Two Players Ineligible, One Hurting…

Thomas

The start of the 2011 postseason couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Southern Mississippi baseball team.  USM starting pitchers Geoffrey Thomas and Jonathon Thompson are suspended due to academic reasons, while senior outfielder Tyler Koelling may not play in the Conference USA Tournament due to a hamstring injury.

Golden Eagles head coach Scott Berry made the announcement on Monday. Thomas (10-3, 3.09 ERA) is USM’s Saturday starter, while Thompson completes the team’s weekend rotation. Berry says Thomas is “temporarily ineligible”, but Thompson (7-1, 3.49 ERA) will miss the entire postseason.

Thomas and Koelling were both recently named to the All-Conference USA First Team. Koelling suffered the hamstring injury in last Saturday’s 7-3 regular season finale win over Rice. He has four

Thompson

home runs and 46 RBIs this season, while leading Southern Miss. with a .367 batting average.

Berry, who was named Conference USA’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Golden Eagles to a share of the program’s first regular season crown since 2003, said Koelling is questionable for this week’s C-USA Tourney in Pearl, Miss.

“I don’t know if we’ll see him the whole tournament,” Berry said. ” It’s a fragile thing with the hamstring. It’s nothing you play with. Of course, our medical staff is working around the clock to get him back.”

Koelling

Koelling recently received the 2011 Cellular South Ferriss Trophy, given to the top collegiate baseball player in the state of Mississippi. He is the first USM player to receive the award since its inception in 2004.

Southern Mississippi sends C-USA Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis to the mound Wednesday in their conference tournament opener against Tulane.

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Southern Mississippi has unveiled its 2011 college baseball schedule. USM  open the season with a five game homestand, which starts with a three game series against Eastern Illinois.

Click Here to see the complete 2011 Southern Mississippi schedule.

Southern Miss. opens Conference USA play March 25-27 when it hosts Tulane. Other C-USA home series are against Marshall, UAB and Rice. Their road C-USA series are at Central Florida, Memphis, East Carolina, and Houston.

The Conference USA Tournament is May 25-28 at Trustmark Park in Pearl, MS.

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A Look At Who’s Hot & Who’s Not In College Baseball

Jason Coats led TCU with 6 RBIs vs. Cal State Fullerton

Stock-Up

TCU:  The Horned Frogs went to Cal State Fullerton and took two of three games from the Titans to improve to 5-1.  They did it by out-scoring Fullerton 13-3 in their two wins.  Those wins were against All-Americans Daniel Renken and Tyler Pill.  TCU is batting .341 with a .943 team OPS, while the pitching staff has a 2.82 ERA with 47 Ks in 51 IP.

Coastal Carolina:  The Chanticleers were already ranked, and then they went and swept two games from UC Irvine last Saturday.  It wasn’t like they were facing the Anteaters’ 3rd & 4th starters either.  Coastal beat Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis on the same day.  Bibona was 12-1 last year with a 2.63 ERA, while Pettis was 5-2 with 17 saves as Irvine’s closer.

Texas:  After losing two of three games at home to New Mexico to open the season the Longhorns swept a Stanford team that had swept Rice on opening weekend.  The vaunted Longhorn pitching staff showed why it’s considered the best in the nation in the process.  Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green, Chance Ruffin, and  Brandon Workman combined to give-up just two runs with 26 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings during the series.

East Carolina:  Typically a 4-3 team wouldn’t be considered one whose stock is rising, but the Pirates have essentially played two Super Regionals to open the season.  They lost two of three vs. a loaded Virginia team and then then took two of three from a very good South Carolina squad.   ECU will rack-up a lot of wins by season’s end.

St. John’s:  The Red Storm is off to a 6-0 start with wins over New Orleans (3), Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.  They won their three games at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge by a total of four runs.  The biggest long-term question Ed Blankmeyer’s team would appear to have is pitching.   Bruce Kern and Nick Cenatiempo have both been good so far, but while it’s still early, neither has gone deep into a game yet.  In their combined four starts neither has pitched more than five innings.

Washington State:  The Cougars’ 6-0 start is their best since 1988.  They have a staff ERA of 3.74 and a batting average of .363 in those six games.   Wins over the likes of Seattle, Bethune-Cookman and Texas Tech haven’t been the stiffest of tests, but it’s been more than 20 years since they started as well against similar schedules as well.

Southeastern Louisiana:  A 3-game sweep at Mississippi State last week has earned the Lions (8-0) the program’s first ever national ranking (#29 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Poll).   They’ve done it with good pitching and a well-rounded offense.  Tyler Watkins and Brandon Efferson have each made two starts and have totaled 14.0 and 12.0 innings, respectively.  Three relievers have also combined to post four saves for a staff with a 2.70 ERA.  Meanwhile, the team is hitting .304 and 11 different batters have at least 3 RBIs.

Tim Esmay:  One of the questions we raised coming into the season was whether Esmay could continue what Pat Murphy had done for the last 15 years.  ASU is 7-0 in Esmay’s first seven games as head coach at his alma mater.  Northern Illinois and Towson haven’t provided high-octane competition, but games vs. Cal Poly, Oregon State and Florida International this week should test the Sun Devils more.

Stock Down

UC Irvine:  In addition to the previously mentioned losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also lost to North Carolina State last weekend at the Baseball By The Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach.  They also lost 6-0 Tuesday

All-American Daniel Renken is 0-2 in his first two starts in 2010.

night at Pepperdine to fall to 4-4.  Irvine is built on pitching, but it must improve its 6.75 staff ERA.

Cal State Fullerton:  First the Titans lost to Oregon and Pepperdine on opening weekend, then they suffered two more home losses to TCU last weekend.  The four losses at Goodwin Field are half as many as they had all of last year.   Stud pitchers Daniel Renken, Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez are a combined 1-4, while the offense has hit just .236 during the 3-4 start.

Minnesota:  The Golden Gophers’ 0-3 performance at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge was probably the shocker of the event.  They did face arguably the toughest slate of anyone in the field with losses to St. John’s (5-4), UConn (8-2) and Louisville (5-4).  Those could be the top three teams in the Big East by season’s end.  Minnesota has a solid 2.89 staff ERA, but like St. John’s their starters have not gone deep into games yet.  The offense is hitting just .273 during a 2-4 start, but the Gophers should still be alright once Big Ten play starts.

Oregon:  Yes, I did have the Ducks on the “Stock-Up” list last week after wins over Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount, but I also warned not to get too excited too quickly.  Sure enough, Oregon went to Hawaii and lost 3 of 4 games to the Warriors.  It’s likely to be a roller coaster ride again for the Ducks in George Horton’s second season.

Southern Mississippi:  The curse of a Cinderella going to the College World Series is the expectation(and bulls eye on the back) it brings the following year.  That appears to be what happened to the Golden Eagles after they dropped 2 of 3 home games last weekend to LeMoyne.  They also lost at home to Northwestern State on opening weekend.  USM is hitting and pitching solidly, but they’re going to get the best effort of every team they play all season.

Ten Questions On The Eve Of The College Baseball Season

A new college baseball season is about to begin.  It’s a season that is started a week earlier than it was originally slated to begin, and one school (James Madison) has already canceled its season opener, because (spoiler) it snows in roughly two-thirds of the country in mid-February.

Anyway, from time to time different thoughts pop into my head and I have managed to corral a few of them here.  So, here are Ten College Baseball Questions For 2010… (in no particular order)…

1.  Can LSU Repeat? The odds say it’s not going to happen.  Oregon State (2006-2007), LSU (1996-1997) and Stanford (1987-1988) are the only teams to win back-to-back crowns since Rod Dedeaux’s USC Trojans ended a streak of five straight titles from 1970-1974.  Paul Mainieri’s Tigers have a lot of key elements returning, like Blake Dean’s bat and Anthony Ranaudo & Matty Ott’s arms, but the odds just aren’t in their favor.  On the other hand…

Russell Moldenhauer (Texas Photo)

2.  Can Texas Be Stopped? The odds (along with a sick pitching staff and a lot of returning everyday players) would seem to be in Augie Garrido’s favor.  The Longhorns return three starters, Taylor Jungmann, Cole Green and Chance Ruffin who could all be just about anyone’s number one starter.  The trio combined to win 26 games last year.  Cameron Rupp, Kevin Keyes and Omaha long ball ace Russell Moldenhauer are also back to lead the offense.  With all that back the biggest question right now seem to be can they stay number one from now until season’s end?

3.  Would An LSU vs. Texas Championship Re-Match Be Good For College Baseball? It would be good for TV ratings, but I don’t know that it would actually be good for the game as a whole.  Does anyone who’s not a Yankees fan think that the cash cow’s 27th title is good for any other MLB team other than the one in the Bronx with the new stadium and overpriced (and often empty) seats?  Texas and LSU at the College World Series is good for college baseball, because it gets casual fans a little more interested.  But when it comes time for all the marbles David vs. Goliath  is just more fun.

4.  Speaking Of David…Who Will Be This Year’s Cinderella? Fresno State was the ultimate Cinderella two years ago, but Mike Batesole’s great-great-great grand children will be playing before we see that kind of run again.  But that doesn’t mean there won’t be more Cinderellas.  They’re quite common when it comes to the CWS.  Fresno State, Southern Mississippi, Louisville, Southwest Missouri State, Notre Dame, and San Jose State all made it to Omaha in the last decade in what was either their first appearance or their first trip after a long CWS drought.  The odds say there’ll be a Cinderella, but the waiting is the hardest (and most fun) part.

Bryce Brentz (MTSU photo)

5.  Will Bryce Brentz Win the NCAA’s Triple Crown? The Middle Tennessee State slugger just about did it last year.  He led the nation with his .465 batting average, and he tied Alabama’s Kent Matthes for the home run title with 28.  Brentz also topped the charts with his .930 slugging percentage, but he missed the Triple Crown with “just” 73 RBIs.  That technically tied for 31st nationally, but Brentz was just 14 RBIs behind NCAA leader Paul Goldschmidt of Texas State.  Logical thinking would say Brentz, now a junior, doesn’t have a chance, but logic never pitched to Brentz.

6.  Can Arizona State Overcome The Loss Of Pat Murphy? Love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue with the success that Murphy had in his 15 years in the ASU dugout.   But it’s not like ASU had never won prior to Murph’s arrival.  He led his team to Omaha four times, but the program has 21 CWS appearances since 1964 thanks to Bob Winkles and Jim Brock.  Now it’s Tim Esmay’s turn to guide the cruise ship Sun Devil.  Esmay, a former Utah head coach, himself played for Brock in Omaha twice, and he was also on Murphy’s staff for the last five seasons.  He also has a lot of experience sitting with him in the dugout.  Ken Knutson is in his first year as an assistant on the ASU staff after 17 seasons as the Washington Huskies’ head coach.  ASU’s line-up is loaded again, and there’s plenty of pitching too.  For now anyway the good ship ASU doesn’t show any signs of running aground.

Jarrett Parker (UVA photo)

7.  Is Virginia The Next National Power Or A One-Hit Wonder? The Cavaliers can hardly be considered a Cinderella.  Yes, last year was their first-ever College World Series trip, but they are from the ACC and they won their conference tournament last year.  Glass slippers aside, it would be easy to write-off UVA as a team that got hot and made a big run.  However, last year’s CWS squad included 23 underclassmen and set 11 school records…and the most prominent components-like Danny Hultzen, Jarrett Parker and Kevin Arico to name a few-are all back this year.  Who saw North Carolina coming prior four years ago?  Mike Fox’s Tar Heels hadn’t been to Omaha since 1989 prior to 2006 & now they’ve gone four straight times.  Cavalier head coach Brian O’Connor has now guided the Cavs to six straight NCAA berths, and he has been a guy whose destiny has always seemed to be Omaha.  He grew-up in the shadow of Rosenblatt Stadium in Council Bluffs, NE, pitched in the ’91 CWS for Creighton, helped Notre Dame get to Omaha in 2002 as the Irish pitching coach, and finally took his own team to the promised land last year…not to mention the fact that his mug is one of the players on the famed “Road To Omaha” statue outside Rosenblatt.  So, if you’re asked what lies in the shadow of the statue the safe answer might be “O’Connor’s Cavaliers”.

8.  Is A Northern Team Ready To Make A Real National Statement? Michigan and Notre Dame flirted with it last decade.  St. John’s has had its moments, and Ohio State and Minnesota have each had some success, but it all comes down to pitching.  Or more specifically, pitching depth.  The biggest difference in teams in the good southern teams and the good northern teams is pitching depth.  There are guys coming out of the bullpen in the ACC and SEC who could be starters on most Big Ten and Big East teams.  Just look at last year’s save numbers in those conferences:  157 in the SEC & 160 saves in the ACC compared to 110 and 121 in the Big Ten and Big East, respectively.  But save totals don’t even tell half the story.

When it comes to playing in an NCAA Regional winning the first game is important, but for a northern team winning the first two games of a regional is critical.  The team that starts 2-0 at a regional is at least one starting pitcher ahead of each opponent it plays the rest of the weekend.  Look at Minnesota last year:  They lost their regional opener to Baylor, then out-slugged Southern 11-8 and Baylor 15-12 atfter that before falling 10-3 to LSU.  They played respectably, but they gave-up 10 runs a game over their last three contests, while LSU gave-up 3 runs with its third starter on the mound.   Ohio State lost 24-8 to Georgia to its regional opener last year, then won 6-4 and 13-6 in elimination games before getting trounced 37-6 by Florida State in game four (game 3 for FSU).  OSU’s starting pitcher gave-up 7 runs without getting an out in that game.  But what about Michigan in 2007?  The Wolverines won the first two games of their regional, lost game three, but then beat Vanderbilt in the deciding game four to advance to a Super Regional.  In 2002 Notre Dame used just five pitchers while going 3-0 at their Regional en-route to being the only northern team to advance to Omaha since the ’80s.  The Irish also used just two pitchers in their two Super Regional wins over Florida State the following week.   It’s no coincidence that in recent years only teams from the south have come back  to win a Regional after losing one of their first two games.

ECU's Kyle Roller (ECU photo)

9.  Is Conference USA The Most Underrated Baseball Conference In The Country? Quick question…what three conferences have sent at least one team to the College World Series in each of the last five seasons?  If you said the SEC, Pac 10 and Conference USA you get the gold star for the day (but remember to raise your hand before blurting out the answer next time).  Rice, Tulane and last year’s darling Southern Mississippi have all gone to Omaha in that stretch.  Terry Rooney left LSU after a trip to the 2008 CWS in part because C-USA had earned a reputation as a three bid league.  But Conference USA didn’t just get three bids last year.  Rice, Southern Miss. and East Carolina all advanced to Super Regionals, and ECU and USM did it by beating South Carolina and Georgia Tech, respectively, in Regional action.  USM then beat Florida on the road to advance to Omaha, Rice lost to eventual National Champ LSU in its Regional while ECU fell to a North Carolina team that made a fourth straight CWS appearance.  C-USA has arrived, and based on the talent the aforementioned ’09 Super Regional teams have back, the conference doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

10.  Will The Season Just Start Already? Really, aren’t you tired of waiting?  Oops, that’s another question, we don’t have room for eleven.  Is it here yet?  That’s another questions too…

Plenty Of Player Interviews To Get Fans Primed For The Season

LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri – Reflects on winning the 2009 National Championship.

UT Arlington’s Michael Choice – Talks about his summer with Team USA & upcoming season.

Washington State’s Chad Arnold – On his summer & last year’s record-setting Cougar season.

George Washington’s Marshall Seedorf – Talks about balancing being a college pitcher and swimmer.

UConn’s Pierre LePage – Discusses big plans for 2010 & winning a Cape Cod League title.

Southern Mississippi’s B.A. Vollmuth – On the College World Series run & playing on The Cape last summer.

East Carolina’s Kyle Roller – Cape Cod MVP talks about going farther with ECU this year.

West Virginia’s Jedd Gyorko – On Cape Cod & getting the Mountaineers over the hump.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Chris Sale – Cape Cod Pitching MVP talks about FGCU being NCAA eligible this year.

Middle Tennessee’s Bryce Brentz – The 2009 NCAA hitting & HR leader on growing as a college baseball player.

Villanova two-sport star Matt Szczur – On winning a football national title & plans for the future.

Michigan’s Ryan LaMarre – The preseason All-American on returning Michigan to NCAA Tourney.

OVC Baseball Coaches - A handful talk about moving the OVC Tourney to Pringles Park this year.

Eleven Regular Season Games On Preliminary TV Slate

IRVING, Texas –Conference USA has announced its preliminary baseball television schedule for the 2010 season.  The schedule currently features games to appear nationally on CBS College Sports as well as regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), Bright House Networks and Cox Sports Television.  Additional games remain a possibility and will be announced at a later date.

“Conference USA has established itself as a national power in baseball and we are pleased that more of our fans will be able to watch our teams play this season on television,” said Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky.

Included in the current schedule are 11 regular season games as well as a live broadcast of the C-USA Baseball Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, May 29.  Additional C-USA Championship games may be added to the television schedule.

2010 C-USA Baseball Television Schedule

(as of February 4)

CBS College Sports

Saturday, April 24                   East Carolina at Rice                    3:00 p.m. EDT/2:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, April 30                       Southern Miss at Tulane               8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, May 14                        Southern Miss at Rice                  8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Friday, May 21                        Houston at East Carolina              8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Saturday, May 29                    C-USA Championship Game         8:00 p.m. EDT/7:00 p.m. CDT

Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) (regional coverage may vary within CSS footprint)

Tuesday, March 16                 Texas at Rice                              7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Thursday, April 1                     Houston at Rice                           7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Friday, April 2                         Houston at Rice                           7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, May 18                    Rice at Houston                           7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Bright House Networks (Florida)

Tuesday, March 9                   Miami (Fla.) at UCF                      7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, March 16                 South Florida at UCF                    7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Tuesday, March 9                   Stetson at UCF                            7:00 p.m. EDT/6:00 p.m. CDT

Cox Sports Television (Louisiana)

Tuesday, May 18                    LSU at Tulane                              7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT

Conference USA’s 15th baseball season gets underway on February 19.  The conference tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 in Houston, with UH serving as the host for the new six-team, pool-play format.  C-USA’s nine baseball schools have produced 62 NCAA appearances and nine College World Series teams over the past 14 seasons.

New Volunteer Assistant Comes From Labette CC In Kansas

Clint Stoy

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The University of New Mexico Lobo baseball team announced the addition of Clint Stoy as a volunteer assistant coach today. Stoy brings seven years of coaching experience and four years of collegiate baseball experience to New Mexico. Stoy will assist with hitting, outfield and coach the Lobo first basemen.

“Clint Stoy is a great addition to the program,” said head coach Ray Birmingham. “He has been to some great places. His greatest recommendation came from Dave Burroughs, who coaches Cowley County Community College and who I think the world of. Clint has many years of experience at every level and he has the greatest amount of energy I’ve ever seen in a young man. He is going to be special for our program.”

“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to come here,” said Stoy. “Coach Birmingham is one of the best coaches in the nation and I have a great opportunity to learn from him and his staff. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to coach at this level. I want to surround myself with as many knowledgeable people as I can. It was an easy decision for me to come here and help further my coaching career.”

Stoy comes to New Mexico from Labette Community College in Parsons, Kan., where he was the recruiting coordinator and hitting/defensive instructor since 2007.

Stoy has also made stops as an assistant coach at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La., the Laramie Colts in Wyoming and Crowder College in Neosho, Mo.

In his time at Nicholls State from 2005-07, Stoy wore many hats as the team’s facilities coordinator, assistant recruiting coordinator and the hitting/outfield instructor. In the summer of 2006, Stoy was the associate head coach for the Laramie Colts of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League. He served as the Colts hitting and fielding instructor. At Crowder College from 2002-05, Stoy served as the facilities coordinator and assisted in recruitment. He also served as an academic counselor for student-athletes.

As a player, Stoy played at Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, Kan., from 1998-00. Stoy earned All-Jayhawk Conference as well as All-Region IV honors from 99-00. He was named National Junior College Association of America All-American in 2000. Stoy was also named to the NJCAA Team USA in 2000.

Upon the completion of his associates degree in Business Administration from Cowley County, Stoy transferred to Southern Mississippi. While at USM, Stoy was named to the Conference USA All-Tournament team in 2002. Stoy completed his degree in 2002 and received a bachelor of science degree in Sports Administration and Coaching.

Stoy went on to earn a masters of science in Education from Southwest Missouri State University in 2005.

(Release)

Which ’09 Super Regional Team Will Reign In 2010?

East Carolina slugger Kyle Roller

Rice & East Carolina).  All three teams are ranked in the 2010 preseason polls.

C-USA also has five preseason All-Americans heading into the 2010 campaign.

East Carolina

2009 Record:  (46-20, 17-7)

Mascot:  Pirates

Head Coach:  Billy Godwin

Location:  Greenville, NC

Vitals: .339 BA, 108 HR, .415 OBP, .971 Fld%…4.48 ERA, 513 K, 212 BB, .268 opp. BA

Missed It By That Much:  East Carolina advanced to a Super Regional after hosting an NCAA Regional last year, but North Carolina beat ECU to advance to a 4th straight College World Series.

Cape Crusher:  2009 Cape Cod League MVP Kyle Roller (.336, 16 HR, 75 RBIs) is back to lead the Pirate offense this season.  Roller helped the Bourne Braves win their first ever Cape Championship.

Supporting Cast: Devin Harris (.344, 14 HR, 48 RBIs) and Dustin Harrington (.318, 14 HR, 49 RBIs) are back to bat in the middle of the order as well.

Tough To Replace:  While three strong bats are back for ECU, they also lose three big hitters in Stephen Batts (.352, 14 HR, 19 SB),  Brandon Henderson (.330, 13 HR) and Ryan Wood (.379, 14 HR, 14 SB).

Arms Race:  East Carolina returns three starters who won at least nine games in 2009 as well as their closer – Brad Mincey (10-5, 3.16 ERA), Kevin Brandt (9-2, 3.64 ERA), Seth Maness (9-3, 4.71 ERA), Seth Simmons (3-1, 3.69 ERA, 9 SVs).

Early Tests:  ECU opens the season by hosting three games vs. 2009 CWS participant Virginia.  Two weeks later the Pirates host a 3-game set with South Carolina.

Houston

2009 Record:  (27-31, 13-11)

Mascot:  Cougars

Head Coach:  Rayner Noble

Location:  Houston, TX

Vitals:  .282 BA, 25 HR, .364 OBP, .966 Fld%…5.48 ERA, 453 K, 237 BB, .294 opp. BA

Bring It On:  Houston plays 10 teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year, including CWS teams Texas (1), Arizona State (3) and Southern Mississippi (3).

Pass On The Pulp:  The Cougars face Texas, Missouri and Texas Tech at the Houston College Classic in the Astros’ Minute Maid Park the first weekend of March.

Speed Over Power:  Houston hit just 25 home runs last year, with Chris Wallace (9 HR) being the only player to hit more than 4 home runs.  However, the Cougars had 69 stolen bases on the season.

Solid Nucleus:  Wallace (.285, 34 RBIs) is one of three Houston players who played at Cape Cod last summer.  He’s joined by Blake Kelso (.335, 2 HR, 23 RBIs, 12 SB) & Caleb Ramsey (.332, 4 HR, 46 RBIs, 16 SB) both played for Yarmouth-Dennis.  Zak Presley (.301, 28 RBIs, 17 SB) is back as well.

Marshall

2009 Record:  (22-32, 9-15)

Mascot:  Thundering Herd

Head Coach:  Jeff Waggoner

Location:  Huntington, WVI

Vitals:  .280 BA, 58 HR, .364 OBP, .943 Fld%…5.45 ERA, 1 CG, 8 SV, 414 K, 290 BB, .276 opp. BA

Give ‘Em A Buckeye:  Marshall plays Ohio State on a neutral site in Tennessee in March and then in Columbus, OH

Marshall closer Austin Coan

in April.

Get It To The Pen:  Sr. closer Austin Coan earned all 8 of Marshall’s saves in 2009.  Coan (3-5, 3.49 ERA, 8 SVs) made 23 appearances with 45 Ks in 38.1 IP with a .217 opp. BA.  He once helped Grayson (TX) win the Juco national championship.

Big Bopper:  Jr. 1B/C Victor Gomez (.332, 18 HR, 62 RBIs) is back to anchor the offense.  Gomez has smacked 29 home runs in his first two seasons.

Memphis

2009 Record:  (21-32, 7-16)

Mascot:  Tigers

Head Coach:  Daron Schoenrock

Location:  Memphis, TN

Vitals:  .272 BA, 34 HR, .350 OBP, .959 Fld%…6.30 ERA, 0 CG, 11 SV, .300 opp. BA

Mound Presence:  Memphis returns 11 pitchers (including all five starters) from last year’s staff.  Among the returnees Marcus Barnes and Heith Hatfield combined for 31 appearances and five saves in 2009.  The three pitchers the Tigers lose combined for two wins last season.

Experience Counts:  The Tigers have seven starters back in the field.  The group combined for just 15 homes but still had 72 doubles.  Drew Martinez (.309, 11 doubles) and Adam McClain (.288, 11 doubles) were both named to the C-USA All-Freshman team.

New Digs:  Memphis will play home games in the new 2,000 seat FedEx Park beginning in February.  The $3 million dollar project is part of the renovation of Nat Buring Stadium, which was built in 1972.

Rice

2009 Record:  (43-18, 16-8)

Mascot:  Owls

Head Coach:  Wayne Graham

Location:  Houston, TX

Vitals:  .320 BA, 71 HR, .392, .971…4.21 ERA, 7 CG, 16 SVs, .257 opp. BA

Rice's Anthony Rendon

Freshman Phenom:  Anthony Rendon (.388, 20 HR, 72 RBIs) had the Rice team triple crown as a true freshman in ’09.  He had an 1.163 OPS.

Supporting Cast:  Rice always has a line-up filled with tough outs, and 2010 will be no exception.  Back with Rendon in the order are Steven Stultzbaugh (.324, 8 HR, 31 RBIs), Rick Hague (.319, 9 HR, 57  RBIs), Chad Mozingo (.319, 8 HR, 50 RBIs) and Diego Seastrunk (.288, 7 HR, 45 RBIs).  Seastrunk hit .353 as a sophomore, but struggled a bit last year due to injury last year.

On The Mound:  Mike Ojala (5-0, 2.17 ERA) and Taylor Wall (7-6, 3.72 ERA)are back to lead the rotation.  The Owls lose Ryan Berry (7-2, 2.42 ERA, 4 CG).

More Than A Legacy:  Matt Reckling (2 2, 5.84 ERA, 2 SVs) made 20 appearances with 3 starts.  Rice’s home field is named after his grandfather, T.R. Reckling, who played for the Owls from 1952-’54.

Southern Mississippi

2009 Record:  (40-26, 12-12)

Mascot:  Golden Eagles

Head Coach:  Scott Berry

Location:  Hattiesburg, MS

Vitals:  .305 BA, 73 HR, .399 OBP, .966 Fld%…5.14 ERA, 2 CG, 17 SVs, 438 K, 250 BB, .285 opp. BA

New Man In Charge:  Corky Palmer announced his retirement last April & then USM road a hot streak all the way to the College World Series.  Scott Berry now takes over the Golden Eagle helm after 9 seasons as an assistant to

Todd McInnis

Palmer.

Pitching Prowess:  Southern Miss. returns Jr. closer Collin Cargill (3.55, 4-3, 13 SVs) as well as Jr. starter Todd McInnis (9-4, 3.73 ERA).  Both have redshirt years under their belts.

Key Returnees:  Kameron Brunty (.336, 7 HR, 53 RBIs), Joey Archer (.306, 10 HR, 62 RBIs),  Taylor Walker (.305, 3 HR, 29 RBIs) as is B.A. Vollmuth who went from the College World Series straight to the Cape Cod League as a true freshman.

Big Bat Lost:  Bo Davis (.359, 14 HR, 53 RBIs, 10 SB)

Tulane

2009 Record:  (34-25, 13-11)

Mascot:  Green Wave

Head Coach:  Rick Jones

Location:  New Orleans, LA

Vitals:  .292 BA, 69 HR, .396 OBP, .968 Fld%…4.63 ERA, 6 CG, 13 SVs, .269 opp. BA

No Ordinary Jones:  Head coach Rick Jones has led the Green Wave to the NCAA Tournament in 12 of his 16 seasons at the Tulane helm, including College World Series berths in 2001 & 2005.

My Cousin Joe:  Jr. closer Nick Pepitone (9 SVs, 3.25 ERA) is the cousin of former big leaguer Joe Pepitone.

Holes To Fill:  Tulane loses its top three hitters in Josh Prince (.353, 48 SB), Sam Honeck (.313, 16 HR, 70 RBIs) & Scott Powell (.311, 18 SB).

Top Bat In The Rack:  Jeremy Schaffer (.311, 14 HR, 56 RBIs) is Tulane’s top retuning hitter.

UAB

2009 Record:  (31-26, 11-12)

Mascot:  Blazers

Head Coach:  Brian Shoop

Location:  Birmingham, AL

Vitals:  .305 BA, 58 HR, .400 OBP, .957 Fld%…5.91 ERA, 1 CG, 10 SVs, .288 opp. BA

Packing Some Pop:  Digger Towe, Andrew Manning and Luke Stewart combined to hit 34 home runs last year.

Speed To Burn:  Jonathon Merritt, Jamal Austin and Nick Crawford totaled 55 stolen bases in 2009…but the departed Brint Hardy swiped 46 by himself.

Central Florida

2009 Record:  (22-35, 9-15)

Mascot:  Knights

Head Coach:  Terry Rooney

Location:  Orlando, FL

Vitals:  .297 BA, 68 HR, .377 OBP, .957 Fld%…7.47 ERA, 0 CG, 13 SVs, .341 opp. BA

Soak Up The Sun:  UCF plays its first 22 games in Florida, including home and home gaves vs. Miami and a trip to Gainesville vs. Florida.

Power Outage:  UCF loses Brandon Romans and Kiko Vazquez who combined to hit 27 home runs in 2009.

Not So Fast:  Romans is back on the UCF coaching staff this season as the volunteer assistant.

Tools Of Distinction:  Soph. catcher Beau Taylor was named a Freshma All-American last season, making him the first UCF catcher to ever earn the honor.

Conference USA Predictions

2010 Champion:  Rice, but East Carolina and Southern Mississippi should make the race close.

2010 Player of the Year:  Kyle Roller – East Carolina

2010 Pitcher of the Year:  Mike Ojala – Rice

Southern Mississippi Sweeps Florida To Go To Omaha

Corky Palmer

Did I mention the fact that USM head coach Corky Palmer had announced his retirement just a month before that Regional title?    “This season we will keep working as hard as we can and to accomplish as much as we can,” Palmer said at the press conference to announce his impending retirement.  ” We’ve had two great wins against East Carolina and Ole Miss in the last two games, and we’ll continue to be competitive the rest of the year.”  What an understatement that turned out to be.

Southern Miss became one of three Conference USA teams to make a 2009 Super Regional (along with Rice and East Carolina).  Who could have predicted that Corky’s corps of relative unknowns would be the last C-USA team standing on college baseball’s biggest stage?

Here’s a look at how Southern Mississippi beat #8 National Seed Florida in the Gainesville Super Regional:

June 6: Game one started at 3:05 in the afternoon and Southern Miss. struck first.  Freshman B.A. Vollmuth, who was one of named the Atlata Regional’s Most Outstanding Player a week earlier, started the scoring in the top of the 2nd with his 4th postseason home run.  Corey Stevens gave USM another run in the 3rd on a sac fly.  Then the rain came.

A one hour delay was not good for Golden Eagles starting pitcher J.R. Ballinger, who was named to the Atlanta All- Regional team as well.  Ballinger gave up four runs (just one of them earned) in the bottom of the 3rd and exited with his team trailing 4-2.   The lead changed twice over the next two innings until Southern Miss. put a four spot on the

Collin Cargill

board in the top of the 6th inning to go up 9-6.

Jonathon Johnston gave-up just one hit in 3 2/3 scoreless innings to make sure his team would not give-up the lead again and then Collin Cargill earned his 12th save of the season (despite giving-up a 9th inning run) to finish-off the stunning 9-7 win.

Both teams managed 12 hits and one home run in the game.  It was the fourth time in five NCAA Tournament game that the Golden Eagles rapped-out at least 12 hits.

June 7: Southern Mississippi was the designated home team for game two, but it looked early on like it wasn’t going to be their day.  Florida jumped-out to a 6-1 lead through the first three innings.  USM ace Jeff McInnis was roughed-up for all 6 runs in 5 IP.

The Golden Eagles chipped at the lead by scoring two runs in the 4th and adding another in the 5th inning to make it a 6-4 game.   That was the score when USM batted in the bottom of the 8th.

Southern Miss. rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the inning.  USM had tied the score 6-6 and had runners at first and third with one out.  Adam Doleac scored on a ground ball hit by Tyler Koelling after Joey Archer was forced out at second base.  Koelling had to beat the relay throw to first to avoid an inning-ending double play.

Doleac was only in the game because he had entered the game in the clean-up spot after Corey Stevens was ejected from the game after a collision with Florida catcher Buddy Munroe.

B.A. Vollmuth

The bullpen came-up big again for Southern Miss.  Scott Copeland tossed 3 shutout innings and then Cargill induced a double play to end the game and send the Golden Eagles to the school’s first College World Series.  “Their bullpen again did a heck of a job,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said afterward. ” We had a solid game plan going against their starter, but once again their bullpen put up six-straight zeroes on the scoreboard.”

In the two Super Regional games the USM bullpen pitched gave-up just 3 runs on 8 hits in 10 innings of work.  Cargill saved both games to run his season total to 13.

“It’s been a great ride,” Palmer said after the Super Regional win.  “I don’t know what happened three weeks ago but those seniors bonded and we just grew up each week. We’ve earned everything that we have got. We had great relief pitching and Joey (Archer) got the big hit. This is quite an accomplishment for our school to go to Omaha. Seven-straight regionals are nothing to sneeze at but to take this step to Omaha will do wonders for our program.”

Palmer’s retirement would have to wait.

CLICK HERE to listen to a podcast interview with Southern Mississippi’s B.A. Vollmuth.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

5.  The Texas vs. Boston College 25-inning Game

6.  Andrew Darr Comes Off The Bench & Comes Up Big For Arkansas

7.  Virginia Beats Stephen Strasburg In Irvine Regional Opener

8.  Washington State And Gonzaga End Long NCAA Tournament Droughts

9.  Cal Poly Gets Its First NCAA Tournament Bid

10.  Kansas’ Field of Dreams: Kansas, Kansas State & Wichita State All Get NCAA Bids

11.  Stephen Strasburg Strikes out 17 in a no hitter

12.  Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers No-hits Michigan

13.  Kansas Sweeps #1 Texas

14.  Bryce Brentz Has An April To Remember

15.  Clemson’s Kyle Parker Does Double Duty

16.  #1 Arkansas Beats #1 Arizona State

17.  Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

18.  Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19.  North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20.  Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21.  Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22.  Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23.  LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24.  Oregon Brings Back Baseball