Thomas Royse Interview
Louisville pitcher Thomas Royse talks with Sean Stires after his win vs. Michigan at the 2010 Big Ten/Big East Baseball Challenge.
BIG Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team
CollegeBaseball360.com – in conjunction with coaches and media-relations representatives from the 20 teams – has selected the all-tournament team for the 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge (held Feb. 26-28, in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area). The selections include 11 first-teamers, 11 second-teamers and seven honorable mention.
Selections were based on statistics during the three games, in addition to other criteria such as clutch play, defensive contributions, team leadership and other intangibles. The honorees include at least one from all 20 participating teams, led by three from Louisville and two each from seven other teams (Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, St. John’s and Villanova).
Shortstop Joe Panik (pictured) helped St. John’s join Louisville as the only 3-0 teams at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge. Panik batted 5-for-8 with 3 walks (also reached twice via HBP) and factored into nearly half of SJU’s total runs (6 of 13) during the tournament. … Note: eight other teams went 2-1: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Villanova.
The all-tournament selections feature 11 juniors, nine sophomores, five seniors, three freshmen and a fifth-year senior. Four are New Jersey natives and four more are from Ohio, plus three from Kentucky, two each from California, Indiana, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania – and one each from Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The honorees include one pure leadoff hitter, two that batted in the #2 spot all weekend, a pair of 3-hole hitters and three cleanup batters (plus two 5-hole hitters, one 6-hole, two 7-hole, one 9-hole and six who batted in multiple lineup spots during the tournament).
Ohio State pitcher Alex Wimers is the only repeat selection to the Challenge all-tournament team. (Note: all class years referenced below refer to academic standing … additional headshots and action photos will be added to this release, time permitting).
2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team
(presented by CollegeBaseball360.com)
First-team position players included (top row, from left): Kevin Plawecki, Jerrud Sabourin, Matt Dittman, Adam Duvall and Joe Panik … (bottom row, from left) Stewart Ijames, Michael Stephens and Matt Szczur (the all-tournament first-team pitchers are pictured below).
First Team
C – #26 Kevin Plawecki (Purdue, fr., 7-hole … Carmel, IN)
… hit .700 (7-for-10 … 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, HBP, SB, E)
1B – #35 Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana, jr., 3-hole … San Diego, CA)
… hit .462 (6-for-13 … 4 RBI, 3 R, 2 2B, BB, 2 K)
1B – #17 Matt Dittman (Illinois, jr., cleanup … Libertyville, IL
… hit .667 (6-for-9, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, 3K)
2B – #30 Adam Duvall (Louisville, sr., 2-hole … Louisville, KY)
… hit .500 (6-for-12, 4 RBI, 4 R, HR, 3 2B, BB, SAC, K, E)
SS – #2 Joe Panik (St. John’s, so., 5-hole … Hopewell Junction, NY)
… hit .625 (5-for-8, 2 RBI, 4 R, 3B, 2B, 3 BB, 2 HBP, 2K, E)
LF – #5 Stewart Ijames (Louisville, jr., 7-hole … Owensboro, KY)
… hit .500 (5-for-10, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, BB, K, CS)
CF – #24 Michael Stephens (Ohio State, sr., cleanup … Victorville, CA)
… hit .667 (6-for-9 … 4 RBI, 4 R, HR, 2 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, SB, 2K, E)
RF – #20 Matt Szczur (Villanova, jr., leadoff … Erma, NJ)
… hit .600 (9-for-15, RBI, 6 R, 3B, 2B, 2K, CS)
UTIL (2B/RHP)–#14 Zach Morton (Northwestern, so., 9-hole; Rothschild, WI)
… hit .429 (3-for-7, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, SAC, E
… 0.00 ERA, 0-1, 1 GS, 6 IP, 2 UER, 6 H, BB, BK, 3K, .250 opp. batting
RHP – #18 Thomas Royse (Louisville, jr. … Lexington, KY)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 K, .100 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #47 Brian Sand (Cincinnati, sr. … Cincinnati, OH)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GP, 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 HB, 1K, .000 opp. batting
(from left) The 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge first team all-tournament pitchers include Northwestern two-way player Zach Morton, Louisville game-1 starter Thomas Royse and Cincinnati’s Brian Sand (whose 5.0 shutout relief innings earned him the win vs. Ohio State).
Second Team
C/DH – #33 Ben Heath (Penn State, jr., cleanup … Huntersville, NC)
… hit .333 (6-for-18, 4 RBI, 6 R, 3 HR, 2 2B, 4K)
1B – #29 Mike Nemeth (Connecticut, jr., 5-hole … Washington, NJ)
… hit .500 (5-for-10, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2B, BB, 2K, E)
2B – #2 T.J. Jones (Cincinnati, so., 3/2-hole … Cincinnati, OH)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 5 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, 2E)
SS – #1 AJ Pettersen (Minnesota, so., 2-hole/leadoff … Minnetonka, MN)
… hit .455 (5-for-11, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, HBP, SF)
3B – #12 Andrew Carpenter (Michigan State, so., 7/8-hole … Dayton, OH)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B, SF, 4K)
LF – #18 Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s, fr., 6-hole … Vestal, NY)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2K, 2 GDP)
CF/RF – #16 Ryan Durant (Iowa, sr., 3-hole … Eldridge, IA)
hit .545 (6-for-11, 6 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, BB, 2 SF, 3K)
RHP – #14 Alex Wimmers (Ohio State … jr., Cincinnati, OH
… 1.12 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 8 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 5 H, BB, WP, 6K, .179 opp. batting
LHP – #32 Jarred Hippen (Iowa, so. … Rock Falls, IL)
… 3.12 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 8.2 IP, 3 R, 6 H, BB, 8K, .188 opp. batting
LHP – #23 Kyle Helisek (Villanova, so. … Cranberry Township, PA)
… 1.29 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 5 BB, 2 K, .167 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #32 Chris Enourato (West Virginia, sr. … Bridgeport, WV)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .154 opp. batting
Honorable Mention
1B–#38 Casey Martin (Notre Dame, 5th-yr. sr., cleanup/7-hole; Charleston, IN)
… hit .556 (5-for-9, R, BB, E)
LF – #3 Junior Carlin (South Florida, jr., 2-hole … Riverview, FL)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, HBP, K)
LF – #7 Pat Biserta (Rutgers, jr., 2/6-hole … Pt. Pleasant Boro, NJ)
… hit .357 (5-for-14, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, SB, K)
LF – #34 Quentin Williams (Northwestern, so., 7/8-hole … Pittsburgh, PA)
… hit .556 (5-for-9, 2 RBI, R, HR, 2K)
RHP – #29 Jon Prosinski (Seton Hall, fr. … Skillman, NJ)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 2 BB, BK, 6K, .211 opp. batting
RHP – #26 Kurt Wunderlich (Michigan State, jr. … Des Peres, MO)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, BB, HB, 6K, .174 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #17 Brandon Sinnery (Michigan, so. … Worcester, MA)
… 0.00 ERA, 0-0, SV, 2 GP, 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K, .067 .opp batting
Day-3 Notebook from Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge
The BIG EAST kept rolling on Sunday, winning 7-of-10 games for the second straight day to claim the series by a 17-13 margin (after trailing 6 games to 1 heading into Friday night).
BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-3 Results
(Feb. 28, 2010 … BIG EAST 7-3 margin for the day, won series 17-13)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)
GAME 30 – Cincinnati 12, Ohio State 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | CIN Recap | OSU Recap
GAME 29 – St. John’s 6, Illinois 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | SJU Recap | ILL Recap
GAME 28 – Michigan 4, South Florida 2 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | MICH RECAP | USF Recap
GAME 27 – Iowa 11, Villanova 2 (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | IOWA Recap | VILL Recap
GAME 26 – Michigan State 17, West Virginia 5 (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | MSU Recap | WVU Recap
GAME 25 – Louisville 5, Minnesota 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | LOU Recap | MINN Recap
GAME 24 – Connecticut 9, Indiana 5 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | UConn Recap | IU Recap
GAME 23 – Notre Dame 9, Penn State 8 (10 innings … Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | ND Recap | PSU Recap
GAME 22 – Rutgers 6, Purdue 5 (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | RU Recap | PUR Recap
GAME 21 – Seton Hall 3, Northwestern 0 (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | SHU Recap | NU Recap
• • • • •
CollegeBaseball360.com again is compiling full tournament stats and will be announcing the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge all-tournament team (hopefully sometime tonight, assuming we have received all the game files), in addition to posting detailed tournament stats (team and individual) in PDF format. Check out the 23 players listed below – led by three each from Ohio State and Villanova – who each were batting .500 or better (min. 5 ABs) through the first two days of competition:
20201 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Top Hitters (after day-2)
(tournament stats provided courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com)
.750 – #35 Jerred Sabourin (Indiana, 3-hole, jr., 1B) … 6–for (4RBI, 2R, 2 2B, BB)
.727 – #20 Matt Szczur (Villanova, leadoff, jr., RF) … 8-for-11 (RBI, 5R, 3B, 2B, 0-1 SB, 2K)
.714 – #17 Matt Dittman (Illinois, cleanup, jr., 1B) … 5-for-7 (3RBI, 2R, 2B, BB, 2K)
.714 – #24 Michael Stephens (Ohio St., cleanup, sr., CF) … 5-7 (2RBI, 3R, 2 2B, BB, SB, SF, 2K)
.714 – #26 Kevin Plawecki (Purdue, 7-hole, fr., C) … 4-for-6 (RBI, R, 2B, BB, HBP, SB)
.667 – #34 Quentin Williams (Northwestern, 7/8-hole, so., LF) … 4-for-6 (2 RBI, R, HR, K)
.571 – #30 Adam Duvall (Louisville, 2-hole, sr., 2B) … 4-for-7 (3 RBI, 3 R, HR, 2 2B, BB, SAC, K)
.571 – #5 Stewart Ijames (Louisville, 7-hole, jr., LF) … 4-for-7 (3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, K, CS)
.556 – #23 Ryan Dew (Ohio St., 5-hole, sr., DH) … 5-for-9 (2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, K)
.500 – #19 Arby Fields (Northwestern, 2-hole, fr., CF) … 5-for-10 (3 RBI, K)
.500 – #30 Jon Moore (Purdue, 2-hole, sr., CF) … 5-for-10 (RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 K)
.500 – #18 Justin Gominsky (Minnesota, leadoff, so., CF) … 4-for-8 (RBI, R, 2 2B, 2 K)
.500 – #7 Chris Fontenelli (Seton Hall, 5th-yr. sr., 8-hole, 2B) … 4-for-8 (2 R, BB, SAC, 2K)
.500– #23 Michael Glantz (Penn St., 7-hole, jr., SS) … 4-for-8 (RBI, R, BB, SAC, 2K)
.500 – #25 Paul Snieder (Northwestern, 5-hole, so., DH/P) … 4-for-8 (2R, BB, HBP, 4K)
.500 – #44 Matt Fleishman (Villanova, 5-hole, so., LF) … 4-for-8 (RBI, 2R, 2 2B, BB, 2K)
.500 – #1 Drew Haynes (Louisville, 9-hole, jr., CF) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, 3R, 2B, BB, CS)
.500 – #2 Joe Panik (St. John’s, 5-hole, so., SS) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, 2R, 3B, 2B, 2BB, HBP, 2K)
.500 – #3 Brandon Hohl (Illinois, 8-hole, fr., 3B) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, R, 2K, GDP)
.500 – #9 Trevor Willis (Iowa, 8-hole, jr., LF) … 3-for-6 (3B, 2B, BB, SAC, 2K)
.500 – #1 Tyler Engle (Ohio St., 9-hole, jr., SS) … 3-for-6 (RBI, R, 2B, BB)
.500 – #22 Justin Bencsko (Villanova, 2-hole, sr., CF) … 3-for-6 (5R, 2B, 3BB, 2SB, 2 SAC, GDP)
.500 – #22 Mike Olt (UConn, cleanup, jr., 3B) … 3-for-6 (RBI, 2R, 3BB, SB, SF, 2K)
Day-2 Notebook (2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge)
BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-2 Results
(Feb. 27, 2010 … BIG EAST 7-3 margin for the day, series tied 10-10)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)
GAME 20 – Louisville 17, Michigan State 6 (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | LOU Recap | MSU Recap
GAME 19 – St. John’s 2, Michigan 1 (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | SJU Recap | MICH Recap
GAME 18 – South Florida 12, Illinois 3 (Bright House Networks Field)
FINAL STATS | USF Recap | ILL Recap
GAME 17 – Ohio State 10, Notre Dame 2 (Bright House Networks Field)
FINAL STATS | OSU Recap | ND Recap
GAME 16 – Northwestern 7, Rutgers 5 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | NU Recap | RU Recap
GAME 15 – Cincinnati 7, Purdue 6 (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | CIN Recap | PUR Recap
GAME 14 – Connecticut 8, Minnesota 2 (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | UConn Recap | MINN Recap
GAME 13 – West Virgnia 9, Iowa 5 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | WVU Recap | IOWA Recap
GAME 12 – Penn State 3, Seton Hall 2 … 13 inn. (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | PSU Recap | SHU Recap
GAME 11 – Villanova 8, Indiana 1 (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | VILL Recap | IU Recap
Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Day-1 Notebook
Big Ten wins 7-of-10 games on day-1 (note: day-1 notes will be continually added to this post, in blog post format)
2:54 p.m. (2/27/10) – Game-3 highlightes and notes:
Seton Hall 001 200 000 – 3 6 2 Michigan State 000 011 12X – 5 5 0
MSU Notes – Jr. RHP A.J. Achter 5.1IP-3R-5H-2BB-8K … so. LHP Trevor Popp (W-3.2IP-H-BB-3K) … tying run in 7th, 2R in 8th: sr LF Bo Felt/6-hole RBI triple, so. 3B/8-hole Andrew Carpenter (2RBI-R) added RBI single
SHU Notes – Jr RHP Joe DiRocco 5.1 IP-2R/1 ER-2H-3BB-4K … jr. 3B/7-hole Sean Gusrang solo HR … sr. 1B/5-hole Chris Spagnuolo 2-run 2B
• • • • •
1:02 p.m. (2/27/10) – Game-2 highlightes and notes:
Connecticut 000 040 100 0 – 5 10 4 Northwestern 001 004 000 1 – 6 12 3
NU NOTES – So. DH/RHP Paul Snieder (5-hole) scored winning run in 10th (2-for-4/2R-BB; middle relief 2.2IP-2H-3BB-K) … winning sequence in 10th: Snieder leadoff 1B to CF, Colby Everett SAC, so. IF/9-hole Zach Morton 2-out 1B to RF (2-for-3, 2 RBI-R-BB-SAC) … sr. LHP starter Jack Muraski 6.1IP-5R-7H-2BB … game had 8 combined errors
UCONN NOTES – So. CF/3-hole George Springer 3RBI-R-BB-2B-SF … jr. LHP Elliot Glynn 5IP-R-5H-BB-5K … 4R in 5th (4-1 lead) … both teams 10 LOB (UConn left man on 2nd in 8th-9th-10th) … so. RHP Ryan Thompson (L) 0.2IP-R-2H-BB
• • • • •
11:32 a.m. (2/27/10) – Game-1 highlightes and notes:
Rutgers 010 010 001 – 3 7 0 Iowa 101 010 03X – 6 11 0
TOP IOWA PLAYERS: so. LHP Jarrod Hippen 8.2IP-3R-6H-BB-8K … jr. SS/9-hole Kurt Lee 2-3/2RBI-R-2B-SAC-SB … jr. LF/9-hole Kurt McCool 2-3/2R-3B-SAC
RUTGERS NOTES: sr. RHP Casey Gaynor (L) 6.1IP-3R-8H-BB-5K … jr. 1B/cleanup Jared Matthews 3B/R…jr. RF/leadoff Michael Lang RBI 2B … sr. catcher/7-hole Jayson Hernandez 2-out RBI single in 9th, brought tying run to plate (Iowa jr. RHP Kevin Lee rolle up game-ending 6-4 groundout from pinch-hitter Ryan Kapp)
• • • • •
10:29 p.m. (2/26/10) – Day-1 scores and links
The first day of competition in the second Big Ten/BIG EAST Baseball Challenge is complete, with the Big Ten winning 7-of-10 games to take a four-game cushion into Saturday’s series of 10 more games (followed by 10 more on Sunday, the tournament’s final day).
The Big Ten outscored the BIG EAST by only 10 runs (56-46), with the day’s action featuring three 1-run games (two of them in extra innings and four others decided by 2-run margins (plus one 3-run game). The BIG EAST had one blowout win (Villanova 13, Purdue 5), while the Big Ten posted the day’s biggest margin when Illinois defeated Notre Dame, 11-1.
BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-1 Results
(Feb. 26, 2010 … Big Ten won 7-of-10)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)
GAME 10 – Louisville 2, Michigan 0 (Dunedin Staduim)
FINAL STATS | LOU Recap | MICH Recap
GAME 9 – Illinois 11, Notre Dame 1 (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | ILL Recap | ND Recap
GAME 8 – Ohio State 4, South Florida 2 (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | OSU Recap | USF Recap
GAME 7 – St. John’s 5, Minnesota 4 (Dunedin Stadium)
FINAL STATS | SJU Recap | MINN Recap
GAME 6 – Villanova 13, Purdue 5 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | VILL Recap | PUR Recap
GAME 5 – Indiana 10, West Virginia 8 (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | IU Recap | WVU Recap
GAME 4 – Penn State 5, Cincinnati 4 … 12 innings (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS | PSU Recap | CIN Recap
GAME 3 – Michigan State 5, Seton Hall 3 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS | MSU Recap | SHU Recap
GAME 2 – Northwestern 6, Connecticut 5 … 10 inn. (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS | NU Recap | UConn Recap
GAME 1 – Iowa 6, Rutgers 3 (Al Lang Stadium
FINAL STATS | Iowa Recap | RU Recap
South Florida 2010 Baseball Schedule
All 2010 Big East Schedules Have Been Released
TAMPA – University of South Florida head coach Lelo Prado announced the release of the 2010 USF baseball schedule, a slate that includes five 2009 NCAA Tournament participants (11 games) and seven in-state opponents.
Prado also announced that, the Bulls will play a portion of their home schedule away from Red McEwen Field at George Steinbrenner Field and the
Bulls head coach Lelo Prado
University of Tampa Baseball Stadium to accommodate the construction set to begin in early April.
“2010 is going to be an exciting year for USF baseball,” said Prado. “This schedule is going to challenge us every time we take the field right from the beginning when we go to Gainesville.”
The Bulls will be tested by the challenging 27-game BIG EAST schedule and will also face Sunshine State rivals Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Stetson, Jacksonville, North Florida and UCF.
The Bulls will kick off 2010 by heading north on Interstate-75 to Gainesville to face Florida in a three-game set on Feb. 19-21. The Gators will make a return trip to Tampa on April 21 for a mid-week tilt at George Steinbrenner Field.
USF will then participate in the 2010 Big Ten – Big East Challenge in Clearwater for the second consecutive year. Last year’s Challenge, which featured eight programs from the BIG EAST and all of the Big Ten baseball-playing institutions, was very well attended, including a final-day attendance of 5,000 for the six games played at the Naimoli Complex.
On Friday, February 26, the first day of the 2010 Challenge, USF will take on Ohio State University at 4:30 p.m. at Al Lang Field. The meeting will mark the eighth meeting and first since 1997 between the Bulls and Buckeyes, with USF holding a 4-3 edge.
The Bulls’ second contest will be under the lights of Bright House Stadium on Saturday against the Fighting Illini of Illinois. The Bulls will look to snap a four-game losing streak dating back to 2004 and even the all-time series at four apiece as the Illini have taken four of the seven all-time meetings.
Prado and his Bulls will wrap up the Challenge on Sunday against familiar opponent Michigan at 1:00 p.m. at the Naimoli Complex. They will have a chance to avenge a loss suffered in the inaugural Big East – Big Ten Challenge when they dropped a 6-5 decision to the Wolverines in the opening game.
Tickets for the second BIG EAST-Big Ten Baseball Challenge, hosted by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, are available online at www.BigTenBIGEASTChallenge.com.
After the Challenge, the Bulls will collide with Miami in Tampa at George M. Steinbrenner Field as part of the Inaugural Florida Four Tournament on March 2. It will mark the first of two mid-week clashes with the Hurricanes, who made their 37th consecutive NCAA appearance in 2009. USF will make the trip to Miami on April 28.
Following the Florida Four, the Bulls will make the trek to Norman, Okla., March 4-7 for four games including a pair of contests against the Sooners, another 2009 NCAA tournament team. The Bulls will also take on Stephen F. Austin and Western Illinois during their stay in Norman.
After returning from Norman, USF will stay in Florida for the rest of the month hosting a pair of mid-week games against Jacksonville (March 9-10), and then host a pair of weekend series against Eastern Illinois (March 12-14) and Mercer (March 19-21).
USF will get another crack at Ohio State in March, as the Bulls and Buckeyes will meet on the 24th in a final tune-up before BIG EAST conference play begins at Red McEwen Field.
Due to the recently announced construction of a new USF baseball stadium, all home games played after the Notre Dame series (March 26-28) will be played at either George Steinbrenner Stadium or University of Tampa’s Spartan Stadium.
The new baseball stadium will remain on the same footprint as the existing field, but will be realigned in order to create a plaza and ticketing area that is shared with the new softball stadium. Current plans have the softball field located south of the baseball stadium.
“We are very pleased with the progress and design of the new baseball stadium ,” said USF Executive Associate Director of Athletics Bill McGillis.’ It is on a fast-track, and we have every intention of having it completed in time for the first pitch of 2011. We are anticipating a spectacular facility – a very intimate setting with team and spectator amenities that will be first class in every way. There is not doubt it will be one of the premier college baseball stadiums in the entire country.”
The baseball stadium is expected to include new step-down team dugouts, bullpens, covered batting cages, multiple party pavilions, a press box and a 1,500 seat spectator grandstand with a shade canopy, an elevated, shaded entertainment or hospitality deck and service amenities. The overall capacity of the stadium is expected to exceed 3,000 and is being designed to accommodate additional seating that will enable USF to host NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals.
“We are very happy to accommodate the construction plans for the new stadium by moving to games to Steinbrenner Stadium,” added Prado. “I want to personally the thank New York Yankees, Felix Lopez (Senior Vice President with the New York Yankees), Mark Newman (senior VP of baseball operations of the New York Yankees) along with the University of Tampa because of their help it allows us to begin construction of our facility and have it completed for the 2011 season.”
The 27-game BIG EAST schedule consists of home series against Notre Dame (March 26-28), Georgetown (April 9-11), Villanova (April 23-25), Seton Hall (April 30-May 2) and Connecticut (14-16). The road slate consists of trips to Cincinnati (April 1-3), Rutgers (April 16-18), St. John’s (May 7-9) and will close out the 2010 season with a trip to Pittsburgh (May 20-22) for a three game set in the Steel City.
USF will host home series against Georgetown, Villanova and Connecticut at Steinbrenner Stadium, along with a mid-week match-up against UCF on April 6. UT Spartan Stadium will serve as the Bulls’ home for the Seton Hall series and April 27 game against Florida Gulf Coast.
Times for most home weekend series are as follows: Friday and Saturday night games will be at 7 p.m. and the first pitch for Sunday games will take place at 1 p.m however times may very.
Weekday games are slated for a 7 p.m. start, however times are subject to change. Be sure to check GoUSFBulls.com regularly for any schedule changes and updates.
Earlier this year, the BIG EAST Conference announced the return of the BIG EAST Championships to Clearwater at Bright House Field. It has been chosen as the site of the 2010 and 2011 BIG EAST Conference Baseball Championships.
Bright House Field served as the venue for the 2006, 2008 and 2009 BIG EAST Championships. The 2010 BIG EAST Conference Baseball Championship will be played May 26-30 (Wednesday through Sunday), with the top eight teams in the regular season standings qualifying. The 2011 conference tournament will take place May 25-29. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
The championship game of the 2010 BIG EAST tournament is scheduled to be televised live on ESPNU.
The Bulls lost just five players from a 2009 ball club that went 18-9 in the BIG EAST en route to a second place finish, just a half game back of regular and tournament champion, Louisville. The 2009 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Lelo Prado, enters his fourth year at USF with a vision to take his program to next level.
2009 Freshmen All-Americans Sam Mende and Todd Brazeal headline a solid core of returners, and the Bulls also bring back their ace in Randy Fontanez, who went 7-3 in 13 starts last season. 2009 BIG EAST Batting Champion Junior Carlin and 2008 Freshman of the Year Ryan Lockwood, also return for the 2010 season.
(Release)
The College Baseball Season: To Extend Or Not To Extend
NCAA To Decide Season’s Length This Week
By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires
An NCAA Committee will vote this Friday (Jan. 15) on whether or not to extend the length of the college baseball season from 13 to 14 weeks. Actually, it will vote on whether to override a vote that has already added a 14th week to the beginning of the season. What?
The 2010 season was originally supposed to start on Feb. 26, but in July a week was added at the front of the season, making the start date Feb. 19.
The vote on the issue was split pretty geographically. Most Southern schools wanted the extra week, while most Northern schools opposed adding the extra week to the start of the season. (Anyone who can look out their window and see the snow that I see on the ground right now can understand why.)
Here’s a compromise: Add the week, but Southern schools from BCS Conferences have to start returning some hospitality & travel north at the end of the season.
We have the Big Ten/Big East Challenge again this year, but how about the Big Ten/SEC Challenge and the Big East/ACC Challenges next year? Rutgers already traditionally goes to Miami (FL) and Georgia Tech early in the year. Let the ‘Canes or Yellow Jackets go to Bainton Field in May & listen to that rock clank against the backstop for a weekend. (Seriously.) How about Ole Miss, Florida or LSU rolling into Columbus to face Ohio State in May?
Forget about Northern teams going South to start their seasons when many of them are seeing real ground balls and high skies for the first time. With the extra week at the end of the season the teams from the North can play host to their Southern counterparts in May in midweek contests when classes and finals are over. Most schools have a conference bye week in May anyway, so it shouldn’t be hard to find room in the schedule.
I’ve talked before about being creative to grow college baseball in the Northern areas, and there would be nothing better than to get some of those traditional powers from the South to come North to create some buzz prior to postseason play.
How excited do North Carolina fans really get about having Maine, Michigan or St. John’s come to town? It’s nice, but North Carolina going to Maine, Michigan or St. John’s would get Red Storm fans a lot more excited than another midweek game against Iona or NYIT.
It’s only fair for those teams from the South to make Northern cameos even if only once every couple years. The whole issue is supposed to be about missed class time caused by playing more midweek games in 13 instead of 14 weeks. How are Southern schools missing more class time than their Northern counterparts when they are playing roughly 35 home games compared to about 23 home games for teams in the North?
It’s not a stretch to think the issue is less about missed class time and more about not worrying about finding a fifth starter to pitch an extra midweek game every week. Teams like Texas and Rice have already lightened their regular season slates by playing games in the fall to compensate for the shorter season. Teams in the North that are serious about an NCAA at-large bid don’t have that luxury, because they need every game to try to get to 40 wins to build their NCAA case.
Here’s a quick look at the differences in a few schedules based on geography:
Texas: Plays its first 27 games in the state of Texas, including 20 of those games in Austin. Trips to Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas State are their only games outside of Texas prior to the postseason. 36 home games.
Florida State: Plays its first 16 games in the state of Florida. Doesn’t make its first road trip until March 19 at North Carolina. 35 home games.
Arizona State: Plays its first 17 and 23 of its first 25 games in Arizona. Plays 30 home games plus four more games in nearby Surprise, AZ.
North Carolina: Doesn’t leave North Carolina until starting an ACC series on April 2 at Mayland. 23 of the Tar Heel’s first 27 games are in Chapel Hill, with a 3-game series just a Levi Michael line drive away in Durham vs. Duke. 38 home games.
LSU: Plays its first 12 and 20 of its first 21 games at home (the other game in Natchitoches, LA). March 26 is the first venture outside of Louisiana for the defending national champs. 38 home games.
Now the Northern schools:
Ohio State: Plays its first 22 games on the road. Plays its home opener on March 31. 21 home games.
Notre Dame: Plays its first 15 games on the road. Home opener is March 20. 25 home games.
St. John’s: Plays its first 13 games on the road. Home opener is March 16. 24 home games.
Michigan: Plays its first 18 games on the road. Home opener is March 26. 22 home games.
It’s easy to see that there’s an inherent competitive disadvantage for Northern teams. They don’t just have to travel for those extra road games, they also have to fly to most of those games while many if not all of the road trips for the Southern teams are via bus. That means even more cost (there’s no airline discount for baseball teams for checking 70 plus bags per trip.)
The argument can be made that the Northern schools I’ve mentioned are from BCS Conferences, so they should be able to afford the travel. But what about teams from conferences like the America East, Atlantic 10 & Horizon League (and others)? They don’t have the BCS trickle down (or even windfall from multiple NCAA basketball tourney bids), but they still have to fly south while their counterparts in the Big South, Atlantic Sun, etc. have shorter bus trips (mostly) and they also occasionally get teams from the ACC and SEC to play in their home parks.
A case can also be made that if Northern teams are serious about winning they should invest more in their baseball programs. Scaling down their travel costs and adding a few more marquee games to get more fans through the turnstiles won’t change any program overnight, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Look at the Big Leagues. Kansas City doesn’t come close to packing Kauffman Stadium on a daily basis, but they (and every other team) see attendance spikes when the Yankees and Red Sox come to town. That’s the kind of effect teams like LSU, UNC, Florida State and the rest would have.
Fans in the South get to see top teams all the time, but most fans in the North don’t get to see those same teams until they’re on TV in Super Regionals and at the College World Series.
I have talked to a couple of coaches who don’t want to say anything on the record right now, but there is a good chance we will see a “major” program or two venture North in the near future.
True equity is never going to happen, because there are so many schools in so many parts of the country involved. But what’s better for college baseball in May – Louisiana Tech vs. Texas in Austin or Texas vs. Michigan in Ann Arbor?
By the way, mercury actuall does exceed 80 degrees in Michigan in May.
Florida Gulf Coast 2010 Baseball Schedule
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University baseball head coach Dave Tollett released the Eagles 2010 schedule on Friday and it includes 27 games at Swanson Stadium, 11 games against BCS Conference schools and 15 games against NCAA Regional teams, two of which advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals last season.
The Eagles enter their third year as a member of Division I, and have already claimed two A-Sun regular season titles. This season, the 38th ranked Eagles will be eligible for postseason play for the first time in the program’s history. The Eagles look to defend their back-to-back A-Sun regular season titles as they welcome 13
FGCU head coach Dave Tollett
newcomers to a squad that returns seven position starters and four starting pitchers.
The Eagles’ 55 game slate features six games against ACC competition, four games against Sun Belt teams, three games against the Missouri Valley Conference and the Atlantic 10, two games against the Big 12, along with single games against the SEC, Big East, & Big 10.
Head coach Dave Tollett talked about the Eagles’ schedule: “We wanted to play as tough a non-conference schedule as we could, knowing that this will be our first opportunity for postseason play. With games against Wichita State, Florida, Michigan, Clemson, Oklahoma State, and Miami, we think we’ve got one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. By playing quality teams throughout the season, we expect to be prepared not only for the A-Sun regular season, but also the conference tournament, and hopefully the NCAA tournament as well.”
The Eagles will open the 2010 season at home on Feb. 19-21 with a three-game series against Temple at Swanson Stadium before traveling south to face Miami in their first of two meetings on Feb. 24. The Hurricanes will travel to Fort Myers on Apr. 14 for the second meeting between the schools. Miami earned a berth in the 2009 NCAA Regionals after being ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation, posting a 38-22 record last season.
After their first road trip, the Eagles land back home to host a four-game set with Sacred Heart on Feb. 26-28. The series includes a double-header on Feb. 27.
On Mar. 3, FGCU hosts Michigan in the first meeting between the two schools. After that, the Eagles hit the road to face Wichita State on Mar. 5-7. The Eagles will play a three-game series against the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference champions, who lost two one-run games in the 2009 NCAA Regionals.
The Eagles open A-Sun conference play on the road against USC Upstate on Mar. 12-13. The Eagles have an all-time winning record against nine of the ten A-Sun opponents they face; against Belmont, FGCU is 3-3 all-time.
Following a mid-week game against FIU on Mar. 16 at Swanson Stadium, the Eagles travel to Stetson for a weekend A-Sun matchup on Mar. 19-20. Along with FIU (Mar. 16 and May 18), FGCU will also face Sun Belt foe FAU (Apr. 20 and May 11).
The Eagles stay on the road to face Florida on Mar. 24 in Gainesville, Fla. Florida advanced to the NCAA Super Regional last season but fell to Southern Mississippi in two games. The Eagles have a 1-1 record against the Gators after each team earned road wins last season.
FGCU will host A-Sun foe Kennesaw State on Mar. 26-27 for the first time at Swanson Stadium. In the Eagles first two seasons, FGCU has beat out the Owls to earn back-to-back regular season titles.
On Mar. 30-31, FGCU will travel to Stillwater, Okla. for a two-game, mid-week series against 2009 NCAA Regional participant Oklahoma State.
The Eagles return home Apr. 2-3 for a weekend A-Sun series against Mercer. FGCU has won five of the six meetings between the two schools.
Conference play continues the following weekend as the Blue and Green travel to Buies Creek, NC, for a three-game set with Campbell Apr. 9-10. The Eagles have never lost to the Camels in their previous six meetings.
On April 14 the Miami Hurricanes will make their first trip to Fort Myers. The Eagles have dropped the previous two meetings between the two schools, although the Blue and Green gave Miami a big scare in 2008, falling to the No. 1 ranked Hurricanes 4-2 in 11 innings.
FGCU heads back on the road to face A-Sun foe Lipscomb in a three-game series Apr. 16-18 in Nashville. The Bison earned the No. 2 seed in the A-Sun tournament last season, finishing with a 17-13 conference record.
Following a home game against Florida Atlantic (Apr. 20), the Blue and Green will host Belmont Apr. 23-25. The Bruins finished 29-29 overall last season, 15-15 in A-Sun play.
Beginning Apr. 27 FGCU will play five straight non-conference road games, beginning with a single game at South Florida on Apr. 27. Following that the Eagles will travel to Clemson, SC for their first-ever meeting with the Clemson Tigers. That four-game series starts on May 1 and wraps up May 4.
FGCU resumes conference play with a home series against ETSU on May 7-8, followed by a road game at Florida Atlantic (May 11).
The Eagles will travel to Jacksonville to do battle with last year’s A-Sun tournament No. 1 seed, the Jacksonville Dolphins, May 14-15. The Dolphins took two out of three games from FGCU last year, but the Eagles swept JU in 2008.
After a road game at Florida International (May 18), FGCU returns home to close out the regular season against A-Sun foe North Florida May 20-21. The Eagles swept the Ospreys in Jacksonville last year.
The 2010 A-Sun Championship is set for May 25-29 at Lipscomb’s Dugan Field at Marsh Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., for the Eagles’ first appearance. The 2010 NCAA Championship is set to begin on June 4 with regional play.
(Release)
Purdue 2010 Baseball Schedule
Boilermakers To Open At Big Ten/Big East Challenge
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue baseball team will open its 2010 schedule at the second annual Big Ten/Big East Challenge in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Fla., and host 23 games in West Lafayette over the course of the spring.
Including the trip to Florida, the Boilermakers will begin the season on a 15-game road swing that will take them Carbondale, Ill., to face Southern Illinois, Evansville, Ind., to play three different teams at a neutral venue, Richmond, Ky., to square off against Eastern Kentucky and finally Athens, Ohio, to face the Bobcats of Ohio University.
Purdue will open its home slate with a non-conference contest against IPFW on March 23 and will also host Illinois State and Chicago State during a six-game home stand.
A midweek trip to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri will close out the month of March and pave the way for the Big Ten schedule.
The Boilers will host Minnesota, a 2009 NCAA regional participant, on the first weekend of April to being conference play, and will also welcome Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan State to West Lafayette for league play.
Big Ten road trips include visits to Michigan, Big Ten Tournament champions Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The Boilers will not face 2009 Big Ten regular season champions Ohio State.
Coming off a 25-26 season, a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten and an appearance in the league tournament, the Boilermakers return eight position players, all three weekend starting pitchers and a bevy of talent in the bullpen.
(Release)
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Minnesota 2010 Baseball Schedule
MINNEAPOLIS– The Minnesota baseball team released its 2010 schedule on according to an announcement by Golden Gopher head coach John Anderson.
Minnesota’s 2010 schedule features one non-conference team that competed in the
Golden Gopher Head Coach John Anderson
NCAA Super Regionals in 2009 and four out of conference opponents that were part of NCAA Regional play in 2009.
Complete 2010 Minnesota Schedule
The Golden Gophers will start things off when they bring back the Pro-Alumni Game for the first time since 2007. It will take place on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 6:05 p.m.
Minnesota will open up the season against Akron (19-33, 12-15 in 2009) in Fort Myers, Fla. on Feb. 19-21. The next week, the Golden Gophers will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla. where they will compete in the Big East-Big Ten Challenge. Minnesota will face St. John’s (30-22, 16-11) in Dunedin on Friday, Feb. 26, Connecticut (36-24, 14-13) in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Feb. 27 and 2009 Super Regional participant Louisville in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Feb. 28.
The Golden Gophers will return home to host the Dairy Queen Classic on Mar. 5-7. Minnesota will welcome Loyola Marymount (30-29, 13-8), Northwestern (14-35, 5-17) and 2009 NCAA Regional participant Oklahoma State (34-24, 9-16) to the 26th annual installment of the Dairy Queen Classic. Minnesota will face Loyola Marymount on Friday, Mar. 5 at 6:35 p.m., Oklahoma State on Saturday, Mar. 6 at 6:35 p.m. and Northwestern on Sunday, Mar. 7 at 3:05 p.m.
Following the Dairy Queen Classic, the Golden Gophers will host Division III National Champion St. Thomas (41-13) at the Metrodome on Wednesday, Mar. 10. Minnesota will host the Metrodome Tournament on Mar. 12-14. The Golden Gophers will welcome Creighton (31-25, 14-9), Harvard (13-28, 10-10) and South Dakota State (26-30, 17-10) to the Metrodome that weekend. Minnesota will host Harvard on Friday, Mar. 12, Creighton on Saturday, Mar. 13 and South Dakota State on Sunday, Mar. 14.
After the Metrodome Classic, Minnesota will embark on six-game road trip to Alabama and Samford. The Golden Gophers will face 2009 NCAA Regional participant Alabama (37-21, 18-11) in a two-game series on Mar. 16-17. Minnesota will then head to Samford (17-35, 9-21) for a four-game series on Mar. 18-21.
Minnesota will host North Dakota State (16-28, 10-14) at the Metrodome on Mar. 23-24. The Golden Gophers will host a three-game series against Louisiana Tech (29-22, 13-11) on Mar. 26-28. The Saturday game will be played at Target Field at 1:05 p.m., while the Friday and Sunday games will be at the Metrodome.
The Golden Gophers will open up Big Ten play on the road at Purdue on Apr. 2-4. Minnesota will return home to the Metrodome for the first Big Ten series against Michigan State on Apr. 16-18.
Minnesota’s other road series in the Big Ten will be against Northwestern (Apr. 16-18), Iowa (Apr. 30-May 2) and 2009 Big Ten Regular-Season Champion Ohio State (May 20-22). The Golden Gophers will have home conference series at the Metrodome against 2009 Big Ten Tournament Champion Indiana (Apr. 23-25), Michigan (May 7-9) and Penn State (May 14-16).
The Golden Gophers will also play midweek games during the conference season against Concordia-Moorhead (Mar. 31), Hamline (Apr. 6), South Dakota State (at home Apr. 14, on the road Apr. 20), North Dakota State (on the road Apr. 28) and at Kansas State (May 4-5).
Minnesota returns 20 players who saw action from a 2009 squad that finished 40-19, finished second in the Big Ten regular-season at 17-6, advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship and advanced to the final game of the NCAA Regionals in LSU.
(Release)
