College Baseball 360 » Tempe Regional http://collegebaseball360.com baseball news, college baseball stats, sean stires, pete lafleur, college world series video, college baseball podcast, Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:33:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 Top College Baseball Moments Of 2009 #9 http://collegebaseball360.com/top-college-baseball-moments-of-2009-9/ http://collegebaseball360.com/top-college-baseball-moments-of-2009-9/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:01:42 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=2240

Cal Poly Gets Its First NCAA Tournament Bid

(With the end of the year fast approaching, we’re counting down some of the top moments from the 2009 college baseball season.  We’ll have one a day through New Year’s Eve.)

2009 was the 15th season for Cal Poly as a Division I baseball program.  It’s not like baseball didn’t exist there before their first season at college baseball”s top level, they actually won the 1989 Division II National Championship.  However, the first 14 seasons as a DI program had all ended the same for the Mustangs-without an NCAA Tournament

Larry Lee's Mustangs earned the program's first NCAA bid in 2009.

Larry Lee's Mustangs earned the program's first NCAA bid in 2009.

bid.

It’s not like Cal Poly plays in a cream puff conference.  The Big West includes such teams as perrenial College World Series participant Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine (2007 CWS) and Long Beach State.  But competition like that can be both a blessing and a curse- good competition means a good strength of schedule and RPI numbers, but too many fourth-place conference finishes can be just too much to overcome when the field of 64 is ultimately announced.

Larry Lee’s squad had dipped even lower when they finished 2008 with a 24-32 overall record and a 7th place finish in the nine-team Big West conference standings.  2009 was going to be different though.

The season started with a bang when Cal Poly hosted and won two out of three games from 2008 CWS team Rice.  The Mustangs dropped the opener 10-7, but they managed to score 7 runs in just 4 2/3 against the 3rd ranked Owls’ Ryan Berry, who finished the season with 7-2 record and 2.42 ERA with 4 complete games.

Cal Poly jumped out to a 6-0 lead in game two en-route to a 10-3 romp, and then rallied from an early 6-2 deficit to win the series finale 7-6.  J.J. Thompson doubled home Bobby Crocker with one out in the bottom of the 9th for the walk-off win. Thompson ended the season as one of seven Mustangs to collect at least 41 RBIs.

The series win over one of the top teams of the current decade helped fuel Cal Poly’s 17-4 start to the season.  It was the program’s best start since the 1997 team that opened with an 18-2 mark, but even the ’97 team didn’t get to the postseason.

Larry Lee’s Mustangs would go on to win 11 of 14 series during the ’09 regular season.  They took both games they played from defending National Champion Fresno State, and on March 31 they posted their first win over USC in 34

Adam Buschini's .422 average led the Big West in '09.

Adam Buschini's .422 average led the Big West in '09.

years.

By season’s end Cal Poly led the Big West in nearly every offensive category including: batting average (.324), slugging percentage (.495), on-base percentage (.409), runs (468), hits (655), RBI (420), home runs (61), and total bases (1,001).  Mustang pitchers also led the conference in strikeouts (391) and fewest walks allowed (235).

Adam Buschini led the Mustangs with a .422 batting average, 11 home runs, 61 RBIs, and a 1.091 OPS.  Reliever Eric Massingham led a solid pitching staff with 7-3 record with a 3.07 ERA and 6 saves in 25 relief appearances.  Both were drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies last June.

Despite the statistical success Cal Poly finished third in the Big West regular season standings.   With a 37-19 overall record and no postseason conference tournament to try to earn an automatic NCAA bid,  Lee’s team would have to wait to see if its name was called on selection Monday.  The Mustangs did earn their first berth when they were announced as the #3 seed in the Tempe Regional which also featured #1 Arizona State, #2 Oral Roberts and #4 Kent State.

The Mustangs lost their two NCAA games to Oral Roberts and Kent State, while Arizona State advanced all the way to the College World Series.

LarryLee

Press play to listen to a podcast interview with Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee.  The interview was recorded just after the Mustangs learned of their first NCAA bid.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

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

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The Florida International baseball team recently finalized its 2010 schedule, announced head coach Turtle Thomas. The 2010 slate is packed with big-name programs both at home and on the road to go along with the always-challenging Sun Belt Conference schedule. “I think the Sun Belt getting better and better every year because we have a lot of great coaches in this conference,” Thomas said. “There are no easy ones in this league.”

FIU will play 19 games against NCAA Regional participants, 13 of them out of conference, including a meeting with College World Series participant Arizona State. “We are trying to put out guys in tough games in order to prepare them for regionals,” Thomas added. “You want to be able to play those types of teams if you can because if you’re fortunate enough to make the regionals, then you’re used to playing that quality of competition.”

Complete 2010 FIU Schedule

FIU opens the season at home when they host the Maryland Terrapins from the ACC February 19-21. The Golden Panthers will then take on Oral Roberts

FIU Head Coach Turtle Thomas

FIU Head Coach Turtle Thomas

on February 26-28. Last season the Golden Eagles finished 33-15, won the Summit League and went on to the Tempe Regional where they won two games before being eliminated by Arizona State, who FIU will also play in 2010.

After the six-game homestand, FIU will hit the road for the Arizona State Surprise Tournament in Surprise, Ariz. After opening up the tournament against Utah Valley State on March 4, FIU will play UC Riverside (33-20 in ’09) March 5 and Cal Poly March 6. The Mustangs of Cal Poly finished 37-21 and also went to the Tempe Regional in 2009. The Golden Panthers then close out the tournament playing College World Series participant Arizona State on March 7. The Sun Devils, who were ranked as high as No.2 in the country in postseason polls, went 51-14 and advanced to the CWS where they won two games before being bounced by Texas.

Following the tough trip to Arizona, things don’t get much easier for FIU as they host the defending ACC champions Eagles of Boston College March 9-10. BC beat Miami in the finals of the ACC tournament last year and advanced to the Austin Regional. FIU will then host Big East member Rutgers March 12-14.

FIU will then head to the west coast of Florida on March 16 to face the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast who were the A-Sun regular season champions in ’09 after posting a 36-18 record. FIU then hosts Southern Utah March 17 before opening up the Sun Belt schedule with a visit from the Troy Trojans March 20-23.

MORE SCHEDULES

A visit from A-Sun tournament champions and Gainesville Regional participant Jacksonville March 23-24 will precede FIU’s next conference series as they travel to Little Rock, Ark. March 26 for a 3-game set with the UALR Trojans and then come home on April 2 to host the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns. The Golden Panthers then go on the road for the first of hopefully two trips to Murfreesboro, Tenn. April 9-14 as they visit the Blue Raiders, a team that was co-regular season champions and won the Sun Belt tournament last year on their way to an NCAA Louisville Regional birth.

On April 14, FIU will face yet another NCAA regional participant as the Wildcats of Bethune Cookman come to town. After a visit from the New Orleans Privateers on April 16-17, FIU will head to Bowling Green, Ky. to face Sun Belt Conference regular season co-champions and NCAA Oxford Regional participant Western Kentucky April 23-25.

FIU plays Jacksonville again on April 27-28, this time on the road before heading home to host ULM starting April 30. A trip to Daytona Beach on May 5th will ready the Panthers for their trip to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State starting May 7. FIU then hosts South Alabama starting May 14 before facing FGCU at home and finishing the season in Boca Raton facing the Florida Atlantic Owls starting May 20.

The Sun Belt Conference Championships will be held in Murfreesboro, Tenn. on May 25-29.

(Press Release)

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