College Baseball 360 » Mike Bolsinger

College Baseball Notebook-Week 12

Sean Stires — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:31:51 +0000

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A By The Numbers Look At Week 12 Action…

42…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels, who singled in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Arkansas State. He’s now in fourth place in Division One history with Chuck Abbott of Austin Peay, who hit safely in 42 straight games in 1996.

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

58…NCAA record hitting streak set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987. Wittels needs hits in five more games to to Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson (1981) for the second longest streak in D1 history.

3 & 7…Home runs and RBIs by Wittels’ teammate, Mike Martinez, in the same game Wittels hit safely for the 41st game to help FIU down Arkansas State 15-4.

21…Game winning streak by Texas snapped in Friday’s 2-1 loss at Kansas State. It’s the first ever home win against a number one ranked team for the Wildcats.

2…Consecutive Big 12 regular season titles for the Longhorns (41-8, 21-3), which clinched this year’s championship with wins in the last two games of the series with the Wildcats (32-15, 11-9), who are in third place in the Big 12. Texas Tech (26-12, 12-9) is in second place.

50…Mile per hour wind gusts Saturday afternoon in the Buffalo, NY area where Canisius beat Manhattan 23-20.

Steve McQuail (Canisius photo)

68…RBIs this season by Canisus’ Steve McQuail-a new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference single-season record-after the junior drove in 6 runs with the help of a grand slam in the Griffs’ win. The previous record of 67 RBIs had stood since 1993.

3…Grand slams hit this season by McQuail, who is 8-for-9 with 24 RBIs this season with the bases loaded.

9…Saves this season by UCLA pitcher Dan Klein-the most for a Bruin pitcher since 1993.

28…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by # 32 New Mexico’s Willy Kesler prior to allowing a one out two run home run in the top of the 9th inning in Saturday’s 3-2 win over #12 TCU.

140…Pitches needed by Kesler (5-1) to pick-up his third complete game of the season.

6…Straight games New Mexico had lost to TCU prior to Saturday’s victory.

9 & 67…Home runs and total bases by TCU in Sunday’s series-clinching 26-4 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque. The home runs ties a new single-game program record, while the total bases sets a new school record. In addition to the nine long balls, the Horned Frogs tallied 20 singles, four doubles and a triple.

2 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by TCU’s Aaron Schultz, who was 4-for-4 with a double in the victory.

Aaron Schultz (Photo courtesy Brett Davis)

16…Straight series wins by the Horned Frogs dating back to last season. TCU (36-10, 13-4) leads New Mexico (31-17, 13-7) by three games in the Mountain West Conference standings.

24-1…Record of TCU’s weekend pitching rotation. Kyle Winkler (7-1) suffered his first loss Saturday to the Lobos, while Matt Purke (9-0) and Stephen Maxwell (8-0) remain unbeaten.

13…Combined earned runs given-up by Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo in Friday’s 15-16 game won by the Tigers.

15…Strikeouts by San Diego’s Kyle Blair in Friday’s 2-0 win over Portland. Blair (7-3) gave-up just one hit in the complete game effort.

2…Outs in the 9th inning when Blair’s no-hit bid ended thanks to a double by Portland’s Kris Kauppila.

14…Wins with no losses in WCC play for San Diego after winning the first two games of the series.

3…Outs recorded on a ground ball off the bat of #30 Texas State’s Jeff McVaney in Saturday’s 5-2 upset loss to McNeese State. Steven Irvine, Matt Fontenot and Bryn Thompson combined on the 5-4-3 triple play.

1…NCAA bid officially locked-up when Dartmouth beat Columbia 11-5 in Sunday’s deciding game three of the Ivy League Championship Series.

Quintavious Drains

4…Pitchers, Cole Green of Texas, Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina, Quintavious Drains of Jackson State, and Pittsburgh’s Cory Baker, who share the Division One lead with 10 wins this season.

1,022…Career wins by Ohio State’s Bob Todd, who announced his retirement last week after 27 years as a college baseball head coach. Todd has 898 wins in his time in Columbus. His Buckeyes dropped two of three games to Illinois over the weekend after he announced his intentions to step down at the end of this season.

13…Runs scored by Tennessee in Saturday’s 25-5 win at Georgia. The Vols hit four home runs in the inning and scored 9 runs before an out was recorded.

52…Total bases for the Vols in the game to break the previous program record of 47.

0 & 11…Runs allowed and strikeouts recorded in 8.0 IP by Arkansas’ Mike Bolsinger in Sunday’s 7-0 series-clinching win at Ole Miss. The Rebels’ 1-7 batters combined to go 0-for-22 in the loss. The win has the Razorbacks (36-11, 15-8) tied with the Rebels (34-14, 15-8) tied for first place in the SEC’s Western Division.

2…Wins by #44 Kentucky ( 25-21, 8-15) over South Carolina (36-10, 17-6) to keep the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes alive. The SEC series win is just the second of the season for the Wildcats.

10…Consecutive SEC series South Carolina had won (dating back to last season) prior to losing two of three games in Lexington. The Gamecocks are now tied for first place in the SEC’s Eastern Division with Florida (33-11, 17-6), which took two of three games vs. Alabama over the weekend. The Gamecocks and Gators meet in Columbia in two weeks in the final weekend of the regular season.

Rob Folsom's walk-off double capped Oregon State's sweep of Oregon (OSU photo)

3…Games won by #47 Oregon State (24-17, 7-11) over # 20 Oregon (30-18, 10-11) to give the Beavers just their second Pac 10 series win of 2010.

11 of 12…Games Oregon State had lost prior to sweeping its weekend series vs. the Ducks.

8…Teams within three games of one another in the Pac 10 Conference race. Arizona State is 39-5 overall and leads the conference race with a 14-4 mark. Cal (11-9) UCLA (10-8) and Stanford (10-8) are all tied for second place at four games back, followed by Arizona (9-9), Oregon (10-11), Washington State (8-9), Washington (8-10), and Oregon State (7-11).

4…Games won by Fresno State (30-20, 11-5) at #48 New Mexico State (35-16-1, 13-6-1) to move ahead of the Aggies and into first place in the WAC standings.

23…Years since Auburn (33-15, 15-9) had swept a series from Mississippi State prior to taking three games from the Bulldogs over the weekend. The Tigers are in second place in the SEC East.

3…Consecutive SEC series lost by defending national champion LSU (34-14, 12-11) after dropping two of three vs. Vanderbilt of the weekend. The Bayou Bengals are in fourth place in the SEC East.

11…Home runs hit this season by Notre Dame outfielder Ryan Connolly, who is the only Irish player with double digit long balls. Connolly also leads the Irish with a .367 batting average and 1.140 OPS.

4…Home runs hit by Connolly from 2006-2009. The fifth-year senior missed all of 2006 and most of the next three seasons due to shoulder injuries. All four of his previous career home runs were hit over the last 13 games of the 2009 campaign.

10…RBIs by West Virginia’s Grant Buckner in Saturday’s 22-6 win over the Irish. The third baseman was 4-for-5 with three home runs, while setting a new school record for single-game RBIs to help the Mountaineers to their first Big East series sweep of the season.

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Friday’s Top-50 Results/Links (3/19)

Pete LaFleur — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:01:31 +0000

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Upsets & Walk-Offs Highlight Friday Action … Three teams among the top-12 of the CB360 top-50 were upset on Friday, including #6 LSU (which lost at home for the third time over the past two weekends, 6-3 vs. #13 Arkansas). In another central-region game, BYU edged #9 TCU (5-4) in the second game of a Mountain West Conference doubleheader – while the ACC saw a major upset when Maryland knocked off #12 Georgia Tech (5-2). Alabama (#21 in the top-50) cashed in its homefield advantage for a minor upset, 4-1 over #17 Vanderbilt, while San Diego also capitalized on a home-field game to post a 6-3 upset of #22 Rice. front-page photo courtesy of Maryland

Friday’s other upsets of teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings included: Monmouth 11, at #26 East Carolina 9 … Utah 16, at #29 New Mexico 2 … at #32 Wichita State 5, #30 Washington State 3 .. and at Louisiana Tech 4, #39 Southern Mississippi 3.

In addition to three of the games mentioned above (LSU-Ark.; Ala.-Vandy; Wich.-WSU), there were three other games on Friday that pitted top-50 squad against one another: #7 Florida State 4, at #19 North Carolina 3 … at #11 Florida 7, #43 Mississippi State 2 … and #18 Mississippi 9, at #28 Kentucky 0

The Friday top-50 slate included several conferences series, in the Atlantic Coast, Big South, Big 12, Mountain West, Southeastern, Southern, Southland and Sun Belt – with most other leagues to begin conference play next weekend.

An expanded offering of pregame links and info. (including select starting pitching matchups) is posted below, along with a variety of postgame links (final stats, recaps from both teams, photos, video, etc.).

FRIDAY’S TOP-50 RESULTS & LINKS

(upsets in italics)

• at #1 Virginia 7, Boston College 1 | Final Stats
UVa Recap | BC Recap

• at #2 UCLA 20, Oral Roberts 4 | Final Stats
UCLA Recap | ORU Recap

• at #3 Arizona State 10, Houston 1 | Final Stats
ASU Recap | HOU Recap

• at #4 Texas 6, Nebraska 5 | Final Stats
TX Recap | NEB Recap

• at #5 Clemson 3, Virginia Tech 0 | Final Stats
CLEM Recap | VT Recap

• # 13 Arkansas 6, at #6 LSU 3 | Final Stats
ARK Recap | LSU Recap | Photos

• #7 Florida State 4, at #19 North Carolina 3 | Final Stats
FSU Recap | UNC Recap

• #8 Louisville 11, Ball State 7 | Final Stats
LOU Recap | BSU Recap | Photos

• at #9 TCU 11, BYU 3 (gm-1) | Final Stats
TCU Recap | BYU Recap

• BYU 5, at #9 TCU 4 (gm-2) | Final Stats
TCU Recap | BYU Recap

• at #10 Oregon State 18, Maine 3 | Final Stats
OS Recap | Maine Recap

• at #11 Florida 7, #43 Mississippi State 2 | Final Stats
FL Recap | MS Recap

• at Maryland 5, #12 Georgia Tech 2 | Final Stats
MD Recap | GT Recap

• #14 Coastal Carolina 7, Charleston Southern 5 | Final Stats
CC Recap | CS Recap

• #15 Oklahoma 7, Baylor 6 (gm-1) | Final Stats
OU Recap | BAY Recap | Photos | Video HiLites

• at #16 Stanford 9, Pepperdine 8 | Final Stats
STAN Recap | PEP Recap

• postponed game : Baylor leading 5-0 at #15 Oklahoma (b-3; resume Sunday, 3/21)

• at #21 Alabama 4, #17 Vanderbilt 1 | Final Stats
AL Recap | VAN Recap | Photos

• #18 Mississippi 9, at #28 Kentucky 0 | Final Stats
Ol’Miss Recap | KY Recap

• #20 Miami 3, at Duke 1 | Final Stats
MIA Recap | Duke Recap

• at San Diego 6, #22 Rice 4 | Final Stats
USD Recap | Rice Recap

• at #23 Texas A&M 6, Texas Tech 3 | Final Stats
A&M Recap | TT Recap

• #24 Southeastern Louisiana 6, at McNeese State 5 | Final Stats
SELA Recap | McN Recap

• Monmouth 11, at #26 East Carolina 9 | Final Stats
MON Recap | ECU Recap

• at #27 South Carolina 4, Tennessee 2 | Final Stats
SC Recap | TN Recap

• Utah 16, at #29 New Mexico 2 | Final Stats
Utah Recap | NM Recap

• at #32 Wichita State 5, #30 Washington State 3 | Final Stats
WICH Recap (w/ postgame video) | WashSt Recap

• #31 UC Irvine 6, Gonzaga 4 | Final Stats
UCI Recap | GON Recap

• at #33 Kansas State 4, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 0 (gm-1) | Final Stats
K-St Recap | WM Recap

• at #33 Kansas State 2, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1 (gm-2) | Final Stats
K-St Recap | WM Recap

• #34 Northwestern (La.) St. 4, at Stephen F. Austin 2 | Final Stats
NWLA Recap | SFA Recap

• #35 Citadel 5, at Elon 3 | Final Stats
CIT Recap | Elon Recap

• #36 Cal State Fullerton 9, at Washington 7 | Final Stats
CSF Recap | WA Recap

• #37 Western Kentucky 19, at Virginia Commonwealth 4 | Final Stats
WKU Recap | VCU Recap

• #38 Connecticut 15, at Sacred Heart 2 | Final Stats
UConn Recap | SH Recap

• at Louisiana Tech 4, #39 Southern Mississippi 3 | Final Stats
LT Recap | SM Recap

• #41 Ohio State 7, Eastern Illinois 6 (Winter Haven, FL) | Final Stats
OSU Recap | EIU Recap

• #41 Ohio State 9, Bucknell 7 (Winter Haven, FL) | Final Stats
OSU Recap | BUCK Recap

• #42 VMI 5, at High Point 3 | Final Stats
VMI Recap | HP Recap | Photos

• at #44 Liberty 8, Manhattan 4 | Final Stats
LIB Recap | MAN Recap

• at #45 Oregon 16, Nevada 2 | Final Stats

ORE Recap | NV Recap

• at #46 Villanova 2, Niagara 1 | Final Stats
VILL Recap | NIA Recap

• #47 Texas State 12, at Sam Houston State 5 | Final Stats
TS Recap | SH Recap

• #48 North Carolina State 17, Wake Forest 6 | Final Stats
NCS Recap | WF Recap | Photos

• #49 Louisiana-Lafayette 3, at South Alabama 1 | Final Stats
LL Recap | USA Recap

• at #50 Hawaii 15, Air Force 7 | Final Stats
HI RECAP | AFA Recap

FRIDAY’S BIG-GAME MATCHUPS

(all in top-50 of CB360 Composite National Rankings)

FRIDAY’S OTHER TOP-50 GAMES

• 10:30 a.m. ET – #41 Ohio State vs. Eastern Illinois (Winter Haven, FL)
coverage – Live Stats
OSU info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide

• 1:30 ET – #41 Ohio State vs. Bucknell (Winter Haven, FL)
coverage – Live Stats
OSU info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide

• 3:00 ET – Manhattan at #44 Liberty
coverage – Live Stats
LIB info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide

• 3:15 ET – Niagara at #46 Villanova
coverage – Live Stats | Live Audio
VILL info. – Roster | 2010 Stats | Season Preview

• 3:30 ET – #38 Connecticut at Sacred Heart
coverage – Live Stats | Live Audio
UConn info. – Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide | Quick Facts

• 4:00 ET (3CT) – #34 Northwestern (La.) State at Stephen F. Austin
coverage – Live Stats
NWLA info. – Series Preview | Games Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide

• 6:00 ET – Boston College at #1 Virginia
coverage – Live Stats | Live Audio
UVa info. – Preview | Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats
BC info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats
UVa starter – so. LHP Danny Hultzen (1.04, 3-1, 26 IP, 31 K/3 BB, 13 H/.146) …
BC starter – RHP Kevin Moran (10.54, 1-2, 13.2 IP, 7 K/11 BB, 20 H/.351)

• 7:00 ET – Tennessee at #27 South Carolina
live coverage – Live Stats | TN Audio | Live Video
SC info. – Game Notes | Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide
SC starter – sr. RHP Blake Cooper (3.28, 3-0, 24.2 IP, 24 K/9 BB, 16 H/.195) …
TN starter – jr. LHP Bryan Morgado (5.16, 2-1, 22.2 IP, 29 K/11 BB, 15 H/.188))

• 7:00 ET – #37 Western Kentucky at Virginia Commonwealth
coverage – Live Stats
WKU info.: Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide | Quick Facts (top-menu link)

• 7:00 ET (6CT) – #49 Louisiana-Lafayette at South Alabama
coverage – Live Stats | Live Audio
LL info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats

• 7:30 ET (630 CT) – #47 Texas State at Sam Houston State
coverage – Live Stats
TX-St info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide | Quick Facts

• 8:00 ET – Nevada at #45 Oregon
coverage – Live Stats | Live Audio
ORE info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide

• 9:00 ET (6:00 PT) – Oral Roberts at #2 UCLA
coverage – Live Stats
UCLA info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide | Quick Facts
ORU info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide
UCLA starter – so. RHP Gerrit Cole (2/10, 4-0, 25.2 IP, 41 K/4 BB, 12 H/.136) …
ORU starter – so. RHP Drew Bowen (8.83, 1-1, 17.1 IP, 15 K/8 BB, 30 H/.395)

• 9:00 ET (6PT) – Gonzaga at #31 UC-Irvine
• coverage – Live Stats | Live Audio
• UCI info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Quick Facts

• 9:30 ET (630 PT) – Pepperdine at #16 Stanford
coverage – Live Stats | Live Video
STAN info. – Game Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats | Media Guide

• 12:30 a.m. ET (3/20; 730 HT, 3/19) – Air Force at #50 Hawaii
coverage – Live Stats
Hawaii info. – Games Notes | Roster | 2010 Stats

Idle Top-50 Teams: #25 Kansas & #40 Michigan State

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SEC Baseball 2010 Preview – Western Division

Sean Stires — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:01:21 +0000

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National Champ LSU And Arkansas Look For CWS Returns

2009 Eastern Division Champion: Florida

2009 Western Division Champion: LSU & Ole Miss Tied with 20-10 records

2009 SEC Tournament Champion: LSU

Banner Year: Teams outside the SEC often complain the conference gets too much respect when it comes to NCAA Tournament bids, but the SEC lived-up to its lofty status last year. Eight SEC teams received NCAA bids in 2009, with half of them, LSU, Ole Miss, Florida, and Arkansas, advancing to at least a Super Regional. Arkansas and LSU both made it to Omaha, while the Tigers winning the 2009 National Championship.

Big Crowds: The SEC drew a record of nearly 1.9 million fans to its on-campus ballparks in 2009, the fourth year in a row to draw over 1.6 million. Seven SEC teams drew in excess of 100,000 fans to their parks in 2009. The SEC averaged a record 4,689 fans per game in 2009, the third straight year to exceed the 4,000 mark.

2010 SEC Western Division Preview

Alabama

2009 Record: (37-21, 18-11)

Mascot: Crimson Tide

Head Coach: Mitch Gaspard

Location: Tuscaloosa, AL

Vitals: .330 BA, 107 HR, 60 SB, .415 OBP, .971 Fld%…5.13 ERA, 4 CG, 11 SV, 487 K, 182 BB, .277 opp. BA

New Head Coach: Mitch Gaspard took the reigns of the Alabama program after long time skipper Jim Wells

Ross Wilson (ESPN.com)

retired last summer. Gaspard served two stints as an assistant to Wells, including the last two seasons as Alabama’s recruiting coordinator. He was the head coach at Northwestern State from 2002-2007. Prior to that he helped Wells take Alabama to the College World Series three times as a Crimson Tide assistant.

Solid Returns: Preseason All-American 2B Ross Wilson (.353, 9 HR, 57 RBIs) is one of four returning players who started at least 49 games last year. Senior Jake Smith (.359, 18 HR, 54 RBIs), Freshman All-American Taylor Dugas (.352, 13 SB) and Josh Rutledge (.305) are back as well, as is Clay Jones (.331, 7 HR, 39 RBIs), who started just 35 games last year. The biggest loss to the line-up is OF Kent Matthes (.358, 28 HR, 81 RBIs), who tied for the NCAA home run lead.

Pitching Questions: Alabama loses starters Austin Hyatt (8-3, 3.76 ERA) and Del Howell (5-3, 6.33 ERA). Those two combined to make 26 starts & tossed three of the staff’s four complete games. With nine starts last year soph. LHP Adam Morgan (4-2, 4.17 ERA) is the team’s most experience returning starter. Redshirt soph. reliever Tyler White (1-0, 2.28 ERA, 2 SV) and Jr. Nathan Kilcrease (4-4, 4.11 ERA, 2 SV) are among the top returning relievers.

Arkansas

2009 Record: (41-24, 14-15)

Mascot: Razorbacks

Head Coach: Dave Van Horn

Location: Fayetteville, AR

Vitals: .273 BA, 80 HR, 67 SB, .368 OBP, .968 Fld%…4.67 ERA, 1 CG, 16 SV, 511 K, 245 BB, .267 opp. BA

Andy Wilkins

All-American Trio: Juniors Brett Eibner (.231, 12 HR, 54 RBIs) & Andy Wilkins (.319, 19 HR, 58 RBIs) and sophomore Zach Cox (.266, 13 HR, 39 RBIs) have all received preseason All-American recognition. Arkansas, LSU and Texas are the only three schools in the country to have three players receive All-American recognition. Cox was a Freshman All-American last year as well.

Two-Way Duo: Eibner and Cox are pitchers as well. Eibner (5-5, 5.00 ERA) tied a team-high with 17 starts last year with the staff’s only complete game. Cox (5-1, 4.82 ERA, SV) mad all 14 of his appearances out of the bullpen.

Plenty More Pitching: Senior Mike Bolsinger (6-4, 2.99 ERA, 2SV) is among the top returning pitchers to the Razorback staff. He picked-up the only save at last year’s College World Series. Drew Smyly (3-1, 4.66 ERA, 14 starts). Dallas Keuchel (9-3, 3.92 ERA) and Stephen Richards (6-2, 2.19 ERA, 9 SV) are the biggest staff losses

Auburn

2009 Record: (31-25, 11-19)

Mascot: Tigers

Head Coach: John Pawlowski

Location: Auburn, AL

Vitals: .286 BA, 103 HR, 40 SB, .381 OBP, .969 Fld%…6.12 ERA, 0 CG, 12 SV, 411 K, 228 BB, .321 opp. BA

Notable Drought: Since going to the NCAA Tournament five times from 2000-2005 Auburn has missed the tourney the last four years.

Mound Presence: Junior LHP Grant Dayton (2-6, 5.92 ERA) and soph. Jon Luke Jacobs (3-4, 5.74 ERA) are back to lead the weekend rotation. They are expected to be joined by 6’7 lefty Cole Nelson, a junior college transfer who was drafted in the 48th round by Tampa Bay last year. Austin Hubbard (3-3, 4.20 ERA, 12 SV) and Bradley Hendrix (7-3, 5.09 ERA) are back to lead the bullpen. Hendrix’s 7 wins led the staff as did his 24 relief appearances. Another juco transfer, Stephen Kohlscheen, helped lead Cowley College to last year’s Junior College World Series.

A Lot In The Line-Up: Auburn returns seven of its top nine hitters from 2009. Justin Hargett led the Tigers in average (.330) and on-base percentage (.426). He’s joined by Brian Fletcher (.301, 17 HR, 54 RBIs), Casey McElroy (.286, 7 HR), Hunter Morris (.282, 12 HR), and Tony Caldwell (.281, 9 HR).

No Mummey…For Now: Auburn recently announced that centerfielder Trent Mummey (.289, 15 HR) will miss at least a month with a severely sprained right ankle. Mummey had 17 of Auburn’s 40 stolen bases last year. He was also named to the SEC All-Defensive Team. Junior college transfer Justin Fradejas will fill-in until he returns.

Desert Challenge: The Tigers go to Tempe, AZ for a 3-game series with Arizona State March 12-14.

LSU

2009 Record: (56-17, 20-10)

Mascot: Tigers

Head Coach: Paul Mainieri

Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Vitals: .315 BA, 107 HR, 114 SB, .405 OBP, .974 Fld%…4.02 ERA, 679 K, 186 BB, .257 opp. BA

Anthony Ranaudo (ESPN.com photo)

LSU Line-Up Losses: The Tigers lose four of their top five batters from last year’s National Championship team. D.J. LeMahieu (.350, 12 SB), Ryan Schimpf (.336, 22 HR, 70 RBIs, 18 SB), Sean Ochinko (.333, 9 HR), and Jared Mitchell (.327, 11 HR, 36 SB) are all gone.

Top Bats Back: LSU still returns the like of Sr. Blake Dean (.328, 17 HR, 71 RBIs), Tyler Hanover (.321), SEC Tournament MVP Mikie Mahtook (.316, 7 HR), Leon Landry (.300, 12 HR), and slick fielding Austin Nola, who didn’t join the starting line-up until LSU’s 40th game of the season last year. He did not commit an error at shortstop in 24 chances at the College World Series.

On The Hill: While they lose top overall pitcher Louis Coleman (14-2, 2.93 ERA, 142 K), the Tigers return several top notch pitchers to carry the load. The group is led by junior Anthony Ranaudo (12-3, 3.04, 159 K). He’s joined by Austin Ross (6-8, 5.18 ERA), soph.closer Matty Ott (4-2, 2.68 ERA, 16 SV), Daniel Bradshaw (4-0, 3.04 ERA), Paul Bertuccini (2-0, 3.86 ERA, 3 SV), and Chris Matulis (6-2, 4.82 ERA).

On The Bayou: LSU plays its first 21 games of the season in Louisiana. The only road game is at Northwestern State in Natchitoches.

Mississippi

2009 Record: (44-20-, 20-10)

Mascot: Rebels

Head Coach: Mike Bianco

Location: Oxford, MS

Vitals: .310 BA, 56 HR, 92 SB, .398 OBP, .970 Fld%…4.06 ERA, 4 CG, 17 SV, 623 K, 189 BB, .271 opp. BA

Dealing With Draft Losses: After setting a school record with 20 wins in SEC play Ole Miss had 11 players drafted last year, including five underclassmen who signed pro contracts. Jordan Henry (.343, 38 SB), Logan Power (.311, 7 HR, 20 doubles) and Kyle Henson (.338, 8 HR) are the top losses in the line-up. Scott Bittle (5-2, 2.17 ERA), Phillip Irwin (8-3, 3.84 ERA), Brett Bukvich (9-3, 4.42 ERA), and Nathan Baker (4-3, 3.63 ERA) are all gone from the pitching staff.

Matt Smith (secsports.com)

Bats That Are Back: The good news for the Rebles is three players shared the team lead with 8 home runs, and two of those players, Matt Smith (.336, 8 HR, 59 RBIs) and Matt Snyder (.298, 8 HR, 31 RBIs) are back this year. Smith was the team RBI leader. Snyder and his twin brother, Mike, are expected to share the corner infield spots. Tim Ferguson (.358, 18 SB) and Zac Miller (.341) are among other top returnees to the line-up.

Mound Returnees: Junior LHP Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.40 ERA) will lead the weekend rotation. Closer Jake Morgan (4-1, 3.46 ERA, 9 saves) suffered an injury in the off-season, so David Goforth (1-1, 2.80 ERA, 3 SV) is expected to move into that role. Senior Rory McKean (5-1, 4.53 ERA) is among a handful of other experience relievers who return.

Welcome Back?: The Rebels will host a 3-game series with reigning Big East Champion Louisville March 12-14. The Cardinals are coached by former Ole Miss assistant Dan McDonnell and have been to Super Regionals in two of the last three seasons.

Mississippi State

2009 Record: (25-29, 9-20)

Mascot: Bulldogs

Head Coach: John Cohen

Location: Starkville, MS

Vitals: .298 BA, 61 HR, 72 SB, .398 OBP, .968 Fld%…6.57 ERA, 5 CG, 12 SV, 365 K, 246 BB, .304 opp. BA

Dogs Absent: Since making NCAA Tournament appearances from 2003-2007, including the ’07 CWS, Mississippi State has missed the last two NCAA Tourneys. In fact, the Bulldogs have not been to the SEC tournament for the last two years either.

Big Dogs Back: 1B Connor Powers (.301, 19 HR, 63 RBIs) and DH Ryan Duffy (.339, 10 HR, 33 RBIs) were MSU’s top home runs hitters last year, and they’re both back to lead the offense. Jet Butler (.335) and Russ Sneed (.333, 9 HR, 43 RBIs) return as well. Leading hitter Scott DeLoach (.353) and Grant Hogue (.315, 29 SB) are the biggest offensive losses.

Hard Working Dogs: Nick Routt (5-3, 4.15 ERA, 4 CG) and Tyler Whitney (3-4, 5.18 ERA, CG), who accounted for 24 of the staff’s 54 starts and all five complete games last year, are both back. The Bulldogs lose saves leader Chad Crosswhite (6 SV, 7.38 ERA). Routt is expected to lead the rotation, while Whitney could move to the closer role. Lefty junior college transfer Trey Johnson and freshman Chris Stratton could factor in the weekend rotation. Johnson hit 19 HR as a two-way player last year at Blinn (TX) CC.

Special Delivery: For the second straight year Mississippi State players hand delivered tickets in neighborhoods throughout Starkville to local fans who ordered 2010 season tickets. Head coach John Cohen started the program when he was the head coach at Kentucky.

2010 SEC Western Division Predictions

Top Western Division Player: Andy Wilkins – Arkansas

Top Western Division Pitcher: Anthony Ranaudo – LSU

Western Division Champion: LSU

CLICK HERE to see the Eastern Division Preview & Predictions

2010 SEC Baseball Overall Predictions

SEC Player of the Year: Preston Tucker – Florida

SEC Pitcher of the Year: Anthony Ranaudo – LSU

Overall SEC Champion: South Carolina

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CWS Wrap-Up…After LSU’s Championship Win

Sean Stires — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:09:53 +0000

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We took a little time off after the end of the College World Series, but Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires is back with a few final thoughts on the 2009 event.

To start with, we have complete statistics from both the College World Series as well as the NCAA Tournament. Kudos to our resident stat guru, Pete LaFleur, who compiled this information since the start of the conference tournaments. This is data that can only be found at collegebaseball360.com…seriously.

Even the NCAA did not distribute an all-encompassing statistical data base for every NCAA Tournament game. They did update the national stat leaders, but those statistics cover the entire season, our stats tell you what teams did during the tournament itself, including the CWS.

We also have an exclusive podcast interview with LSU head coach Paul Mainieri. The Word Association segment alone is worth listening to. You don’t have to be an LSU fan to appreciate the things he talked about.

Alright, enough plugging ourselves. On to some thoughts on what we saw from teams and players before and during their time in Omaha.

Fullerton Flop…What happened to Cal State Fullerton? The Titans hit .447 (to lead all NCAA teams) and averaged nearly 13 runs a game in their five Regional and Super Regional games (all wins) prior to the CWS. Their pitching staff also turned-in a stellar 1.80 ERA in those games (9 earned runs allowed). The wheels came off in Omaha though, where Fullerton was two and out. The staff ERA was 9.00 (17 ER allowed), while the offense scored a total of 11 runs in losses to Arkansas and Virginia.

Wither Wood…Texas closer Austin Wood received a lot of well deserved national attention for his 13 inning effort in the Longhorn’s 25-inning win over Boston College in the Austin Regional. However, Wood was not the same after that outing that saw him throw nearly 140 pitches. In his two combined Regional outings Wood totaled 15.0 IP with 2 hits, 4 BB, 17 strikeouts and no runs allowed. In his six appearances after the famed 13-inning outing here are the lefty’s numbers: 11 IP, 16 hits, 10 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, with a 6.54 ERA. Wood made his nation-leading 41st appearance of the season when he toed the rubber for the last time in the final game of the CWS vs. LSU.

Slightly Saved… Wood had 15 saves during the season, and CWS teams combined for 131 saves going into Omaha. However, Arkansas’ Mike Bolsinger had the only save at the College World Series. It’s the lowest save total at the CWS since 1993 when no saves were recorded. Part of the lack of saves is partially due to the fact that just six of the 15 games at the CWS were decided by three or fewer runs. Because of the best of three championship format games are also now more spaced out so that teams play only every other day, which gives coaches the chance to use starting pitchers out of the bullpen more often. Speaking of which…

Nice Arm Young Mann…Texas freshman Taylor Jungmann was 3-0 on the mound in Omaha, with three relief appearances and one start to his credit. Jungmann made 12 relief appearances during the season, but the right hander had also made six straight starts going into the CWS. Jungmann totaled 15.1 IP with a 0.59 ERA, allowing just two runs on 8 hits with 15 Ks and 5 BB in Omaha. After making three relief appearances (including his third in game one of the championship series), Jungmann tossed the only complete game of the CWS in the Longhorn’s 5-1 win over LSU in game two of the championship series. It was also his only CG in 2009. (North Carolina’s Alex White did pitch 9 innings in the Tar Heel’s 10-inning loss to Arizona State in game 3.)

Molden-Power…How about another Longhorn who waited for the right time to get hot: Russell Moldenhauer. The Longhorn DH was batting just .250 with 4 doubles as the only extra base hits to his credit in 2009 entering the CWS. However, in six games in Omaha Moldenhauer hit .350 with four solo home runs and a double for a slugging percentage of 1.000. Moldenhauer’s injury-riddled junior season saw him total just 15 hits prior to the CWS, but he had seven knocks in Omaha, and tied Arizona State’s Kole Calhoun for the CWS lead with 20 total bases.

Longhorn Longball…Texas hit 14 home runs (12 solo) in six games at the CWS for an average of 2.3 per game. That after hitting just 39 in 61 games prior to Omaha for a .63 a game average. All told, Texas scored 17 of its 36 runs at the CWS courtesy of home runs. The Longhorns had just a .413 slg% going into Omaha, but slugged at a .537 clip during the CWS.

No Small Ball…Texas averaged 1.5 sac bunts a game (96 in 61 games) prior to the College World Series, but ended-up with just 8 in their six CWS contests. The Longhorns had just a .373 success rate advancing runners (8th of the 8 teams in Omaha), while flying-out a series high 57 times.

Clutch When It Counts…LSU collected 23 2-out RBIs en-route to winning its championship. The Tigers plated 26 of their 51 CWS runs in 2-out situations. While LSU outfielder Mikie Mahtook struggled at times (8 strikeouts in 6 games) the freshman also had four 2-out RBIs in Omaha, including the game-winner in the 11th inning in game one of the Championship Series.

Theft Control…LSU stole 111 bases (on 151 attempts) in 67 games prior to the CWS, but the Tigers stole just two bags on four tries in six games in Omaha. D.J. LeMahieu had both of the thefts (he was also caught once).

It’s been a great first season for us at Collegebaseball360.com. We’ve enjoyed being involved with you, and we hope to bring you even more unique coverage in 2010 and beyond!