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By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

Gobble, Gobble…

To kick-off this week’s Notebook, we first want to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! No matter where you are or what you are doing this week and throughout the holidays, do it safely! Also, with the end of the year fast approaching and football winding down, be sure to look for more pre-season college baseball information coming soon. The start of the 2011 college baseball season is now less than three months away!

TD Ameritrade Park will be the new home of the CWS in 2011.

New Stadium, Higher Prices…

With the hoopla of the last College World Series played at Rosenblatt Stadium, the emphasis is now on the CWS’ move to downtown Omaha and TD Ameritrade Park. While ticket prices won’t have the same kind of hike in price that Yankee Stadium had when the new palace in the Bronx went up last year, CWS season ticket holders will pay more to watch the first series in the new building. Multiple Omaha media outlets have reported that College World Series of Omaha, Inc. has informed season ticket holders that ticket prices will be higher next year.

The price of a 2011 season ticket package at TDA will reportedly go for $374-up from $293 this year. A general admission book of 10 tickets will also go from the $70 price over the last three years to $80. Individual reserved seats will see a slight bump in price as well from $22 to $28. The new stadium also will not have box seats like Rosenblatt did. Some 2,800 season ticket holders who have the rights to buy roughly 14,600 tickets will receive renewal notices the first week of December. They have until February 1 to return their orders.

Tar Heel Gone…

Brian Goodwin

North Carolina has suspended Brian Goodwin for the 2011 spring semester for a violation of university policy . Goodwin earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors last season by batting .291 with seven home runs and team-highs of eight triples and 63 RBIs. UNC has not disclosed what rule Goodwin broke, but does say that his suspension is not related to the NCAA investigation into the Tar Heel football program.

Gone Batty…

Most of the emphasis on the new bat regulations for the upcoming 2011 season has been on college baseball, but high school baseball players will face some changes as well. Composite bats will still be allowed in 2011 for high schoolers, but the list of allowable composites is short. CLICK HERE for the list of composite bats that meet the ball exit speed ratio (BESR) for high schools (excluding California) for the upcoming season. The National Federation of State High School Associations will follow college baseball’s lead and completely ban composite bats in 2012.

Speaking Of Bats…

Black Friday will be upon us soon, but if you are looking for baseball, softball or football gear for your athlete there’s no need to fight the crowds during the Holiday Season. Baseball Express is one of College Baseball 360’s top sponsors, and they have special Baseball Internet Specials for you right now. Just click the link and enter the coupon code AFSSPD2 to receive 15% off baseball orders of $99 or more from Nov. 23-28. The softball code is AFSSPD3 and the football code is AFSSPD3.

The Conference Shuffle…

The biggest announcements regarding conference realignments this came out of the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac 10, but the situation remains very fluid. Texas State, UT-San Antonio and Denver are set to join the WAC for the 2012-2013 academic year. Denver is the only one of the three that plays neither Division One baseball nor football, while TSU and UTSA will both move from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS or DI) next year. Meanwhile, Hawaii could be ready to follow Boise State and Fresno State to the Mountain West Conference, but that move may not include baseball. There’s a good chance Hawaii will be a football only member of the MWC, with the rest of its sports possibly joining the Big West. At least one recent report says 16 of Hawaii’s 18 teams would prefer the Big West, which would mean much shorter travel times and costs for the lower-revenue generating sports.

New Name, Same Stage…

One of college baseball’s premiere early season events has a new name. What used to be the Whataburger Classic in Corpus Christi, TX is now the Kleberg Bank College Classic. Kleberg recently signed a five-year naming rights contract for the event, which will still be played at Whataburger Field-the home of the minor league Corpus Christi Hooks. Last year’s event saw Oklahoma and UCLA both go to the College World Series. This year’s field includes Oregon State, Indiana, UConn, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Auf Deutsch Bitte…

Greg Frady (10) led Germany to a third place finish at the European Championships.

Georgia State baseball coach Greg Frady has been named the European Baseball Coach of the Year. Frady was honored for leading the German National Team to a third-place finish at this year’s European Baseball Championship. It’s the highest finish for the Germans and their first medal in the history of the event. Frady has led his Georgia State Panthers to 73 wins over the last two seasons, including a 2009 NCAA Regional bid.

Three For The SEC…

National letter of intent signings continue to be announced by college baseball teams across the country. It’s a big enough feather in the cap of any high school to send just one player to the Division One ranks, but Lake Wales High School in Lake Wales, FL has a full plume this Thanksgiving. The Highlanders had three players recently sign baseball NLIs with SEC schools. Colton Davis and Jarred Smith will continue to be teammates next year after signing with Auburn, while Justin Shafer signed to play at Florida. Davis and Shafer both turned down DI football offers to play baseball. Lake Wales has a population of roughly 12,000.

Players are timed in the 60-yard dash at Arizona's scout day.

And At The Next Level…

All 30 MLB teams were represented by more than 70 scouts at the University of Arizona’s scout day over the weekend. Scouts put draft eligible Wildcats through their paces in things like the 60-yard dash, a half dozen rounds of batting practice and positional throwing (including pitchers). Senior outfielder Bobby Rinard turned-in the top 60 time at 6.5 seconds. The workout was the last such event for the scouts before the holidays.

Wearing It Out…

We received a question in our mail bag this week about the record for home runs in consecutive at-bats by a DI baseball player. The email cited former Sam Houston State player Tommy Cliffe, who homered in five straight at-bats in 1999. The e-mailer wanted to know if that might be the NCAA record. Turns out, Florida State’s Marshall McDougall did Cliffe one better in that same season. After singling in his first at-bat, McDougall went on to go yard in his next six trips to the plate in his historic 16 RBI day in the Seminole’s 26-2 win over Maryland on May 9, 1999. Have a question for us? Make sure  to drop us a line by clicking here.

V Is For Verlander…

Old Dominion recently retired the jersey of  Justin Verlander. The current Detroit Tiger set the ODU and Colonial Athletic Association record with 427 strikeouts in 335 2/3 innings in his three-year career from 2002-2004. Verlander was the second overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft by Detroit after winning 21 games for his alma mater. He also helped Team USA to a silver medal finish at the 2003 Pan Am Games.

Keep Growing College Baseball…

Three more schools have made recent additions and/or renovations to their college baseball facilities. Lamar just finished the H.D. “Tex” and Emma Strait Baseball Training Facility. It’s a 9,600 square foot indoor practice center. Butler has made several tweaks to Bulldog Park, with a new turf halo around home plate, new laser-graded infield sod, new netting, and a still to be completed fan patio area down the left field line. Columbia also just dedicated its new Robertson Field at Satow Stadium. The digs include new chairback seating, a new home dugout and a state-of-the-art scoreboard.

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.

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Notes & Thoughts From Day 1 NCAA Action (updated)

CLICK HERE for DAY-1 NCAA SCOREBOARD

• Minnesota was the only #4 seed that won on Friday (3-1 at Cal State Fullerton, see notes below), while the collective #3 seeds went 9-7 vs. the #2s. The #3 seeds that posted the “minor upsets” (some may have been considered the favorites?) included: Louisiana-Lafayette 1, Rice 0 (in Austin) … The Citadel 7, Virginia Tech 2 (in Columbia) … Washington State 8, Kansas State 6 (in Fayetteville) … Arizona 10, Baylor 9 (in Ft. Worth) … New Mexico 9, Stanford 5 (in Fullerton, which also had the 4-vs.-1 upset) … Oregon State 6, Florida Atlantic 4 (in Gainesville) … North Carolina 12, California 3 (in Norman) … Oregon 5, Connecticut 3 (in Norwich) … and Hawaii 4, San Diego 2 (in Tempe). See bullet notes below for some highlights from Friday’s nine “upsets” (along with info. from the other games).

• Regional host teams have the option to take the first or second game on Day-1 of NCAA Regional play. The hosts traditionally take the second or “Prime Time” game, and this year was no different with 12 of 16 Regional hosts opting for game two. Coastal Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma were the only Regional hosts to opt for the early game rather than the night cap (some coaches prefer to get the game out of the way, avoid risk of rain delays, get their team a few hours more rest, etc.). All four of those teams won.
  

  11 year MLB veteran turned college baseball analyst Eric Byrnes

• Disclaimer: I (Sean Stires … Pete LaFleur ditto) like Eric Byrnes. That said, Byrnes was considered by many to be more style than substance in his playing days, so it’s only fitting that ESPNU has continued its tradition of going with style over substance by using the newly-retired Byrnes in the broadcast booth during the Coral Gables Regional. Case in point:  Texas A&M was trailing FIU 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. After Aggie leadoff man Jaoquin Hinojosa reached base safely, 2-hole batter Tyler Naquin tried (unsuccessfully) to bunt him over. This prompted Byrnes to question why A&M was playing for only onw run so early in the game…. An inning later, with #9 batter Andrew Collazo at the plate in the same situation, Byrnes said, “We’re not bunting again are we?” Uh, yes Eric they were, and after Collazo executed his 8th sac-bunt of the season a graphic popped-up on the screen that showed that A&M had just tied a school record with its 59th sac-bunt of the season. The Aggies entered the day tied for 14th nationally in that department. Apparently game preparation was not high on Byrnes’ list of things to do prior to his college baseball broadcasting debut.
• Byrnes, who played at the 1997 College World Series for UCLA, again showed his lack of knowledge of the current college game later in the broadcast when the subject of NCAA bids came up. Minnesota was mentioned as the only Big Ten representative in the tournament, while the Pac-10 was one of three conferences to get eight bids. “How does that happen, though,” Byrnes asked. “We’re talking one team from the Big Ten and eight from the Pac.” Um…do I really need to say more? Thankfully, Kyle Peterson was there to keep Byrnes pointed in the right direction.
• In fairness to Byrnes, he did provide some needed entertainment when the game turned into a blowout in the middle innings.
• When Florida International pitcher Daniel DeSimone hit Caleb Shofner with a pitch in the bottom of the 5th inning, it marked the 100th HBP by the Golden Panther pitching staff this season. The dubious mark sets an NCAA single-season record.
• Garrett Wittels extended hit hitting streak to 55 games in FIU’s loss to Texas A&M. He doubled to right-center field by swinging at a 3-0 pitch to lead off the top of the 6th inning. A smattering of boos were directed at A&M pitcher Barret Loux when the count reached 3-0 and it looked like Wittels might not have a chance to swing in his third at-bat of the day.
• The hit by Wittels marked the 16th time he extended the streak with a hit between the 4th and 6th innings this season. He’s kept the streak going 25 times in the first three innings of a game, 13 times from the 7th through 9th innings, and once (March 26 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock) in the 12th inning.
• Five different Texas A&M players hit home runs in the 17-3 win, while Aggie winning pitcher Loux (11-2) struck out 10 in 8 IP. He’s now fanned 136 in 104 innings this season.
• The Aggies have won seven straight, 13 of their past 14 and 19 of 22 games dating back to April 27.
• Southern Mississippi’s got some work to do if they’re going to make a return trip to the College World Series (and possibly extend Brett Favre’s NFL career … although something tells us he’s coming back anyway!). The Golden Eagles fell 10-1 to Clemson in their Regional opener. USM ace Scott Copeland dropped to 11-1 with his first loss of the season, after winning as a starter and deep reliever at the C-USA Tournament (to earn CB360 national Primetime Pitcher of the Week honors).
  

  Brett Eibner hit 3 HR in Arkansas' Friday win over Grambling St. (Arkansas photo)

• Brett Eibner smacked 3 HR to help Arkansas rout Grambling State 19-7.  Eibner was 4-for-5 with 7 RBIs and 5 runs. Look for the two-way talent on the mound this weekend as well. Collin Kuhn and Andy Wilkins each homered twice for the Hogs.
• The Citadel pulled-off a minor upset as the #3-seeded Bulldogs beat #2 Virginia Tech, 7-2. The win is the 13th straight for The Citadel, but the best news is they didn’t even use ace Asher Wojciechowski (3.25 ERA, 12-2. 144 Ks in 119 IP). Lefty Matt Talley (8-3) tossed 7.0 innings and won, while 3B David Greene had a 2-run HR from the 7-hole. The jr. RHP “Wojo” is slated to be opposed on Saturday by South Carolina’s ace, sr. RHP Blake Cooper (2.94, 10-1, 88 Ks in 104 IP). Justin Wright was the losing pitcher on Friday vs. Citadel (5.1IP-6R-10H-BB-5K), as VT’s #1-3 hitters combined to hit only 2-for-14 (CF/leadoff Sean Ryan has a 2-run HR in the 7th).
• Zach Osborne registered Louisiana-Lafayette’s first NCAA Tournament shutout since 2002 by blanking Rice, 1-0. Catcher/cleanup hitter Chad Keefer’s 2-out single in the 8th inning plated the game’s lone run.
• Baylor scored five runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, but they came up short in a 10-9 loss to Arizona at the Ft. Worth Regional. The Bears left runners at first and third to end the game. They committed three errors to give the Wildcats five unearned runs in the 6th inning. Steve Selsky & DH/6-hole Josh Garcia (2RBI-2R-HBP) homered for the Wildcats, while SS Alex Mejia was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI, a double & run scored from the bottom of the order.
• Baylor’s Logan Vick walked twice to set a single-season school record with 56 BBs this year. The Bears left 12 men on base (including the two in the 9th), with Gregg Glime‘s home run and 3 RBI pacing the Baylor offense. Logan Verrett had no-decision (3.1IP-3R-5H-BB-2K) and Shawn Tolleson (2-7) was let down by his defense in the hard-luck loss (3.2IP-6R/1ER-5H-BB-2K).
• Closing in on 200: … Friday’s win by Coastal Carolina (6-0 vs. Stony Brook) is the 199th victory for the Chanticleers over past four seasons (199-50-0, from 2007-10).
  

  Oklahoma's Chris Ellison

• Chris Ellison drove in Cody Reine in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Oklahoma a 7-6 win over Oral Roberts. Reine had homered two innings earlier to tie the game (6-6) and ultimately force extra innings.
• One-time Little League World series participant Michael Broad hit one of Miami’s two 1st-inning, 3-run home runs to help the Hurricanes beat Dartmouth, 12-8. The ‘Canes held on after leading 11-0 thru five innings. Joe Sclafani homered twice for the Big Green.
• Oregon State beat Florida Atlantic, 6-4, in Gainesville, Fla. The start of the game was delayed a total of 3:15 by rain. Tyler Smith hit his first home run in nearly two months in the win.
• “Lobos fight scratch and claw baby, we’ll play anybody, anywhere anytime and we’re trying to spend a lot of our effort trying to prove that we can play with anybody in the country.” – Those were New Mexico third-year head coach Ray Birmingham’s comments during his in-game interview on ESPNU while his team was playing Stanford. Is it any wonder UNM is making its first NCAA appearance since 1962?
• New Mexico won that game, 9-5, for the second NCAA Tournament win in school history. Willy Kesler had no-decision (5.2IP-4R-11H-BB-5K) and Jason Oatman (1-2) picked up the relief win (3.1IP-R-3H-2K). RF Chris Juarez went 3-for-4 (3RBI-2B) from the 5-hole, while the 2-hole-batting catcher Rafael Neda homered and scored 4 times (1B/2-hole Justin Howard had 3R).
• Don’t know how to say his name, but Pi’ikea Kitamura was hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th inning to give Hawaii a 4-3 win over San Diego in Tempe, Ariz. San Diego ace Kyle Blair had another solid outing but did not figure into the decisions (8IP-3R/1ER-7H-8K). USD’s Mike Ferraro homered from the 7-hole and had 2 RBI, but USD’s #1-5 hitters combined for only 4 hits.
  

  LSU's Trey Watkins

• In his only at-bat of the night, LSU’s Trey Watkins smacked a 2-strike, 2-out double in the bottom of the 11th to lift LSU to an 11-10 over UC-Irvine. LSU’s Austin Nola forced extra innings when his blooper to right with 2 outs in the 9th scored Johnny Dishon, who motored all the way  aroundfrom first base.
• Jack Armstrong’s pinch-hit single scored Andrew Giobbi to give Vanderbilt an 8-7 win over Illinois State at the Louisville Regional opener. If the name of the offensive hero sounds familiar, it’s because Armstrong has been one of Vandy’s top starting pitchers this season and we’re sure to see him make a start over the weekend.
• Oregon beat Connecticut, 5-3, in Norwich, Conn., thanks to three runs in the top of the 9th inning.
• TCU didn’t use freshman ace Matt Purke (12-0), but the Horned Frogs still cruised to a 16-3 win over Lamar. Kyle Winkler and Greg Holle combined for 11 strikeouts to improve TCU to 20-0 this year when its pitchers have at least 10 K in a game. Purke will go Saturday vs. Arizona.
• Louisville also sat its ace, Thomas Royse (9-1), in its 11-2 win over Saint Louis. Head coach Dan McDonnell was not in the dugout, as he served the first game of his three-game suspension for last week’s dustup with an umpire at the Big East Tournament.
• Minnesota pulled-off the biggest Day-1 upset, as the #4 seed Golden Gophers downed #1 seed andnd host Cal State Fullerton, 3-1 in Fullerton. Jr. RHP  Seth Rosin (9-4) faced only 26 batters and struck out 7 with no walks in 8.0 innings to move his season totals to 95 Ks and only 12 BB. All the Gophers runs came in the opening frame, with RBI singles from Kyle Knudson and Matt Puhl scoring AJ Pettersen & AndyHenkmeryer (other run scores on error/unearned).
• Washington State registered its 19th come-from-behind win of the season, an 8-6 victory over Kansas State in Fayetteville, Ark. Adam Conley postedhis 19th save, while the Cougar bullpen notched its 18th win of the year (one away from tyingthe school record set in 1987). Cody Barlett’s 2-run HR in the 8th inning proved to be the game-winner.
• It took a 5-run 8th inning for South Carolina to rally to a 9-5 home win over Bucknell. It’s the Gamecock’s 12th straight postseason home win.
• Texas scored all 11 of its runs with 2-outs in an 11-0 win over Rider in Austin. Brandon Workman (12-1) tossed a complete game.
• Ole Miss held off St. John’s, 10-5, in Charlottesville, Va. The Red Storm scored all five of their runs in the last two innings.
• Tony Plagman was 5-for-5 in Georgia Tech’s 10-0 win over Mercer in Atlanta.
• Florida freshman Hudson Randall notched a career-best 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings to help the Gators beat Bethune-Cookman, 7-3. Randall didn’t allow a hit until the 5th inning.
• UCLA routed Kent State, 15-1 in L.A., for the Bruins 25th home win of the season. Their 44 total wins are one away from tying the program’s single-season record set in 1997.
• North Carolina validated its NCAA berth with a 12-3 win over Cal in Norman, Okla. The Tar Heels have scored eight or more runs in 16 of their past 24 first- or second0round NCAA Tournament games.
• 5,684 fans saw Oregon beat UConn, 5-3 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. The Ducks rallied for three runs in the top of the 9th. Reliever Madison Boer has notched a save in Oregon’s past four wins. An attendance of 1,948 was on hand earlier in the day to see Florida State beat Central Connecticut, 11-3.
• Kole Calhoun hit his team-leading 14th HR to help overall #1 seed Arizona State beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 6-2 in Tempe.

A By The Numbers Look At The Last Week Before The NCAA Tournament

Garrett Wittels (Sun Belt photo)

batting .414 this season.

4…Games shy of Robin Ventura’s all-time record 58 game hitting streak Wittels now stands.  FIU needs two wins in double-elimination regional play to give him a chance to tie the mark.

5…Of 27 #1 seeds, Bethune-Cookman, TCU, Coastal Carolina, The Citadel and Minnesota, that won their conference tournaments.

27…Years since Atlantic Sun champion Mercer had won a conference crown.  The Bears won what was then known at the Trans America Athletic Conference in 1983.

13…Straight conference tournaments Oral Roberts has won.  ORU’s Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent) championship streak is the third longest in NCAA history behind Oklahoma State’s 16 and Wichita State’s 14.

30…Straight Summit League Tournament games won by ORU after going 3-0 at this year’s event.

9…Big Ten Championships won by Minnesota-a conference record-after the Golden Gophers beat Iowa to claim the 2010 crown.

12…Innings it took Virginia Commonwealth to beat UNC-Wilmington 7-5 in the CAA Championship game.  VCU’s Joe Van Meter homered in the top of the 12th for the eventual game winning runs.

VCU's Joe Van Meter

104…Hits this season by Van Meter-a new CAA single season record.  The third baseman was also named the CAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

8…Straight NCAA Tournament bids for Southern Mississippi after beating Rice 7-4 to claim just the program’s second Conference USA crown.  After running all the way to the College World Series last year, the Golden Eagles were an NCAA “bubble team” going into this year’s CUSA tourney.

2…Missouri Valley Conference title won by Illinois State after beating Wichita State 17-8 to claim the title.  WSU was playing in its 33rd MVC title game.

3…Grand slams hit in the same game by BYU in a 25-18 win over Utah in a Mountain West Conference elimination game.  Sean McNaughton hit two of the slams, while Austin Hall hit the other.  The three grand slams in one game ties an NCAA record.

27 & 4…Strikeouts recorded and runs allowed by TCU starting pitchers Matt Purke, Steven Maxwell and Kyle Winkler to help the Horned Frogs go 3-0 at the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Kyle Winkler (TCU photo)

32-2…Combined record this season of Purke, Maxwell and Winkler to help TCU to its seventh straight NCAA bid.

13-1…LSU head coach Paul Mainieri’s record at the SEC Tournament after his Tigers completed a 2010 sweep of the event with Sunday’s 4-3 win over Alabama in the championship game.  LSU did not qualify for the tournament in Mainieri’s first season at the helm in 2007, but they have now won three straight SEC Tournament titles.

3…Shutout innings of relief pitched by LSU starter Anthony Ranaudo to help his team win the SEC title game in 11 innings.

4,895…Fans in attendance to see The Citadel win the Southern Conference Championship-a 10-3 win over Western Carolina in Charleston, SC.

12…Straight wins by The Citadel after winning the SoCon title game.  Bulldog ace Asher Wojciechowski is also 12-2 this season after striking out eight in eight innings to earn the victory.

Lamar's Anthony Moore (SLC photo)

7…Seed of Southland Conference Tournament champion Lamar, which beat #1 seed Texas State 17-7 to claim the crown.

.625…Batting average of Lamar centerfielder Anthony Moore to help the Cardinals sweep their four SLC Tournament games.  Moore was 10-for-16 at the plat with three home runs, two doubles, and 10 RBIs to earn tournament MVP honors.

18…Years since Hawaii had won a WAC Championship prior to beating Fresno State 9-6 in this year’s championship game in Mesa, AZ.

4…Straight WAC Tournament championships Fresno State had won before losing to the Rainbows in Sunday’s title game.

33…Wins this season by St. Louis-a new school record-after beating #1 seed Charlotte to win the program’s second Atlantic 10 Tournament championship.

25…Years since Grambling State had won a SWAC title before beating Alcorn State to win this year’s championship.

5…ACC Championships won by Florida State after the Seminoles downed North Carolina State 8-3 in Sunday’s championship game.

CLICK HERE to see the Collegebaseball360.com NCAA Tournament page for complete 2010 Tournament coverage.

2010 Conference Tournament Central

America East Tournament (May 26-28)

Bracket Champion: Stony Brook

All-Conference Team

ACC Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Florida State

All-Conference Team

Atlantic Sun Tournament (May26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Mercer (First title since 1983)

All-Conference Team

Atlantic 10 Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  St. Louis

All-Conference Team

Big East Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  St. John’s

All-Conference Team

Big South Tournament (May 25-29)

Bracket Champion: Coastal Carolina

All-Conference Team

Big Ten Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Minnesota

All-Conference Team

Big Twelve Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Texas A&M

All-Conference Team

Big West Conference – No Post Season Tournament

Regular Season Champion: Cal State Fullerton

All-Conference team

CAA Tournament (May 27-29)

Bracket Champion:  Virginia Commonwealth

All-Conference Team

Conference USA Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Southern Mississippi

All-Conference Team

Great West Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champ: Utah Valley (No NCAA Bid)

All-Conference Team

Horizon League Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Wisconsin-Milwaukee

All-Conference Team

Ivy League – Best of Three Series

Champion:  Dartmouth beat Columbia

All-Conference Team

Metro Atlantic Tournament

Bracket Champion:  Rider

All-Conference Team

Mid-American (MAC) Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Kent State

All-Conference Team

Missouri Valley Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Illinois State

All-Conference Team

Mountain West Conference Tournament (May 25-29)

Bracket Champion:  TCU

All-Conference Team

Northeast Conference Tournament (May 27-29)

Bracket Champion: Central Connecticut St.

All-Conference Team

Ohio Valley Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Jacksonville St.

All-Conference Team

Pac 10 Conference – No Postseason Tournament

Regular Season Champion:  Arizona State

All-Conference Team

Patriot League – Best of Three Series

Champion:  Bucknell

All-Conference Team

SEC Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  LSU

All-Conference Team

Southern Conference Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  The Citadel

All-Conference Team

Southland Conference Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Lamar

All-Conference Team

SWAC Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Grambling St.

All-Conference Team

Summit League Tournament (May 27-29)

Bracket Champion:  Oral Roberts

All-Conference Team

Sun Belt Conference Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Florida International

All-Conference Team

West Coast Conference – No Postseason Tournament

Regular Season Champion:  San Diego

All-Conference Team

Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Hawaii (First since 1992)

All-Conference Team

30 conference champions earn automatic berths into the field of 64 in the 2010 NCAA Division One baseball tournament.  We will list them as they secure their bids.

CLICK HERE to see the NCAA selection handbook, which includes at-large selection criteria and more information.

NCAA Tournament Selection Timeline

America East-Stony Brook

ACC:  Florida State

Atlantic Sun:  Mercer

Atlantic 10-St. Louis

Big East-St. John’s

Big South-Coastal Carolina

Big Ten-Minnesota

Big 12-Texas A&M

Big West-Cal State Fullerton

CAA-Virginia Commonwealth

CUSA-Southern Mississippi

Horizon:  Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy League-Dartmouth

MAAC-Rider

MAC-Kent State

MEAC-Bethune-Cookman

Missouri Valley-Illinois State (Won First Ever Tournament)

Mountain West-TCU

Northeast-Central Connecticut St.

Ohio Valley-Jacksonville St.

Pac 10-Arizona State

Patriot League-Bucknell

SEC-LSU

Southern-The Citadel

Southland-Texas St.

SWAC-Grambling St.

Summit League-Oral Roberts (Won 13th straight tournament)

Sun Belt-Florida International

WCC-San Diego

WAC-Hawaii (First title since 1992)

Dallas Baptist scored all its runs with 2-outs, for an 8-7 upset of TCU (#9 in the CB360 Composite National Rankings). … With  most schools having completed spring break, there’s a pretty light schedule throughout college baseball on Monday. In fact, only three teams in the CB360 top-50 – TCU, #38 Connecticut and #50 Hawaii – are scheduled to play on March 22.  (front-page photo courtesy of Dallas Baptist)

• at Dallas Baptist 8,  #9 TCU 7 |  Final Stats
DP Recap |  TCU Recap

• at #38 Connecticut 12,  Northeastern 1  (8 inn.)  |  Final Stats
UConn Recap |  N’east Recap |  Photos

• at #50 Hawaii 13,  Air Force 1  |  Final Stats
HAW Recap |  AFA Recap

Monday’s Top-50 Games (March 22, 2010; sorted by CB360 Composite National Rank)

• 3:00 ET – Northeastern at #38 Connecticut
coverage – Live Stats |  Live Video
UConn info. – Roster |  2010 Stats |  Media Guide |  Quick Facts

• 7:30 ET (630CT) – #9 TCU at Dallas Baptist
coverage – Live Stats |  TCU Audio |  Live Video
TCU info. – Games Notes (BYU series)  |  Roster |  2010 Stats |  Media Guide |  Video Intro

• 12:30 a.m. ET/March 23 (730 p.m. HT/March 22) – Air Force at #50 Hawaii
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Hawaii info. – Games Notes |  Roster |  2010 Stats

The 2010 college baseball season is underway, and fans across the south flocked to stadiums to see the action.  Four SEC teams, LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi, and South Carolina, had the top weekend averages.  Here’s a breakdown of average attendance for opening weekend games as well as top single-game attendance marks (list below on the page).
By Average (min. 1,200)
School/Avg./ Total #Games
1. LSU 10,992/ 32,976/ 3

LSU's Alex Box Stadium had the top attendance figures during college baseball's opening weekend (LSU photo).

2. Arkansas 7,300/ 21,899/ 3
3. Ole Miss 7,171/ 21,513/ 3
4. South Carolina 7,072/ 21,216/ 3
5. Texas 6,020/ 18,060/3
6. Mississippi State 5,848/ 17,545/ 3
7. Clemson 5,727/ 11,454/ 2
8. Texas A&M 5,164/ 10,328/ 2
9. Florida State 5,049/ 15,148/ 3
10. East Carolina 4,974/ 14,922/ 3
11. Southern Miss 3,512/ 10,536/ 3
12. Florida 3,484/ 10,454/ 3
13. Hawaii 3,355/ 10,065/ 3
14. Miami, Fla. 3,172/ 9,516/ 3
15. TCU 2,934/ 8,803/ 3
16. Tulane 2,837/ 8,510/ 3
17. Arizona State 2,780/ 5,560/ 2
18. Louisiana-Lafayette 2,758/ 5,516/ 2
19. Baylor 2,679/ 8,038/ 3
20. Fresno State 2,607/ 7,820/ 3
21. Cal State Fullerton 2,465/ 7,395/ 3
22. Auburn 2,439/ 7,318/ 3
23. Texas Tech 2,328/ 9,312/ 4
24. Stanford 1,921/ 3,841/ 2
25. Vanderbilt 1,917/ 5,752/ 3
26. Long Beach State 1,908/ 3,816/ 2
27. Georgia Southern 1,847/ 5,543/3
28. Georgia Tech 1,720/ 5,160/ 3
29. Cal Poly 1,246/ 3,738/ 3
30. North Carolina 1,217/ 3,652/ 3

Top Game Attendances (min. 2,000)
11,588 Centenary at LSU, 2/19
11,126 Centenary at LSU, 2/20
10,262 Centenary at LSU, 2/21
8,004 Ball State at Arkansas, 2/20
7,926 Duquesne at South Carolina, 2/20
7,713 ULM at Ole Miss, 2/20
7,611 ULM at Ole Miss, 2/19
7,359 Ball State at Arkansas, 2/19
6,910 Duquesne at South Carolina, 2/21
6,536 Ball State at Arkansas, 2/21
6,380 Duquesne at South Carolina, 2/19
6,352 New Mexico at Texas, 2/20
6,189 ULM at Ole Miss, 2/21
5,953 New Mexico at Texas, 2/21
5,920 Rhode Island at Mississippi State, 2/20
5,915 Miami (OH) at Clemson, 2/19
5,819 Rhode Island at Mississippi State, 2/19
5,806 Rhode Island at Mississippi State, 2/21
5,755 New Mexico at Texas, 2/19
5,539 Furman at Clemson, 2/21
5,392 Georgia State at Florida State, 2/20
5,318 Seton Hall at Texas A&M, 2/19
5,254 Georgia State at Florida State, 2/19
5,136 Virginia at East Carolina, 2/20
5,012 Virginia at East Carolina, 2/19
5,010 Seton Hall at Texas A&M (DH), 2/20
4,774 Virginia at East Carolina, 2/21
4,502 Georgia State at Florida State, 2/21
4,109 Oregon State at Hawaii, 2/19
3,723 USF at Florida, 2/20
3,607 Northwestern State at Southern Miss, 2/20
3,569 Northwestern State at Southern Miss, 2/19
3,563 Clemson vs. Michigan State, 2/20
3,464 Oregon at Cal State Fullerton, 2/19
3,422 USF at Florida, 2/21
3,360 Northwestern State at Southern Miss, 2/21
3,309 USF at Florida, 2/19
3,280 Nebraska at Fresno State, 2/19
3,228 Sam Houston State at TCU, 2/19
3,128 Oregon State at Hawaii, 2/21
3,072 Sam Houston State at TCU, 2/20
3,011 Northern Illinois at Arizona State, 2/19
3,003 Boston College at Tulane, 2/19
2,912 Nicholls State at Louisiana-Lafayette, 2/20
2,895 Michigan at Texas Tech, 2/20
2,828 Oregon State at Hawaii, 2/20
2,798 Boston College at Tulane, 2/20
2,715 Southeast Missouri at Auburn, 2/20
2,709 Boston College at Tulane, 2/21
2,706 Georgia at Baylor, 2/21
2,670 Duke & Georgia at Baylor (DH), 2/19
2,662 Duke at Baylor, 2/20
2,605 Nicholls State at Louisiana-Lafayette, 2/19
2,548 Northern Illinois at Arizona State (DH), 2/20
2,503 Sam Houston State at TCU, 2/21
2,494 Southeast Missouri at Auburn, 2/19
2,350 Nebraska at Fresno State, 2/20
2,300 Xavier at Tennessee, 2/19
2,243 Jacksonville State at Texas Tech, 2/19
2,190 Nebraska at Fresno State, 2/21
2,162 Jacksonville State at Texas Tech, 2/21
2,126 Rice at Stanford (DH), 2/20
2,109 Southeast Missouri at Auburn, 2/21
2,027 Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton, 2/21
2,012 Michigan at Texas Tech, 2/21

(Report complied by Wichita State sports information)

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)

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State baseball team will play 34 home games at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field in 2010, which highlights the season’s upcoming schedule released Tuesday by head coach Pat Casey.

OSU Head Coach Pat Casey

games as possible. We have some of the greatest fans in the Pac-10 and across the nation and the 2010 season will represent a great opportunity for our players to compete in front of them and for our fans to lead the Pac-10 in attendance.”

Complete 2010 OregonState Schedule (PDF)

The schedule begins Feb. 19 when the Beavers travel to Hawai’i for a four-game series. It marks the second time in four seasons in which OSU will travel outside the continental United States to open the season. In 2007, OSU played at Hawai’i-Hilo, and swept its four games there en route to its second of two consecutive national championships.

After playing four in the islands, the Beavers will return to Corvallis for the 2010 home opener against Tennessee in the Papé Grand Slam, which will be held at Goss Stadium from Feb. 26-28. The third-annual Papé Grand Slam will be played in Corvallis instead of Portland due to a construction schedule at PGE Park that could not accommodate the Beavers. PGE Park, however, will be able to accommodate Oregon State and Oregon for a non-conference game on May 26, which will mark the Beavers’ only appearance this season at the Triple-A park.

Other non-conference home opponents for the Beavers include perennial West Coast power Long Beach State (March 26-28), Portland and Utah in OSU’s Spring Tournament (March 12-14), Maine (March 19-21), Southern Utah (March 24), San Diego (May 10) and Seattle (May 18-19).

Of the Beavers’ 23 road games, eight will be played amongst the team’s first 11. After the series against Tennessee, OSU travels to Surprise, Ariz., to play in a six-team tournament hosted by Arizona State. In addition to the host Sun Devils, OSU squares off against Cal Poly, Utah Valley and UC Riverside over the four days.

Oregon State opens its 2010 Pacific-10 Conference slate April 1 at USC. The Beavers also travel to Washington State, California and Arizona State for league games this season.

Casey and the Beavers open their Pac-10 home schedule April 9 against UCLA. Other conference foes OSU fans will be able to see at Goss Stadium include Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Arizona, whom the Beavers close out the season with in a three-game series from May 28-30.

The NCAA postseason begins June 4 with NCAA Regionals play. NCAA Super Regionals start June 11, with the College World Series, which is scheduled to be played at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., for the final year, being played June 19-30.

(Release)

EUGENE, Ore. – With its first-class ballpark less than four months away from completion, Oregon baseball unveiled its schedule and launched season ticket sales for the 2010 season today.

Oregon Head Coach George Horton

Complete 2010 Oregon Schedule

Oregon will begin the year with back-to-back weekends on the road.

The Ducks will open the season on Feb. 19, at Cal State Fullerton, the 17-year former home of current Oregon head coach George Horton.

The Ducks will play three more games that weekend while in Southern California, heading to Long Beach State, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

Oregon will then cross the Pacific Ocean for a four-game slate with Hawai’i, before heading back to Eugene for opening day at PK Park.

The Ducks and their 24th ranked 2009 recruiting class will make their PK Park debut on Tuesday, March 2, hosting Washington in a non-conference tilt.

Other exciting non-conference homestands include Seattle (March 12-15) and Nevada (March 19-21).

Oregon opens the conference schedule on the road at Arizona on Friday, March 26, and then returns home to host a three-game stand against the defending Pac-10 champion Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday, April 1. It will mark ASU’s first-ever appearance in Eugene.

Similar to the start of the season, Oregon has an eight-game road trip in the middle of the season with trips to Stanford (April 9-11), UCLA (April 16-18) and Gonzaga (April 20-21).

The Ducks then return home to host a three-game tilt with USC, as the Trojans return to Eugene for the first time since a 6-2 victory on May 20, 1971.

Oregon’s next Pac-10 series is against Washington State (April 30-May 2), a squad that placed second in the conference standings last season, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Civil War series with Oregon State will be played at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field from May 7-9. The instate rivals will also play two non-conference games during the year, April 27 at PK Park and May 26 at PGE Park in Portland. Last year, the Ducks and Beavers played back-to-back contests in Portland, bringing a combined 29, 249 fans through the gates of PGE Park.

After the Oregon State series, Oregon will take a break from the Pac-10 schedule and host East Tennessee State from May 14-16.

The Ducks then hit the road and play a three-game conference series at Washington (May 21-23), before closing the season at PK Park vs. California (May 28-30).

Oregon will also host several single-game contests during the year; Southern Utah on March 23, Oregon State on April 27, Portland on May 4, and San Diego on May 11.

(Release)