Four Things I’m Thinking About Right Now…

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

As April hits its stride we’re getting ready for another weekend of college baseball.  We’ve had some new podcasts and will continue to have more in the coming weeks as we look at different teams and conferences around the country.  Here are some things that gnawed at my mind this week…

Say What… Here are the current statistics of two catchers.  One is on the 2010 Johnny Bench Award Watch List, but

Yasmani Grandal (Miami photo)

the other is not.  See if you can guess which one is:  A.  .414 BA, 7 HR, 37 RBIs, 1.211 OPS, 1 Passed Ball  B.  .294 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBIs, .888 OPS, 3 Passed Balls.  If you said catcher “B” is the one on the watch list you would be correct (I won’t mention his name here).  Catcher “A” is Miami Hurricane Yasmani Grandal.  After hitting 16 home runs and then playing last summer for Team USA the junior was not only not on the original watch list, but also left out of the group of nine catchers who were added to the watch list this week.  That’s 61 total catchers now on the watch list, but the guy hitting .414 at one of the best programs in the history of the sport is not one of them.

Big Shake-Up…Before last week the Big East was looking like it was going to be a one-bid league when NCAA selections come out next month, and Louisville was looking like it might earn the programs first top 8 national seed.  That all changed when Pittsburgh took two of three games from the Cardinals in the Steel City.  Pittsburgh (22-9, 6-3) was three outs from sweeping the series before Louisville rallied to salvage the series finale, but their two wins shook-up the Big East standings.  South Florida (16-16, 8-1) is in first place followed by UConn (24-7, 7-2) and Rutgers (18-13, 7-2), with Louisville (26-6, 6-3) and Pitt tied for fourth place.  USF played a brutal early schedule, but has zero quality wins to show for it.  UConn handed Louisville its other conference loss and seems to be gaining momentum.

Revving-up The RPI…The NCAA’s official RPI is out, and it’s no shock that the top five teams include Arizona State, Arkansas, UCLA, Florida, and Virginia.  Three of those five teams made it to Omaha last year and a fourth (Florida) played in a Super Regional.  Louisville (Big East), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Clemson, Texas, and Oregon State round-out the top ten.  That gives the Pac 10 three top ten RPI teams, the ACC and SEC each have two.  Here are some “non-power conference” teams that join Louisville and Coastal Carolina in the RPI Top-50:  17. Western Kentucky 21. The Citadel 23. TCU 24. New Mexico 30. College of Charleston 35. Western Carolina 39. Texas State 40. Connecticut 41. San Diego 44. Southeastern Louisiana 47. South Alabama 49. Pittsburgh 50. VMI

Gary Brown (mattbrownphoto.com)

Titan Turnaround…Since a disappointing 8-8 start to the season Cal State Fullerton (18-12, 5-1 Big West) has won ten of its last 14 games, including two of three from Big West rival UC Irvine last weekend.  The Titans also won a midweek match-up over UCLA (26-3)-a team that moved to #1 in two polls this week.  Fullerton didn’t shy away from tough competition early on, with six of those losses coming at the hands of TCU (24-7), Arizona (23-9) and Arizona State (28-3).  The Titan’s offense is starting to click, with Gary Brown and Billy Marcoe hitting .443 and .402, respectively.  The biggest issue has been inconsistent pitching from a team that has been traditionally dominant on the mound.  2010 Team USA invitees Tyler Pill and Nick Ramirez are a combined 2-7, although Pill gave-up just an unearned run in 8 1/3 IP and also had an RBI in Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Anteaters.  Expect the Titans to build some serious momentum over the next month…

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eighteen home games and a return to Florida for the annual spring break trip highlights Eastern Illinois baseball’s 2010 schedule, unveiled by head coach Jim Schmitz.

EIU Head Coach Jim Schmitz

three-game series at USF this year, EIU is expected to take on Army, Akron, Indiana and Ohio State in neutral-site games in Bradenton, Fla.

Complete 2010 Eastern Illinois Schedule

“It is another demanding schedule, playing 22 of our first 23 games on the road,” Schmitz said. “The NCAA moved the start of the season up one week, which allowed us to play another series on the road. We play seven teams that were ranked in the Top 100 of the RPI ranking in 2009. Our spring break is going to be our biggest test, as we play a three-game set with USF and then finish the trip with Indiana and Ohio State. The last few years we have made the schedule tougher in order to improve our RPI. It is the only way we can possibly get an at-large bid (to the NCAA Tournament).

The weekend of May 14-16, EIU is scheduled to host Indiana State and SIU Edwardsville. The Panthers will play ISU on May 14 and SIUE on May 15 and 16. The Sycamores and Cougars will also square off at Coaches Stadium at noon on Saturday, May 15.

Eastern is slated to open the season in Hammond, La., against Southeastern Louisiana for the third year in a row. The Panthers won two-of-three last year after getting swept in 2008.

Eastern last visited Belmont during the 2007 spring break trip and last played at UAB in 2003, participating in a four-team tournament.

For the third year in a row, EIU is scheduled to take on Missouri at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Mo. The midweek game at the home of the Frontier League’s River City Rascals is expected to be played with wood bats.

(Release)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lipscomb:  Opens with three games vs. Murray State

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

Nicholls State:  Opens with three games @ Louisiana Lafayette

UNC Greensboro:  Opens with three games vs. Cleveland State

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

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

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

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – A slate of 33 games at Dudy Noble Field featuring 17 different opponents highlights a challenge-filled 56-game Mississippi State University baseball schedule announced this week by MSU head baseball coach John Cohen.

MSU Head Coach John Cohen

“We feel like we’ve put together another very good baseball schedule, with half of our games against teams from the NCAA tournament field and 15 against NCAA Super Regional teams,” said Cohen.

“We’re excited about playing an additional game at Trustmark Park in Pearl this season and giving our great fan base in the Jackson area three week-night opportunities to see the Bulldogs play. “With an extra week added to the playing season, our schedule is spread out over 14 weeks, and now in most weeks we’ll be playing just one mid-week game.”

Complete 2010 Mississippi State Schedule (PDF)

MSU launches its 120th season of baseball and a string of 13 consecutive games at Dudy Noble Field Feb. 19-21 with a three-game series against first-time opponent and Atlantic 10 Conference runner-up Rhode Island. State also hosts Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game weekend series (Feb. 26-28) and closes out the home stand with the second annual BankFirst Baseball Challenge (Mar. 5-7). The Bulldogs play two games each against Michigan State of the Big 10 Conference and Ohio Valley Conference foe Southeast Missouri State, coached by former Bulldog assistant Mark Hogan, in the three-day, six-game event.

The Bulldogs begin their 30-game SEC schedule March 19-21 in Gainesville, Fla., with a three-game series at Florida. State’s 15-game home SEC slate for 2010 includes series against SEC Western Division rivals Arkansas and Ole Miss and SEC East teams Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The MSU-UT series (Apr. 16-18) will be part of the schedule for Mississippi State’s annual spring homecoming, Super Bulldog Weekend.

Mississippi State’s non-conference home schedule also includes single midweek contests against instate SWAC foes Alcorn State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State along with Memphis, Northwestern State, South Alabama, UAB, and Western Kentucky.

State makes a program-first trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, for its initial road competition of the 2010 season. The Bulldogs square off against Big 12 Conference power Oklahoma, UCLA of the Pac-10 Conference and tournament host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the fifth annual Whataburger Classic (Mar. 12-14). The event is held at Whataburger Field, the 5,000-seat home of the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Houston Astros’ Class AA Texas League affiliate.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to make three mid-week appearances at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss., in the coming season. MSU is the designated home team against Ole Miss in the fourth annual Governor’s Cup game (Mar. 30) at Trustmark Park, and later takes on Jackson State (May 4) and Southern Miss (May 5) at the home of the Atlanta Braves‘ Class AA Southern League affiliate.

Nine of MSU’s 26 baseball opponents in 2010 are newcomers to the MSU schedule, including season-opening foe Rhode Island and SEC opening weekend opponent Florida, which replaces Kentucky on the Bulldogs’ SEC league schedule in 2010.

State closes out its regular season schedule in Baton Rouge, La., with a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series against defending NCAA national champion LSU (May 20-22).

The 2010 SEC Baseball Tournament is set May 26-30 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala., while the NCAA baseball tournament begins competition June 4 at 16 regional sites.

(Release)

Maverick’s Slate Includes 13 Games Vs. 2009 NCAA Tourney Teams

Complete UT Arlington 2010 Schedule

Maverick Head Coach Darin Thomas

The Mavericks open their season playing 16-of-17 games inside the Metroplex, with 14 games at home and a doubleheader at Dallas Baptist. UT Arlington plays it season opener against DBU at Clay Gould Ballpark on Feb. 19 and goes to Dallas the following day for a doubleheader against the Patriots.

Early in the season, UT Arlington welcomes Missouri State (Feb. 26-28) and BYU (Mar. 4-6) to Clay Gould Ballpark for a three-game series – with a trip to Oklahoma (Mar. 2) scheduled in between.

Before Southland Conference play opens at home against three-time defending SLC Tournament champion Sam Houston State (Mar. 12-14), the Mavericks play back-to-back home midweek games against TCU (Mar. 9) and Creighton (Mar. 10).

The Mavericks host five SLC series, including Sam Houston State, Nicholls (Apr. 1-3), Central Arkansas (Apr. 23-25), Stephen F. Austin (May 7-9) and Lamar (May 14-16).

UT Arlington will be on the road for six SLC series at UTSA (Mar. 19-21), Northwestern State (Mar. 26-28), Southeastern Louisiana (Apr. 9-11), McNeese State (Apr. 16-18), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Apr. 30-May 1) and at defending regular season champion Texas State (May 20-22).

The Mavericks also play non-conference games against Oklahoma Christian (Mar. 16-17 – Clay Gould Ballpark), Louisiana-Monroe (Mar. 23 – Clay Gould Ballpark), TCU (Mar. 30 – Fort Worth), Oral Roberts (Apr. 6 – Clay Gould Ballpark), national runner-up Texas (Apr. 20 – Austin), Oklahoma State (Apr. 27 – Stillwater), Dallas Baptist (May 4 – Clay Gould Ballpark) and Texas A&M (May 18 – College Station).

The Southland Conference Tournament will be held May 26-29, at the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks’ home stadium, Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas.

(Press Release)