College Baseball Notebook-Week 10

A By The Numbers Look At Another Week Of Action

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dame.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Around The Bases-April 22

Thoughts on Tar Heels, Golden Eagles, the Pac 10 and even Toby Gerhart and the NFL Draft with Collegebaseball360.com editor Sean Stires.

Two For Home? North Carolina and Southern Mississippi were two of the “Omaha Eight” last year, but more and more they are looking like teams that could be left entirely out of the field of 64 this season.  UNC (23-16, 6-12 ACC) enters this weekend’s series at Clemson tied with Duke for last place in the ACC Coastal Division.  However,

they’re technically not even tied with the Blue Devils, because Duke took two of three games from the Tar Heels last month.  That was the first of four ACC series losses by UNC already this season.  As we pointed out in our Notebook earlier this week, the Tar Heels lost just six ACC series over the last four seasons combined.  They entered the week with a solid 36 in the NCAA RPI, but  have lost seven of their last nine games while continuing to drop in every national poll.  In addition to Clemson, North Carolina’s remaining conference series are Wake Forest, at Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, Southern Mississippi (18-17, 2-7 CUSA) is completely reeling.  With an NCAA RPI of 102, last year’s CWS darlings have lost three straight and seven of their last nine games.   Mid-week losses to LSU and Ole Miss are one thing, but USM has lost its last three Conference USA series to UAB, Central Florida and Marshall to plummet to dead last in the conference standings.

The Pac Is Back: After a down year in 2009 the Pac 10 is looking very good.  Arizona State and UCLA grabbed most of the early season headlines with their long winning streaks to start the season, but the league is deep.  Seven teams, #1 Arizona State, #6 UCLA, #16 Arizona, #18 California, #20 Oregon, #24 Oregon State, and #29 Stanford,  are ranked among the CB 360 Composite National Rankings top 30. Each of those teams is

also in the NCAA RPI top 30.  At least six of those teams should receive an NCAA bid this season, making it even tougher for a team like North Carolina to find a bid of its own.

Go Gerhart: As I write this the start of the 2010 NFL Draft is just hours away.  It’s hard to believe, but former Stanford two-sport star Toby Gerhart isn’t expected to be taken until the end of the second round…at the earliest.  This is a guy who set Pac 10 records and led the nation with 28 rushing touchdowns and 1,871 rushing yards in 2009.  He also played in 105 college baseball games, while helping the Cardinal to the 2008 College World Series.  He had good 40 times at the NFL Combine, but he’ll slip in the draft because the last white running back to have any real NFL success was John Riggins.  At least one scout has said “If Toby Gerhart was black, he would be drafted in the first round.”  I’m no scout, but was Gerhart too slow when he ran over and around USC’s Taylor Mays when he ran for 178 yards, while running for 3 TDs and catching another in Stanford’s 55-21 win at USC?  Mays is expected to be a first round pick.   Pete Carroll wanted Gerhart to be a fullback when he recruited him, but he ran over Carroll’s linebackers instead.   Gerhart proved Carroll and a lot of other doubters wrong in college, and let’s hope he does the same again in the NFL.

Pac 10 Baseball 2010 Preview

Can ASU Keep On Winning Without Murphy?

2009 Pac 10 Champion:  Arizona State (No Pac 10 Postseason Tournament)

The More Things Change…:  There wasn’t much change at the top of the Pac 10 ranks, but there was some turnover in the middle.  Arizona State’s 2009 Pac 10 title was its third straight to give the Sun Devils their 10th straight NCAA appearance.  However, Washington State went from the bottom of the conference in 2008 to a second-place finish last year.  It was the Cougars’ first top five finish in the conference since 1991 and they earned their first NCAA Regional appearance since 1990.  Meanwhile, Oregon brought back baseball & played its first games since 1981, Oregon State was back in the tournament after staying home in 2008 and Stanford missed the NCAAs after a 2008 trip to the CWS.  The biggest news from the Pac 10 in 2009 though came in the off season with the departure of ASU head coach Pat Murphy.  The big question now is: Can ASU continue its success with a new head coach?

2010 Pac 10 Baseball Preview

Arizona

2009 Record:  (30-25, 13-14)

Mascot:  Wildcats

Head Coach:  Andy Lopez

Location:  Tucson, AZ

Vitals:  .314 BA, 46 HR, 71 SB, .387 OBP, .965 Fld%…5.46 ERA, 0 CG, 13 SV, 379 K, 215 BB, .293 opp. BA

Slight Returns:  The Wildcats have just 12 returning players from last year’s roster.  They will have as many as 16 freshman on the roster this season.

The Holes:  Pac 10 batting champion Dillon Baird (.433, 8 HR, 55 RBIs) leads the list of departed players.  Hunter Pace (.372, 15 SB) and Dwight Childs (.331) are gone from the line-up as well.  Arizona also loses its top starting pitcher, Preston Guilmet (6-5, 3.74 ERA), as well as relievers Cory Burns (2-0, 3.80 ERA, 40 appearances) and Jason Stoffel (2-1, 4.67 ERA, 39 app., 11 SV).

Who’s Back:  The top returning pitcher include Daniel Workman (3-1, 3.86 ERA), Joe Allison (5-1, 4.66 ERA) and Kyle Simon (3-5, 6.03 ERA, 11 starts).  Bryce Ortega (.324, 16 SB) and Steve Selsky (.318 will lead the offense).

Family Ties:  Brothers Michael and David Lopez will both wear the Wildcat uniform this season.  Their dad is head coach Andy Lopez.  Michael is a pitcher who redshirted last year, while David is a freshman infielder.

Tucson Time:  Arizona plays its first 26 games, including its conference-opening series vs. Oregon, on its home

field in Tucson, AZ.  The Wildcats have a total of 44 home games in 2010.

Arizona State

2009 Record:  (51-14, 21-6)

Mascot:  Sun Devils

Head Coach:  Tim Esmay

Location:  Tempe, AZ

Vitals:  .303 BA, 75 HR, 116 SB, .418 OBP, .969 Fld%…2.90 ERA, 11 CG, 12 SV, 608 K, 157 BB, .239 opp. BA

Meet The New Boss:  Pat Murphy is gone after 15 seasons in the desert.  Murphy’s last win in a Sun Devil uniform was a 12-5 victory over North Carolina in Omaha, and it was the 1,000th of his career.  New head coach Tim Esmay is no stranger to the ASU

program.  He played in the College World Series for Jim Brock’s Sun Devils in 1987 and ‘88, and he was also an assistant to Murphy for the last five seasons.  Esmay was also the head coach at Utah from 1997-2004.

Line-Up Lowdown:  ASU returns 7 of its top 9 hitters who saw significant action in 2009.  The glaring losses are Pac 10 Player of the Year Jason Kipnis (.384, 16 HR, 71 RBIs, 27 SB) and catcher Carlos Ramirez (.338, 19 HR, 75 RBIs).  However, Kole Calhoun (.313, 12 HR, 53 RBIs) is back for his senior season.  Calhoun hit 3 HR with 11 RBIs in Omaha.  Sophomores Johnny Ruettiger (.360, 12 SB) & Drew Maggi (.309, 21 SB) and junior Matt Newman (.305, 7 HR, 54 RBIs) all return as well.

Oh Brother:  Senior co-captain Rauol Torrez (.250,15 SB) and soph. Riccio Torrez (.280, 6 HR) are the fifth set of brothers to play at ASU at the same time, but they are the first to start alongside one another in school history.  All 54 of Rauol’s starts came at third base, while most of Riccio’s were at first base.  The brothers are back as well to anchor the Sun Devil infield in 2010.

An Ace Down:  RHP Mike Leake (16-1, 1.71 ERA, 7 CG) and LHP Josh Spence (10-1, 2.37 ERA) were both good enough to be any team’s ace last year, but only senior Spence is back this season.  Leake signed after being taken in the first round of last year’s draft by Cincinnati.  Spence decided to return for his year after going in the third round to the Angels.  Other notable returning pitchers are LHP Mitchell Lambson (9-5, 3.01 ERA, 5 SV) and RHP Jordan Swaggerty (4-1, 4.50 ERA, 4 SV).

California

2009 Record:  (24-29, 9-18)

Mascot:  Golden Bears

Head Coach:  David Esquer

Location:  Berkeley, CA

Vitals:  .298 BA, 65 HR, 66 SB, .375 OBP, .966 Fld%…5.74, 2 CG, 13 SV, 423 K, 249 BB, .284 opp. BA

Big Bear Losses:  Cal loses three of its top four batters from last year, including two-way player Blake Smith (.319, 10 HR, 38 RBIs), who was drafted in the second round last year by the Dodgers.  Smith had two saves out of the

bullpen while starting three games as well.  Jeff Kobernus (.341, 8 HR, 20 SB) and Brett Jackson (.321, 8 HR, 11 SB) are both gone as well.

Top Bear Back:  Cal’s top overall hitter, Mark Canha, is returns.  The junior led Cal in average (.366), HR (12), RBIs (43), slg% (.634), and OBP (.444).  Brian Guinn (.315, 10 SB) and Danny Oh (.303, 7 HR) is back as well.

Plenty Of Pitching: The Golden Bears return most of their pitchers from a staff that finished with the worst ERA in the conference last year.  Reliver Dixon Anderson (3.98 ERA, 3 SV), LHP Chris Petrini (4-3, 3.98 ERA) and Erik Johnson (3-6, 4.41 ERA, 9 starts, CG, 4 SV) are among the top returnees.

No-Nonsense Non-Conference:  In consecutive weeks Cal plays non-conference games vs. 2009 CWS team Arkansas (3 at home), 2009 Super Regional team Rice (4 in Houston) and ‘09 NCAA team Cal Poly (3 on the road).  They follow that with their Pac 10-opening series at Arizona State.

Call From The Hall:  Former Cal head coach Bob Milano was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in January.  He won 688 games at Cal from 1978-1999 and led the Golden Bears to the College World Series in 1980, 1988 and 1992.

Oregon

2009 Record:  (14-42, 4-23)

Mascot:  Ducks

Head Coach:  George Horton

Location:  Eugene, OR

Vitals:  .227 BA, 16 HR, 60 SB, .296 OBP, .961 Fld%…5.07 ERA, 4 CG, 8 SV, 357 K, 239 BB, .271 opp. BA

Growing Pains:  Oregon fielded its first baseball team since 1981 last year, and things looked bright early when the Ducks beat St. Mary’s 5-3 in their season opener.  They lost the next two games of the series, but then won 2 of 3 games at home vs. defending national champion Fresno State.  That would be the high point of their inaugural season though, as they won just three games after March 31 en-route to a 14-win campaign.  Oregon finished last in the Pac 10 in these (and a few other) statistical categories:  Batting average, HR, runs, slg%, OBP, hits, RBIs, doubles, total bases, walks, strikeouts (by pitchers), saves.  They also committed the second most errors (85) in the conference behind USC”S 101.

The Bright Side:  After a bumpy first year George Horton returns all but five players who saw action last year, while nine freshmen and a handful of junior college transfers join the team.  Here’s a look at some of the returnees with the category in which they led the Ducks last year Curt Raulinaitis (batting avg.-.291), K.C. Serna (RBIs-19 & HR-3), Danny Pulfer (starts-55 & BB-19), Drew Gagnier (ERA-2.70, appearances-23, saves-7).  Starting pitchers Erik Stavert (5-6, 3.04 ERA, 14 starts) & Tyler Anderson (2-9, 15 starts) are both gone.

Homecoming:  Oregon opens the season at Cal State Fullerton, where Horton played and later spent 11 seasons as the Titans’ head coach.  Horton guided Fullerton to six College World Series appearances and the 2004 National Championship.  Current Fullerton head coach Dave Serrano was an assistant under Horton.

Oregon State

2009 Record:  (37-19, 15-12)

Mascot:  Beavers

Head Coach:  Pat Casey

Location:  Corvallis, OR

Vitals:  .278 BA, 23 HR, 53 SB, .392 OBP, .977 Fld%…3.93 ERA, 3 CG, 13 SV, 431 K, 199 BB, .245 opp. BA

Locked Line-Up:  Oregon State returns six starters from last year’s team.  All-Pac 10 honoree Adalberto Santos (.320, 4 HR, 43 RBIs, 15 SB) and team HR and RBI leader Stefan Romero (..291, 5 HR, 51 RBIs) head the group.

Plus Pitching:  The Beavers’ 3.93 team ERA ranked second in the Pac 10 last year to Arizona State, and they return two starters, Sam Gaviglio (10-1, 2.73 ERA) and Tyler Waldron (6-4, 4.15 ERA), and closer Kevin Rhoderick (3-3, 4.18 ERA, 9 SV).  Gaviglio was a Freshman All-American last year.

Turn The Page:  Baseball America recently named Oregon State the #2 team of the past decade, while tabbing head coach Pat Casey the coach of the decade.  The Beavers won back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007 and made an additional trip to Omaha.  They averaged 35.6 wins a season from 2000-2009.

Stanford

2009 Record:  (30-25, 13-14)

Mascot:  Cardinal

Head Coach:  Mark Marquess

Location:  Palo Alto, CA

Vitals:  .279 BA, 49 HR, 46 SB, .360 OBP, .977 Fld%…5.12 ERA, 2 CG, 8 SV, 381 K, 222 BB, .268 opp. BA

Rare Absence:  After a trip to the 2008 College World Series Stanford missed the NCAA Tournament last year.  It was

the second time in three seasons that the Cardinal failed to receive a post season bid, but it’s also just the third time since 1990 that Stanford did not at least go to an NCAA Regional.

Core Cardinals:  Stanford returns 2B Colin Walsh (.320, .466 OBP), SS Jeff Schlander (.232), catcher Zach Jones (.239, 3 HR), and OF Kellen Killsgard (.313, 9 HR, 46 RBIs).  Walsh was the team’s top hitter as a sophomore and was named a Cape Cod League All-Star last summer,  while Schlander was named the 2009 Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year.  The team loses top run producer Brent Milleville (.306, 14 HR, 52 RBIs).

Cardinal Arms:  Starting pitchers Jordan Pries (4-4. 4.62 ERA) and LHP Brett Mooneyham (6-3, 4.14 ERA) are back to lead the weekend rotation.  The duo combined to make 22 starts last year as freshmen.

Gerhart’s Gone:  Two-sport sensation Toby Gerhart (.288, 7 HR, 36 RBIs, 7 SB) burst on the national scene on the football field in 2009.  He was the Heisman Trophy runner-up and won the Doak Walker Award after rushing for a school record 1,871 yards and 28 TDs.  Gerhart hit 16 home runs in three years with the Cardinal baseball team.  He was an outfield starter on the 2008 CWS squad.  He won’t play baseball this year as he prepares for the April NFL Draft.

Tough Tests:  Stanford opens the season by hosting a 3-game series with perennial power Rice.  They go to Austin, TX the next weekend for a 3-game set with 2009 national runner-up Texas.

UCLA

2009 Record:  (27-29, 15-12)

Mascot:  Bruins

Head Coach:  John Savage

Location:  Los Angeles, CA

Vitals:  .285 BA, 54 HR, 55 SB, .382 OBP, .969 Fld%…4.28 ERA, 5 CG, 12 SV, 509 K, 197 BB, .259 opp. BA

Power Outage:  UCLA loses its top two run producers, Cody Decker (.322, 21 HR, 53 RBIs) and Casey Haerther

(.305, 9 HR, 42 RBIs) from last year’s team.  Haerther was selected in the 5th round of last year’s MLB Draft by the Angels, while Decker was tabbed in the 22nd round by San Diego.

The Line-Up:  Justin Uribe (.318, 3 HR, 23 RBIs) and Blair Dunlap (.301, 7 HR, 39 RBIs, 15 SB) are the top hitters back in the Bruin batting order.  Uribe will move from the outfield to first base this year.  Junior college transfer Dean Espy will be expected to step-in at third base as well.

Bruin Pitching:  Sophomores Gerrit Cole (4-8, 3.49 ERA) and Trevor Bauer (9-3, 2.99 ERA, 4 CG) will lead the pitching rotation.  Bauer had pitched a  team-high of 105 1/3 IP last year.  Cole is a Preseason All-American who struckout 104 in 85 IP last year.  He pitched for the USA Collegiate National Team last summer.

Big 12 West:  UCLA plays five games against three Big 12 teams in 2010.  The Bruins host Oklahoma State in one of their three games in the Dodgertown Classic (Vanderbilt & USC are the other two opponents there).  They also host a 3-game series vs. Nebraska and play Oklahoma in their last game of the Whataburger College Classic in Corpus Christi, TX.

USC

2009 Record:  (28-28, 13-14)

Mascot:  Trojans

Head Coach:  Chad Kreuter

Location:  Los Angeles, CA

Vitals:  .274 BA, 41 HR, 58 SB, .359 OBP, .954 Fld%…4.06 ERA, 5 CG, 10 SV, 438 K, 231 BB, .259 opp. BA

Top Losses:  USC loses three players, Grant Green (.374, 4 HR, 32 RBIs, 16 SB), Brad Boxberger (6-3, 3.16 ERA) and Robert Stock (5-4, 2.90 ERA, 4 SV), who were taken in the first two rounds of last year’s MLB Draft.  Green went with the 13th overall pick to Oakland.

Returning Trojans:  Ricky Oropesa (.314, 13 HR, 48 RBIs) was named a Freshman All-American last year.  He and Mike O’Neill (.319) are the top returning players in the USC line-up.  Sophomore RHP Andrew Triggs (5-3, 3.96 ERA) is expected to be the staff’s #1 starter.  Fellow Soph. Chad Smith (3-4, 3.40 ERA) and Sr. Kevin Couture (3-3, 5.66 ERA) return as well.

New Faces In Many Places:  A total of 15 newcomers (7 transfers and 8 freshman) will look to contribute for USC in 2010.  One of them is redshirt sophomore Mike Greco, who hit .250 with 2 HR and 27 RBIs in 46 games as a freshman at Army.  He sat out last year after transferring and will battle for a spot at first base this year.

Washington

2009 Record:  (25-30, 13-14)

Mascot:  Huskies

Head Coach:  Lindsay Meggs

Location:  Seattle, WA

Vitals:  .265 BA, 64 HR, 42 SB, .357 OBP, .967 Fld%…4.88 ERA, 1 CG, 14 SV, 387 K, 194 BB, .276 opp. BA

New Skipper:  2010 will be Lindsay Meggs’ first season as head coach at Washington.  He arrives after three seasons at Indiana State.  Meggs was named the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Sycamores to a 33-21 record and a second-place conference finish.  Prior to that Meggs spent 13 seasons at head coach at Chico State, where he won Division II National Championships in 1997 & 1999.

Draft Losses:  The Huskies lose their top run producer, Ryan Conley (.303, 19 HR, 55 RBIs), who was taken by St. Louis in the 7th round of last year’s draft.  Top reliever Brian Pearl (3.05 ERA, 8 SV) and starter Jason Erickson (5-4, 4.34 ERA) were both drafted and signed as well.

Husky Returns:  Pierce Rankin (.299, 6 HR, 26 RBIs) and Troy Scott (11 HR, 31 RBIs) are the top returnees in the line-up.  Sophomore Andrew Kittredge (4-5, 4.27 ERA, 3 SV, 7 starts) and LHP Geoff Brown (4-4, 5.01), who made 31 relief appearances, are among the top returning pitchers.

Big Home Slate:  Washington’s first nine home games are three 3-game series vs. 2008 National Champion Fresno State, perennial power Cal State Fullerton and intrastate rival Washington State.

Washington State

2009 Record:  (32-25, 19-8)

Mascot:  Cougars

Head Coach:  Donnie Marbut

Location:  Pullman, WA

Vitals:  .273 BA, 56 HR, 44 SB, .358 OBP, .971 Fld%…4.34 ERA, 1 CG, 15 SV, 453 K, 184 BB, .279 opp. BA

The Drought Is Over:  Last year’s NCAA Regional appearance was the first for the program since 1990.  The Cougars swept five series in 2009, including three in Pac 10 play.  All of the sweeps came on their home diamond, where they had just three series sweeps in the previous 11 seasons combined.

Leaving & Staying:  WSU loses its top three hitters, Alex Burg (.346, 7 HR), Jared Prince (.343, 7 HR) and Greg Lagreid (.332, 5 HR), from last year’s NCAA squad.  They return stolen base leader Garry Kuykendall (.299, 11 SB), Matt Argyropoulos (.277), Shea Vucinich (.230, team-high 40 runs), and Derek Jones, who hit a team-best 12

home runs despite just a .223 batting average.

On The Mound:  Junior Chad Arnold (8-3, 4.39 ERA) will lead the weekend rotation.  Arnold got the team’s only NCAA win with an elimination game victory vs. Wichita State in the Norman, OK Regional.  He’s joined by David Stilley (3-3, 4.64 ERA) and reliever Seth Harvey (2.25 ERA, 22 app.).  The Cougars lose starter Matt Way (8-4, 2.43 ERA) and closer Jeremy Johnson (6-2, 2.90 ERA, 10 SV).

Texas Time:  Washington State plays 12 of its first 18 games in the state of Texas.   After four games in Lubbock they return home for a 4-game set vs. Utah and then return to the Lone Star State for three games at Texas A&M and two games at Dallas Baptist.  They end their spring trip with a 3-game series in Wichita, KS vs. Wichita State.

2010 Pac 10 Conference Predictions

Player of the Year:  Kole Calhoun – Arizona State

Pitcher of the Year:  Sam Gaviglio – Oregon State

Conference Champion:  Arizona State, with Oregon State giving the closest challenge

Gerhart Declares For NFL Draft

Stanford Two Sport Star Officially Declares His Intention

STANFORD, Calif. -Stanford two sport star Toby Gerhart announced Friday  he will forego his final year of collegiate eligibility in order to enter the 2010 NFL Draft.

Gerhart, who played in 38 career football games from 2006-09, had the option to return to Stanford as a fifth-year senior since he played in just one game as a sophomore in 2007 due to injury.

He started in 105 games in his three-year baseball career at Stanford in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons.  He hit 16 career home runs with 69 RBIs as an outfielder, helping the Cardinal to the 2008 College World Series.

Gerhart has withdrawn from Stanford for the winter quarter in order to devote his time to prepare for NFL Combine in February.

“After careful thought and deliberation, I have decided to withdraw from Stanford University for the winter quarter in order to fully devote my energies towards the pursuit of my dream of playing in the NFL,” said Gerhart. “While I certainly will miss patrolling left field on the Sunken Diamond or running through the gaping holes created by my O-linemen on the gridiron at Stanford Stadium, I will forever cherish the camaraderie, friendships, and memories that I forged here at Stanford with all my friends, teammates, and coaches.

“I want to give special thanks to Coach (Jim) Harbaugh for resurrecting the program, running backs coach Willie Taggart for making me the player I am today, and the Tunnel Workers Union (O-Line) for doing the dirty work which made my life easier.  We’ve been through a lot of adversity during my time here, but I’m extremely proud to have been part of the class that brought Stanford football back to national prominence.

“Most of all, I wish to thank the entire student body, and Stanford fans everywhere, for the tremendous support and boundless enthusiasm they have shown us over the past four years.

“I have been blessed to have spent time at this special place and have seen first-hand how the Stanford family takes care of not just its own members, but the disadvantaged and underprivileged within our community as well.  Because of that, I urge Stanford fans everywhere to join me in extending a helping hand to the devastated citizens of Haiti. They need our help now. Whether it’s a small donation of food, bottled water or medical supplies, a monetary gift to the United Nations or the Red Cross, or volunteering whatever aid you can provide, please do so. Keep all those affected and providing rescue in our thoughts and prayers.”

Gerhart is the third college two sport star to declare or this year’s NFL Draft.  LSU’s Chad Jones‘ dad announced his intentions earlier this week, while Notre Dame Biletnikoff Award winner Golden Tate declared for the draft last month.

Gerhart, Jones and Tate have all been included in the Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports throughout the fall.

Gerhart, who was the recipient of the 2009 Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back, rushed for a school-record 1,871 yards and a nation-leading 28 touchdowns this past season, helping the Cardinal to an 8-5 overall record and an appearance in the Brut Sun Bowl. He led the Pac-10 Conference and finished second nationally in rushing average with a 143.9 per game mark. Gerhart also led the all Football Bowl Subdivision players in scoring with 172 points (13.23 per game).

A consensus first team All-America selection by Associated Press, the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America, to name a few, Gerhart finished second to Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the Heisman Trophy balloting by just 28 points in the closest balloting in the 75 year history of the award. He was named the Pac-10 Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Stanford player to win the award since Troy Walters in 1999.

Gerhart ran for 100 or more yards in 11 of Stanford’s 13 games this season, including each of the last seven contests. He rushed for 200 yards on more on three occasions, against No. 24 Washington (200), No. 7 Oregon (career-high 223) and Notre Dame (205), becoming the first Stanford back to collect multiple 200-yard games in one season.

Gerhart ran for 100 yards or more in 20 of his final 26 career games, averaging 121.0 yards during that stretch.

His 28 rushing touchdowns led the nation and set new Stanford and Pac-10 single-season records. Gerhart finished the 2009 season with 172 total points, which was the seventh highest single-season mark among NCAA FBS scoring leaders.

The Norco, Calif., native finished his career with school-record 44 touchdowns (all rushing) and his 264 career points rank second on Stanford’s all-time career list. Gerhart rushed for two or more touchdowns 13 times in his career, including five games with three TDs or more.

Gerhart will participate in the NFL Combine, scheduled for Feb. 24-March 2 in Indianapolis. The 2010 NFL Draft is slated for Apr. 22-24 in New York City.

(Release & staff contributions)

Two Sport Report – Bowl Edition

Baseball Players Won Major Awards & A National Title On The Gridirion In 2009

Here’s a look at how a few college baseball/football players and their teams fared in recent bowl game action:

Zach Collaros-Quarterback-Cincinnati Bearcats

Collaros started four straight games under center after starting QB Tony Pike went down with injury.  He helped keep Cincy unbeaten and still made cameo appearances in the Bearcat’s last two regular season games after Pike returned.  The sophomore totaled 1,434 yards with 10 TDs and just two interceptions, while running for four more scores.  He did not play in Cincinnati’s 51-24 Sugar Bowl

loss to Florida.  Collaros hit .204 in 49 at-bats for the UC baseball team in 2009.

Toby Gerhart-Running Back-Stanford

Gerhart had a monster year on the gridiron in 2009.  He won the Doak Walker Award and finished 28 points behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the closest Heisman Trophy race ever.  Gerhart led the NCAA with 1,871 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns during his senior season.  The 6′1-235 lb. back rushed for 3,522 yards and a Pac-10 record 43 TDs in his career.  Gerhart totaled 135 yards and 2 touchdowns in Stanford’s 31-27 Sun Bowl loss to Oklahoma.

He played for three seasons on the Stanford baseball team, and he started each of the Cardinal’s 2008 College World Series games.

Gerhart could exercise a fifth year of football eligibility (he missed most of 2007 with a knee injury) and he still has a final season of baseball eligibility remaining.  However,  he  is expected to forego those options to prepare for February’s NFL combine and, ultimately, April’s NFL draft.

Chad Jones-Safety-LSU

After helping the LSU baseball team win the 2009 College World Series, Jones started all 13 games at safety for the Tiger football team.  Jones’ 74 tackles were the fifth-most by an LSU player this season.  He also returned punts in five differeent games in 2009, including an 87-yarder for a touchdown in a win over Mississippi State.  He had 6 tackles in LSU’s Capitol One Bowl loss to Penn State.

Jones, an outfielder converted to pitcher in ‘09,  had a 2.70 ERA in 9 relief appearances last season.

Kyle Parker-Quarterback-Clemson

Parker passed for 2,526 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first season as Clemson’s starting quarterback this season.  He threw for 141 yards and a TD in the Tiger’s 21-13 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

Parker is entering his third season with the Clemson baseball team in 2010 (he graduated high school a semester early to enroll at Clemson in January 2008).  He batted .255 with 12 HR and 52 RBIs last season.

Dave Shinskie-Quarterback-Boston College

Shinskie is not a college baseball player, but he is an interesting two sport athlete.  Shinskie is a 25-year-old freshman who is starting at quarterback for the BC football team.  He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins, and he finished his minor league baseball career in 2009 in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

Shinskie passed or 2,049 yards with 15 touchdowns and 14 int. in 2009.  He threw for 218 yards with a TD and an int. in BC’s 24-13 Emerald Bowl loss to USC.  He is not eligible to play for the Boston College baseball team.

Matt Szczur-Wide Receiver-Villanova

Szczur helped lead Villanova to the 2009 FCS National Championship.  He

totaled 227 yards from scrimmage in VU’s 23-21 win over Montana in the title game in December.  Szczur ran for 159 yards and had 4 catches for 68 more yards.  He was named both the CAA’s Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Year this season.  He ran for 810 yards and 10 touchdowns, passed for 22 yards and 2 TDs, averaged 27.2 yards on 30 kickoff returns, and had 51 catches for 610 yards and 4 more TDs in 2009.

Szczur led the Wildcat baseball team with a .346 average last spring after missing his freshman baseball season due to injury.

Golden Tate-Wide Receiver-Notre Dame

Tate was the 2009 Biletnikoff Award winner after finishing fourth in the nation with 1,496 receiving yards and 15 TD grabs.  He also ran for two touchdowns and returned a punt for another score.  In December he declared himself for April’s NFL Draft.  The Irish finished the season with a 6-6 record this season, but opted not to play in a bowl game.

Tate had a .318 career batting average in 63 starts in his two-year baseball career with the Irish.  He still has two years of baseball eligibility remaining, but he does not plan to play for the Notre Dame baseball team in 2010.

Gerhart Not Enough In Sun Bowl Loss

Two Sport Star Finishes College Career With Another Big Game

El Paso, TX–   Toby Gerhart rolled-up another big game, but Stanford lost to Oklahoma 31-27 in the Brut Sun Bowl.  The 2009 Heisman Trophy runner-up ran for 133 yards and a pair of first half touchdowns in what is presumed to be the last game of his record-setting college football career.

Oklahoma (8-5) rallied with 14 straight points in the third quarter, then held on after Patrick O’Hara missed a 32-yard field goal try with 3:19 remaining. Stanford (8-5) got a final opportunity but turned it over on downs, starting a celebration for fans wearing crimson and cream.

Gerhart, who has also played for the Cardinal baseball team for three seasons, scored his first TD of the game with 11:52 on the clock in the second quarter.  The score put Stanford on top of OU 14-10.

After a Ryan Broyles touchdown run gave the Sooners a 17-10 lead Gerhart scored again after a 17 yard run that required some extra effort.  Gerhart fumbled going into the end zone and then recovered his own fumble to secure the TD.  A Nate Whitaker field goal gave the Cardinal a 24-17 lead at halftime, but another field goal was all Stanford could manage in the second half in the 31-27 loss.

Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones passed for 418 yards and three touchdowns for the Sooners.  Stanford was playing in its first bowl game since

Gerhart led the nation with 1,871 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns this season.  He ran for a TD in 18 of Stanford’s last 20 games.

Gerhart has been included in the exclusive Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports throughout the fall.  The reports have chronicled the exploits of more than 35 college baseball players who play football and other sports.  We will have a Two Sport Report Bowl Edition next week.

Gerhart & Tate Are Consensus All-Americans

Mantles Are Full For The Two Sport Stars

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate and Stanford running back Toby Gerhart have capped their 2009 award hauls by being named Consensus All-Americans on the football field.  The Associated Press named both first-team All-Americans on Wednesday.

Both Tate and Gerhart earned first-team status on the five All-American teams that comprise the consensus designation: The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), The Walter Camp Football Foundation, and The Associated Press.

Gerhert is Stanford’s first consensus All-American since Troy Walters in 1999.  Tate takes the first consensus honors since Shane Walton did it in 2002.

Tate won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver, while Gerhart hoisted the Doak Walker Award as the top running back in the country.  He was the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Alabama running back Mark Ingram.

Tate recently capped off the best receiving season in Notre Dame football history. He finished with 93 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in 2009. Tate added two rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a score and totaled 1,915 all-purpose yards, second

most in Irish single-season history.

Tate equaled or surpassed eight school records this year, including most catches and receiving yards in a season, tied for most touchdown catches in a season, most receiving yards in a career, most 100-yard receiving games in a season and career, most receiving yards per game in a season and tied for most consecutive games with a touchdown reception.

Gerhart ranks second in the nation in rushing, averaging 144.7 yards per game, and he leads the nation in scoring (13.33) and touchdowns (26). He has rushed for 100 or more yards in 10 of Stanford’s 12 games this season, including three games in which he rushed for 200 yards or more. He has also carried the ball 10 or more yards, 50 times this season, according to ESPN, the nation’s highest.

He was at his best down the stretch, as he averaged 185.5 yards a game and scored 13 touchdowns over Stanford’s last four contests against No. 7 Oregon (223), No. 11 USC (178), California (136) and Notre Dame (205). The Cardinal posted a 3-1 record in those games to finish the regular season with an 8-4 overall record, its most wins in a single-season since the 2001 campaign.

Gerhart and Tate have also been college baseball players at their respective schools.  Gerhart played for three seasons on the diamond for the Cardinal baseball squad, helping the team to the 2008 College World Series.  Tate played

baseball for two years for the Irish, batting .329 last season.

Tate has already announced his plans to enter April’s NFL draft.  Gerhart has not officially announced his plans, but he is expected to enter the draft as well (he has a 5th year of football eligibility and one season of baseball eligibility left).  Both could also still be selected in the June MLB draft.

Gerhart and Stanford face Oklahoma in the Brut Sun Bowl on Dec. 31.  Tate and Notre Dame will not play in a bowl game.

Tate and Gerhart have been among more than 35 college baseball players who have been included throughout the fall in the exclusive Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports.

Stanford’s Toby Gerhart Wins Doak Walker Award

Stanford Two Sport Star Continues Impressive Haul

ORLANDO, Fla.– Stanford running back Toby Gerhart was named the 2009 Doak Walker Award winner following a record-breaking senior season.

Gerhart was presented the award by 1976 Heisman Trophy candidate Tony Dorsett as a part of the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show, beating out fellow finalists Mark Ingram of Alabama and C.J. Spiller of Clemson. He is

the first award winner for the Doak Walker Award from Stanford.

Gerhart is also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, which will be announced Saturday night in New York.

“It’s been remarkable, going from being 1-11 and football not being fun to now,” said Gerhart to ESPN’s Chris Fowler after receiving the award. “I give credit to Coach Harbaugh and the Stanford football players for turning it around.”

Gerhart enters the New Year’s Eve Brut Sun Bowl against Oklahoma as the nation’s leader in touchdowns (26) and total net rushing yards (1,736). His 144.7 yards per game average ranks second in the nation. Gerhart has broken the school record for rushing yards in back-to-back years, and has set a new standard for rushing touchdowns both at Stanford and in the Pac-10, with 26. His 41 career touchdowns are also a school record, while his 3,387 yards are second all-time.

Gerhart was also recently named a Walter Camp Foundation First Team All-American and the 2009 Pac 10 conference Player of the Year.

The Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to recognize the nation’s premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community. It is the only major collegiate football award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.

The award is named after Doak Walker, a versatile three-time All-American, who also punted, returned punts and kickoffs, and kicked extra points at Southern Methodist. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1949 and went onto a six-year career with the Detroit Lions. He is also a member of the College and NFL Halls of Fame.

Gerhart has also been a member of the Stanford baseball team for the past three seasons.  He helped the Cardinal earn a berth in the 2008 College World Series.  Collegebaseball360.com has followed Gerhart and other two sport athletes throughout the fall in the Two Sport Reports.

(Release)

Training With Villanova Baseball/Football Player Matt Szczur

The Workouts Don’t Stop For the Wildcat Two Sport Standout

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

If you haven’t heard the name Matt Szczur before you’re probably not alone.  Sczcur doesn’t get the national exposure that Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Notre Dame’s Golden Tate receive, but he deserves your attention none the less.

Szczur is a standout baseball and football player at Villanova and he excels at both sports.  This season he was named the Colonial Athletic Association’s Offensive and Special teams Player of the Year on the gridiron, and last spring he batted .346 to lead the Wildcat baseball squad.  The football team has been in the top ten in the Football Championship Subdivision for most of the season.  They played New Hampshire Saturday in the FCS playoff quarterfinals.

(Szczur and more than 30 others have been featured in the Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports since the start of the 2009 fall semester.  Click the link to see how they’ve performed to date.)

That success doesn’t just happen though.  Like any college athlete in any sport Szczur trains hard, but with two sports involved his training is unique and it’s almost never ending.

Following is an article on Szczur’s unique training regimine written by Villanova strength and conditioning coach Stephen King.  It was published in the November edition of Training & Conditioning magazine.

By Stephen King

When training any athlete, sport-specific factors are paramount: What are the major movers in their sport? What energy systems and muscle groups do they use most? Do they need to focus mainly on straight-ahead speed, change of direction, rapid acceleration, lateral movement, or all of the above? The list goes on.

But what happens when an athlete is training for more than one sport at a time? At the high school level, where two- and three-sport athletes are common, training demands are generally low enough to avoid raising any major concerns. At the college level, however, developing a multi-sport athlete requires special considerations.

Matt Szczur is one of those rare athletes who plays two sports successfully at the college level. Here at Villanova, he is a third baseman/outfielder/catcher on our baseball team and a running back/wide receiver/kick returner/occasional quarterback on our football team. Preparing him to excel in both sports means combining the regimens for each into

one coherent, comprehensive training plan and carefully monitoring his progress and physical response. It poses a unique challenge for the strength and conditioning staff, but it’s one we’ve risen to meet with enthusiasm.

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The first step in planning an effective conditioning regimen is to perform a needs analysis and identify specific areas to focus on and improve. When working with a two-sport athlete, this process begins by looking for common threads between the sports in question.

For Matt’s football roles, the keys are running speed, quick change-of-direction ability, upper-body strength to get off of “jams” from defenders, and total-body strength to help with breaking tackles. For baseball, the major movements are rotational swinging, straight-line running, and since he sometimes plays outfield, transitioning from a backpedal to a run. In all of Matt’s workouts, we keep those priorities at the forefront, looking for exercises and progressions that will maximize cross-over benefits.

We test all our football athletes at the beginning of summer in the vertical jump, broad jump, squat, and bench press, and use the results as baseline numbers. The baseball players are tested when they arrive in the fall. This is important for tracking everyone’s progress in strength and conditioning, but it’s especially important for Matt, because training for two sports means a greater risk for overtraining. If we ever notice a drop off in his performance relative to his baselines, we know we need to scale back his workload and possibly make adjustments to his training regimen.

I am responsible for strength and conditioning for the baseball team, and my colleague Justus Galac works primarily with the football team. We collaborate in designing Matt’s workouts, and to make this process easier on him, we decided early on to standardize as many aspects as possible. We already have very similar training philosophies, but we decided that everything from the way we taught specific lifts to the terminology we used in the weightroom should be consistent. Attention to details like these has helped Matt adapt to the demands of two teams’ training schedules, while also facilitating communication among the strength coaches and sport coaches.

SUMMER & FALL
Matt’s yearly training cycle starts in early summer. He is among the 20 or so football players who stay in town voluntarily to train during the break. In summer, he trains five days a week: conditioning work (which includes running and movement prep) every weekday, and lifting four days.

The conditioning schedule involves two days of running, one day each of agility and speed work, and a day to focus on agility running or running mechanics, which is a lighter day (usually in the middle of the week) designed for active

recovery. The running days typically involve series of 65-, 75-, or 80-yard runs, with the number of reps varying from 15 to 30 and the rest intervals between each rep ranging from roughly 30 to 60 seconds. The speed and agility training includes cone drills, read and react drills, and speed ladder work. On the active recovery days, the players do sub-maximal running, focusing on details such as arm mechanics.

The summer lifting program is designed to help the football team build strength for the upcoming season. It consists of two days a week of upper-body lifts and two days of lower-body lifts, alternating to allow for maximum muscle recovery.

The primary exercises on upper-body days include bench presses, pull-ups, and bent over rows. We always include at least one pressing movement, whether it’s a bench press, incline bench, or some other variation, but we focus more on pull movements because they develop greater shoulder stabilization and because many players are “front dominant” in their upper-body strength. We also use unilateral and prehab movements, such as band work and horizontal and vertical protraction/retraction of the scapulae, for the shoulders and rotator cuffs.

Our main exercises for lower-body strength building include the front squat, deadlift, back squat, hang clean, and box jump. On max effort days the athletes will focus more on squats and deadlifts, while hang cleans and box jumps are reserved for dynamic movement days. Our lower-body workouts also feature unilateral and prehab movements, such as hip walks and ankle band work.

Lifting is one area where the benefits clearly cross over into both of Matt’s sports. The football team’s strength regimen prepares his body to withstand the rigors and high impacts of that sport, but it also helps him recruit the muscle groups that enhance rotational acceleration and upper-body strength and control, which translates into a more powerful, consistent swing. In addition, the lower-body strength exercises aimed at increasing explosiveness and speed will help him on the base paths as much as on the football field.

Many baseball players don’t have time in the summer for serious strength and conditioning, as they participate in summer leagues and often play five, six, or even seven days a week. While Matt doesn’t get that extra game experience as he works in the weightroom all summer, we believe his focus on conditioning more than makes up for the loss of baseball-specific activity and gives him a significant leg up on most of his teammates.

As the summer progresses and football season gets closer, conditioning priorities shift away from basic running and agility in favor of vigorous position-specific football routines. The players start doing seven-on-seven drills and agility work that mimics their running and movement demands on the field, which for Matt means a focus on sprinting, cutting, and accelerating. He’ll run various routes, such as posts, corners, and comebacks, and do lateral shuffles and jump cuts. We also use reaction drills that involve him sprinting forward and then making a hard cut to the left or right depending on a visual cue from a coach.

Meanwhile, the lifting schedule changes slightly as well: Upper-body lifting still occurs two days a week, but the football players do only one day of lower-body work in late summer, and one day a week (usually Friday) is used for strongman competitions. The strongman days include events such as tire flips, farmer’s walks, tug-of-war, and many other activities that are standard fare in football training programs. They provide total-body exercise, develop mental toughness and competitiveness, and promote team unity. They’re also a fun change of pace for the players after a week of hard training.

By early fall, as the workload grows more and more football-specific, it’s especially important for me as the baseball strength and conditioning coach to evaluate Matt’s progress and ensure he’s not jeopardizing his baseball fitness by over- or under-using any muscle groups or body parts. For example, the heavy rotational demands of baseball increase the risk for repetitive stress injuries to the shoulders, hips, and knees, and all three of those areas receive heavy attention during football conditioning. To keep Matt in shape for both sports and ensure he won’t be on the verge of overuse injury by the time baseball’s preseason training arrives, I’ll supplement his football work with prehab exercises for those specific body areas.

For his shoulders, I’ll prescribe band exercises with low and high external rotation, med ball work, and rotator cuff exercises. For the hips, he’ll do hip walks with a band around his ankles, foot slides on a platform, and reverse hypers while holding a ball between his legs (these last two exercises are also ideal for strengthening the groin). For the knees, we use the squat-and-touch, single-leg squats, and quarter-squat holds on one leg while touching various points on the floor with the other foot.

When preseason football camp starts, lifting decreases dramatically for the entire team, Matt included. Voluntary lifting sessions are available after meetings and practices, but they typically last only 15 minutes and focus mostly on the upper body because of the pounding the lower body takes during team practice. During this time, even though Matt is lifting less, he continues with his full complement of prehab work.

Once football season begins, Matt follows essentially the same regimen as everyone else on the team. After Saturday games, the players have a light full-body lifting session on Sunday that includes yoga and core work. One other lifting session during the week, usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday, focuses on the upper body and is designed primarily to maintain strength gains made over the summer.

Matt continues with his prehab work at this time, but aside from that, we want him to focus solely on being a football player. He is an integral part of the team–on the field for most offensive plays–and it would be counterproductive to disrupt his physical rest and recovery during the week by adding baseball training to his schedule. His baseball teammates are in their fall lifting program during football season, hitting the weightroom three days a week to focus on total-body hypertrophy, building work capacity, and increasing strength and explosiveness, but he doesn’t attempt to join their workouts.

WINTER & SPRING
At the end of football season, all the players get some time off (varying based on how much they played), and the strength coaches are responsible for monitoring their physical condition to catch signs of overuse or lingering injuries. For most players, it will be eight months or more until they take the field again for intercollegiate competition, so the pace of their return to training is highly flexible. But for Matt, baseball preseason is already on the horizon.

You might think this would mean accelerating his return to serious strength training, but that’s not our approach. Because Matt plays positions in football that involve frequent, high-impact collisions, we’ve found that the wear and tear on his body can’t be ignored by season’s end. We want him to take at least a couple of weeks to rest and recuperate, so he won’t start lifting again until winter break.

By that time, the baseball team is performing its most intense workouts of the year, having ramped up both lifting and running regimens since fall ball ended. With Matt not having lifted heavily since before football season, it’s important for him to build up his work capacity, so we’ll have him do both the baseball and football lifting routines. But we keep the lines of communication open, and he is free to tell us if he feels overwhelmed or needs to adjust his personal workload as he gradually gets back into serious lifting and conditioning.

Once the spring semester starts, Matt continues participating in both teams’ workouts. The football team usually lifts three times a week (on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) and on Friday does mat drills–essentially an indoor version of the summer’s strongman days.

Matt’s lifting sessions differ from those of the rest of the football team, as he essentially performs a hybrid of football and baseball regimens. For instance, he’ll do some of the football team’s higher rep work, including dips, hamstring curls, and certain presses, while following the baseball team’s regimen for power movements, max strength lifts, and medicine ball activities. At this time, he also joins the baseball team for batting cage work and the start of a tossing program.

Baseball season begins in March, and the football team starts its spring practices soon after. This time is quite strenuous for Matt, as he is lifting, running, practicing with the baseball team, and playing in the games. We tailor his twice-weekly strength sessions at this time to address a few key priorities–power movements, lower-body strength development, and upper-body push and pull movements–and supplement that with more prehab exercises and medicine ball work.

We usually have him skip the baseball team conditioning sessions at this time because he does football conditioning most days and that tends to be more strenuous. Although both the baseball and football teams follow pre-determined conditioning schedules and workout programs with set progressions, we adjust Matt’s routines every week based on his feedback and the way his body responds to training.

When he feels very fatigued, we’ll scrap his normal lifting and other work for a day or more. In their place, he’ll do recovery activities like myofascial release with a foam roll, band stretches, partner stretches, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching focusing mostly on his legs, back, and hips. He’ll also do light circuit lifting to stimulate his muscles and give him an opportunity to rest and regenerate.

This is the time of year when baseball is Matt’s top priority. Attending practices for both sports and playing in baseball games is physically taxing, so we dial down the intensity of his football spring practice participation. Specifically, he’ll do only non-contact football work at this time.

After baseball season, Matt gets two to four weeks off before the cycle begins again with the start of summer break. He is typically below his football playing weight by this time because of the lower strength training demands of the baseball season, so he’s careful to take in enough calories, carbohydrates, and protein as summer strength training kicks off to support muscle growth and build himself back into football shape.

ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION
Throughout the entire training year, it’s critical for a multi-sport athlete to share feedback with the strength staff about how his body feels and how he’s responding to the workout progressions. Trust is an important component of this relationship–Matt is an extremely hard worker, and we know he won’t try to get out of lifts or conditioning sessions just because he wants a day off.

In fact, one of our biggest concerns at the outset was just the opposite–that he would be concerned about not shortchanging either team’s training regimen, and thus push himself too hard and risk injury. Early in his college career, we explained to him that it was better to be honest about his physical limits, recognize when he was fatigued, and skip a conditioning session or the heavier portion of a lifting day when necessary. We preach to all our athletes that the strength program is aimed at stimulation and not annihilation, and this is especially important with a highly motivated athlete juggling commitments to two sports.

Another critical component of making this arrangement work is open dialogue between all the coaches involved–the strength coaches, Head Football Coach Andy Talley, Head Baseball Coach Joe Godri, and their respective staffs. Coaches have a natural inclination to not want to share their athletes, but in this case, both coaches were very receptive to the changes we made to Matt’s program. We took it upon ourselves to explain that his special hybrid strength and conditioning schedule wouldn’t neglect the needs of either sport, and because we were upfront about that, they let us create his plan and trusted us to track his progress.

And of course, if the coaches had any doubts, Matt’s performance on the field took care of them. His .346 batting average led the baseball team last season, and he earned second-team all-conference honors in football after scoring eight touchdowns and registering over 1,000 all-purpose yards. Matt is a special athlete with an incredible work ethic and the determination needed to make a two-sport commitment work. With a training program that helps keep him strong, powerful, and injury-free, it has been very rewarding to see him excel in both sports.

College Baseball 360 Weekly Recap Dec. 5

This was probably the busiest week since June.  Here’s a look at some of the new things on the site this week.  (Just in case you missed them!)

1.  Two Sport Report #5…an update on college baseball players (including Toby Gerhart, Golden Tate & Russell Wilson) who are playing other sports this fall.

2.  Arkansas Pine Bluff pitcher Kevin Edwards tragically dies in car crash.

3.  Arizona State names Tim Esmay interim head baseball coach.

4.   Andy Stankiewicz leaving ASU to join Seattle Mariners organization.

5.  UK pitcher James Paxton sues the University of Kentucky.

6.  A By The Numbers look at Toby Gerhart’s college football & baseball careers at Stanford.

7.  A classic podcast interview with Notre Dame receiver/outfielder Golden Tate.

8.   Gerhart & Tate shine in regular season football finale (Stanford vs. Notre Dame football).

9.  Villanova receiver/infielder Matt Szczur leads Wildcat football team to FCS playoff win.

10.  NC State quarterback/infielder Russell Wilson throws 4 TDs in Wolfpack football season finale.

11.  University of South Florida to get new baseball stadium.

12.  Texas to retire Longhorn great Keith Moreland’s jersey number.

13.  A slew of 2010 schedules released this week, including: Miami (FL), Oregon State, Oklahoma, and Arizona.

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