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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.

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Big Pitching Performances Headline The Week

Justin Jones

the first to do it Friday afternoon.  He was followed by: Alex Wimmers-Ohio St., Cole Green-Texas, Justin Jones-Cal, D.D. Hanks-South Alabama, Merrill Kelly-Arizona St., and Asher Wojciechowski-The Citadel.

1…Freshman among that group of eight game winners-Cal LHP Justin Jones (8-2, 2.62 ERA), who has both of his team’s complete games this season.

12…Strikeouts by Wojciechowski in his Friday complete game 4-2 win over Furman.

4…ACC series lost by North Carolina this season after being swept in Miami over the weekend.

4…ACC series lost by the Tar Heels over the previous three seasons combined.  UNC lost three conference series last year, none in 2008 and one in 2007.  They also lost just two in 2006 for a total of six ACC series defeats from ’06-’09 en-route to four trips to the College World Series.

David Guetierrez (Miami photo)

7…RBIs by Hurricane catcher Yasmani Grandal, who homered to help his team to the weekend sweep of the Tar Heels.

7…Perfect innings pitched by Miami’s David Guetierrez in Wednesday’s 9-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast.  The senior struck out seven and retired all 21 batters he faced in just his second start of the season before leaving the game after throwing 84 pitches.  Hurricane reliever Eric Whaley lost the perfect game and no-hitter when he hit a batter and gave-up a single in the 8th inning.

3…Wins by #6 Georgia Tech over visiting #16 Clemson.  The sweep was sparked by Friday’s 10th inning walk-off home run by Yellow Jacket right fielder Chase Burnett.

15…Consecutive games in which a Georgia Tech player has homered after second baseman Jacob Esch went deep in Sunday’s 11-3 series finale, which gave Clemson its fifth straight loss.

9…Of Clemson’s 13 losses this season (including three in its five-game slide) which have been decided by one or two runs.

5…Runs scored by #25 Virginia Tech in the top of the 9th inning in Sunday’s 8-5 win over #3 Virginia, which avoided a 3-game sweep.  The rally was capped by Buddy Sosnoskie’s 2-out bases clearing double.

3…Walks issued in just 1/3 of an inning by Cavalier closer Kevin Arico, who had earned his Division One leading 12th save earlier in the series, in that Hokie rally.

4…Walks issued by Arico (0-1)  in 20 innings pitched prior to Sunday’s outing.

0 & 23…Runs allowed and strikeouts totaled in 25 combined innings by Texas starting pitchers Brandon

Brandon Workman (Texas photo)

Workman, Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green in the Longhorns’ weekend sweep of arch rival Texas A&M.  The trio also surrendered a grand total of seven hits on the weekend.

12 & 6…Consecutive wins by Texas and losses by Texas A&M, respectively, after the Aggies’ fourth sweep at the hands of the Longhorns in the last five seasons.  The sweep keeps Texas 2 1/2 games ahead of Kansas State in the Big 12 Conference standings.

14…Big 12 leading home runs hit by Nebraska’s Adam Bailey this season.

1…Hit by Bailey in 13 at-bats vs. Kansas (not a home run), while the Jayhawks took two of three games in the series from the Cornhuskers.

1996…The last time Kansas won a series in Lincoln prior to the weekend’s wins.

1,000…Career wins by Rutgers head coach Fred Hill after his Scarlet Knights beat South Florida 6-1 Saturday en-route to a 3-game weekend sweep of South Florida.  The wins move RU into a first place tie with Connecticut atop the Big East Conference standing.

1…Home run this season by LSU sophomore Grant Dozer-a walk-off shot that ended Sunday’s 6-5 14-inning win over Alabama to cap a 3-game weekend sweep.

2002…The last time LSU (30-6, 11.4) swept a series from Alabama (22-15, 5-10).

7…Ride or die innings pitched by LSU closer Matty Ott to earn his first win of the season.  The sophomore allowed two runs on four hits in the longest outing of his career.  He gave-up the runs in the 8th inning and then proceeded to toss six scoreless frames.

32…Division One leading wins by Coastal Carolina, which beat Gardner-Webb 13-0 Sunday for its 13th straight win.

4…Third inning home runs hit by UC Riverside in Sunday’s 7-5 win over Long Beach State.

Marcus Stroman

3…Hits by Duke second baseman Marcus Stroman in Saturday’s upset of #8 Florida State.

3…Scoreless innings pitched by Stroman, who moved to the mound and earned his fourth win in relief in that same game.

4…RBIs along with a home run hit by Arkansas’ Brett Eibner in Saturday’s win over Georgia.  He is tied for the team lead with 11 HR this season.

7…Innings pitched in that game by Eibner, who earned his third win in his ninth start of the season.

11…Straight wins by the Razorbacks (31-6, 12-3) after Sunday’s 13-5 win over the Bulldogs.  Arkansas has the most overall wins and conference wins of any team in the SEC.

20…Combined strikeouts by starting pitchers Blake Cooper of South Carolina and Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss in Friday’s Gamecock win over the Rebels.  Cooper (7-0) scattered four hits with 10 K in the complete game effort to help

Christian Walker (USC photo)

South Carolina win two of three games in the series.

9…Straight South Carolina batters who reached base safely in a seven-run 2nd inning-capped by Christian Walker’s grand slam-in Saturday’s 9-5 win over the Rebels.

4…Runs scored by Arizona in the bottom of the 9th inning to rally to beat Washington State 12-11 Sunday in Tucson.

11…Straight wins by the home team in the series between the Wildcats and Cougars.

14…Strikeouts in 8 2/3 IP by Arizona’s Kurt Heyer in Friday’s 5-3 win over Wazzou.

18…Scoreless inning streak by Pepperdine’s Matt Bywater that ended when Gonzaga scored a 1st inning run en-route to a 16-3 win.

8…Runs scored by Miami (OH) in the bottom of the 9th inning of Tuesday’s 12-11 win over Xavier.

Gaucho slate features nine games vs. 2009 postseason teams

UCSB Head Coach Bob Brontsema

UCSB also will play road games at Stanford – a 2008 College World Series participant – USC, UC Irvine, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, San Jose State, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

Complete 2010 UC Santa Barbara Schedule (PDF)

“We’re looking forward to a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare us for the always-difficult Big West Conference season,” UCSB head coach Bob Brontsema said.

The Gauchos, 29-23 a season ago, return two players from their school-record nine players that were drafted in June. Left-handed pitcher Mario Hollands and infielder Matt Valaika, both chosen in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, will return and are expected to lead the Gauchos this year. Joining them will be All-American pitcher Mike Ford, all-conference honoree catcher Marty Mullins, senior Gunnar Terhune and top newcomers left-hander Kevin Gelinas and right-hander Nick Loredo.

The Big West Conference, which was recently ranked as the sixth-best in the nation, according to RPI ratings and is also a league that had two nationally-ranked teams in the NCAA postseason and has featured at least one team in the College World Series in eight of the past 11 seasons. UCSB led the conference with nine players drafted by Major League Baseball teams this past June, including the conference’s top player selected, Joe Gardner (third round, Cleveland Indians).

(Release)

TEMPE, AZ Arizona State Baseball will begin its quest for its sixth National Championship and 22nd trip to Omaha and the College World Series on February 19th when the Sun Devils host the Northern Illinois Huskies at Winkles Field- Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark in the 2010 Season Opener. Announced today by head coach Tim Esmay, the 2010 schedule features 35 games at Packard Stadium, including two non-conference match-ups with in-state rival Arizona on April 20 and May 4.

ASU Interim Head Coach Tim Esmay (ASU Photo)

regular season on March 16 and 17 at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Complete 2010 ASU Schedule

Arizona State will play an exhibition game at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark on March 2, when they host Meiji University from Japan.

The rest of the non-conference slate features two straight four-game series to open the 2010 season. Northern Illinois opens the year in Tempe from Feb. 19-21, followed by Towson from Feb. 26-28. The SEC’s Auburn Tigers will visit Tempe for a three-game set beginning March 12, and the Houston Cougars will play at Packard Stadium for three games starting March 19. Grand Canyon (March 9), San Diego (April 5-6), San Francisco (April 27-28) and BYU (May 10-11) will also visit Tempe.

The leader in West Coast attendance for the past five years, Arizona State will once again enjoy one of the nation’s best home field advantages. Over 125,000 fans came through the turnstiles to watch the Devils play in 2009, as ASU averaged 3,207 fans per home game. Thanks to tremendous fan support that creates an unmatched atmosphere at home, the Sun Devils went 36-4 at home, winning their third consecutive Pac-10 championship and advancing to the College World Series for the third time in five years.

For the eighth straight year, Arizona State will travel to Surprise, Ariz., for the Coca-Cola Classic at Surprise Stadium, Spring Training home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. The Devils will face 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Cal Poly, who played in the Tempe Regional, on March 4, Pac-10 rival Oregon State in a non-conference match-up on March 5, UC Riverside on March 6, then wrap up the weekend in Surprise against former ASU assistant coach and current Florida International head coach Turtle Thomas and the Golden Panthers on March 7.

In addition to an always difficult non-conference schedule, the three-time defending Pac-10 Champion Sun Devils will once again compete in one of the toughest conferences in all of college baseball. Conference adversaries visiting Tempe include Cal (March 26-28), USC (April 16-18), Washington (April 23-25) and 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Oregon State (May 21-23). The Sun Devils will travel to Eugene, Oregon for the first time in school history when they take on the Ducks for a three-game series beginning April 1. ASU will also travel to 2009 NCAA Tournament team Washington State (April 9-11), UCLA (April 30-May 2), in-state rival Arizona (May 15-17) and close out the regular season at Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif. for three games with Stanford (May 27-29).

Arizona State will be seeking its 11th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, which will begin on June 4. Super Regionals will follow from June 11-14 with the college baseball season culminating in the College World Series, beginning June 19 at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. 2010 marks the final season the College World Series will be played at Rosenblatt Stadium, as the annual championship tournament will move to TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha beginning in 2011.

(Release)

Moraga, CA – The Saint Mary’s College baseball team and head coach Jedd Soto have announced the schedule for the 2010 season. Highlighting the season are a total of nine games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year, three series against conference champions, one series against a 2009 College World Series participant, and a total of 33 games against teams who finished .500 or better.
“Without question, this will be the strongest schedule we have played since my arrival at Saint Mary’s College,” said

St. Mary's Head Coach Jedd Soto

Soto. “We will have an opportunity early to compete at a very high level during our preseason contests which should help us prepare for the West Coast Conference play.” “Playing this type of schedule against quality opponents will give a chance to earn a post season bid.”

Complete 2010 St.Mary’s Schedule (PDF)

Fans will get their first chance to see the 2010 club February 19 when the Gaels take on the defending Western Athletic Conference regular season champion San Jose State Spartans, who finished with 41 wins last season. Opening weekend will continue February 20 on the road at San Jose State, and will finish with the Gaels hosting the Spartans again at Louis Guisto Field on February 21.

After hosting the Nevada Wolfpack in a mid-week contest on February 23, the Gaels will be on the road for eight of the next game games. They will travel down south for a tournament hosted by Cal State Bakersfield, February 26-28. In the tournament, SMC will play CS Bakersfield, Bay Area competitor and Pac-10 member California, and Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference.

From there, the Gaels return home for a mid-week contest March 2 against Sacramento State, and return the favor by traveling to Sacramento, CA the following day, and then will make the trip down to Irvine March 5-7 to take on the Anteaters of UC Irvine. UC Irvine won the Big West Conference last season with a record of 45-14, was ranked no. 1 nationally for a period of time, and hosted an NCAA Regional.

The Gaels hit the road again March 19-21 when they travel to New Orleans, LA, and take on Conference USA member Tulane. Following another mid-week road affair with the Hornets of Sacramento State on March 23, the Gaels return to the friendly confines of Louis Guisto Field March 26-28 for a series against UC Riverside, from the Big West Conference, which finished the 2009 season with a record of 33-20.

Another eight-game road-trip begins on March 30 when the Gaels travel to UC Davis for a midweek game against the Aggies. The Gaels then head to Hattiesburg, MS for an April 1-3 series against Southern Mississippi. The Conference USA runner-ups with a 40-26 record, the Golden Eagles were one of eight participants in last year’s College World Series and finished the season with a no. 8 ranking nationally.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Gaels from there when they return to California, as they travel to Palo Alto for a midweek contest against Stanford, perennial powers in the Pac-10, on April 7. The road trip concludes when the Gaels open West Coast Conference play at the Portland from April 9-11.

Following the series at Portland, the Gaels will be local for the next seven contests when they return home and continue WCC play April 16-18 against Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Dons. After a mid-week game against Sacramento State, the fourth meeting of the season, SMC will hit the road for WCC play and take on Santa Clara, April 23-25.

Following an April 30-May 2 WCC road series at Loyola Marymount, the Gaels will return to “The Guisto” for its longest home stand of the year. They will host WCC power Pepperdine May 7-9, UC Davis in a midweek contest May 11, and defending WCC champions Gonzaga May 14-16. The Bulldogs finished last season with a record of 36-18 and a no. 22 national ranking.

The Gaels will be on the road the last two weekends of the season, traveling to the Seattle University May 21-23 for a four-game series. Seattle is beginning its first season of baseball since the 1980 season. WCC play concludes with a series against the Toreros of San Diego May 28-30.

“We have a balanced club this year,” said Soto. “We will return some key offensive players and have added some very talented freshman, who should make an immediate impact. We have an experienced starting rotation and a deep bullpen consisting of three closers who have combined for 18 saves over the past three seasons. Overall, we have a fairly young team that should be exciting to watch for the next few years.”

There will be no West Coast Conference tournament or playoff for the 2010 season. The regular season champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

(Release)

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State baseball team will play 34 home games at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field in 2010, which highlights the season’s upcoming schedule released Tuesday by head coach Pat Casey.

OSU Head Coach Pat Casey

games as possible. We have some of the greatest fans in the Pac-10 and across the nation and the 2010 season will represent a great opportunity for our players to compete in front of them and for our fans to lead the Pac-10 in attendance.”

Complete 2010 OregonState Schedule (PDF)

The schedule begins Feb. 19 when the Beavers travel to Hawai’i for a four-game series. It marks the second time in four seasons in which OSU will travel outside the continental United States to open the season. In 2007, OSU played at Hawai’i-Hilo, and swept its four games there en route to its second of two consecutive national championships.

After playing four in the islands, the Beavers will return to Corvallis for the 2010 home opener against Tennessee in the Papé Grand Slam, which will be held at Goss Stadium from Feb. 26-28. The third-annual Papé Grand Slam will be played in Corvallis instead of Portland due to a construction schedule at PGE Park that could not accommodate the Beavers. PGE Park, however, will be able to accommodate Oregon State and Oregon for a non-conference game on May 26, which will mark the Beavers’ only appearance this season at the Triple-A park.

Other non-conference home opponents for the Beavers include perennial West Coast power Long Beach State (March 26-28), Portland and Utah in OSU’s Spring Tournament (March 12-14), Maine (March 19-21), Southern Utah (March 24), San Diego (May 10) and Seattle (May 18-19).

Of the Beavers’ 23 road games, eight will be played amongst the team’s first 11. After the series against Tennessee, OSU travels to Surprise, Ariz., to play in a six-team tournament hosted by Arizona State. In addition to the host Sun Devils, OSU squares off against Cal Poly, Utah Valley and UC Riverside over the four days.

Oregon State opens its 2010 Pacific-10 Conference slate April 1 at USC. The Beavers also travel to Washington State, California and Arizona State for league games this season.

Casey and the Beavers open their Pac-10 home schedule April 9 against UCLA. Other conference foes OSU fans will be able to see at Goss Stadium include Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Arizona, whom the Beavers close out the season with in a three-game series from May 28-30.

The NCAA postseason begins June 4 with NCAA Regionals play. NCAA Super Regionals start June 11, with the College World Series, which is scheduled to be played at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., for the final year, being played June 19-30.

(Release)

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.”

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

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 5^th 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)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Second-year Head Coach Jason Gill has announced a 2010 Loyola Marymount University baseball schedule that features 16 games against 2009 NCAA Regional teams, including a home-and-home two-game series against 2009 College World Series qualifier Cal State Fullerton. In just his first season as a Division I Head Coach last year, Gill guided LMU to its first West Coast Conference Championship appearance since 2005.

LMU Head Coach Jason Gill

host the Anteaters on Saturday before returning to Irvine for Sunday’s finale. LMU’s current 56-game schedule will see 29 of the contests played within the walls of Page Stadium, and the other 27 on the road, including three games at the Metrodome from March 5 to 7 as part of the 2010 Dairy Queen Classic hosted by Minnesota.

Full 2010 Loyola Marymount Schedule

Playing in Southern California, a well-known hotbed for college baseball, LMU is consistently playing one of the toughest schedules in all of Division I baseball. Last season, the Lions finished the year 36th in terms of strength of schedule according to Boyd’s World (boydsworld.com).

After opening the season with the three games against UC Irvine, LMU will host Oregon, the program that Gill left as an assistant coach to take the reins at LMU prior to last year, on February 22. The Lions will then travel to USC for the first of two meetings between the two teams on February 23, capping a run of five games in five days to open the year.

With just two full days of rest following the string of games to start the season, LMU will host UC Riverside on Friday, February 28 to open a four-game series with the Highlanders, a series that will consist of home games on Friday and Sunday and a doubleheader at UCR on Saturday.

A midweek contest at home against UC Santa Barbara (March 2) will precede the 2010 Dairy Queen Classic, in which LMU will square-off against host Minnesota (March 5), Northwestern (March 6) and 2009 Regional qualifier Oklahoma State (March 7) in the Metrodome.

A three-game series against Cal State Northridge, consisting of back-to-back home games on March 12 and 13 and a road game on the 14th, will flow into a Tuesday matchup with another Big West Conference opponent, Long Beach State on Tuesday, March 16.

Things really start to pick up on March 19 as the Lions travel to Fresno State for a four-game series against the Bulldogs (March 19-21), kicking-off a portion of the schedule that will pit the Lions against 2009 NCAA qualifiers in six of its next 11 games. Although the competition will be tough, LMU will be at home for seven of those 11 games, hosting Cal State Fullerton (March 23), a four-game series against Albany NY (March 26-28), and single games against USC (March 30) and 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Cal Poly (March 31).

A Tuesday game at UC Santa Barbara on April 6 will be the last game before WCC play begins on April 9 at San Diego. The conference schedule will consist of 21 games, 12 of which will be played at Page Stadium. LMU will host San Francisco (April 23-25), Saint Mary’s (April 30-May 2), Pepperdine (May 14-16), and Santa Clara (May 28-30) to close the regular season. The Lions will travel to San Diego (April 9-11), Portland (April 16-18) and 2009 WCC Champion Gonzaga (May 21-23).

The Lions will host two seven-game homestands this year. The first runs from March 23 to March 31, while the second runs from April 30 to May 16. Moreover, LMU will host 11 of its 12 games from April 20 to May 16, with the only road contest coming at Cal State Bakersfield on April 27.

Between conference games, the Lions will continue to boast a non-conference schedule packed with some of the best teams on the west coast, if not in the all of Division I baseball. The second half of the non-conference schedule will feature games against Long Beach State (April 13), two more against Cal Poly (May 11 at home and May 25 on the road), and the final game against Cal State Fullerton (May 18). LMU will also play a home-and-home against Cal State Bakersfield, with the home game coming on April 20.

Rebels To Play Home Heavy Slate

Complete 2010 UNLV Baseball Schedule (PDF)

“We are keeping season ticket prices the same as last year, and with the new RBI Family Pack, it will make Rebel

UNLV Head Coach Buddy Gouldsmith

baseball affordable fun for families to attend,” Gouldsmith said. “We live in a destination city that teams want to visit and we owe it to our season tickets holders, fans and our community to play as many home games as possible. I feel like this season’s home schedule is very attractive for our fans.”

Other teams that will be traveling to Las Vegas during that span include Southern Utah (Feb. 23), Temple (Feb. 26-28), Columbia (March 5-7), Northwestern (March 11-13) and Long Beach State (March 19-21). The Rebels will also play non-conference games at Arizona (March 2-3) and at Cal State Northridge (March 16) during the first month of the season. This season also has fewer doubleheaders than last year, as the NCAA reverted back to its previous start time, with the season lasting longer and allowing teams to play more midweek games.

It will be great for college baseball and for our team to get back to playing more four-game weeks,” Gouldsmith said. “That will surely make for better matchups in the middle of the week.”UNLV opens up Mountain West Conference play on the road, traveling to BYU for a three-game series on March 25-27, and the Rebels’ league opener will be against New Mexico the following week on April 1-3. The rest of the league home slate includes Air Force (April 30-May 2), BYU (May 6-8) and Utah (May 14-16), while the Rebels will travel to Utah (April 9-11), TCU (April 23-25) and San Diego State (May 20-22). The Aztecs, Horned Frogs and Utes represented the MWC in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with TCU advancing to a super regional.

The rest of the Rebels’ non-conference home schedule includes a two-game series with Texas Tech (April 5-6) and single games against UC Riverside (April 27) and Cal State Northridge (May 18). UNLV will also travel to in-state rival Nevada, Reno (March 30), Southern Utah (April 13), Tulane (April 16-18) and UC Riverside (May 11). This will be the first trip to Tulane for Gouldsmith as a coach since he left after serving as an assistant for the Green Wave for four years, helping the school to its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2001.

“Our schedule is well-balanced and we have worked hard to ensure that it minimizes the days of school we have to miss, while giving us the opportunity to earn a regional bid without having to win the conference tournament,” Gouldsmith said. “I am excited for our team to visit New Orleans. It will be a good road test in what will surely be a great college baseball atmosphere as Tulane always has big crowds, creating a difficult environment to play in.”

The MWC Tournament will be hosted by San Diego State this season and it will be played at Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego on May 25-29, where the league’s automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament will be up for grabs. Last year the MWC set a record by having three teams advancing to play in the NCAA Tournament, with Utah earning the league’s automatic bid and San Diego State and TCU receiving at-large selections.

(Press Release)

Opening Day Scheduled for February 19th Against Bethune-Cookman

Full 2010 Northridge Schedule (PDF)
Friday, February 19th is when the first game of the 2010 season will take place for the Matadors as they travel to Compton, Calif. to face Bethune-Cookman in the inaugural game of the MLB Urban Invitational. CSUN will return to the MLB Urban Youth Academy the very next day to face Southern before completing tournament play at UCLA in a Sunday afternoon match-up against the Bruins.

For the second straight season Northridge has a schedule laden with games at Matador Field; 30 of the 56 regular season games will take place on CSUN’s diamond beginning with their home opener against Pepperdine on February 26th.

CSUN will compete in a total of 56 games throughout the season – 25 against Big West opponents, nine games against teams from the West Coast Conference, four games against Big East competition, and three games against opposition from the Mountain West Conference.

Northridge will also compete in their first exhibition game since 2007 when Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) visits the campus on March 1st as part of their West Coast tour.

The Matadors will face five teams for the first time in the program’s history – Bethune-Cookman, Southern, Connecticut, East Carolina, and Seattle University – and play in only four games outside California as the team is scheduled to travel to Seattle for a four-game series from March 19-21 and Las Vegas for one game against the UNLV Rebels on May 18th.

CSUN will then travel to San Diego to face the Toreros (Feb. 23) before alternating home games with Pepperdine in a three-game series (Feb. 26-28) beginning in Northridge.

After their exhibition game against Waseda University, CSUN will host a four-game series against Connecticut (Mar. 5-8) and battle East Carolina (Mar. 10) for one game before facing Loyola Marymount (Mar. 12-14) and UNLV (Mar. 16).

Northridge will then hit the road and travel north to compete against Seattle University in a four-game series (Mar. 19-21) that includes a doubleheader that Saturday.

The Matadors will then return home to open a season-long, seven-game home stand beginning with a series against Sacramento State (Mar. 26-29), a team CSUN has not faced since 2002, and ending with three games against UC Irvine (Apr. 1-3) that take place during the inaugural weekend of Big West Conference action.

Five non-conference games against Pepperdine (Apr. 6), Cal State Bakersfield (Apr. 10-13), and San Diego State (Apr. 13) will fill CSUN’s bye week until they return to Big West competition against the visiting Cal Poly Mustangs (Apr. 16-18).

After their series against Cal Poly, CSUN will enter a portion of their schedule that includes ten of thirteen games on the road beginning with a three-game series at Pacific (Apr. 23-25).

A short home stand against UC Davis (Apr. 30-May 2) will bring the Matadors back to Northridge before hitting the road once again for games at UC Santa Barbara (May 7-9), UC Riverside (May 14-16), and UNLV (May 18).

Games against Long Beach State (May 21-23), San Diego (May 24), and a non-conference match-up against UC Riverside (May 25) will comprise the Matadors’ final home stand before CSUN travels to Cal State Fullerton (May 28-30) for their final Big West series of the season against the Titans.

(Press Release)