Schrage Fired At Notre Dame

National Search To Begin Immediately

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Dave Schrage will not be retained as head baseball coach at the University of Notre Dame after four seasons in that position.

Schrage compiled a record of 119-104-1 (.533) with the Irish, including a 22-32 mark in 2010. He has a career record of 595-657-1 in 23 seasons, which includes a 535-591-1 mark in 20 years at the Division I level, including stints at Northern Iowa (1991-99), Northern Illinois (2000-02) and Evansville (2003-06).

“I appreciate all the contributions Dave has made over the past four seasons to Notre Dame baseball,” said Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick.

“Like Dave and his staff and his players, we all would have liked to have enjoyed more success, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of effort or commitment.

“I will begin today to work with (senior assistant athletics director and baseball administrator) Josh Berlo to conduct a national search for our next baseball coach.”

After an inexperienced squad finished 28-28 in 2007, Notre Dame improved its victory total each of the next two years (33-21-1 in 2008 and 36-23 in 2009) and earned top-25 rankings in consecutive years for the first time since 2005-06. Then in 2010, the Irish failed to qualify for the eight-team BIG EAST Conference Championship for the first time in 15 years following a 22-32 season.

In BIG EAST play under Schrage, the Irish finished 11-17 in 2007 for seventh place (0-2 at BIG EAST Championship), 16-10 for third place in 2008 (0-2 at BIG EAST Championship), 15-12 for fifth place in 2009 (3-2 at BIG EAST Championship) and 10-17 for an eighth-place tie in 2010.

Schrage was introduced July 18, 2006, as the 19th head coach in the history of the Notre Dame baseball program. Prior to accepting the position at Notre Dame, Schrage completed his fourth year at Evansville in 2006 while guiding the Aces to the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles, reaching the NCAA regional championship round and finishing 19th in the national polls. MVC coach of the year in 2006, Schrage guided the Aces in building the program victory total each season: 24-31 in 2003, 28-32 in ‘04, 35-23 in ‘05 and a 43-22 mark in 2006 that represents the second-most wins in Evansville history.

Schrage came to Evansville after a three-year stint at Northern Illinois. Collegiate Baseball magazine recognized Schrage as runner-up for its 2000 national coach-of-the-year award. Prior to his three years at Northern Illinois, Schrage spent nine seasons as head coach at Northern Iowa where he was MVC coach of the year in 1995 and ‘97.

Schrage’s standout playing career at Creighton included all-MVC honors in 1982, after leading the conference with a .400 batting average. He raised that mark to .433 as a senior and received 1983 CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.

Former Notre Dame head coach Paul Mainieri gave Schrage his first job in coaching when he hired him to his staff at St. Thomas University (located in Miami and also known as Biscayne College). Schrage spent the 1983-84 season as a graduate assistant at Biscayne/St. Thomas before returning to Creighton to work two seasons with current Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry.

Schrage coached overseas in 1987-88 with the Mt. Gravatt Eagles Club in Brisbane, Australia, and returned to direct the baseball team at Waldorf Junior College (now a four-year college in Forest City, Iowa) for three seasons (1988-90) before taking over at Northern Iowa.

A two-sport standout in baseball and basketball at Chicago’s Fenwick High School, Schrage received his bachelor of science degree in business administration from Creighton in 1983 and a master’s in sports administration from Biscayne/St. Thomas in 1987. The Chicago native was born April 29, 1961.

(Courtesy Notre Dame Sports Information)

Sunday Regional Baseball Notebook

A By The Numbers Look At Day 3 NCAA Play…

8…Winner take all Regional championship games that will take place on Monday (CLICK HERE to see our full Regional scoreboard with Monday’s match-ups.

8…Teams that went 3-0 in Regional play over the weekend to advance to Super Regionals: Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, UCLA, TCU, and Texas.

15…Years since Oklahoma had started NCAA play with a 3-0 record before beating North Carolina 3-2 to advance to the second Super Regional in program history (the format switched in 1999).

2005…The last time a North Carolina team failed to get out of the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.  Mike Fox’s UNC squad had made four straight College World Series trips, but are eliminated in Regional play for the first time since falling to Notre Dame in ‘05 at the Gainesville, FL Regional.

1…Super Regional match-up that is set.  TCU and Texas will square-off in a rematch of last year’s Super Regional that sent the Longhorns to Omaha.

3…Runs allowed in three Regional wins by the vaunted Texas pitching staff.

32…Strikeouts in its three Regional victories by the TCU pitching staff.

1…#4 seed, Minnesota, that started this year’s Regional action 2-0.  The Golden Gophers join the 2004 Pepperdine team and the 2008 eventual National Champion Fresno State squad as the only #4 seeds to start 2-0 since 2003.  Minnesota lost 7-2 to Cal State Fullerton Sunday night and will play for the Regional title Monday night.

8…First inning runs scored by St. John’s en-route to a 22-16 elimination game win over Ole Miss in Charlottesville.

7…Runs given-up in just 2/3 of an inning by Ole Miss starter David Goforth in that game.

24…Home runs this season by St. John’s freshman Jeremy Baltz after he hit a pair in Sunday 6-5 upset of #5 national seed Virginia.  The win forced Monday’s Regional Championship game.

10…Runs scored in the first inning by Coastal Carolina in its 25-7 elimination game win over Stony Brook.

23-0…Dartmouth’s record this season when leading after 6 innings prior to Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Texas A&M.  The Big Green lost after Joe Patterson homered in the 8th to tie the game, followed by a long ball by Kevin Gonzalez to lead-off the 9th for the final margin.

10…Home runs hit so far in Regional play by the Aggies after they hit two more in Sunday night’s 11-7 win over Miami to force Monday’s title game.

36 2/3…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by A&M closer John Stilson.  The sophomore (9-1, 10 saves) tossed 3 scoreless innings in the Dartmouth win, and then fired the final 3 2/3 innings of the win over Miami.

116…Strikeouts by Stilson in 82 2/3 IP this season.

6…Runs in just 2/3 of an inning by Oregon State starter Tyler Waldron in Sunday’s 11-7 elimination game loss to Florida Atlantic.

25-7…Final score of Coastal Carolina’s elimination game win over Stony Brook.  The Chanticleers broke the game open with 10 runs in the top of the 3rd inning.  They scored at least one run in each of the last seven innings of the game.

3…Straight at-bats with a home run by Virginia Tech’s Buddy Sosnoskie, who homered in his first AB of Sunday’s 4-3 win over The Citadel.  He also went deep in his last two trips to the plate in Saturday’s win over Bucknell.

3…Home runs by Florida 9-home batter Tyler Thompson in Sunday’s 15-0 win over Florida Atlantic.  Thompson had hit just two HR all season, but had a power surge to help send the Gators to the Super Regionals for a second straight year.

3…Run home run in the 8th inning by Creede Simpson to propel Auburn to an 11-10 win over Clemson.  The teams rematch for the Regional championship Monday night.

5 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by St. John’s reliever Kevin Kilpatrick to help the Red Storm shock #5 national seed Virginia 6-5 to force a Monday Regional final game in Charlottesville.

2…Outs in the bottom of the 8th inning when Red Storm freshman Jeremy Baltz homered to provide the eventual winning runs in the St. John’s win.  It was Baltz’s second homer of the game and his24th this season.  He already ranks fourth in the St. John’s all-time home run record book (career home runs, not single season).

5…RBIs by Baltz’s teammate, Matt Wessinger, earlier in the day in a 20-16 elimination game win over Ole Miss.  Wessinger finished a home run shy of the cycle.

8…Runs scored by the Red Storm in the first inning of that game, which sent the Rebels home and St. John’s to the Regional championship round.

0…Runs allowed by Vanderbilt pitcher Ritchie Goodenow in his first career complete game-a 7-0 upset of #7 national seed Louisville on Sunday to force Monday’s Regional final game.

68…Career appearances Goodenow has made.  The win over the Cardinals was just the lefty’s second career start.

5…Runs scored in the 9th inning by Vandy to beat Illinois State 10-4 in an elimination game earlier in the day just to advance for the right to play Louisville.

2…Years in a row Vanderbilt has beaten the Cardinals in an elimination game in Louisville to force a winner take all Regional final.  Louisville won last year to advance to the Fullerton Super Regional.  The winner this year faces Florida State.

1…Career complete game by Rice’s Mike Ojala, who went the distance in his 34th career start to help the Owls beat Louisiana-Lafayette in a Sunday elimination game (they would lose 4-1 to Texas in their next game to see their season end).  Ojala (6-2) had ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery last June.

2…Starts made on Sunday by Washington State junior James Wise.  The junior gave-up six runs in just 2 1/3 innings in an eventual 9-6 elimination game win over Kansas State.  He then started and gave-up just a run in 3 IP to help WSU beat Arkansas 10-7, forcing a Monday Regional final.

19…Wins this season by the Washington State bullpen with 6 1/3 shutout innings in the win over K-State.  Richie Ochoa (2-2)  tossed 4 1/3 scoreless frames to help the Cougar pen tie a school record that was originally set in 1987.

33….Years since Washington State last played in a Regional Championship game prior to Monday’s showdown with Arkansas in Fayetteville.

46…Wins this season by UCLA (46-13) to set a new single-season record after Sunday’s 6-2 Regional Championship win over UC-Irvine.  The Bruins are headed to the Super Regionals for the second time in the last four years.

18…50 win seasons by Arizona State (50-8) after beating Hawaii 8-4 to advance to the Super Regionals.

19…Combined College World Series appearances by Florida State head coach Mike Martin (13) and Oregon skipper George Horton (6 with Cal State Fullerton), whose teams met in the championship game of the Norwich Regional.  Martin’s Seminoles won 5-3 to advance to a third straight Super Regional.

1…Out and one runner on in the bottom of the 9th inning when  Rico Noel homered to give Coastal Carolina an 8-7 win over the College of Charleston to force a deciding game Monday in the Myrtle Beach Regional.  Charleston had beaten Coastal a day earlier.

College Baseball’s Coaching Carousel Has Begun

Collegebaseball360.com contributor Chase Titleman from Road2rosenblatt.com checks-in with a look at where coaches could be headed (and where some already are headed) during the off season.

By Chase Titleman

With the announcement by new UNLV Athletic Director Jim Livengood that head coach Buddy Gouldsmith will not be retained for the 2011 season, the first initial shot sailing over the bow of the annual coaching carousel has been fired.

With other coaching openings rumored to be open soon, which may include Tennessee, Georgia, USC, Notre Dame, UNC-Greensboro and Hawaii, this could be a monumental year for not only the experienced head coach who desires to move up the coaching ladder of success and on to greater challenges, but for developing assistant coaches looking for their first gig at running a Division I show.

This past month, Mike Weathers (Long Beach State) and Bob Todd (The Ohio State University) both announced their retirements, while earlier in the season, Mike Hutcheon was replaced via a forced resignation by interim head coach Mike Kazlausky at the Air Force Academy.

None of these positions carry the attractiveness of UNLV, which sports an outstanding baseball stadium with rich university athletic facilities, and is located within the heart of a 500 radial mile recruiting hot bed, which includes the Phoenix, Los Angeles and Bay Area markets, not to mention the fertile baseball grounds of Las Vegas itself.

Obviously attractive in it’s own right for the young developing coach looking to create a coaching resume before bolting to greater opportunities, neither The Ohio State University, nor the Air Force Academy are highly sought after positions, being from cold-weather climates and limited recruiting resources specific to baseball.

The one job that is attractive to experienced head coaching icons (Long Beach State) has already been filled with the announced hiring of Troy Buckley, a former alum, who after a years sabbatical with the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization, will run the “Dirtbags” over on “The Beach” next season.

The Ohio State University certainly has the resources to be a very attractive position given the wealth of the Athletic Department.

A natural power harbinger for the developing Big-10 Network, but given Todd’s apparent success – or to some – “the lack of success” at the school, is there a serious contender with head coaching experience from outside the great lakes region who would consider the position?

The Todd debate is a convoluted affair as most of his supporters are thrilled with the 837 all-time victories, but the corporate power players are less than enthralled, especially considering the closest he came to Omaha were Super Regional losses in 2003 and 1999.

Todd, who has been a head coach at the Division I level for 37 of the 39 years he has been coaching, is one of the few in coaching who has achieved the much revered 1000-win milestone, and he is a member of the College Coaches Association Hall of Fame, as voted in 2009.

A winner of eight Big-10 regular season titles and eight Conference Tournament championships, as well as 13 trips to the post season tournament, is this – perhaps – as good as Ohio State can expect for a northern program with such a talented coach guiding the ship?

The obvious question to ask is if Todd couldn’t get it done with all of his credentials and accomplishments…who can?

Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell certainly can, but the former assistant at Ole Miss who led Louisville to the College World Series in 2007 has his sight set on a bigger horizon as he is rumored to favor a return to the SEC, where both the climate and fertile recruiting grounds harbor greater hopes of reaching college baseball’s promise land on an annual basis.

With openings rumored at both Tennessee and Georgia by seasons end, McDonnell will have to fend off stiff challenges within the region, especially from Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore, who won his 600th game in a 7-2 win over Radford last week.

Gilmore, who is 600-300 in 21 seasons heading the Chanticleer ship, is currently in the middle of his most successful campaign as Coastal Carolina (47-7, 25-0 Big South) is a major player in the race for the national championship this season.

Not that he is necessarily looking, but if ever there was a season that led Gilmore to the SEC, this would be it as his overall coaching record of 853-402 certainly fits the SEC criteria of success, and he has a trip to a super-regional to tack on his rising resume.

Another rising star within the SEC footprint is Western Kentucky’s Chris Finwood, who had his most successful season last year in guiding the Hilltoppers to their first 40-win season in 21 years.

No stranger himself to the post-seasons of the past, but this season his Topper program has struggled to maintain the high benchmark the program has recently established, falling all the way to 5th in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a little over a week to go in the regular season.

Finwood may no longer be a “Flavor of the Month,” hire the SEC is so duly noted for, and he may in fact need another year or two of seasoning before getting his SEC invitation.

But with McDonnell waiting patiently in the wings for an SEC opening to occur, his decision to return to the SEC could set off a potentially wild off-season of coaching changes across the landscape of college baseball.

Imagine the following scenario:

McDonnell takes the Georgia job, which opens up Louisville.  Gilmore then takes the Tennessee position, which opens up Coastal Carolina.  Would Finwood be interested in the lateral move to Coastal, or would his sights be set upon the beautiful ballpark in Louisville?  Would Louisville even be interested in Finwood considering the program’s latest fall?

Would the assistants under McDonnell or Gimore stay to take over Louisville and Coastal, or would they follow their leader to the SEC schools of Tennessee and Georgia and the land of higher paychecks and greater prestige?

And who knows, given the surreal and unrealistic demands of the SEC, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see Mississippi State or even Kentucky open as well, which would send the carousel into an absolute shark frenzy, and potentially leading college administrators to some stressful and sleepless nights.

Which brings us back to UNLV and the urgency that Jim Livengood is faced with for the various scenario’s must be keeping him up at night wondering how to attack and take advantage of the timing surrounding his baseball opening.

Given the current opportunities at low profile schools, such as Ohio State and the Air Force Academy, coupled with what would now be potentially high profile openings at Louisville and Coastal Carolina, two teams that could end up in Omaha this season, should Livengood wait until the end of the post-season, which could extend the Rebels coaching search into July and risk trying to sell UNLV as a destination job when so many are jockeying for high profile positions, or should he strike while the opportunity is hot in taking the best assistant coaches the country has to offer?

Florida took this option three seasons ago in hiring Clemson assistant coach Kevin O’Sullivan after Florida failed to make the post-season and look where the Gators are now…a solid Top-5 program and a legitimate contender with a solid pitching staff to win the national championship.

Given this scenario, Livengood should narrow his focus to two longtime successful assistant coaches who have major west coast ties and get his program moving in the right direction now while the irons are hot.

In most circumstances, the failure to reach postseason play would be a fatal doom to many assistant coaches looking for head coaching positions as the “Flavor of the Month” factor is a vital key for young coaches looking to capitalize on a masterful season.

However, with both Oklahoma State and Washington in the midst of youthful rebuilding projects, ironically, the timing may be just right for assistant coaches Dave Nakama (Washington) and Billy Jones (Oklahoma State) to capitalize on the marketplace for they are not involved with the daily preparations on the post-season “Road to Omaha.”

Both are no strangers to post-season play as Nakama has been to Omaha with the Stanford Cardinal on more than one occasion, even participating in a national championship game in recent past, while Jones has been as close to Omaha as you can get without actually getting there, losing in game three of the super’s at both NC State and Oklahoma State, programs that were largely built on his recruiting efforts.

Livengood must face the music for UNLV is not a destination job to most, but rather a stepping stone job one can use to reach greater fortunes. He won’t attract names like McDonnell, Gilmore or Finwood for they would simply see a move to UNLV as a lateral move, or worse yet, a step down in stature.

For Jones and Nakama, however, who are no strangers to multiple second place finishes in multiple coaching searches across the country in the last decade, UNLV would in fact be the destination job that Livengood so intends to sell considering both have experienced the trials and tribulations of developing various schools into successful programs and recognize the importance of not only the timing, but the opportunity itself.

Plus their age, with both now over 40, is likely to make both realize the fragility of the opportunity.  Both can neither afford to take any job, for the job they take at their age may certainly be their last chance at the coaching carousel.

The ironic timing of the situation is that UNLV is not just any run of the mill coaching job.  It is a sleeping giant waiting for the right mix of coaching intelligence and fortitude to mold it into success.

With the Mountain West Conference on the verge of a possible automatic BCS invitation in the near future, the conference and its member schools may just be awash in revenue sooner than later.

With outstanding facilities and a state government friendly to the dynamic needs of the corporate world, UNLV could be a major player in the Western region if the right coach is hired, and the right coach is someone who recognizes that you can get to Omaha from Las Vegas if you are willing to develop the foundation and commit the time to see it to fruition.

If Livengood is serious about building a program in “Sin City,” he should focus on hiring a coach who is not intent on building a program for 5 years, padding his resume only to move on to greater exploits, which is exactly why Nakama and Jones make so much sense from the long term viewpoint.

If the small school baseball powers – all within the 500 radial mile footprint of UNLV – schools such as Cal-State-Fullerton, Cal-Irvine, Long Beach State or UC-San Diego can achieve success on the baseball diamond without a cash-cow football program generating substantial revenue for the entire athletic department, the Rebels certainly should have a major advantage over this list of baseball Titans in the west if they can get their act together.

In today’s climate of player motivation and team communication, you need a coach who can garnish the will of the athletes to grind out a championship.

You need a coach who can sell not only his institution, city or state, but himself.  You need a coach who can manage the educational demands of the classroom and the professional baseball aspirations of the family.  You need a coach who can sell the corporate sponsors within his region with excellent speaking and entertaining skill sets, as well as a grounded sense that the program is not about his personal coaching recognition, reputation and fame, but the recognition, reputation and fame of the university and the players who represent it.

For Livengood, he needs a coach who has been through the grind and recognizes that UNLV is not a stepping stone job and who isn’t going to bolt 5 years down the line, which is a rare combination when considering the current recycled head coaching candidates.

It is time for Livengood to give either Billy Jones or David Nakama, two often forgotten names among the coaching fraternity, a chance to develop a program that will one day play on the fertile soil in Omaha on a regular basis.

The Jones File

Jones began his coaching career in 1997 at Green River Community College in Washington State following in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Dan Spencer, who after over a decade of work at Oregon State and two national championship rings later, is now the head coach at Texas Tech.

Green River College, under the direction of Jones, won the NWAACC’s Western Region championship in 1998 and a year later Spencer, then the lead assistant coach at Oregon State University under head coach Pat Casey, offered Jones the volunteer assistant position where he earned his degree in Liberal Studies.

Noted as an outstanding hitting coach (he hit .433 as a player at Lower Columbia College), his Green River wood bat program once hit 60 home runs in just 36 games.

The strong hitting trend has followed Billy’s coaching pursuits across the country as the Oklahoma State program led the Big-12 in home runs and batting average in 2005, his first season in Stillwater, and by year three at the school the Cowboys led the conference in batting average, home runs and slugging percentage altogether.

The 2008 team alone had 8 members in the starting line-up who hit .317 or higher!

A noted players coach, Jones developed national recruiting classes at both NC State and Oklahoma State after being mentored by Arizona State coach Pat Murphy, where he was the Director of Baseball Operations for two seasons.

While in Raleigh, North Carolina – Jones helped guide the Wolf Pack to two NCAA Regional appearances in three seasons and was one of five finalists for the Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2003.

Although he coaches outfielders and hitting at present with the Cowboys, his troops at NC State improved their team fielding percentage every year, from .958 in 2002, to .966 in 2003 to .976 (4th best in the nation) in 2004, the year NC State lost in the super-regional finals.

Former Oklahoma State volunteer assistant coach Trevor Brown, who now works as the Northwest Area Scout for the Minnesota Twins Organization, has nothing but glowing words for his coaching mentor Jones.

Brown, a former NAIA All-American who won a national championship at Lewis and Clarke State College under the direction of Ed Cheff, claims that “Jones is the best coach he has worked for or played under in terms of getting the most talent out of his players.  “He has an innate ability to connect to all players of differing backgrounds as he approaches each player individually, playing to their strengths and masking their weaknesses to improve player performance.”

Brown played for both Cheff (Lewis & Clarke State) and Donny Harrel (the current head coach at Seattle University) at Lane Community College, and although not taking anything away from those other coaches, believes Jones has a special talent in developing players compared to most of the coaches around the country today.

“His players have extreme loyalty and he is somewhat of a master in identifying and recruiting diamond-in-the-rough type players and developing them into All-Americans and professional baseball prospects.  It would be a shame not to see him lead his own program in the near future as he is certainly qualified and well equipped to run a championship level program.”

The Nakama File

After spending 10 plus seasons at Stanford University, Dave Nakama has moved up north in the PAC-10 Conference joining coach Lindsey Meggs initial staff at Washington in 2010.

At Stanford, Nakama worked with the infielders and hitters while coaching first base, and was a central figure in recruiting, helping the Cardinal land four top-10 recruiting classes in the last 8 years according to BaseballAmerica.com

During his decade on “The Farm,” Nakama helped the team to four PAC-10 Championships, five NCAA regional titles and four trips to the College World Series.

Among the many he mentored as coach, Boston Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie, first-rounder John Mayberry Jr., and Seattle Mariners farmhand Chris Minaker stand out among a crowded and talented athletic baseball crop that populated the Stanford dugout.

Under Nakama’s watchful eye, the Cardinal posted their five best seasons for fielding percentage in school history, including a .977 mark in 2005 where they committed 51 errors in 59 games.  All in all, Nakama led the Cardinal to five top-10 finishes in his last eight years at the school, including another .977 mark in his last season.

According to Husky coach Lindsey Meggs, who worked with Nakama at Chico State and San Francisco State, “having Dave on the staff is like having another head coach in the dugout…he has all the intangibles needed to be a head coach as he can manage the game both offensively and defensively, and more importantly, he knows the PAC-10 Conference inside and out.”

Having personally watched Nakama work with the En Fuego Academy program in Seattle, he has an innate ability to communicate with young athletes and what impresses me the most is his genuine interest in helping players move on in college baseball, even if his school (currently the Huskies) isn’t on the players list of schools as he believes the college decision is one of the five defining choices a young man will make in his lifetime.

Like Jones, who has Junior College and collegiate summer-ball coaching experience, Nakama spent five seasons as the head coach at Mission Junior College (Santa Clara, CA), leading his squad to the California State Tournament in each of his final two seasons, earning conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996.

Although Nakama would be a great hire at UNLV, which is a job he wouldn’t turn down, the natural position for the Hawaiian native and perhaps the job he covets most is the Hawaii job.

A graduate from Kaiser High School in Honolulu and a former head and assistant coach for the collegiate summer-ball Hawaii Island Movers, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Nakama isn’t named the program’s next head coach.

That is if someone like UNLV doesn’t beat Hawaii to the punch.

The question athletic director Livengood should seriously consider is what other coaching candidates have ties to so many successful coaches and championships programs in comparison to Jones or Nakama?

Jones has worked with Pat Casey and Pat Murphy, no strangers themselves to the College World Series.

Since leaving NC State, the Wolf-Pack have not sustained the barometer set by Jones who led them to a super-regional.  Jones has also worked with Frank Anderson, who came to Oklahoma State after winning a national championship on the Texas staff in 2005.

For coach Nakama, is there another assistant coach in the country who has worked for two coaching icons like Mark Marquess at Stanford or Lindsey Meggs at Chico State?

With four trips to the College World Series and team records in fielding percentage, not to mention his recruiting prowess, what exactly is Livengood looking at to eliminate Nakama?

The same can be said of Jones.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 14

The Last Notebook Of The Regular Season…

48…Game hitting streak by Florida International shortstop Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore has the second-longest hitting streak in Division One history after hitting safely in Saturday’s regular season finale vs. rival Florida Atlantic. Former Oklahoma State and MLB star Robin Ventura owns the all-time record with hits in 58 straight games in 1987.

.415…Wittels‘ batting average during the streak (and season to date).  He has played in 48 of his team’s 53 games this season and has collected 66 singles, 15 doubles, two triples, and two home runs during the streak.

2 2/3…Innings Wittels has also pitched this season.  He has a 3.30 ERA.

34…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Rhode Island’s Tim Boyce, who tossed his second straight complete game shutout last Thursday vs. George Washington.  The scoreless streak is the longest in Division One baseball in 2010.

7 2/3…Innings pitched before Boyce gave-up a hit in that game.  The senior settled for a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and just one walk to improve to 5-3 this season.

.109…Batting average of the combined 119 batters Boyce has faced during his scoreless streak, which dates back to April 30.  Boyce has given-up just 12 hits with 29 strikeouts and four walks during the impressive streak.

32 1/3…Scoreless innings streak by Wichita State sophomore Jordan Cooper that ended Thursday when Dallas Baptist’s Jason Kizran hit his 11th home run of the season.  Cooper gave-up the lone run in 7 IP with eight strikeouts to improve to 9-2 on the year.

11…SEC regular season championships won by Florida after the Gators won their series at South Carolina over the weekend heading into this week’s SEC Baseball Tournament.

14…Years since the Gators last won a series in Columbia, SC prior to their weekend win.  Third-year Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan is the seventh head coach in school history to win an SEC crown.

332…Career strikeouts by Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz to tie an Ole Miss school record.  Pomeranz fanned six in Thursday’s 5-3 loss to Auburn to hit the mark.  The junior lefty has 127 Ks in 86 2/3 IP this season.

19…Wins in SEC regular season play, the most in school history, by Auburn after taking the first two games of the series vs. Ole Miss.  The series win gives the Tigers their first SEC West Division crown since 1995.  Auburn will be the #2 seed at the SEC Tournament.

2,055…Combined career wins by Minnesota’s John Anderson (1,031) and Ohio State’s Bob Todd (1,024) prior to their weekend series in Columbus, OH.  Both have already been inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

2…Games won by Anderson’s Golden Gophers over Todd’s Buckeyes to give Minnesota the Big Ten regular season crown and knock Ohio State out of the Big Ten Tournament, which is being played this year on Ohio State’s Bill Davis Stadium.

3…Wins by Iowa over Purdue to end the regular season to give the Hawkeyes the #4 seed at the Big Ten Tourney.  It’s Iowa’s only season sweep of the season and the first for the Hawkeyes to end the regular season since 1980.  Iowa and Purdue will play in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

4…Complete game shutouts this season by Pepperdine’s Matt Bywater.  The senior set Pepperdine’s single-season shutout record with Friday’s 5-0 win over San Diego.  He was previously in a nine-way tie for first place with the likes of former Major Leaguer Mike Scott.

1…West Coast Conference loss by San Diego, which was 15-0 in league play heading into Friday’s action.  The Toreros have already claimed the WCC regular season championship, which comes with an automatic NCAA bid.

5…Complete games tossed by Bywater (5-5) this season to help the Pepperdine pitching staff to a WCC-best 11 CGs this year.

5…Complete games combined by the Portland, San Francisco and Gonzaga pitching staffs in 2010.

17…Consecutive times Vanderbilt’s Jason Esposito reached base safely prior to striking out looking in the fifth inning of Thursday’s 4-3 win over Arkansas.  Esposito’s streak fell one short of tying the all-time NCAA record of 18, which was set by Shaun Larkin of Cal State Northridge in 2002.

3…Games won by Clemson over Florida State to end the regular season and give the Tigers the ACC’s Atlantic Division crown.

2…Games won in the series by Clemson reliever Alex Frederick, who pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in Saturday’s 8-3 win after earning the win in 2 1/3 innings of relief in Thursday’s 9-8 victory.

1994…The last time a Clemson pitcher won two games in an ACC three-game series prior to Frederick’s weekend feat.

4…Runs scored by Louisville with two outs in the 9th inning of Thursday’s 6-3 win over Notre Dame.  The Cardinals scored their runs on J.J. Ethel’s pinch-hit 3-run HR, which was followed by a solo shot by Jeff Arnold.

2…Runs scored by Louisville when the Cardinals were again down to their last out in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader vs. the Irish.  Adam Duvall’s 2-run triple gave Louisville the winning runs.

15…Wins by the Cardinals this season that have seen the winning runs scored in their last at-bat.  Louisville’s sweep of Notre Dame, coupled with UConn falling to Seton Hall in its regular season finale gave the Cards the Big East regular season championship.

3…Runs scored on a two out walk-off home run by West Virginia’s Kevin Griffin to give the Mountaineers a 3-2 win over Villanova The win clinched the #8 seed at the Big East Tournament for WVU and knocked Notre Dame out of a spot in the tourney.

1987…The last time Notre Dame (22-32) both finished with a losing record and failed to qualify for a conference tournament.  The Irish had been to the Big East Tournament every year since joining the conference in the 1996 season.

35… Straight Big South Conference games won by Coastal Carolina, which closed its 2010 regular season slate at 25-0 after taking two games from Radford (the finale was rained-out).

8…Runs scored by Washington from the 9th-11th innings to beat Oregon 13-11 in Friday’s series opener.  After the Huskies scored two in the 9th and four runs in the 10th inning to tie the game, freshman Chase Anselment capped the thriller with a two-run walk-off home run.

41…Regular season wins for UCLA after a weekend sweep of Cal.  It’s the first time in 31 years the Bruins (41-11, 16-8 Pac 10) have registered at least 41 regular season victories.

1969…The last time UCLA has been at least 30 games above .500.  With no Pac 10 Tournament, the Bruins conclude the regular season this week with a Tuesday game vs. Big West champion Cal State Fullerton and three games vs. Pac 10 foe Washington State.

9-1…Washington State’s record in its last 10 games after a weekend sweep of USC.  The hot streak has the Cougars (31-18, 14-10) in third place in the Pac 10, behind Arizona State (47-5, 18-6) and UCLA.

1…2009 College World Series team, North Carolina, that failed to qualify for its conference tournament this year.  The Tar Heels (36-20, 14-16 ACC) did not make the ACC Tournament despite a sweep of Viginia Tech to close the regular season.  Boston College made it in after a series of tie-breakers.

0…ACC teams that have ever made the NCAA Tournament without first qualifying for the ACC Tournament.  The Tar Heels, which had an RPI of 30 last week, will be on pins and needles until NCAA selections come out next Monday (May 31).

2…More NCAA Tournament automatic bids that were locked-up over the weekend.  Bethune-Cookman won the MEAC crown, while Bucknell took the Patriot League title.

1998…The last time Oral Roberts was not the #1 seed at the Summit League Baseball Tournament prior to this year.  The Golden Eagles were the regular season co-champs with South Dakota State this year, but are the tournament’s #2 seed after losing three of four games to the Jack Rabbits earlier this month.

27…Straight Summit League Tournament games Oral Roberts has won heading into this week’s tournament.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 12

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 11

Streaks, Upsets And Other Notable Action…

38…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore extended the nation’s longest active streak with an RBI single in his last at-bat of the game on Sunday with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings (an 8-7 loss to Louisiana-Monroe).  Wittels’ current streak is the longest in

Division One baseball in the last 11 years.

8…Underdogs that won weekend series vs. CB360 Top 50 teams.  The most notable wins were: #26 Auburn took two of three at #5 Arkansas and  unranked North Carolina State won two of three against #8 Georgia Tech.

7…Straight losses by defending national champion LSU (32-13, 11-10) after dropping all three games in its weekend series at Florida (31-11, 15-6).  The Tigers were swept by Ole Miss last weekend as well.

14…Years (1996) since Florida last swept a series against LSU.

.390…The Gators’ team batting average in their sweep while outscoring the Tigers by a combined 28-14.  Matt den Dekker led Florida’s nine starters who all had at least one hit in Sunday’s finale by going 5-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

4…Strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched, wins this season and RBIs in Sunday’s game by freshman starting pitcher/designated hitter Brian Johnson (4-2), who hit the first grand slam of his young career.

2…Home runs hit in an 8-run fifth inning by Auburn’s Hunter Morris in Saturday’s win over Arkansas.  Morris started the inning with a homer and later launched a two-run blast to help the Tigers (30-15, 12-9) total four HR and all eight of their runs in the 8-7 victory.

38…Years since Ole Miss last swept a series vs. Mississippi State in Starkville, MS prior to taking three games from the rival Bulldogs over the weekend at Dudy Noble Field.  The three wins have the Rebels tied for first place with Arkansas in the SEC West.

20…Straight wins by Texas after Sunday’s 4-1 win over Baylor to cap a 3-game weekend sweep.  The 20 consecutive wins are the most at Texas since the 1988 team also rattled-off 20 in a row.

5…Consecutive Big 12 series sweeps by the Longhorns (38-7, 19-2) to help them set a new conference record with 17 straight wins in league play.  The previous record was set in 2008 by Texas A&M.

1…Earned run allowed by Texas starting pitchers, who combined to strike out 29 batters in 33.0 innings in the three games.

12…Scoreless innings pitched in the three games by the Longhorn bullpen, highlighted by Hoby Miner’s four perfect innings to pick-up the win in Saturday’s 2-1 win in 14 innings.

3…Games won by #1 Arizona State at #4 UCLA to give the Sun Devils their first sweep at Jackie Robinson Stadium since 1994.

23-4…Combined score by which the Sun Devils (38-5, 14-4) outscored the Bruins (30-10, 7-8) in the three games.  20 of the 23 runs allowed by the UCLA pitching staff, which came into the weekend with the second best ERA in the nation at 2.80, were earned.

7…First inning RBIs by Louisville’s Andrew Clark, who hit both a 3-run blast and a grand slam in the 10-run opening frame of Saturday’s 24-6 win over Rutgers.  Clark ended the game 4-for-4 with 2 HR, 8 RBIs, 4 runs, and a HBP.

16…Barry Larkin’s jersey number, which was retired in Ann Arbor on Saturday prior to the Wolverine’s 3-2 loss to Ohio State.  Larkin played at Michigan from 1983 to 1986.

2…Wins by the Wolverines (27-15, 9-6) over the Buckeyes (24-15, 8-7) to remain tied with Northwestern (18-25, 9-6) atop the Big Ten conference standings.  Ohio State was part of a four-way tie first place heading into the weekend.

0…Innings pitched in the series by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers, who was a scratch after he  injured a hamstring just moments before Friday’s 4-1 OSU loss.  Wimmers (9-0, 1.61 ERA) entered the weekend tied for the national lead with his nine wins.  His ERA ranks sixth nationally.

17…Game winning streak by #6 Coastal Carolina snapped in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to #3 Virginia.

30…Straight Big South Conference home wins by Coastal Carolina after a weekend 3-game sweep of UNC Asheville in Conway, SC.

22…Game winning streak by # 18 Connecticut snapped in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to Central Connecticut State.  The Huskies (35-9, 14-3) split two home games vs. #34 Pittsburgh (31-11, 13-4) (game three was rained-out) to maintain a narrow lead over Louisville (36-7, 14-4) at the top of the Big East Conference standings.

24…Game hitting streak by UConn’s Mike Nemeth that ended when he went o-for-4 in a 13-4 loss to Pitt in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.  Nemeth had extended the streak to 24 earlier in the day when he hit his 9th home run of the season in UConn’s 11-7 game one victory.

12 & 487…Games played and batters faced by Notre Dame pitchers without giving-up a home run.  The longest such

stretch for the Irish pitching staff since 2006 ended Friday when Paul Karmas of St. John’s hit a solo shot in the fifth inning of Notre Dame’s 14-5 win.

13…Strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings by North Carolina State’s Jake Buchanen in Friday’s 6-5 win over #8 Georgia Tech.  The effort helped the Wolfpack (28-18, 11-13) take two of three games from the Yellow Jackets (36-9, 17-7) to keep their NCAA hopes alive.

32…Career home runs hit by UT Arlington’s Michael Choice to set a new program record.  Choice hit his 14th HR of the season in Saturday’s win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

16…Of Choice’s home runs that have come in “clutch” situations, including seven tie-breaking shots, five game-tying home runs and two that have provided the eventual winning runs for his team.

10…Strikeouts in 8.0 innings by Florida Gulf Coast pitcher Chris Sale (7-0)  in Friday’s 4-2 win over #27 Clemson to give the Eagles (28-15) their only win in the weekend’s non-conference 3-game series.

16…Strikeouts by Nicholls State’s Clint Dempster in Friday’s 5-3 complete game win over #44 Southeastern Louisiana.

15…RBIs last week by Wichita State’s Preston Springer, who hit .565 (13-for-23) with 9 runs, five doubles and three home runs last week.  Springer helped the Shockers to midweek wins over Big 12 teams Kansas and Oklahoma State.  He hit his first career grand slam against the Cowboys on Wednesday.

3…Home runs by Illinois State third baseman Ryan Court in Saturday’s 18-8 win over Wichita State.  The win gave the Redbirds their first ever run rule victory over the Shockers.

Podcast Interview: Michigan’s Rich Maloney

Wolverines vs. Buckeyes This Weekend In Big Ten

After a slow start to the season Michigan finds itself in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference standings heading into this weekend’s showdown with Ohio State.  In this podcast interview Collegebaseball360.com Big Ten correspondent Chris Webb talks to Wolverine head coach Rich Maloney about his team’s turnaround this season as well as the extension of the college baseball season and its impact on Northern schools, RPI and more.

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* NOTE: Maloney references Notre Dame’s 2002 CWS team in this interview.  He is correct that Florida State was ranked #1 in the nation when the Irish defeated them in the Tallahassee Super Regional.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 10

A By The Numbers Look At Another Week Of Action

20 & 16…Touchdown passes thrown and home runs hit, respectively, during the current academic year by Clemson’s

Kyle Parker.  The quarterback/outfielder threw 20 touchdowns for the Tigers last fall and became the first “20-15″ player in Division One history after belting a grand slam in Tuesday’s 22-4 win over USC Upstate.  He also tallied his 16th homer of the season in Sunday’s win over North Carolina.

3 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by Parker’s teammate, John Stinson, in that same Tuesday game.  The three HR tied a Clemson single-game record.  Clemson scored 17 of its 22 runs in the first three innings alone.

5…Former college football/baseball players taken in the weekend’s NFL draft- Stanford’s Toby Gerhart (#51-Minnesota Vikings), Notre Dame’s Golden Tate (#60-Seattle Seahawks), LSU’s Chad Jones (#76 New York Giants), Minnesota’s Eric Decker (#87-Denver Broncos), and Florida’s Riley Cooper (#159-Philadelphia Eagles).  Gerhart and Tate were second round picks, Jones and Decker went in the third round, while Cooper was tabbed in the fifth round.

5…At-bats, hits, runs scored, and RBIs by Georgia Tech’s Thomas Nichols, whose two home runs were among his five hits, in Wednesday’s 18-4 win over Georgia Southern.

48…Consecutive seasons Arizona State has won at least 30 games.  The current campaign also marks the 50th time overall the Sun Devils have reached the 30-win mark.

11…Teams, including ASU (33-5), that notched their 30th win before losing their 10th game this season.  Virginia (34-9), Texas (34-7), Georgia Tech (34-7), LSU (32-9), Arkansas (33-8), Coastal Carolina (36-5), South Carolina (32-8), Connecticut (33-7), Louisville (32-7), Vanderbilt (32-10), and TCU (30-8) also accomplished the feat.  UCLA (29-7) and Appalachian State (29-8-1) still have the chance to do it as well.

6…Home runs surrendered in 9.0 innings by UCLA in Tuesday’s 16-5 loss to Long Beach State.  Dirtbag  DH Jordan Cases connected for two of the long balls.

17….Home runs surrendered by UCLA pitchers in the previous 295.0 innings prior to Tuesday’s loss.  The 16 runs and 18 hits allowed by the Bruin pitching staff were also season-highs.

2…Wins by Kansas State over intrastate rival Wichita State both this season and last season.

1952 & 1953…The last time K-State took back-to-back season series from the Shockers.

1…Batter who reached base vs. Christian Bergman in Sunday’s 13-0 UC Irvine win over UC Davis.  Aggie center fielder Daniel Cepin singled on the first pitch he saw, and Bergman then proceeded to retire the next 26 batters he faced.  Cepin was thrown out on a stolen base attempt.

12…Combined errors (six each) by North Carolina State and East Carolina in the Wolfpack’s 8-6 Wednesday win over the Pirates.  The miscues led to a total of eight unearned runs scored.

1977…The last time Notre Dame played in Ann Arbor prior to Michigan’s 3-2 home win on Tuesday.  (The teams played several neutral site games near Grand Rapids, MI over the years.)

13…Two-out runs scored by the Wolverines in Wednesday’s 13-1 win over the Irish in their return trip to Notre

Dame.

17…Straight wins by Coastal Carolina after a 3-game sweep of VMI.  It’s the second longest winning streak in program history, and the best since the 1983 team won 19 straight.

21…Straight wins by Connecticut-a program record and the third longest winning streak in the nation in 2010-after the weekend’s 3-game sweep of Rutgers.  UConn (33-7, 13-2) entered the weekend tied with the Scarlet Knights for first place in the Big East Conference, but now owns sole possession of the top spot.

300…Career hits by Bryant’s Nick Campbell, who reached the school-record milestone with a double in Saturday’s win over Fairleigh Dickinson.

56 & 2…Respective strikeouts and walks in 64.0 IP this season by Minnesota’s Seth Rosin.  The right-hander had 7 Ks and no walks in 7 2/3 innings in Friday’s 14-0 win over Indiana, the top offensive team in the Big Ten entering the weekend’s action.

15…Strikeouts by North Carolina’s Matt Harvey in Friday’s complete game 5-3 win over Clemson.

156…Pitches thrown by Harvey (including 101 for strikes) to pick-up the victory.

13…Game winning streak by #6 Arkansas that was snapped when #9 Florida won the last two games of their series in Gainesville.

0…Earned runs surrendered in 12 2/3 combined innings by Gator starters Brian Johnson and Hudson Randall Florida’s wins in games two and three of the series.

3 1/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Gator reliever Greg Larson to earn his third save of the year in Saturday’s win that ended the Razorbacks’ 13-game streak.

9…Runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings by Pittsburgh’s Corey Baker en-route to his 9th win of the season.  The Panthers led West Virginia 12-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning and then held-on to win 13-9.

3…Pitchers, including Baker, who lead the nation with nine victories.  He is tied with Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers and Cole Green of Texas.

4…Hits apiece given-up by Wimmers and Green with respective complete game wins over Penn State and Oklahoma State to earn their ninth wins of the year.  Wimmers recorded 10 strikeouts while Green notched five.

18-2…Wimmers‘ record over the last two seasons.  The junior is just the third Ohio State pitcher in the last 127 years to start a season 9-0.

19 & 1…Strikeouts recorded and runs allowed in his last two starts (16 innings) by Green’s teammate, Taylor Jungmann.

16…Consecutive wins by Texas, including 14 straight Big 12 contests, after a 3-game sweep of Oklahoma State.  The 16 straight wins are the most for the Longhorns in five years.

4…Runs allowed in their last 49 2/3 innings of Big 12 action by Texas starting pitchers.

2…Consecutive wins by Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech to hand the Yellow Jackets (34-7, 16-5) their first back-to-back losses of the season.  GT salvaged a 14-12 win in Sunday’s series finale.

23:40…Hours and minutes of the rain delay of game two of the series, which Va. Tech won 10-3.  The game was halted by rain Saturday with the Hokies leading 6-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.

7-5…Virginia Tech’s (28-14, 11-10) record vs. top-10 teams over the last four weekends.

3…Wins by Ole Miss over LSU in their weekend series in Oxford, MS. It’s the first time the defending national champs have been swept in an SEC set since 2008.

2…Of the Rebel wins that came in walk-off fashion.  They won game two 9-8 in 11 innings after Alex Yarbrough’s game winning single on Saturday, and then capped the sweep on Sunday with a 7-6 win thanks to a game-ending RBI single by Kevin Mort.

14…Combined runs allowed in a total of 4 2/3 IP by LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo (9 R in 1 2/3 IP) and Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz (5 R in 3.0 IP) in the opener of the series, which was played early Saturday afternoon instead of  Friday night after heavy rains forced postponement.

23…Combined strikeouts by UCLA starters Gerrit Cole (10K in 8 IP) and Trevor Bauer (13K in 9 IP) to help the Bruins take two of three games at Arizona in their three game series.

50…Total runs scored by Texas Tech and Kansas in two games played on Sunday in Lawrence, KS.  The Red Raiders won by finals of 11-8 and 21-10 to win the series 2-1.

12…Doubles hit by the Red Raiders in the 21-10 victory.  The binge of two-baggers ties a Big 12 single-game record.

7…Of those doubles that came in the top of the second inning-one shy of the NCAA record.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 8

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week’s Action

2…Wins by Washington State over #1 Arizona State.  By taking two of three games in the series in Pullman the Cougars won their first series in program history over the Sun Devils.

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6…Cougars who were hit by pitch in Sunday’s 9-5 series-clinching win over ASU.  Garry Kuykendall was plunked three times.

6…RBIs by Clemson second baseman Mike Freeman in Wednesday’s win over Georgia.  Freeman played for the Bulldogs in 2007 before transferring to Georgia.

300…Career wins by Georgia head coach Dave Perno with a 6-5 Sunday win over Ole Miss-UGA’s only win in the series. Perno is in his 9th season at the helm at his alma mater.

15…Strikeouts in 8 IP by Ole Miss pitcher Drew Pomeranz in Friday’s 4-1 win over Georgia.  It’s the second time this season Pomeranz has fanned 15 in a game.

14…School record runs scored in the first inning by Arkansas in Wednesday’s 32-8 win over visiting St. Louis.  The Razorbacks also combined to tie a school record with 30 RBIs in the game.

2…Men named Fred Hill who were head coaches at Rutgers last week.  Fred Hill, Sr.-of the RU baseball team and Fred Hill, Jr.-of the Scarlet Knight men’s basketball team.

1…Fred hill who is currently coaching at Rutgers after Fred Hill, Jr. was dismissed as basketball coach last week.  The younger Hill’s dismissal was in part precipitated in part by an alleged profanity laced tirade directed at Pittsburgh baseball coach Joe Jordano during an April 1 9-8 win by RU.

2…Wins at Notre Dame over the weekend by Rutgers.  Saturday’s 25-5 win gave the elder Hill and his team its first win at Notre Dame since 2002.  The road series win at Eck Stadium is RU’s first since the Irish and Scarlet Knights joined the Big East together in 1996.

7…Home runs hit by Rutgers in Saturday’s 25-5 onslaught.  Outfielder Michael Lang had two of the long balls with 7 RBIs.

3…Wins needed by Fred Hill, Sr. to reach 1,000 for his career.  He’s been the head coach at Rutgers since 1984.

1…Closer the Jersey coach could not use in Friday’s 9-8 loss to the Irish due to a jersey flap.  His closer, Tyler Gebler, was wearing jersey #4 instead of his usual #43 in the game and with the tying run at 2nd base and two outs in the bottom of the 8th Hill went to the pen to the freshman.  However, Gebler was ruled an illegal substitution in the game, because Hill had crossed-out Steve Nyisztor’s #41 instead of Gebler’s #43 on the line-up card he turned-in before the game.  Hill had to go to Kevin Lillis, who gave-up back-to-back RBI hits, including Adam Norton’s game-winning triple.  Gebler has a 1.50 ERA, while his 6 saves are tied for second-best in the Big East.

2…Triples hit and innings pitched by Notre Dame’s David Mills in Tuesday’s 13-6 win over Oakland.  The lefty started the game as the Irish DH and later entered the game on the mound.  He had 2 RBIs and pitched 4 innings in relief to earn another win on Friday in ND’s only win of the Rutgers series.

2…Wins by Pittsburgh over fifth-ranked Louisville in their weekend series at Pitt’s Trees Field.  Losses Friday and Saturday to start the series, combined with a midweek loss to Kentucky, gave the Cardinals their first back-to-back setbacks of the season as well as their first series loss.

4…Runs scored in the top of the 9th inning of Sunday’s series finale to give Louisville a 9-7 win and avoid the series sweep.  Adam Duvall and Ryan Wright each belted two-run home runs to provide the offense.

17…Combined runs surrendered 13 1/3 by Louisville starting pitchers Thomas Royse, Dean Kiekhefer and Gabriel Shaw in the three games vs. Pitt.  Royse (6-1) suffered his first loss in the series-opener.  Shaw was making his first start of the season in Sunday’s finale after 14 relief outings.

36…Combined runs that same trio had surrendered in 104 1/3 previous innings pitched this season.

14…Strikeouts with no walks by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers (7-0) in Friday’s 7-1 win over Indiana.  Hoosier outfielder Alex Dickerson went 0-for-4 in the game to end his 21-game hitting streak.

4…Home runs in as many games to end the week by Duke’s Will Currier.  His 8 RBIs over the weekend helped the Blue Devils take two of three games from #12 Clemson.

2…Hits allowed by Oregon State’s Greg Peavey in Friday’s complete game 4-1 win over #2 UCLA.  Peavy’s efforts handed the Bruins their first consecutive losses after a midweek setback to Cal State Fullerton.

16…Innings needed for UCLA to beat OSU 3-1 in game two of the Pac 10 series on Saturday.  The game lasted 6 hours and 23 minutes.

39…Combined runners left on base by the Bruins (22) and Beavers (17) in Saturday’s marathon.

529…Pitches thrown in the game by a total of 12 pitchers, including eight sent to the mound by Oregon State.

11…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by UCLA pitchers-with seven scoreless frames to end the 16-inning game combined with four shutout half innings to start Sunday’s series finale, which the Bruins won 8-2.

18…Combined pitchers used by LSU (8) and Southern Mississippi (10) in Wednesday’s 6-5 win in 12-innings in Metairie, LA.

2…Wins by Auburn over defending SEC & National Champion LSU in their weekend series at Auburn’s Samford Stadium.  The Tigers win game three 6-5 after a game-ending squeeze bunt by right fielder Justin Fredejas.

1998…The last time Auburn had won a home series vs. LSU prior to the weekend’s wins.  LSU had swept the last two series between the two teams and had won eight of the previous 11 series since 1999.

0…Outs recorded by Auburn starting pitcher Cole Nelson, who surrendered six earned runs on seven hits in Friday’s 14-10 loss to open the series.

0…Hits by Auburn catcher Tony Caldwell, who still had 3 RBIs in Saturday’s 11-7 Auburn win.  Caldwell was 0-for-1, but drove-in his runs with a bases loaded walk and two sac flies.  He also had a sacrifice bunt on the day.

7…RBIs in the series by Auburn’s Trent Mummey, who made his first three starts of the year after injuring his ankle prior to the start of the season.  Mummey hit two home runs, including his second career grand slam.

2 of 3…Wins by Oregon in its series at Stanford to give the Ducks their first Pac 10 series win since 1980 and their first Pac 10 road series win since 1976 at Washington.

21…Wins by Oregon through 32 games this season after winning just 17 games all of last year-the first year baseball was played at the school after it was disbanded following the 1981 season.

26…Game hitting streak by Kansas State’s Nick Martini-the longest active D1 streak in the nation this season.  A pair of 21-game hitting streaks ended over the weekend.  Martini had at least one hit in KSU’s series vs. Nebraska.  His streak is a school record and the fifth-longest in Big 12 history.

62…Career stolen bases by Martini’s teammate, Adam Muenster, to set a school record that had held since 1995.  Muenster’s record-breaker came in Sunday’s 8-3 win over the Cornhuskers.

8,540…Fans who saw K-State take two of three games from Nebraska to set a 3-game series attendance record at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan.

9-0…Kentucky’s lead over Alabama heading into the top of the sixth inning of Sunday’s game in Lexington, KY.

11-9…Final score of Alabama’s win in that game.  Jake Smith’s grand slam capped a 5-run sixth inning and the Tide scored five more runs in the 8th and another in the 9th to cap the biggest comeback in school history.

4…Combined shutout innings pitched by Alabama’s Tyler White and Nathan Kilcrease in Sunday’s improbable comeback.  White got the win to improve to 3-1 while Kilcrease earned his second save.

3…Home runs off three different pitchers by TCU’s Jason Coats in Sunday’s 12-2 win over Houston.   Coats’ efforts helped the Horned Frogs outscore the Cougars 33-3 in the series.

2…Wins by Virginia Tech over #14 Miami in their weekend series.  The Hokies’ first ever series win over the Hurricanes comes a week after their first win over another traditional college baseball power-Florida State.

3…ACC series won by Virginia Tech all of last season.  They have won four of five conference series already this season, with their only loss (a sweep) coming at the hands of Clemson.

2…Walk-off home runs in as many days by Bryant first baseman Jamie Skagerlind to help his team win three of four games vs. Central Connecticut State.  Skagerlind’s shot in the bottom of the 10th inning ended Saturday’s 3-2 win in game one of a doubleheader.  His blast to end Sunday’s 7-inning twin bill opener capped a 5-run Bryant rally.  The game-winning blasts are his only home runs of the season.

3…No-hitters thrown last week.  Fresno State’s Greg Gonzalez and Lehigh’s Greg Angelo each tossed 7-inning no-hitters, while Kevin Johnson of West Florida fired the second 9-inning no-no of 2010.  Gonzalez is the first Bulldog to pitch a no-hitter in 34 years, while Angelo had the first at Lehigh since 1988.

11…Shutout innings pitched across two games by North Florida’s John Atteo.  He earned the win with two scoreless innings in Tuesday’s 3-1 upset of Florida State, and then fired a complete game shutout in Sunday’s 10-0 win over USC Upstate.

1,201…Career wins by UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes-who will retire at season’s end-with Atteo’s Sunday victory.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 7

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week’s Action

We comb through hundreds of box scores, game recaps and releases each week to find our Notebooks nuggets.  If there’s something noteworthy you think we need to add drop us an email.

7…Wins apiece for South Alabama pitcher D.D. Hanks and Asher Wojciechowski of The Citadel.  Both earned their nation-leading wins Friday night.

8:13 P.M…The time (Eastern) South Alabama’s 9-2 win over New Orleans ended Friday night, making Hanks (7-1) the nation’s first 7-game winner.  He struck out 9 in his fourth complete game effort of the season.

9:37 P.M…The time (Eastern) The Citadel’s 3-2 win over Wofford ended Friday night, to make Wojciechowski the nation’s second 7-game winner.  He fanned 9 as well in 8 innings of work.

46…Combined wins by Arizona State and UCLA to open the 2010 season.

2…Combined losses by ASU and UCLA Friday night, as they both tasted defeat for the first time to Pac 10 foes.  ASU’s 24-game winning streak and UCLA’s 22-game streak were both respective school records.  Both the Sun Devils and Bruins would win their series finales to win 2 of 3 games on the weekend.

5:24…Time of ASU’s 6-5 loss in 12-innings to Oregon Friday night in Eugene.  The game featured an hour and five minutes of rain and lightening delays.

3…Sun Devil errors in the loss, leading to five of six Duck runs being unearned.  Junior Marcus Piazzisi had the

game-ending RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning.

1…Career home run by ASU’s Drew Maggi-a solo shot that gave the Sun Devils a 1-0 win over the Ducks in the series-opener to run their record to 24-0.

7…Runs scored by Stanford in the 5th inning en-route to their 8-4 win over UCLA that same night.

6…Of those runs that were unearned due to a throwing error that started the frame.  Four runs crossed the plate with two outs.

9…Innings pitched by Stanford’s Jordan Pries (3-1) who notched the second complete game of the season for both he and his team while handing the Bruins their first loss.

3…Home runs hit by Virginia Tech in Saturday’s 8-7 win at Florida State.  Coupled with Friday’s 10-5 series-opening win over the Seminoles, the Hokies notched their first series win ever over FSU (the lost 9-6 in Sunday’s series finale).

400…Career wins for Virginia Tech head coach Pete Hughes after the weekend’s two wins over the ‘Noles.  Hughes is in his 14th year as a head coach.

2…Wins by Georgetown in its three-game series with Notre Dame to give the Hoyas their first ever series win over the Fighting Irish.

1…Grand slam hit by North Carolina State’s Andrew Ciencin to help the Wolfpack upset #3 Virginia Sunday.  The win gave NC State its second win over the Cavs in the 3-game series.

9 of 9…Virginia closer Kevin Arico’s record in save opportunities this season prior to his first blown save in Friday’s 6-5 loss in 11 innings to NC State.

500…Wins at NC State by head coach Elliott Avent after the Friday night win.  He’s just the second coach in school history with as many victories.

16…Strikeouts in 9 innings by South Florida’s Andrew Barbosa in Friday’s 5-0 win over Cincinnati.

9…Combined strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings by Cincinnati relievers Brian Garman and Andrew Burkett in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Bulls.  Garman (3-0) fanned 7 of the 9 batters he faced to earn the win, while Burkett K’d 2 of 3 Bulls in the 9th to notch his 5th save.

3…Grand slams hit in a span of five games by East Carolina’s Zach Wright, who connected on his third slam in Tuesday’s 8-0 win over Elon.

15…Strikeouts by ECU pitcher Zach Woods-a career-high-in that same win over Elon.  He fanned 7 of the first 9 batters he faced to become just the second Pirate pitcher in the last 40 years record 15 punch outs in a game.

20 & 23…Runs scored Thursday and Friday by Cal State Fullerton in wins over UC Davis to give the Titans back-to-back 20-run games for the first time in 30 years.  They won Saturday’s finale 3-2 to open 3-0 in Big West play.

21 2/3…Innings pitched by Texas hurlers prior to surrendering a run to Oklahoma en-route to a 3-game weekend sweep.  The Longhorns won by finals of 5-0, 2-0 and 9-3 in Norman.

11…Game winning streak by #35 Pittsburgh-a school record-heading into last weekend’s Big East series at Rutgers.

5…Runs scored by Rutgers in the bottom of the 9th inning of Thursday’s 9-8 series-opening win to snap Pitt’s streak.  The Scarlet Knights won game two 6-1 to run their winning streak to eight before falling 6-5 to the Panthers in the finale.  Since a 1-8 start to the season RU has won 13 of its last 16 games.

3…Straight complete games pitched by UT Arlington right-hander Jason Mitchell (4-2) after Thursday’s 4-0 win over Nicholls State.

3…Games played away from home this season by Arizona, which opened the season with a 20-5 record at Kindall Field/Sancet Stadium.

3…Losses by Arizona at Cal in their first road trip of the year.  The Golden Bears beat the Wildcats by finals of 7-2, 8-0 & 4-3 in Berkley over the weekend in the second Pac 10 series of the season for both teams.

13…Total bases for Louisville’s Andrew Clark in Thursday’s 12-4 win over Villanova.  The senior first baseman was 5-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles and 5 RBIs in the game.

13…RBIs for Clark in his last seven games since returning from a rib cage stress fracture.  Clark’s 9th inning game-winning HR in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over Indiana is among the four home runs he’s hit in that stretch.

28 2/3…Scoreless innings streak by Indiana pitcher Drew Leininger that ended with Clark’s home run.

26…Runs scored by IU in Sunday’s 26-6 win over Michigan-the most runs ever scored by a Hoosier team in Big Ten play.  The final scored was also the most lopsided win for IU in the 186 game series vs. the Wolverines, who still won the series 2-1.

1…Hit allowed by Rice’s Taylor Wall in Thursday’s 6-0 win over cross-town rival Houston.  Wall struck out seven with one BB to earn the Rice pitching staff’s first complete game of the season.

6…Sacrifice bunts by TCU-a school record-in Thursday’s 4-1 win over visiting San Diego State.

14…Straight batters retired by Horned Frog freshman pitcher Matt Purke from the 3rd through the 7th inning of that game.  Purke struck out 10, but settled for a no-decision in the win.  (TCU won the series 2-1.)

2-1…Score of Pacific’s Big West series-opening win at Long Beach State.

1998…The last time Pacific won a road game at LBSU (the Dirt Bags still won the series 2-1).

12…Strikeouts in 8 innings by UC Irvine pitcher Daniel Bibona in a series-opening 16-2 win over Cal State Northridge en-route to a 3-game sweep to open Big West Conference play.

6…Runs scored with two outs in the 8th and 9th innings of Tennessee’s 10-6 win over Ole Miss on Sunday to win the series 2-1.

7…Straight losses to open SEC play by the Vols before winning the last two games of the series vs. the 12th ranked

Rebels.

2…Home runs by Tennessee outfielder P.J. Polk in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Mississippi.

10…Doubles hit by North Florida-a school record-in a 13-5 win over East Tennessee State.

4…Of those doubles that were hit by UNF catcher David Eldredge.

20…Game hitting streak by Central Florida’s Chris Duffy after recording at least one hit in all five UCF games last week.  Duffy is among the nation’s leaders with a .478 average, 13 HR and 48 RBIs.

12…Strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in two appearances by Wichita State reliever Cobey Guy.  The senior logged a career-high 3 1/3 innings with 6 Ks after entering the game in the first inning of Sunday’s 17-2 win over Evansville.

1,700…Career wins by Wichita State head coach Gene Stephenson after Sunday’s victory over the Purple Aces, making him just the second coach in Division 1 baseball history to reach that milestone.

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