Flies in the Ointment? …

The upsets kept flowing on Thursday, based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings, as more than half of the games (14 of 26) involving CB360 top-50 teams ended up in upsets. Most notably, five of the CNR’s top-10 teams (#2-3-7-8-10) all were knocked off, while several other teams emerged as potential “flies in the ointment” – underdogs that could win a conference automatic bid to the NCAAs (and, in the process, burst the bubble of an NCAA at-large hopeful). 

CLICK HERE for CB360’s Conference Tournament Main Page

(Note – Scores for all games involving the CB360 top-50 are listed at the bottom of this page, with the customary links provided for the one non-tournament game … also be sure to access CB360’s conference tournament main page via the link posted above.)

There were 26 games on Thursday involving CB360 top-50 teams, including seven head-to-head match-ups (33 total top-50 teams in action). The only top-50 game outside a conference tournament setting was #1 Arizona State’s 4-2 series-opening win at #32 Stanford.

Here are teams from five leagues (seven teams total) that have the makings for NCAA-bid spoilers (the potential flies in the ointment):

• Mercer (Atlantic Sun) – The #2-seeded Bears were nowhere close to being in the discussion for an NCAA at-large bid, with a #157 official NCAA RPI this week (trailing six other A-Sun teams), but Mercer sits in the catbird seat as the only 2-0 squad at the six-team A-Sun Tournament … should the Bears win this event, the focus then will shift to whether Florida Gulf Coast still would get into the NCAA’s as an at-large (effectively making the A-Sun a two-bid league and taking a spot from some unfortunate budble team) … many tournament projections had FGCU as a solid at-large possibility (the Eagles ran away with the A-Sun regular-season title and entered the week with a #45 NCAA RPI, plus a #36 standing in the CNR top-50) … Thursday’s key results saw #4 seed North Florida knock off FGCU in shockingly easy fashion (13-2), while Mercer beat #3 seed East Tennessee State (10-7) in the day’s only match-up of teams that won on Wed. … next up: FGCU faces ETSU today in a noon elimination game, followed by another elimination game at 4:00 (UNF vs. Jacksonville) and Mercer’s 8:00 game vs. the FGCU-ETSU winner.

• Rutgers ad St. John’s (BIG EAST) – There teams have earned a day off on Friday, as each is 2-0 following their Thursday upsets (#6 seed RU beat #2 seed UConn, 9-6, one day after knocking off #3 seed Pittsburgh in a 9-5 opening-day game … #4 seed SJU knocked off top seed Louisville, 11-4) … if Rutgers or St. John’s win the BIG EAST Tournament, the league likely will have locked up three bids to the NCAAs … Pitt has been hoping to be that third entrant, but that was far from certain following the Panther’s first-day loss to #7 seed Cincinnati (9-6) …Louisville entered the tournament as the #5 team in the official NCAA RPI (#7 in the cb360 CNR) while UConn was the #24 RPI (CNR #18) and Pitt’s tenuous situation included a #47 RPI and #42 CNR … Friday’s games: Pitt and UConn will meet in a 4:00 elimination games, as will Louisville and #5 seed South Florida (7:00).

• Lamar and Texas Arlington – This is a similar situation to the one above, as these teams have started 2-0 in the Southland Conference Tournament … #5 seed UTA benefited from the day-1 upset that saw #8 seed Nicholls State beat regular-season champ Texas State, as the Mavericks then rallied to beat Nicholls (5-4) … on the other side of the bracket, the #7 seed Lamar stopped surging Northwestern (La.) State on Wed. and the earned its day off with a Thursday win over #6 seed McNeese State, 10-7 (McNeese earlier had edged #3 seed Southeastern Louisiana, 8-7) … should Lamar or UTA win the tournament, it’s likely that the Southland still could be a one-bid league for the NCAAs – as each of the top seeds have shaky at-large credentials (Texas State #48 NCAA RPI/#46 CNR … SLU #40 RPI, #50 CNR … NWLA #76 RPI and now eliminated from the Southland Tour.) … Friday’s games include a 10:00 a.m. CT elimination game (SLU-McNeese), followed by another elimination game between Texas St. and Nicholls … Lamar and UTA will be awaiting the winners in the night games (starting at 5:00).

• Arkansas State (Sunbelt) –The #7 seed has joined top seed Florida Atlantic as the 2-0 teams, but a Trojans title at this tournament might simply solidify the end of the season for #2 seed Louisiana (Lafayette)  … UL-L entered the Sunbelt Championship with a #33 RPI (matching its spot in the CNR), but the regular-season co-champs already have been bounced back home and have to be considered a bubble team (especially if Arkansas State were to snatch the automatic bid) … the #3 and #4 seeds – Middle Tennessee and Florida International – entered the week as longshots for the NCAAs, with each facing elimination gaames on Friday (FIU plays #5 seed South Alabama in the brutal 9:00 AM game, followed by MTSU and #6 seed Troy) … #8 seed Western Kentucky was a top-25 team on the national scene at the midseason point, but the Hilltoppers wrapped up their second-half swoon by going 0-2 this week) … FAU will be awaiting the FIU-USA winner on Friday afternoon (4 ET), followed by Ark. St. s. the MTSU/Troy winner.

• Western Carolina (SoCon) – Speaking of teams that had strong starts to the season and then faded, WCU could jump back into the picture following its Thursday rally from a 6-0 deficit to upset CNR #28 College of Charleston (7-6) … #6 seed WCU joins regular-season champ The Citadel as 2-0 starters in the Southern Conference Tournament … #2 seed CofC (#29 RPI) may be secure for NCAA at-large consideration, meaning that a WCU tournament title could ensure three NCAA bids for the SoCon (WCU entered the event 57th in the official NCAA RPI) … #3 seed Elon (#51 RPI/#44 CNR) is another SoCon hopeful for the NCAAs, but the Phoenix likely need to win their Friday elimination game vs. #5 seed Samford (7 ET; winner has to beat Citadel twice on Sat.) … Friday’s 3:00 elimination game will pit C of C vs. #7 seed Appalachian State (winner has to beat WCU twice on Sat.).

In addition to games mentioned above, Thursday’s other top-50 upsets included:

• Texas Tech 4,  #2 Texas 1 (Big 12)
• #17 Florida State 11,  #3 Virginia 4 (Big 12)
• #25 Virginia Tech 6,  #8 Georgia Tech 2
• #14 Auburn 3,  #10 South Carolina 1 (Big 12)
• Boston College 12,  #12 Miami 10 (Big 12)
• #34 LSU 7, #16 Vanderbilt 5 (Big 12)
• #29 Alabama 6,  #23 Mississippi 3 (Big 12)
• Middle Tennessee State 3,  #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (Big 12)
• Florida International 7,  #47 Western Kentucky 3 (Sunbelt)
• High Point 2,  #49 Liberty 1 (Big South)

TOP TEAMS – Texas (0-2) already is out of title contention at the Big 12 Tournament, while Virginia now has a tougher road to repeating as ACC Tournament champion (in order to reach the title game, the Cavs first need BC to beat FSU on Friday, then UVa has to defeat Miami on Sat.). Note that the Big 12  and ACC both use a round-robin format in their tournaments. The losses by Texas and UVa, coupled with Arizona State’s win over Stanford, can only strengthen ASU’s position as the potential #1 national seed.

SEC – One day after all four SEC Tournament games resulted in upsets, Thursday’s slate saw the underdogs (based on the CNR) win three more times – including Auburn’s win that eliminated South Carolina. Two teams that filled the final two SEC spots – #8 seed Alabama and #7 LSU – now find themselves on the inside tracks to the title game.

BUBBLE SEEKERS – Boston College (#46 RPI) and Texas Tech (#48) kept alive their hopes for making the NCAAs. All four teams in BC’s bracket at the ACC Tournament (#1 seed Virginia, #4 Miami, #5 Florida St. and #8 BC) have started 1-1, with one team ultimately advancing to Sunday’s title game. BC will face FSU on Friday at noon, while UVa and Miami will meet on Sat. (also at noon). In order to reach the Big 12 title game, #5 seed Texas Tech need to beat #8 seed Missouri on Saturday while getting help in two others games (Missouri beating #4 seed Texas A&M on Fri. and top seed Texas then beating A&M on Sat.).

MORE BUBBLE WATCH – Liberty’s loss could extinguish the Flames’ hopes for an NCAA at-large spot (#44 official NCAA RPI, but lost on Wed.). Several other NCAA bubble teams also are 1-1 at their conference tournaments, after winning on Thursday:

• #38 New Mexico 7,  BYU 6
• #42 Pittsburgh 13,  Cincinnati 4
• #46 Texas State 8,  Stephen F. Austin 2
• #50 Southeastern Louisiana 10,  Northwestern (La.) State 4

THURSDAY’S TOP-50 RESULTS (5/27/10; upsets in italics)
(based on the CB360 Composite National Rankings)

Reminder – follow THIS LINK for CB360’s Conference Tournament Main Page (with links to all of the conference tournament  central pages that include complete info., links, etc.)

• #1 Arizona State 4,  at #32 Stanford 2 (Pac-10 reg.-season)  |  Final Stats
ASU Recap |  STAN Recap

• Texas Tech 4,  #2 Texas 1 (Big 12)

• #17 Florida State 11,  #3 Virginia 4 (ACC)

• #4 Coastal Carolina 11,  Radford 9 (Big South)

• #5 Florida 5,  #13 Arkansas 4 (SEC)

• St. John’s 6,  #7 Louisville 5

• #25 Virginia Tech 6,  #8 Georgia Tech 2

• #14 Auburn 3,  #10 South Carolina 1 (SEC)

• Boston College 12,  #12 Miami 10 (ACC)

• #34 LSU 7, #16 Vanderbilt 5 (SEC)

• Rutgers 6,  #18 Connecticut 5 (BIG EAST)

• #22 Rice 24,  Houston 3 (C-USA)

• #29 Alabama 6,  #23 Mississippi 3 (SEC)

• #27 Texas A&M 7,  Missouri 2 (Big 12)

• Western Carolina 7,  #28 College of Charleston 6

• Middle Tennessee State 3,  #33 Louisiana-Lafayette 0 (Sunbelt)

• #35 Florida Atlantic 10,  South Alabama 9 (Sunbelt)

• North Florida 13,  #36 Florida Gulf Coast 2 (Atlantic Sun)

• #38 New Mexico 7,  BYU 6 (Mt. West)

• #39 The Citadel 6,  #44 Elon 3 (SoCon)

• #42 Pittsburgh 13,  Cincinnati 4 (BIG EAST)

• #46 Texas State 8,  Stephen F. Austin 2 (Southland)

• Florida International 7,  #47 Western Kentucky 3 (Sunbelt)

• High Point 2,  #49 Liberty 1 (Big South)

• #50 Southeastern Louisiana 10,  Northwestern (La.) State 4 (Southland)

2010 Conference Tournament Central

America East Tournament (May 26-28)

Bracket Champion: Stony Brook

All-Conference Team

ACC Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Florida State

All-Conference Team

Atlantic Sun Tournament (May26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Mercer (First title since 1983)

All-Conference Team

Atlantic 10 Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  St. Louis

All-Conference Team

Big East Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  St. John’s

All-Conference Team

Big South Tournament (May 25-29)

Bracket Champion: Coastal Carolina

All-Conference Team

Big Ten Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Minnesota

All-Conference Team

Big Twelve Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Texas A&M

All-Conference Team

Big West Conference – No Post Season Tournament

Regular Season Champion: Cal State Fullerton

All-Conference team

CAA Tournament (May 27-29)

Bracket Champion:  Virginia Commonwealth

All-Conference Team

Conference USA Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Southern Mississippi

All-Conference Team

Great West Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champ: Utah Valley (No NCAA Bid)

All-Conference Team

Horizon League Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Wisconsin-Milwaukee

All-Conference Team

Ivy League – Best of Three Series

Champion:  Dartmouth beat Columbia

All-Conference Team

Metro Atlantic Tournament

Bracket Champion:  Rider

All-Conference Team

Mid-American (MAC) Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Kent State

All-Conference Team

Missouri Valley Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Illinois State

All-Conference Team

Mountain West Conference Tournament (May 25-29)

Bracket Champion:  TCU

All-Conference Team

Northeast Conference Tournament (May 27-29)

Bracket Champion: Central Connecticut St.

All-Conference Team

Ohio Valley Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Jacksonville St.

All-Conference Team

Pac 10 Conference – No Postseason Tournament

Regular Season Champion:  Arizona State

All-Conference Team

Patriot League – Best of Three Series

Champion:  Bucknell

All-Conference Team

SEC Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  LSU

All-Conference Team

Southern Conference Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  The Citadel

All-Conference Team

Southland Conference Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Lamar

All-Conference Team

SWAC Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Grambling St.

All-Conference Team

Summit League Tournament (May 27-29)

Bracket Champion:  Oral Roberts

All-Conference Team

Sun Belt Conference Tournament (May 26-29)

Bracket Champion:  Florida International

All-Conference Team

West Coast Conference – No Postseason Tournament

Regular Season Champion:  San Diego

All-Conference Team

Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament (May 26-30)

Bracket Champion:  Hawaii (First since 1992)

All-Conference Team

FIU’s Wittels Heads This Week’s “By The Numbers”…

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

45…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore had at least one hit in each of FIU’s three wins over South Alabama over the weekend to tie Roger Schmuck of Arizona State (1971) for the third longest Division One hitting streak of all-time.

47…Game hitting streak by Phil Stephenson of Wichita State in 1981 for the second longest streak in NCAA history.  Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura’s 58 game streak (which ended at the 1987 College World Series) is the longest in DI history.

3…Teams that have qualified for the 2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament.  San Diego and Cal State Fullerton joined Ivy League champ Dartmouth by claiming the their regular season crowns over the weekend.  San Diego won the WCC thanks to losses by Portland, while Fullerton claimed at least a share of the Big West after sweeping Long Beach State.  The Titans own the tie-breaker with UC Irvine and need just one win or one Cal State Northridge loss to win the title outright.

18-2…Fullerton’s record in its last 20 games since losing game one of its series vs. Irvine back on April 9th.

19…Straight NCAA Tournament appearances Fullerton will make when it plays in its NCAA regional this season.  It’s the third longest active streak in the nation behind Miami (37) and Florida State (32).

47…Days it took to complete TCU‘s 19-17 win in 12 innings over Air Force to clinch the 2010 Mountain West

Matt Purke (TCU photo)

Conference Championship.  The game began on March 28th in Colorado Springs, and was suspended due to weather.  It resumed in the 7th inning Friday afternoon in Ft. Worth with TCU leading 16-15.

12…Strikeouts by TCU pitcher Matt Purke, who gave-up just a run on five hits in six innings of relief in that game to improve to 10-0.  The freshman is the Horned Frog’s regular Friday starter.

8…Home runs TCU hit in that game to help the Horned Frogs to a new school record total of 84 HR hit this season.  The record had stood since 1998.

3…Weekend wins by Kentucky (29-23, 12-15) over LSU to hand the defending national champions their fourth straight SEC series loss.  The Tigers (34-18, 12-15) have lost 11 of their last 12 SEC games and 12 of their last 14 games overall.

19…Years since Kentucky had last swept a weekend series from LSU.

21…Years since LSU played in the NCAA Tournament but did not host a Regional.  The Tigers played in College Station Texas that year.  LSU has hosted 18 NCAA Regionals since then, but could find themselves on the road when the tournament starts this year.

16-8…Score by which Indiana trailed Kentucky heading into the bottom of the 8th inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Kentucky.  The Hoosiers plated five runs with two outs in the 8th and then added three more in the 9th to force extra innings before Michael Early’s walk-off hit gave IU an improbable 18-17 victory.

0-for-6…What Early was at the plate in the game prior to drilling a pitch off the left field wall to plate Dylan Smith with the game-winning run.

4 & 7…Home runs hit and RBI’s by St. John’s left fielder Jeremy Baltz in Friday’s 8-5 win over #6 Louisville (the Red

Jeremy Baltz (SJU photo)

Storm lost the other two games in the series).  The freshman leads St. John’s with a .412 average, 18 home runs and 68 RBIs this season.

14-0…Northwestern’s lead over Michigan in the middle of the third inning Sunday in Ann Arbor.

15-14…The final score of Michigan’s comeback win over the Wildcats.  The game ended on Mike Dufek’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

5 2/3…Scoreless innings pitched by Wolverine reliever Matt Miller to pick-up the win.  The junior struck out seven and gave-up just two hits to keep the Wildcats scoreless while Michigan scored the last nine of its 15 unanswered runs.

14…Straight games Virginia has won after sweeping North Carolina over the weekend.  North Carolina (32-20, 11-16) had won eight straight and 10 of its last 11 games heading into the series with the Cavs (43-9, 21-6).

2…Walk-off hits the Cavaliers needed to pull off the sweep.  John Barr’s 2-out RBI single capped Saturday’s game one 3-2 victory,  while John Hicks ended Sunday’s 5-3 win with a 3-run home run.

900…Wins at Ohio State by head coach Bob Todd after Sunday’s 11-6 win over Iowa for the Buckeyes’ lone win of the 3-game series.  Todd will retire at season’s end.

7…Scoreless innings pitched by South Carolina’s bullpen in a 3-game weekend sweep of Arkansas.  Five relievers combined to give-up just two hits after starter Tyler Webb left after giving-up three runs in three innings in Sunday’s 5-3 win to cap the sweep.

33…Consecutive Big South Conference games won by #5 Coastal Carolina (45-6, 23-0) after a 3-game sweep of #39 Liberty (37-15, 18-6).  The Chanticleers remain in good shape to receive a top 8 national seed after sweeping the second place team in their conference.

14,619…Fans who saw Florida’s 3-game sweep of Georgia over the weekend in Gainesville.  It’s the best 3-game attendance figure in program history.  Florida (37-12, 20-7) and South Carolina (41-11, 29-7) are tied for first place in the SEC East.  They go head to head this weekend.

4…Straight SEC series won by Auburn after taking two of three games from Tennessee.  The Tigers (35-17, 17-10) now lead the SEC West.

15…Years since Auburn last won the SEC’s Western Division.  They close the regular season this weekend at Ole Miss.

Anthony Rendon (Rice photo)

10…Run deficit faced by Rice as the Owls prepared to bat in the bottom of the third inning Sunday vs. Southern Mississippi.

19…Unanswered runs Rice scored to beat the Golden Eagles 21-14.  Anthony Rendon paced the Owls, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and 4 RBIs to help Rice lock-up the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament.

7…RBIs by USM’s B.A. Vollmuth in the loss.  The sophomore shortstop belted a pair of home runs himself, including a grand slam.

1,000…Career wins by Arizona head coach Andy Lopez after his Wildcats topped #1 Arizona State 12-4 Sunday night in Tucson.  Lopez is the 16th active coach and the 46th all-time Division One coach to reach the milestone.

1…Loss by ASU’s Merrill Kelly (9-1) this season after giving-up six runs (five earned) in just 3 2/3 IP-his shortest start of the season.  The 12 runs are the most given-up by the Sun Devils this year.

25…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Rhode Island’s Tim Boyce (a new URI school record).  The senior struck out 10 and gave-up just two singles with his second straight complete game shutout in Friday’s 6-0 win over Richmond.

27 1/3…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Wichita State’s Jordan Cooper after Friday’s 3-0 win over Missouri State.  The sophomore fanned 14 and struck out at least one batter in every inning to improve to 8-2.

69…Walks issued to UT Arlington outfielder Michael Choice this season to set a new Southland Conference single season record.  Choice is batting .401 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Mavericks (26-26).  He was walked

Tony Nix (UC Riverside photo)

intentionally in the first inning of Sunday’s 11-8 win over Lamar to set the record.

19…Times Choice has been intentionally walked this season to help him lead the nation with his 69 free passes 2010.

10…Big Ten teams that are all still alive in the race to qualify for next week’s 6-team Big Ten Tournament. Four  teams, Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, and Iowa, are tied for fifth place.

.266…UC Riverside’s Tony Nix’s season batting average entering last week’s action.

.341…Nix’s current average after a week in which he was 17-for-26 with three home runs, five doubles, a triple, 11 runs scored, and 15 RBIs.  Nix had a stretch during which he had nine straight hits, including a 6-for-6 game against Loyola Marymount.

4…Home runs hit by Bucknell’s Paul Shribman to help the #4 seed Bison beat #1 seed Army in the Patriot League’s best two of three semifinal series.  Shribman belted a grand slam in the series clinching win and finished the weekend by batting 8-for-13 with 9 RBIs and 7 runs scored.  Bucknell faces #3 seed Holy Cross in this weekend’s Patriot League Championship Series.

SAN ANTONIO — UTSA head baseball coach Sherman Corbett announced Wednesday his program’s 2010 schedule. Highlighted by six teams that played in the 2009 NCAA Tournament (Baylor, Sam Houston State, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas State), a full slate of 33 Southland Conference games and 26 home tilts, the ledger features a total of 52 contests this spring.

UTSA Head Coach Sherman Corbett

schedule for more than a decade. UTSA has won 20 of its last 26 tilts at the 16-year-old facility.

Complete 2010 UT San Antonio Schedule (PDF)

The Birds open the season with a six-game home stand at Roadrunner Field. UTSA will host Houston Baptist from Feb. 20-21 before welcoming Indiana State to the Bird Bath the following weekend (Feb. 26-28).

The year’s first road trip will take place from March 2-14 when UTSA plays eight games in a two-week span. The trip kicks off with a March 2 tilt at TCU, which came one game short of playing in last year’s College World Series. A four-game set at San Francisco follows from March 5-7 and the journey ends the weekend of March 12-14 when the Birds open conference play at Southeastern Louisiana.

The Roadrunners return to the Alamo City for the two-game series with Iowa and UT Arlington visits the Bird Bath two days later in the first of three conference contests that will be played from March 17-19.

Following a March 24 tilt at Baylor, UTSA returns to Roadrunner Field to host three-time defending Southland Tournament Champion Sam Houston State from March 26-27. The Birds have won 12 of the last 13 regular season meetings with the Bearkats.

A five-game road trip that includes stops at Houston (March 30), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 1-3) and Texas A&M (April 6) follows and the Birds then return home to square off against Stephen F. Austin (April 9-11) and Houston (April 13).

UTSA embarks on a season-long nine-game road trip from April 16-May 1 when they play at Northwestern State (April 16-18), Lamar (April 23-25), 2009 national runner-up Texas (April 27) and I-35 rival Texas State (April 30-May 1), which won the Southland’s regular season title a year ago.

The Roadrunners come back to the Bird Bath for a season-best eight-game home stand that begins on May 2 with the conclusion of the Texas State home-and-home series. Nicholls will come to town from May 7-9, along with McNeese State (May 14-16) and TCU (May 18).

UTSA closes out regular season play with a three contests at Central Arkansas from May 20-22.

The Southland Tournament is scheduled for May 26-29 at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. The circuit’s top eight teams will qualify for the four-day postseason event that determines the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

(Release)

Lake Charles, LA McNeese State baseball coach Terry Burrows has announced the Cowboy schedule for the 2010 season and it includes games against 2009 College World Series champion LSU and CWS participant Arkansas.

McNeese St. Head Coach Terry Burrows

McNeese will also participate in the Lamar tournament this year where the Cowboys will play Penn State, Dallas Baptist and the host Cardinals.

Complete 2010 McNeese St. Schedule

Burrows has his team starting its schedule Feb. 19 in a three game home series against Valparaiso.  Other non-conference matchups for the  Cowboys are home and home matches with UNO, UL-Lafayette and UL-Monroe and single games at home against Prairie View and Texas Southern.

On the road the Cowboys will also play Louisiana Tech.

McNeese will begin Southland Conference action March 12 in a three game home series with Northwestern State.

The Cowboys have 23 lettermen returning this year including seven starters in the field and three pitchers in rotation.  Heading this group is outfielder Lee Orr who was named to the Louisville Slugger freshman all-American team last year after batting .301 with 15 home runs, 57 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

Other front line players returning are outfielder Andy Riche’ (.340, three homers), third baseman Steven Irvine (.285, seven home runs), shortstop Matt Fontenot (.343, three home runs), second baseman Jace Peterson (.366, 13 stolen bases) and first basemen Nick Eubanks (.268, four homers) and Bryn Thompson (.240).

Starting pitchers returning are Tyler Davis (4-3, 6.91 ERA), Jonathan Conrad (3-6, 7.10 ERA) and Matt Click (2-4, 7.30 ERA).

A year ago the Cowboys posted a 21-30 overall record and were 10-22 in conference play.

(Release)

OMAHA, Neb. – Eleven games in Rosenblatt Stadium’s final season, games against five NCAA Tournament participants and three meetings with local rival Nebraska highlight this year’s 2010 Creighton Baseball schedule, which was released late Monday.

The Jays kick-off its 54 game schedule on Feb. 20 with a doubleheader in Conway, Ark. against Central Arkansas and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. The Bluejays will start the season with a 21-game road trip before playing its home opener against Indiana State on April 2 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Creighton Head Coach Ed Servais

The Jays will also close its home slate with a Rosenblatt matinee against New Orleans on May 22 at 12:00 p.m. It will be the last regular season game the Jays play at the park, as they will play a handful of games at TD AMERITRADE Park Omaha in 2011 before moving in as full-time tenants in 2012.

Complete 2010 Creighton Schedule

The Jays non-conference season is highlighted by six games against four NCAA Regional participants from last season. The first of which will be Southland Conference champions Sam Houston State, who the Jays will play on March 5 and 7^th.

Minnesota is next on Creighton’s list of tourney teams, as the Jays will face the Golden Gophers at the Metrodome on March 13 in the Metrodome Tournament.

Kansas State and Kansas round out the Jays’ non-conference, ’09 tourney-team lineup, as they will face KSU in Manhattan on March 16. Creighton and Kansas will play a home-and-home set, as the Jays will visit Lawrence on March 23 and the Jayhawks will play at Rosenblatt on April 7.

After the season opener in Arkansas, the Jays will play in three tournaments, two of which will be in Texas. ULM, Northwestern State (La.) and Stephen F. Austin will be the opponents at the Stephen F. Austin Tournament while Northern Colorado and Sam Houston State will tangle with the Jays at SHSU’s tournament.

After a single non-conference game at Texas-Arlington, Creighton will play in the Metrodome Tournament in Minneapolis. The Jays will play South Dakota State on March 12, host Minnesota on the 13^th and Harvard on the 14^th.

The Jays will play a three-game set in Chicago against 2009 Horizon League regular season champ Illinois-Chicago before jumping into its 21-game, Missouri Valley Conference schedule.

The Jays be on the road at Southern Illinois on March 26-28, and will also have road conference series at Bradley and Missouri State.

Along with Indiana State, the Jays will host Valley opponents Illinois State, Evansville and 2009 regional participant Wichita State.

Creighton hosts two of the three games against Nebraska at Rosenblatt Stadium. An April 6 trip to Lincoln precedes games on April 20 and May 18 in Omaha.

Creighton will also play host to Big Ten foe Iowa, along with Air Force, Seattle University and New Orleans in its other non-conference home games.

The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will be played from May 25-29 at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan. It will be the second straight year Wichita has played host to the tournament.

The Jays finished last season 31-25, falling in the MVC title game to Wichita State. Creighton will look for its first NCAA regional appearance since 2007, and third under head coach Ed Servais.

(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)

Darin Thomas Receives Two-Year Contract Extension

October 14, 2009

ARLINGTON, Texas – The University of Texas at Arlington director of athletics Pete Carlon has announced a two-year contract extension for head baseball coach Darin Thomas through the 2012-2013 year.

“This was a recommendation to President Spaniolo who recently approved this contract extension,” Carlon said. “We are both very pleased with the direction of our baseball program, especially with Coach Thomas’ leadership and the recent academic performances of the team since he took over as head coach.”

Thomas has led the Mavericks to 56 wins in two seasons as head coach, including back-to-back appearances in the Southland Conference Tournament. The influence Thomas has made on the UT Arlington baseball program goes beyond on-field accomplishments, as his program has recorded four straight semesters with over a 3.0 team grade-point average.

Last spring, 20-of-33 baseball student-athletes were named to the Honor Roll with a 3.0 GPA or higher for the semester.

The Mavericks have defeated eight nationally-ranked opponents under Thomas’ guidance, and this past season saw six of his players either drafted or sign a free agent contract with a Major League Baseball organization.

Thomas’ squad led the Southland Conference in ERA, tied for the top fielding percentage in the league and had the SLC batting champion (Matt Otteman, .432 batting average) and strikeout leader (Nathan Long, 104) while Andrew Kainer broke the school and SLC all-time hit streak record with a 36-game streak.

Thomas was named the sixth head baseball coach at UT Arlington on Nov. 15, 2007. Thomas begins his 10th season on the UT Arlington baseball staff this season. He was the associate head coach for six seasons (2002-2007) and spent one season as an assistant coach (2001) for the Mavericks.

(Press Release)