Catcher Could Join College Coach This Summer

C.J. Cron

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Utah sophomore baseball player C.J. Cron has received an invitation to the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Trials, head coach Bill Kinneberg announced today.

“This is a great opportunity for C.J. to put his skills against the best players in country,” Kinneberg said. “If he makes the team, what an experience that will be for him.”

Cron, who plays at both first base and catcher, currently leads the Mountain West Conference with a .429 batting average and is second in the conference with a .725 slugging percentage. He is tied for the MWC lead with seven home runs, ranking third with 32 RBI.

USA Baseball will invite up to 38 college players to the trials, scheduled for July 5-11 in Cary, N.C. The final 22-man 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team will be selected on Sunday, July 11. The team will embark on a tour which includes a domestic series with Korea, a game against Japan at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., and the FISU World University Championship in Tokyo.

Kinneberg is the head coach of the 2010 Collegiate National Team.

Others Who Have Received USA Baseball Trials Invitations

Matt Jensen-Cal Poly

Danny Hultzen-Virginia

Kyle Winkler-TCU

Nick Ramirez-Cal State Fullerton

Tyler Pill-Cal State Fullerton

Mikie Mahtook-LSU

Austin Nola-LSU

Matty Ott-LSU

Sonny Gray-Vanderbilt

Gerrit Cole-UCLA

(Release)

Mahtook, Nola & Ott All Receive Invites

Mikie Mahtook (LSU photo)

participate in the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team Trials this summer in Cary, N.C.

The trials begin on July 6, and 22 players will be selected for the squad. The Collegiate National Team tour begins on July 12 and continues into early August, culminating with games in Taipei City and Tokyo.

Mahtook, an outfielder from Lafayette, La. earned 2009 Freshman All-SEC recognition, batting .316 on the year with eight doubles, three triples, seven homers and 38 RBI. He was named the MVP of the ’09 SEC Tournament, as he hit .455 (10-for-22) in six games.

Mahtook hit .296 (8-for-27) in the College World Series with one double, one homer, seven RBI and five runs, and he

Austin Nola (LSU photo)

provided the game-winning single in the top of the 11th inning in Game 1 of the CWS Finals versus Texas.

Nola, a shortstop from Baton Rouge, became the Tigers’ starting shortstop 40 games into the ’09 season and performed brilliantly at the position for the remainder of the year. He appeared in 50 games (36 starts), batting .240 (29-for-121) with four doubles, one triple, three homers, 18 RBI and 27 runs.

Nola posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the College World Series with no errors in 24 chances. He provided the game-winning hit in LSU’s 3-2 NCAA Regional victory over Baylor, lining an RBI single in the top of the 10th inning.

Matty Ott (LSU photo)

Ott, a finalist last season for the Stopper of the Year Award, was a 2009 second-team All-American and the SEC Co-Freshman of the Year. He established the LSU single-season saves record with 16, surpassing the previous mark of 14 set by Rick Greene in 1991. The right-hander from Chalmette, La., recorded a 4-2 mark and a 2.68 ERA in 37 appearances, collecting six walks and 69 strikeouts in 50.1 innings.

Ott earned the win over Texas in Game 1 of CWS Finals on June 22, firing three shutout innings while allowing no hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Others Who Have Received USA Baseball Trials Invitations

Matt Jensen-Cal Poly

Danny Hultzen-Virginia

Kyle Winkler-TCU

Nick Ramirez-Cal State Fullerton

Tyler Pill-Cal State Fullerton

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(Release)

Cal State Fullerton Is Favored By Big West Coaches

Irvine, Calif. — Following a season that once again concluded in Omaha, Neb., at the College World Series, Cal State Fullerton was selected to capture the 2010
Big West Baseball Championship, a title they lost to UC Irvine last season, according to the Big West Conference preseason poll conducted by the league’s nine head coaches.  The Titans, who have claimed at least a share of seven of the last 11 titles and a conference-best 14, nabbed seven first-place votes for a total of 79 points and were followed by defending conference championship UC Irvine, who picked up two first-place votes en route to a 71 point total.  Rounding out the top three were the Cal Poly Mustangs, sitting third with 60 points.

The Titans, under third-year head coach Dave Serrano, finished the 2009 campaign with a 47-16 overall record and a 17-7 conference mark, good enough for second place in the Big West.  Cal State Fullerton swept both the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals to advance to the College World Series for its 16th appearance.

Fullerton has a wealth of returning talent that includes an entire weekend pitching rotation, a closer, and a couple of top-round draft pick defenders up the middle to
go along with a Top 5 recruiting class.  Slated to headline the Fullerton rotation are Daniel Renken, Noe Ramirez and Tyler Pill, while Nick Ramirez returns as the team’s closer. All four of the hurlers achieved All-American status a year ago and accounted for 34 wins, seven saves and a 3.24 combined ERA.

The Anteaters of UC Irvine are coming off one of their best seasons in program history, which witnessed the ‘Eaters capturing their first league crown with an outstanding 22-2 mark.  UC Irvine also became the first team in conference history to go undefeated at home during league play and boasted the second-best conference winning percentage in Big West history at .917.  Like Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine welcomes back a majority of their pitching staff, including All-Americans Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis. Rejoining Bibona and Pettis on the mound in 2010 are Preseason All-America Christian Bergman and Crosby Slaught.

Cal Poly looking to continue its success of last season, was selected third in this year’s poll.  The Mustangs concluded 2009 with an overall mark of 37-21, a third place finish in the Big West at 14-10 and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since moving to Division I in 1995.  Leading the charge offensively in 2010 is Big West Freshman of the Year Matt Jensen who was sidelined late in the season due to a fractured clavicle.  Prior to his injury he sported a .375 batting average with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 53 RBI and recorded a 23-game hitting streak, the third longest in Cal Poly Division I history.  Also coming back from injury this season is pitcher Steven Fischback, who in 2008 finished seventh in the Big West with 79 strikeouts and posted a 5-4 record with a 4.55 earned run average.

Long Beach State secured the fourth slot with 50 points, UC Riverside landed in fifth after receiving 48 points and UC Santa Barbara grabbed 36 points to take the sixth spot.  Pacific locked down seventh with 30 points, followed by Cal State Northridge’s eight-place point total of 19.  Rounding out the nine-team field with 12 points was UC Davis, who is playing in just its third season at the Division I level.

(Release)

2010 Big West Coaches Poll Results
1. Cal State Fullerton (7) – 79
2. UC Irvine (2) – 71
3. Cal Poly – 60
4. Long Beach State – 50
5. UC Riverside – 48
6. UC Santa Barbara – 36
7. Pacific – 30
8. Cal State Northridge – 19
9. UC Davis – 12

( ) First-place vote

*Collegebaseball360.com is currently releasing our 2010 baseball conference previews, and we will have one soon for the Big West Conference.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia sophomore pitcher/first baseman Danny Hultzen (Bethesda, Md.) has been invited to the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Trials, scheduled for July 5-11. Up to 38 players will be invited to the trials. The final roster will be announced July 11.

Danny Hultzen

The collegiate national team is the defending gold medalists in the last three FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championships. The collegiate national team program won championships in 2004 (Taiwan), 2006 (Cuba) and in 2008 (Czech Republic).

The 2010 USA Baseball schedule will be highlighted by a trip to the FISU championship in Tokyo, Japan. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Canada and the USA will headline the top tier of competition. The collegiate national team will also play a domestic series against Team Korea and a series versus Taiwan in Taipei City. A single game versus Japan in Rosenblatt Stadium will also highlight the 2010 domestic schedule.

Hultzen was a two-way standout for the Cavaliers last year, leading UVa to the ACC championship and a berth in the College World Series. The first ACC Freshman of the Year in Virginia history, Hultzen saw time at pitcher, first base, left field and designated hitter while earning a slot on the All-ACC First Team.

On the mound, he posted a 9-1 record with a 2.17 ERA in 17 games (16 starts). In 95 innings, Hultzen recorded 107 strikeouts, which is a Virginia freshman record and also ranks sixth overall in UVa history. His 16 starts tied a Virginia single-season record, while his total of nine wins is tied for sixth in the Virginia annals.

At the plate, Hultzen recorded a .327 batting average – second among ACC freshmen behind teammate Steven Proscia. He also hit three home runs and drove in 37 runs.

Schools are individually announcing their own invitees, and Collegebaseball360.com will continue to make them known as they are announced.

Other 2010 USA Baseball Trials Invitees

Matt Jensen-Cal Poly

Kyle Winkler-TCU

Nick Ramirez-Cal State Fullerton

Tyler Pill-Cal State Fullerton

Trials To Take Place In July

Jensen

year ago, Jensen fractured his collarbone in a Cal Poly game in early May and was unable to participate in the trials. Jensen (5-10, 190, Clovis, CA) sported a .375 batting average with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 53 RBI before fracturing his clavicle in May 2009. He suffered the injury when he was involved in a collision with a San Francisco baserunner.  Jensen is the first Mustang baseball player to be invited to the National Team Trials.

Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee on Jensen:  “Matt is one of the better ball players in the country.”  “He should be able to follow up a tremendous freshman year with another quality season and is fully recovered from his broken collarbone.

“He’s really developed as a defensive second baseman to add to his already impressive credentials from an offensive standpoint,” Lee added. “Having the opportunity to represent the United States in this endeavor is a great honor and Matt is as good as it gets on and off the field. He will represent Cal Poly at the highest level this summer.”

Kyle Winkler-RHP-TCU

This is the second invite for Winkler as he participated in the 2009 trials last summer.  Winkler completed a successful

Winkler

freshman season, tying for the team lead with seven victories. In 17 appearances, he made 14 starts and posted a 7-1 record to go along with a 4.15 ERA. In 73 2/3 innings pitched, the righty tallied 48 strikeouts. He was named to the Mountain West Conference All-Tournament team and the Fort Worth All-Regional Team.

TCU head coach Jim Schlossnagle on Winkler:  “This is a great honor for Kyle and our program,” Schlossnagle said. “Representing your country is one of the greatest honors one can receive in amateur baseball and Kyle was very close to making the team last year. I’m sure he will represent TCU at the highest level when the trials begin this summer.”

Nick Ramirez-P/1B & P-Tyler Pill-Cal State Fullerton

Ramirez

Both Pill and Ramirez are coming off seasons that earned them freshman All-American status in 2009 and come into the 2010 campaign as preseason All-Americans.

Pill (2009: 11-3, 4.06 ERA, 74 K, 13 BB) is likely to be the Titans’ Sunday starter on the mound again in 2010, and is the front-runner to be the starting right fielder when he is not pitching.

Also performing double duty in 2010 will be Ramirez (2009: .287, 10 HR, 31 RBI / 3-1, 2.61 ERA, 7 saves, 30 K, 10 BB) who will play first base and then serve as the Titans’ closer on the mound.

Pill

Cal State Fullerton head coach Dave Serrano will serve as Team USA’s pitching coach this summer.  Utah’s Bill Kinneberg is the manager, while Nino Giarratano (San Francisco) and Ed Blankmeyer (St. John’s) round out the coaching staff.

Collegebaseball360.com will continue to follow 2010 Team USA Trials invitees as they are announced by their schools.