across ECU’s final run on a ground out to first that plated Roller.

In the fourth, UVA knotted the game at two thanks to Jarrett Parker’s double to left center that plated Dan Grovatt. Hultzen led off with a single up the middle, which was followed by another UVA single off the bat of Grovatt to right. Proscia drove in the first of his four runs on a sac fly to draw UVA within one, 2-1.

John Barr led off the seventh for UVA with a single to right and scored three batters later when Gravott roped his second base knock of the day to right, pushing the lead to 5-2. Proscia followed with his second hit, this time a single through the left side scoring Grovatt and capping the scoring at 6-2.

Offensively ECU was limited to just six hits on the day, its lowest hit total since April 25, 2009 when they recorded five against Southern Miss in game two of a doubleheader in Clark-LeClair Stadium. Harrington (49 games) and Roller (52 games) each collected two hits, while Harris and Cam Freeman recorded singles.

Virginia’s 2-through-5 hitters combined for eight hits and drove in all six runs.

The Pirates and Cavaliers will play game two of the three-game tilt Saturday afternoon with a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. (EST).

Plenty Of Player Interviews To Get Fans Primed For The Season

LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri – Reflects on winning the 2009 National Championship.

UT Arlington’s Michael Choice – Talks about his summer with Team USA & upcoming season.

Washington State’s Chad Arnold – On his summer & last year’s record-setting Cougar season.

George Washington’s Marshall Seedorf – Talks about balancing being a college pitcher and swimmer.

UConn’s Pierre LePage – Discusses big plans for 2010 & winning a Cape Cod League title.

Southern Mississippi’s B.A. Vollmuth – On the College World Series run & playing on The Cape last summer.

East Carolina’s Kyle Roller – Cape Cod MVP talks about going farther with ECU this year.

West Virginia’s Jedd Gyorko – On Cape Cod & getting the Mountaineers over the hump.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Chris Sale – Cape Cod Pitching MVP talks about FGCU being NCAA eligible this year.

Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz – The 2009 NCAA hitting & HR leader on growing as a college baseball player.

Villanova two-sport star Matt Szczur – On winning a football national title & plans for the future.

Michigan’s Ryan LaMarre – The preseason All-American on returning Michigan to NCAA Tourney.

OVC Baseball Coaches - A handful talk about moving the OVC Tourney to Pringles Park this year.

Eleven Regular Season Games On Preliminary TV Slate

IRVING, Texas –Conference USA has announced its preliminary baseball television schedule for the 2010 season.  The schedule currently features games to appear nationally on CBS College Sports as well as regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), Bright House Networks and Cox Sports Television.  Additional games remain a possibility and will be announced at a later date.

“Conference USA has established itself as a national power in baseball and we are pleased that more of our fans will be able to watch our teams play this season on television,” said Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky.

Included in the current schedule are 11 regular season games as well as a live broadcast of the C-USA Baseball Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, May 29.  Additional C-USA Championship games may be added to the television schedule.

2010 C-USA Baseball Television Schedule

(as of February 4)

CBS College Sports

Saturday, April 24                   East Carolina at Rice                    3:00 p.m. EDT/2:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, April 30                       Southern Miss at Tulane               8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, May 14                        Southern Miss at Rice                  8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, May 21                        Houston at East Carolina              8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Saturday, May 29                    C-USA Championship Game         8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) (regional coverage may vary within CSS footprint)

Tuesday, March 16                 Texas at Rice                              7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Thursday, April 1                     Houston at Rice                           7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Friday, April 2                         Houston at Rice                           7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, May 18                    Rice at Houston                           7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Bright House Networks (Florida)

Tuesday, March 9                   Miami (Fla.) at UCF                      7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, March 16                 South Florida at UCF                    7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, March 9                   Stetson at UCF                            7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Cox Sports Television (Louisiana)

Tuesday, May 18                    LSU at Tulane                              7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Conference USA’s 15th baseball season gets underway on February 19.  The conference tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 in Houston, with UH serving as the host for the new six-team, pool-play format.  C-USA’s nine baseball schools have produced 62 NCAA appearances and nine College World Series teams over the past 14 seasons.