http://collegebaseball360.com/college-baseball-notebook-week-13/ http://collegebaseball360.com/college-baseball-notebook-week-13/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 13:14:00 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=9259

www.simplesharebuttons.com

FIU’s Wittels Heads This Week’s “By The Numbers”…

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

45…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore had at least one hit in each of FIU’s three wins over South Alabama over the weekend to tie Roger Schmuck of Arizona State (1971) for the third longest Division One hitting streak of all-time.

47…Game hitting streak by Phil Stephenson of Wichita State in 1981 for the second longest streak in NCAA history.  Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura’s 58 game streak (which ended at the 1987 College World Series) is the longest in DI history.

3…Teams that have qualified for the 2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament.  San Diego and Cal State Fullerton joined Ivy League champ Dartmouth by claiming the their regular season crowns over the weekend.  San Diego won the WCC thanks to losses by Portland, while Fullerton claimed at least a share of the Big West after sweeping Long Beach State.  The Titans own the tie-breaker with UC Irvine and need just one win or one Cal State Northridge loss to win the title outright.

18-2…Fullerton’s record in its last 20 games since losing game one of its series vs. Irvine back on April 9th.

19…Straight NCAA Tournament appearances Fullerton will make when it plays in its NCAA regional this season.  It’s the third longest active streak in the nation behind Miami (37) and Florida State (32).

47…Days it took to complete TCU‘s 19-17 win in 12 innings over Air Force to clinch the 2010 Mountain West

Matt Purke (TCU photo)

Conference Championship.  The game began on March 28th in Colorado Springs, and was suspended due to weather.  It resumed in the 7th inning Friday afternoon in Ft. Worth with TCU leading 16-15.

12…Strikeouts by TCU pitcher Matt Purke, who gave-up just a run on five hits in six innings of relief in that game to improve to 10-0.  The freshman is the Horned Frog’s regular Friday starter.

8…Home runs TCU hit in that game to help the Horned Frogs to a new school record total of 84 HR hit this season.  The record had stood since 1998.

3…Weekend wins by Kentucky (29-23, 12-15) over LSU to hand the defending national champions their fourth straight SEC series loss.  The Tigers (34-18, 12-15) have lost 11 of their last 12 SEC games and 12 of their last 14 games overall.

19…Years since Kentucky had last swept a weekend series from LSU.

21…Years since LSU played in the NCAA Tournament but did not host a Regional.  The Tigers played in College Station Texas that year.  LSU has hosted 18 NCAA Regionals since then, but could find themselves on the road when the tournament starts this year.

16-8…Score by which Indiana trailed Kentucky heading into the bottom of the 8th inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Kentucky.  The Hoosiers plated five runs with two outs in the 8th and then added three more in the 9th to force extra innings before Michael Early’s walk-off hit gave IU an improbable 18-17 victory.

0-for-6…What Early was at the plate in the game prior to drilling a pitch off the left field wall to plate Dylan Smith with the game-winning run.

4 & 7…Home runs hit and RBI’s by St. John’s left fielder Jeremy Baltz in Friday’s 8-5 win over #6 Louisville (the Red

Jeremy Baltz (SJU photo)

Storm lost the other two games in the series).  The freshman leads St. John’s with a .412 average, 18 home runs and 68 RBIs this season.

14-0…Northwestern’s lead over Michigan in the middle of the third inning Sunday in Ann Arbor.

15-14…The final score of Michigan’s comeback win over the Wildcats.  The game ended on Mike Dufek’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

5 2/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Wolverine reliever Matt Miller to pick-up the win.  The junior struck out seven and gave-up just two hits to keep the Wildcats scoreless while Michigan scored the last nine of its 15 unanswered runs.

14…Straight games Virginia has won after sweeping North Carolina over the weekend.  North Carolina (32-20, 11-16) had won eight straight and 10 of its last 11 games heading into the series with the Cavs (43-9, 21-6).

2…Walk-off hits the Cavaliers needed to pull off the sweep.  John Barr’s 2-out RBI single capped Saturday’s game one 3-2 victory,  while John Hicks ended Sunday’s 5-3 win with a 3-run home run.

900…Wins at Ohio State by head coach Bob Todd after Sunday’s 11-6 win over Iowa for the Buckeyes’ lone win of the 3-game series.  Todd will retire at season’s end.

7…Scoreless innings pitched by South Carolina’s bullpen in a 3-game weekend sweep of Arkansas.  Five relievers combined to give-up just two hits after starter Tyler Webb left after giving-up three runs in three innings in Sunday’s 5-3 win to cap the sweep.

33…Consecutive Big South Conference games won by #5 Coastal Carolina (45-6, 23-0) after a 3-game sweep of #39 Liberty (37-15, 18-6).  The Chanticleers remain in good shape to receive a top 8 national seed after sweeping the second place team in their conference.

14,619…Fans who saw Florida’s 3-game sweep of Georgia over the weekend in Gainesville.  It’s the best 3-game attendance figure in program history.  Florida (37-12, 20-7) and South Carolina (41-11, 29-7) are tied for first place in the SEC East.  They go head to head this weekend.

4…Straight SEC series won by Auburn after taking two of three games from Tennessee.  The Tigers (35-17, 17-10) now lead the SEC West.

15…Years since Auburn last won the SEC’s Western Division.  They close the regular season this weekend at Ole Miss.

Anthony Rendon (Rice photo)

10…Run deficit faced by Rice as the Owls prepared to bat in the bottom of the third inning Sunday vs. Southern Mississippi.

19…Unanswered runs Rice scored to beat the Golden Eagles 21-14.  Anthony Rendon paced the Owls, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and 4 RBIs to help Rice lock-up the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament.

7…RBIs by USM’s B.A. Vollmuth in the loss.  The sophomore shortstop belted a pair of home runs himself, including a grand slam.

1,000…Career wins by Arizona head coach Andy Lopez after his Wildcats topped #1 Arizona State 12-4 Sunday night in Tucson.  Lopez is the 16th active coach and the 46th all-time Division One coach to reach the milestone.

1…Loss by ASU’s Merrill Kelly (9-1) this season after giving-up six runs (five earned) in just 3 2/3 IP-his shortest start of the season.  The 12 runs are the most given-up by the Sun Devils this year.

25…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Rhode Island’s Tim Boyce (a new URI school record).  The senior struck out 10 and gave-up just two singles with his second straight complete game shutout in Friday’s 6-0 win over Richmond.

27 1/3…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Wichita State’s Jordan Cooper after Friday’s 3-0 win over Missouri State.  The sophomore fanned 14 and struck out at least one batter in every inning to improve to 8-2.

69…Walks issued to UT Arlington outfielder Michael Choice this season to set a new Southland Conference single season record.  Choice is batting .401 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Mavericks (26-26).  He was walked

Tony Nix (UC Riverside photo)

intentionally in the first inning of Sunday’s 11-8 win over Lamar to set the record.

19…Times Choice has been intentionally walked this season to help him lead the nation with his 69 free passes 2010.

10…Big Ten teams that are all still alive in the race to qualify for next week’s 6-team Big Ten Tournament. Four  teams, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, and Iowa, are tied for fifth place.

.266…UC Riverside’s Tony Nix’s season batting average entering last week’s action.

.341…Nix’s current average after a week in which he was 17-for-26 with three home runs, five doubles, a triple, 11 runs scored, and 15 RBIs.  Nix had a stretch during which he had nine straight hits, including a 6-for-6 game against Loyola Marymount.

4…Home runs hit by Bucknell’s Paul Shribman to help the #4 seed Bison beat #1 seed Army in the Patriot League’s best two of three semifinal series.  Shribman belted a grand slam in the series clinching win and finished the weekend by batting 8-for-13 with 9 RBIs and 7 runs scored.  Bucknell faces #3 seed Holy Cross in this weekend’s Patriot League Championship Series.

www.simplesharebuttons.com

]]> http://collegebaseball360.com/college-baseball-notebook-week-13/feed/ 0

Phoenix Hosts 2010 Elon Classic To Open Season

“I believe that we’ve put together a very challenging schedule again in 2010,” said Kennedy. “This is the kind of schedule that, if we play well, will put us in a position to make a third straight trip to the postseason. The Southern Conference is always a competitive and balanced league. Our non-conference portion of the schedule is as tough as you

Elon Head Coach Mike Kennedy

will find with the likes of Rice, Nebraska, North Carolina, Clemson and East Carolina. The obvious challenge will be how well we handle such a demanding schedule.”

Blue Devils Release Challenging Slate

Duke Head Coach Sean McNally

North Carolina and Virginia, NCAA Super Regional qualifiers Clemson and Florida State and NCAA Regional teams Baylor, Georgia, Boston College, Miami and Georgia Tech.

Complete 2010 Duke Schedule (PDF)

Five of those series will take place at home in Durham, N.C., with four being played at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, home to the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The home sets against North Carolina, Miami, Clemson and Virginia will all be played at the DBAP, while the three-game showdown against Florida State will be at Jack Coombs Field on the West Campus of Duke University.

The Blue Devil baseball program recently announced an agreement with the Durham Bulls to play 18 home games in 2010 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which is one of the top minor league facilities in the country and will now serve as one of the top-tier venues in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Along with the aforementioned conference series at the DBAP, Duke will also host Fordham and Temple for a pair of three-game sets at the park.

Duke’s schedule boasts 11 teams that won at least 30 games in 2009 and four that finished with at least 40 wins. Duke’s 2010 opponents combined for a 654-575 (.531) record last year. Of Duke’s 56 games scheduled for 2010, 25 will be played against 2009 NCAA Tournament participants.

Rounding out Duke’s ACC schedule will be road trips to Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and NC State. Exempt from the Blue Devils’ ACC slate this year is Maryland, which will be replaced on the 2010 slate by Florida State, who Duke has not played since 2006.

Duke will still use Jack Coombs Field, its home stadium since 1931 on the West Campus of Duke University, as a practice facility and home field. Along with the home series against Florida State, Duke will host non-conference foes Quinnipiac, High Point, William and Mary, Davidson, UNC Greensboro, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils will also make road trips to non-conference opponents Wofford and Liberty.

Duke’s 2010 season opens on Feb. 19, 2010, in Waco, Texas, as part of the QTI Apparel Opening Weekend Classic, hosted by Baylor where Duke will face both Baylor and Georgia. The season finale takes place on May 22 at NC State, just before the start of the ACC Tournament on May 26-30 in Greensboro, N.C.

(Release)

Red Storm schedule features 55 games, including 24 at home

St. John's Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer

Complete 2010 St. John’s Schedule (PDF)

The Red Storm will open the season with a three-game set at New Orleans beginning on Feb. 19. The series will mark the first time that the teams have met since St. John’s took a pair of games from the Privateers in 1989.

The schedule continues with three games as part of the second annual Big Ten-BIG EAST Challenge. After opening against Minnesota on Feb. 26, St. John’s will play Michigan on Feb. 27 and conclude play in the challenge against Illinois on Feb. 28.

St. John’s will then embark on a seven-game road trip that will take the team through Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia in a span of 10 days. The Red Storm will play three games at East Tennessee State from March 5-7 before taking on North Carolina for one game on March 10. St. John’s will conclude the trip with a three-game set at Liberty from March 12-14, the first-ever meetings between the Red Storm and the Flames.

The Red Storm then returns to Queens for a five-game home stand, beginning with the March 16 home-opener against Fairfield. After three games against Albany from March 19-21, St. John’s will host Columbia on March 23.

BIG EAST play opens for St. John’s with a three-game set at Pittsburgh from March 26-28. The Red Storm then hosts LIU for one midweek game on March 30, before hosting Seton Hall for three games. St. John’s and the Pirates will play a double-header on April 1 before a single game on April 3.

After traveling to Wagner for an April 7 contest, the Red Storm will play four-straight home games beginning with a three-game set with West Virginia from April 7-9 and ending with a game against Hofstra on April 14.

St. John’s takes to the road for a three-game series at Cincinnati from April 16-18 before returning home for five games in Queens beginning with a midweek game against Princeton on April 20. Following an April 21 game against Fordham, the Red Storm hosts Georgetown for three games from April 23-25.

Following an April 27 contest at NYIT and a home game against FDU on April 28, the Red Storm heads to Notre Dame for a three-game series from April 30-May 2.

The Red Storm returns home to host Iona on May 4 before welcoming USF for three games from May 7-9. St. John’s closes out play at home on May 11 against NYIT.

St. John’s will play its final seven games on the road, beginning with a three-game set at Louisville from May 14-16. Following a single game at Boston College on May 18, the Red Storm concludes regular season play with three games at Rutgers from May 20-22.

(Release)

Here are several more 2010 college baseball schedules we found this week.  We have also included season openers for each of the teams.  CLICK HERE to see our comprehensive list of links to 2010 schedules.

Bucknell:  Opens with four games @ VMI in Lexington, VA

Central Arkansas:  Opens by hosting two games vs. SIU Edwardsville and one game vs. Creighton in Conway, AR

Davidson:  Opens by hosting three games vs. Georgetown in Davidson, NC

Lafayette:  Opens with three games @ VMI Feb. 26, 27 & 28

Lehigh:  Opens in Wilmington, NC Feb. 26, 27 & 28 with a game each vs. UNC Wilmington and Liberty and two games vs. Morehead State

Lipscomb:  Opens with three games vs. Murray State

Mercer:  Opens by hosting four games vs. Morehead State in Macon, GA

Nicholls State:  Opens with three games @ Louisiana Lafayette

UNC Greensboro:  Opens with three games vs. Cleveland State

North Florida:  Opens with home games vs. Ohio State, Richmond & Florida A&M

Northwestern State:  Opens with three games @ Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS

Southeastern Louisiana:  Opens at home with three games vs. Eastern Illinois

GET A HEAD START ON HOLIDAY SHOPPING WITH EXCLUSIVE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS!

• Save $5 on a purchase of $30 or more when you click the LIDS link at the top of the page and enter the code “NOV09LIDS5″ through the end of November.

• When you click the Baseball Express banner on the right of this page you’ll save 10% on your purchase AND get free shipping when you enter the code “BC91121″ from now through Saturday (11/21/09).

HARRISONBURG, Va., Nov. 3, 2009 – A four-team tournament in Myrtle Beach, an extended trip to Florida, a home-and-away series with Virginia, 12 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams, and home night games for the first time in program history highlight the 2010 James Madison baseball schedule released Tuesday.

JMU Head Coach Spanky McFarland

his 13^th season with the Dukes.  “It’s a little harder because I feel we have an experienced team that should be able to handle it.  Any time you have a lot of experience, you want to play as good a schedule as you can.  The thinking is to try to give the team more than one way to get into the NCAA tournament.  We want to get the RPI high enough that we can get an at-large bid into the tournament if we don’t win the CAA.”

Complete 2010 James Madison Schedule

Overall the schedule features eight games against top 50 teams in the 2009 RPI and 17 against the top 100.  Additionally, the Diamond Dukes will play 12 games against teams that qualified for the 2009 NCAA field of 64, including games against College World Series qualifier Virginia in Charlottesville on March 2 and at home on March 17.  The home contest against the Cavaliers will be one of the marquee games for JMU’s first season in Veterans Memorial Stadium and the first home night game in program history.

One of the key early weekends on the schedule will be the Baseball at the Beach event hosted by Coastal Carolina at BB&T Coastal Field, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Class A Carolina League in Minor League Baseball.  The weekend will have the feel of a four-team NCAA Regional as JMU will be joined by Coastal Carolina (Feb. 26), UC Irvine (Feb. 28), and North Carolina State (Feb. 27).  The Anteaters spent much of the 2009 season ranked first in the nation and, along with CCU, finished in the top 30 of the final RPI.

McFarland commented on the weekend in Myrtle Beach, “We tried to put ourselves in a regional atmosphere so that if we do make it, we’ll have the experience of playing at some tough places against good teams.  It should be a good test early in the season.”

The new stadium will officially open the first weekend of the season when JMU hosts Marist College in a three-game set Feb. 19-21.  The Red Foxes reached the NCAA Tournament as champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.  Other games against NCAA teams include May 18 at East Carolina, May 12 at Monmouth, and March 26-28 at George Mason.

The week after Baseball at the Beach, JMU will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. for eight games in a span of 10 days.  The trip includes three games against host North Florida (March 5, 11, 13) along with two games against Illinois State (March 12 & 14), and single games against Alcorn State (March 6) and Stetson (March 9 at Stetson).

The Florida trip will also feature an exhibition game against the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars on March 7.  McFarland stated, “I think that’s one of those once-in–a-lifetime experiences that transcends everything.  It’s an opportunity to meet other people and see how the sport is played in a different country.  It will be a good cultural experience for the guys.   And they are a very good team so it will be another good test.”

The Colonial Athletic Association portion of the 2010 schedule features eight three-game series in the traditional Friday, Saturday, and Sunday format and will culminate in the four-team CAA Championship May 27-29 at UNC Wilmington’s Brooks Field.  JMU will play home series against Towson (March 19-21), William and Mary (April 9-11), UNCW (April 16-18), and Delaware (April 30-May 2).  Road series include George Mason (March 26-28), Old Dominion on Easter Weekend (April 2-4), Hofstra (May 14-16), and VCU (May 21-23).

In addition to Virginia, the Dukes will play home-and-away series against Radford, Longwood, Liberty, Maryland, and VMI.  They will also have a three-game trip to Kennesaw State in Georgia April 24-25.

July Photo of Construction On JMU's Veterans Stadium

JMU’s new stadium, Veterans Memorial Stadium, is nearly completed construction and will be available when the team begins practice in early February.  The facility features a synthetic turf playing surface throughout (including the infield dirt area) with seating for 1,200 and lights.  The complex also includes renovations to JMU’s Memorial Hall with new locker rooms, offices for coaches, team meeting rooms, indoor batting cages, sports medicine, and strength training facilities.  The indoor areas will be occupied during JMU’s winter break.

The schedule at the new stadium includes a total of 11 night games with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. at all games with the exception of Sundays beginning March 19 through the remainder of the season.  JMU, which has traditionally played only a handful of night games in a season, will play nearly 20 night contests home and away in 2010.

McFarland added, “I’m excited about the night games.  When we return from Florida we’ll start immediately.  I think that will be fun.  We’re going with 6:30 games so kids can come to games and still get home at a decent time.  It’s also late enough that it’s after work and dinner so hopefully people can get there.”

JMU returns an experienced roster in 2010 with 23 of 29 letterwinners back from last year’s 30-24 squad.  The Dukes return starters at all eight field positions and players who accounted for 1,655 of the team’s 1,960 total at bats.  On the mound, JMU returns nine pitchers who threw at least 25 innings last year and players who accounted for 413 2/3 of the team’s 474 total innings pitched.  In addition, the Dukes return a starting catcher who missed all but 10 games in 2009 due to injury and a pair of probable starting pitchers who sat out the entire season due to an injury and a transfer redshirt.

NOTE: The Veterans Memorial monument at the entrance to the new baseball/softball complex will be dedicated this Sunday, Nov. 8, as part of Veterans Day celebrations in the city of Harrisonburg.  A parade downtown will begin at 2 p.m. with the monument dedication at 3:15 p.m. in the softball stadium at the new complex.  Members of the JMU baseball and softball programs along with the Marching Royal Dukes will be in attendance as part of the ceremony.

(Press Release)

VMI Head Coach Marlin Ikenberry

Highlights of the home schedule include visits from 2009 College World Series participant Virginia (April 14), along with in-state rivals Virginia Tech (April 27), Longwood (April 6), James Madison (April 7), Richmond (May 11) and VCU (May 19).  Also included will be Big South matchups against Coastal Carolina (April 23-25), Winthrop (May 14-16), Radford (April 30-May 2), Charleston Southern (March 26-28) and Presbyterian College (May 20-22).
Complete 2010 VMI Schedule
The schedule kicks off on Friday, Feb. 19, when Bucknell comes to town for a three-game set.  That series will be followed by the VMI’s only road trip of the season’s first month, taking on Richmond at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23.  Home series against Lafayette (Feb. 26-28), Maryland-Eastern Shore (March 5-7) and La Salle (March 11-14) follow, with a visit from Bryant also included (March 8) in the mix.

The Keydets hit the road over Spring Break in mid-March, traveling south for a two-game showdown against military rivals, The Citadel (March 16-17).  It will mark the first time that VMI has played a member of the Southern Conference since leaving the league following the 2003 season.

The trip then continues to High Point, as the Keydets will open Big South play against the Panthers for the second time in three seasons, coming March 19-21.  A road game at James Madison ends the six-game road stretch on March 24, capping VMI’s longest road swing of the season.

VMI returns home for a Big South series against Charleston Southern, marking VMI’s lone home Big South weekend among their first five conference series.  The Keydets hit the road again following that series, heading to Blacksburg for a March 30 matchup versus the Hokies before traveling to Asheville, N.C. for a conference weekend against UNC Asheville (April 2-3).

Following home games against Longwood and James Madison, the team heads to Gardner-Webb for the first time in program history on April 9-11 after knocking the Bulldogs out of the Big South Championship last season.  That trip will mark VMI’s last regular season venture outside the Commonwealth, as each of VMI’s final 22 games will be played either at home or at in-state foes.

The Cavaliers pay a visit to Gray-Minor Stadium on Wednesday, April 14.  It will mark the first time Virginia has played in Lexington since April 3, 2007, when the Keydets knocked off a third-ranked Cavs’ squad, 5-2, in front of 1,265 fans.  VMI then hits the road for four games, including a conference series at Liberty (April 16-18) and a trip to William & Mary on April 21.

The home stretch literally begins from there, as the Keydets will play not only their final four conference series of the season at home, but overall will finish the regular season with 15 of their final 17 contests at the friendly confines of Gray-Minor Stadium.  Coastal Carolina kicks things off before a visit from Virginia Tech on Tuesday, April 27.  A quick trip to Richmond for an April 28 date against VCU at The Diamond precedes a seven-game home stand for VMI, including dates against Radford, Richmond and Winthrop.

The regular season’s final week begins with a visit to Charlottesville to take on Virginia May 18, while the Keydets return home the next evening against VCU in VMI’s final non-conference tilt.  Presbyterian College wraps up its season on May 20-22, playing a three-game set in Lexington.

The 2010 Big South Baseball Championship will be held in Rock Hill, S.C. on May 25-29 and will be hosted by Winthrop.

(Press Release)