College Baseball Notebook-Week 14

The Last Notebook Of The Regular Season…

48…Game hitting streak by Florida International shortstop Garrett Wittels.  The sophomore has the second-longest hitting streak in Division One history after hitting safely in Saturday’s regular season finale vs. rival Florida Atlantic. Former Oklahoma State and MLB star Robin Ventura owns the all-time record with hits in 58 straight games in 1987.

.415…Wittels‘ batting average during the streak (and season to date).  He has played in 48 of his team’s 53 games this season and has collected 66 singles, 15 doubles, two triples, and two home runs during the streak.

2 2/3…Innings Wittels has also pitched this season.  He has a 3.30 ERA.

34…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Rhode Island’s Tim Boyce, who tossed his second straight complete game shutout last Thursday vs. George Washington.  The scoreless streak is the longest in Division One baseball in 2010.

7 2/3…Innings pitched before Boyce gave-up a hit in that game.  The senior settled for a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and just one walk to improve to 5-3 this season.

.109…Batting average of the combined 119 batters Boyce has faced during his scoreless streak, which dates back to April 30.  Boyce has given-up just 12 hits with 29 strikeouts and four walks during the impressive streak.

32 1/3…Scoreless innings streak by Wichita State sophomore Jordan Cooper that ended Thursday when Dallas Baptist’s Jason Kizran hit his 11th home run of the season.  Cooper gave-up the lone run in 7 IP with eight strikeouts to improve to 9-2 on the year.

11…SEC regular season championships won by Florida after the Gators won their series at South Carolina over the weekend heading into this week’s SEC Baseball Tournament.

14…Years since the Gators last won a series in Columbia, SC prior to their weekend win.  Third-year Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan is the seventh head coach in school history to win an SEC crown.

332…Career strikeouts by Mississippi’s Drew Pomeranz to tie an Ole Miss school record.  Pomeranz fanned six in Thursday’s 5-3 loss to Auburn to hit the mark.  The junior lefty has 127 Ks in 86 2/3 IP this season.

19…Wins in SEC regular season play, the most in school history, by Auburn after taking the first two games of the series vs. Ole Miss.  The series win gives the Tigers their first SEC West Division crown since 1995.  Auburn will be the #2 seed at the SEC Tournament.

2,055…Combined career wins by Minnesota’s John Anderson (1,031) and Ohio State’s Bob Todd (1,024) prior to their weekend series in Columbus, OH.  Both have already been inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

2…Games won by Anderson’s Golden Gophers over Todd’s Buckeyes to give Minnesota the Big Ten regular season crown and knock Ohio State out of the Big Ten Tournament, which is being played this year on Ohio State’s Bill Davis Stadium.

3…Wins by Iowa over Purdue to end the regular season to give the Hawkeyes the #4 seed at the Big Ten Tourney.  It’s Iowa’s only season sweep of the season and the first for the Hawkeyes to end the regular season since 1980.  Iowa and Purdue will play in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

4…Complete game shutouts this season by Pepperdine’s Matt Bywater.  The senior set Pepperdine’s single-season shutout record with Friday’s 5-0 win over San Diego.  He was previously in a nine-way tie for first place with the likes of former Major Leaguer Mike Scott.

1…West Coast Conference loss by San Diego, which was 15-0 in league play heading into Friday’s action.  The Toreros have already claimed the WCC regular season championship, which comes with an automatic NCAA bid.

5…Complete games tossed by Bywater (5-5) this season to help the Pepperdine pitching staff to a WCC-best 11 CGs this year.

5…Complete games combined by the Portland, San Francisco and Gonzaga pitching staffs in 2010.

17…Consecutive times Vanderbilt’s Jason Esposito reached base safely prior to striking out looking in the fifth inning of Thursday’s 4-3 win over Arkansas.  Esposito’s streak fell one short of tying the all-time NCAA record of 18, which was set by Shaun Larkin of Cal State Northridge in 2002.

3…Games won by Clemson over Florida State to end the regular season and give the Tigers the ACC’s Atlantic Division crown.

2…Games won in the series by Clemson reliever Alex Frederick, who pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in Saturday’s 8-3 win after earning the win in 2 1/3 innings of relief in Thursday’s 9-8 victory.

1994…The last time a Clemson pitcher won two games in an ACC three-game series prior to Frederick’s weekend feat.

4…Runs scored by Louisville with two outs in the 9th inning of Thursday’s 6-3 win over Notre Dame.  The Cardinals scored their runs on J.J. Ethel’s pinch-hit 3-run HR, which was followed by a solo shot by Jeff Arnold.

2…Runs scored by Louisville when the Cardinals were again down to their last out in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader vs. the Irish.  Adam Duvall’s 2-run triple gave Louisville the winning runs.

15…Wins by the Cardinals this season that have seen the winning runs scored in their last at-bat.  Louisville’s sweep of Notre Dame, coupled with UConn falling to Seton Hall in its regular season finale gave the Cards the Big East regular season championship.

3…Runs scored on a two out walk-off home run by West Virginia’s Kevin Griffin to give the Mountaineers a 3-2 win over Villanova The win clinched the #8 seed at the Big East Tournament for WVU and knocked Notre Dame out of a spot in the tourney.

1987…The last time Notre Dame (22-32) both finished with a losing record and failed to qualify for a conference tournament.  The Irish had been to the Big East Tournament every year since joining the conference in the 1996 season.

35… Straight Big South Conference games won by Coastal Carolina, which closed its 2010 regular season slate at 25-0 after taking two games from Radford (the finale was rained-out).

8…Runs scored by Washington from the 9th-11th innings to beat Oregon 13-11 in Friday’s series opener.  After the Huskies scored two in the 9th and four runs in the 10th inning to tie the game, freshman Chase Anselment capped the thriller with a two-run walk-off home run.

41…Regular season wins for UCLA after a weekend sweep of Cal.  It’s the first time in 31 years the Bruins (41-11, 16-8 Pac 10) have registered at least 41 regular season victories.

1969…The last time UCLA has been at least 30 games above .500.  With no Pac 10 Tournament, the Bruins conclude the regular season this week with a Tuesday game vs. Big West champion Cal State Fullerton and three games vs. Pac 10 foe Washington State.

9-1…Washington State’s record in its last 10 games after a weekend sweep of USC.  The hot streak has the Cougars (31-18, 14-10) in third place in the Pac 10, behind Arizona State (47-5, 18-6) and UCLA.

1…2009 College World Series team, North Carolina, that failed to qualify for its conference tournament this year.  The Tar Heels (36-20, 14-16 ACC) did not make the ACC Tournament despite a sweep of Viginia Tech to close the regular season.  Boston College made it in after a series of tie-breakers.

0…ACC teams that have ever made the NCAA Tournament without first qualifying for the ACC Tournament.  The Tar Heels, which had an RPI of 30 last week, will be on pins and needles until NCAA selections come out next Monday (May 31).

2…More NCAA Tournament automatic bids that were locked-up over the weekend.  Bethune-Cookman won the MEAC crown, while Bucknell took the Patriot League title.

1998…The last time Oral Roberts was not the #1 seed at the Summit League Baseball Tournament prior to this year.  The Golden Eagles were the regular season co-champs with South Dakota State this year, but are the tournament’s #2 seed after losing three of four games to the Jack Rabbits earlier this month.

27…Straight Summit League Tournament games Oral Roberts has won heading into this week’s tournament.

Around The Bases-April 1

Passion Buckets Full Of Baseball And Final Four

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

April is here, and my Passion Bucket is overflowing.  For those who’ve never heard of a Passion Bucket, it’s a term that was coined by UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and made popular on the Dan Patrick Radio Show.  It’s also a term that was used by Cornell basketball player Ryan Wittman prior to last week’s Sweet 16 basketball match-up with Kentucky.

Wittman’s use of the term stirred-up some unwarranted controversy when John Feinstein took it to mean “we’re the smart kids”.   Turned out Wittman’s coach, Steve Donohue,  had just told him to drop the “Passion Bucket” during the presser at Patrick’s request.  Turns out Passion Bucket just stands for how much enthusiasm or excitement you have for something, and mine is overflowing with thoughts of college baseball and the Final Four…and even how they run together…

Butler’s in the Final Four.  How cool is that?  Their home floor, Hinkle Fieldhouse, is where the movie Hoosiers was filmed.  The college baseball equal would be Creighton making it to the College World Series.  Wait…that happened in 1991.  Butler’s coach, Brad Stevens, is home grown, just like Brian O’Connor, who pitched at the Series for the Blue Jays in ‘91 and who took Virginia to Omaha last year.  Stevens looks so young he gets mistaken for the water boy, but he’s worked his way up the ladder since starting as Butler’s Coordinator of Basketball Operations ten years ago.  By the way, Minnesota Twins reliever Pat Neshek played college ball at Butler.

Tom Izzo is a guy you just have to respect.  He’s taken Michigan State to six Final Fours in 12 years.  His teams grind out possessions and games like a Polish lady with big forearms grinds out Kielbasa.  It got me thinking…what’s Michigan State’s college baseball counterpart?  I’m going with Texas:  Walk, sac bunt, infield hit, 4-3 RBI…Augie Garrido’s great pitching and small ball approach is college baseball’s answer to Izzo’s Spartans.  Augie’s obviously had some success at it too.  And how about Jake Boss, Jr.’s MSU baseball team?  At 16-4,  his Spartans open Big Ten play vs. Iowa this weekend with the best record in the conference.

Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns (18-7) leave their home state for the first time this season when they visit Oklahoma this weekend.  Texas has played road games at Rice and Texas Tech with three neutral site games at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Arizona State (23-0) and UCLA (21-0) are the only two remaining unbeaten Division One teams in college baseball.

The Sun Devils visit Oregon this weekend in their second Pac 10 series, while UCLA hosts Stanford in it conference opener.  The most amazing thing to me about ASU’s unblemished record is the fact they’ve done it without Josh Spence (10-1, 2.37 ERA in ‘09) throwing one pitch so far this year.  The Aussie has been out all year with an arm injury, but his teammates have more than picked-up the slack.  Sophomore Jake Borup pitched all of 8.0 innings last year, but he’s 5-0, while juco transfer Merrill Kelly is tied for the national lead at 6-0.  Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole (6-0, 2.63 ERA) and Trevor Bauer (5-0, 2.33 ERA) have lived-up to their expectations at UCLA.  Both teams have off the charts talent and numbers in the line-up.  Too bad they don’t meet until the end of the month.  Oh, if you want to read a good rant on these teams and the national rankings check out what Chase Titleman has to say at Road2rosenblatt.com!

Who’s been impersonating as the three Conference USA teams that went to at least a Super Regional last year?  Last year’s CWS Cinderella, Southern Mississippi (14-9) , has lost five of its last seven games, including losing two of three last week to UAB.  East Carolina (17-9) just bludgeoned North Carolina Central by a combined 65-12 last weekend, but they just lost a 15-13 slug fest to UNC Wilmington and had losses to Monmouth and High Point.  ECU opens C-USA play this weekend vs. Tulane and then heads to Memphis next week.  Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers took two of three from Rice (14-12) last week for their first ever series win over the Owls, which are falling out of the polls with losses in five of their last eight games.  All three C-USA teams have played tough opponents, all three have hit in spots and consistent pitching has eluded all three as well.

Villanova (17-4) is off to its best start since head coach Joe Godri arrived in 2002.  The Wildcats have a tough task ahead of them this weekend if they want to keep it going.  Godri’s ‘Cats will be “big game hunting” when they travel to Louisville (21-3) for their second Big East series of the season.  Godri has a tradition of plastering the logo of top-caliber teams his team has beaten on his office wall, and just one win at Louisville this weekend would go a long way.  Wildcats Justin Bencsko (.485) and Matt Szczur (.500) have names that are hard to pronounce, but they’re among the nation’s hitting leaders.  Louisville’s Thomas Royse (5-0, 1.42 ERA) and Neil Holland (4-0, 0.42 ERA, 6 SVs) might be the best pitchers they’ll face this season.

That series and many others start on Thursday this weekend due to Easter coming this Sunday.  Here’s hoping your Easter Baskets and Passion Buckets are full!

College Baseball Notebook-Week 5

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week Of 2010

20 & 16…Wins without any defeats by Arizona State and UCLA, respectively, to start the season.  The Pac-10 teams are the only remaining undefeated Division 1 college baseball teams in the nation.  ASU’s start is the best since the 1961 team opened at 21-0, while the Bruin’s 16-0 start is a school record as is their 16-game winning streak.

41-7…Combined score of UCLA’s weekend 3-game sweep of 12-time defending Summit League champion Oral Roberts.

30 & 10…Strikeouts and walks in 27 IP in the series by the Bruin pitching staff.

1…Former Northern Iowa baseball player-Lucas O’Rear-who is in the NCAA Basketball Tournament’s Sweet 16 this week.  O’Rear, a junior forward on the UNI basketball team, helped 9th seeded Panthers beat UNLV 69-66 in the first

round of the tournament last Thursday, then shock overall #1 seed Kansas 69-67 Saturday night.

17 1/3…Innings O’Rear pitched for the UNI baseball team in 2009-it’s last season of existence.  Northern Iowa eliminated baseball after last season due to budget cuts.  The 6′6-255 pound O’Rear, whose fastball has touched 92 mph, struckout 15 batters and finished with a 4.67 ERA after making 10 appearances out of the Panther bullpen.

4.2 & 4.5…O’Rear’s scoring & rebounding averages this season for the 30-4 UNI basketball team, which faces Michigan State on Friday in St. Louis this week in the Sweet 16.

26…Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Indiana’s Drew Leininger-who tossed 6 shutout frames in IU’s 10-3 win over Akron Saturday.  Leininger dropped his Big Ten-leading ERA to 0.70 while improving his record to 3-0.

14…Straight games in which TCU freshman Josh Elander had a hit to begin his career before going hitless in the Horned Frogs’ 6-4 win over Oral Roberts last Tuesday.

1…Career home run by Elander-it came in TCU’s next game, an 11-3 win over BYU last Friday.  It was also the freshman outfielder’s birthday.

1,825…Fans in attendance last Wednesday to see the first night game in James Madison history-a 6-3 loss to #1 Virginia-at the Dukes’ new Veterans Memorial Park.

10…Runs in 1+ inning pitched by Western Kentucky starter Taylor Haydel in Wednesday’s 17-6 loss to Vanderbilt.

32-5…Combined score of Arizona’s two mid-week wins over Wichita State in Tucson.

4…Wins in relief by Villanova’s Kevin Crimmel after pitching an inning in Friday’s 2-1 win over Niagara.

10…Strikeouts in 8 IP by VU starter Brian Streilein in that game.

9…Stolen bases by the Wildcats in a St. Patrick’s Day 11-8 win over Fairleigh Dickinson.

2…Home runs by Maryland’s Dan Gentzler in Friday’s 5-2 win over Georgia Tech to hand the Yellow Jackets just their second loss of the season. Both HR came off 2009 ACC Pitcher of the Year Deck McGuire.

4…Saves this season earned by Gentzler after pitching a scoreless 9th inning of that same game.  Terp starter Brett Harman struckout eight in eight innings to earn the win.

8…RBIs by Georgia Tech’s Jay Dantzler the next day in GT’s 24-4 win over Maryland.  Dantzler was 4-for-6 in the game with a pair of home runs.

4…Home runs hit by Clemson in an 8-run first inning of its 22-6 win over Georgia Southern.  The Tigers hit 6 home runs, 9 doubles and a triple in the game.

0…Losses by Clemson (17-2, 6-0 ACC) through the first two weekend’s of conference play, making the Tigers the only ACC team without a league blemish, after a 3-game sweep of Virginia Tech.

12…Strikeouts in 8 IP by Virginia’s Danny Hultzen (4-1) in Friday’s 7-1 win over Boston College to give him 43 Ks and just 4 BB in 34 innings this season.

30 of 34…Innings that Hultzen has pitched this season that have been “goose eggs” on the scoreboard.

1…Cycle achieved by Tommy LaStella in Coastal Carolina’s 29-13 win over Charleston Southern.  The redshirt sophomore drove-in seven runs en-route to his first career cycle.

7…Runs scored in the 7th inning by LSU in Saturday’s 8-7 win over Arkansas in game two of their SEC-opening series in Baton Rouge. Arkansas had won the first game of the series 6-3 a day prior.

2…Hits by the Tigers-both singles by Micah Gibbs-through the first six innings off Razorback starter Drew Smyly, who left after 6 IP with a 5-1 lead.

0…Games won by Kansas since winning 2 of 3 games vs. LSU.  The Jayhawks dropped four games vs. Tulane and St. Louis last week after their March 12-14 series win in Baton Rouge.

12…RBIs with 3 home runs in four games last week by St. Louis 1B Danny Brock.  The son of former Big Leaguer Greg Brock leads the Billikens in batting average (.405) HR (10) RBIs (36) and slg. % (.892) through 20 games this season.

9…Innings pitched and strikeouts-both career-highs-by Michigan State pitcher A.J. Achter (2-0) in Saturday’s 13-0 win over Notre Dame.

5…Errors committed by the Fighting Irish in that game, leading to 7 unearned runs scored by the Spartans.

6 & 1…Strikeouts and hits allowed by Ball State reliever Perci Garner in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Louisville to hand UL (17-2) just its second overall loss and first home loss of 2010.

1-for-20…What Louisville’s 4 through 9 batters combined to hit in that game.

141…Batters faced by Kansas State pitcher Evan Marshall without issuing a walk prior to Friday’s 3rd inning free pass in the Wildcat’s 2-1 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  The sophomore’s no-walks streak spanned 29.0 innings.  He struckout a career-best eight batters in the no-decision to help K-State improve to 15-3.

11…RBIs with 4 home runs in five games last week by Florida’s Preston Tucker.  The Gator 1B homered in four straight games-the longest stretch by a UF player since 2007.  His efforts helped UF down Florida State 8-5 in a midweek game and then sweep its SEC opening series vs. Mississippi State.

2…Times Florida State scored game-winning runs in the 9th inning to take 2 of 3 games from North Carolina.  The Seminoles won 4-3 on Friday and 5-3 on Sunday.  FSU has claimed 9th inning wins 3 of the last 4 times it has faced UNC.

12…Nation-leading home runs by Central Florida outfielder Chris Duffy.  He also tops the nation with 39 RBIs.

3…Sacrifice flies last week by Duffy after none in his first three seasons at UCF.

BIG Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team

CollegeBaseball360.com – in conjunction with coaches and media-relations representatives from the 20 teams – has selected the all-tournament team for the 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge (held Feb. 26-28, in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area). The selections include 11 first-teamers, 11 second-teamers and seven honorable mention.

Selections were based on statistics during the three games, in addition to other criteria such as clutch play, defensive contributions, team leadership and other intangibles. The honorees include at least one from all 20 participating teams, led by three from Louisville and two each from seven other teams (Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, St. John’s and Villanova).

Shortstop Joe Panik (pictured) helped St. John’s join Louisville as the only 3-0 teams at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge. Panik batted 5-for-8 with 3 walks (also reached twice via HBP) and factored into nearly half of  SJU’s total runs (6 of 13) during the tournament. … Note: eight other teams went 2-1: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Villanova.

The all-tournament selections feature 11 juniors, nine sophomores, five seniors, three freshmen and a fifth-year senior. Four are New Jersey natives and four more are from Ohio, plus three from Kentucky, two each from California, Indiana, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania – and one each from Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The honorees include one pure leadoff hitter, two that batted in the #2 spot all weekend, a pair of 3-hole hitters and three cleanup batters (plus two 5-hole hitters, one 6-hole, two 7-hole, one 9-hole and six who batted in multiple lineup spots during the tournament).

Ohio State pitcher Alex Wimers is the only repeat selection to the Challenge all-tournament team. (Note: all class years referenced below refer to academic standing … additional headshots and action photos will be added to this release, time permitting).

2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge All-Tournament Team

(presented by CollegeBaseball360.com)

First-team position players included (top row, from left): Kevin Plawecki, Jerrud Sabourin, Matt Dittman, Adam Duvall and Joe Panik … (bottom row, from left) Stewart Ijames, Michael Stephens and Matt Szczur (the all-tournament first-team pitchers are pictured below).

First Team
C – #26 Kevin Plawecki (Purdue, fr., 7-hole … Carmel, IN)
… hit .700 (7-for-10 … 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, HBP, SB, E)
1B – #35 Jerrud Sabourin (Indiana, jr., 3-hole … San Diego, CA)
… hit .462 (6-for-13 … 4 RBI, 3 R, 2 2B, BB, 2 K)
1B – #17 Matt Dittman (Illinois, jr., cleanup … Libertyville, IL
… hit .667 (6-for-9, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, 3K)
2B – #30 Adam Duvall (Louisville, sr., 2-hole … Louisville, KY)
… hit .500 (6-for-12, 4 RBI, 4 R, HR, 3 2B, BB, SAC, K, E)
SS – #2 Joe Panik (St. John’s, so., 5-hole … Hopewell Junction, NY)
… hit .625 (5-for-8, 2 RBI, 4 R, 3B, 2B, 3 BB, 2 HBP, 2K, E)
LF – #5 Stewart Ijames (Louisville, jr., 7-hole … Owensboro, KY)
… hit .500 (5-for-10, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, BB, K, CS)
CF – #24 Michael Stephens (Ohio State, sr., cleanup … Victorville, CA)
… hit .667 (6-for-9 … 4 RBI, 4 R, HR, 2 2B, 2 BB, HBP, SB, SB, 2K, E)
RF – #20 Matt Szczur (Villanova, jr., leadoff … Erma, NJ)
… hit .600 (9-for-15, RBI, 6 R, 3B, 2B, 2K, CS)
UTIL (2B/RHP)–#14 Zach Morton (Northwestern, so., 9-hole; Rothschild, WI)
… hit .429 (3-for-7, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, SAC, E
… 0.00 ERA, 0-1,  1 GS, 6 IP, 2 UER, 6 H, BB,  BK, 3K, .250 opp. batting
RHP – #18 Thomas Royse (Louisville, jr. … Lexington, KY)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 K, .100 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #47 Brian Sand (Cincinnati, sr. … Cincinnati, OH)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GP, 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 HB, 1K, .000 opp. batting

(from left) The 2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge first team all-tournament pitchers include Northwestern two-way player Zach Morton, Louisville game-1 starter Thomas Royse and Cincinnati’s Brian Sand (whose 5.0 shutout relief innings earned him the win vs. Ohio State).

Second Team
C/DH – #33 Ben Heath (Penn State, jr., cleanup … Huntersville, NC)
… hit .333 (6-for-18, 4 RBI, 6 R, 3 HR, 2 2B, 4K)
1B – #29 Mike Nemeth (Connecticut, jr., 5-hole … Washington, NJ)
… hit .500 (5-for-10, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2B, BB, 2K, E)
2B – #2 T.J. Jones (Cincinnati, so., 3/2-hole … Cincinnati, OH)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 5 RBI, 4 R, 2B, 2 BB, HBP, 2E)
SS – #1 AJ Pettersen (Minnesota, so., 2-hole/leadoff … Minnetonka, MN)
… hit .455 (5-for-11, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, HBP, SF)
3B – #12 Andrew Carpenter (Michigan State, so., 7/8-hole … Dayton, OH)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2B, SF, 4K)
LF – #18 Jeremy Baltz (St. John’s, fr., 6-hole … Vestal, NY)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2K, 2 GDP)
CF/RF – #16 Ryan Durant (Iowa, sr., 3-hole … Eldridge, IA)
hit .545 (6-for-11, 6 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, BB, 2 SF, 3K)
RHP – #14 Alex Wimmers (Ohio State … jr., Cincinnati, OH
… 1.12 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 8 IP, 2 R/1 ER, 5 H, BB, WP, 6K,  .179 opp. batting
LHP – #32 Jarred Hippen (Iowa, so. … Rock Falls, IL)
… 3.12 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 8.2 IP, 3 R, 6 H, BB, 8K,  .188 opp. batting
LHP – #23 Kyle Helisek (Villanova, so. … Cranberry Township, PA)
… 1.29 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 5 BB, 2 K,  .167 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #32 Chris Enourato (West Virginia, sr. … Bridgeport, WV)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .154 opp. batting

Honorable Mention
1B–#38 Casey Martin (Notre Dame, 5th-yr. sr., cleanup/7-hole; Charleston, IN)
… hit .556 (5-for-9, R, BB, E)
LF – #3 Junior Carlin (South Florida, jr., 2-hole … Riverview, FL)
… hit .462 (6-for-13, 2 RBI, 2 R, HBP, K)
LF – #7 Pat Biserta (Rutgers, jr., 2/6-hole … Pt. Pleasant Boro, NJ)
… hit .357 (5-for-14, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR, SB, K)
LF – #34 Quentin Williams (Northwestern, so., 7/8-hole … Pittsburgh, PA)
… hit .556 (5-for-9, 2 RBI, R, HR, 2K)
RHP – #29 Jon Prosinski (Seton Hall, fr. … Skillman, NJ)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 2 BB, BK, 6K, .211 opp. batting
RHP – #26 Kurt Wunderlich (Michigan State, jr. … Des Peres, MO)
… 0.00 ERA, 1-0, 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, BB, HB, 6K, .174 opp. batting
RHP (relief) – #17 Brandon Sinnery (Michigan, so. … Worcester, MA)
… 0.00 ERA, 0-0, SV, 2 GP, 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K, .067 .opp batting

Day-3 Notebook from Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge

The BIG EAST kept rolling on Sunday, winning 7-of-10 games for the second straight day to claim the series by a 17-13 margin (after trailing 6 games to 1 heading into Friday night).

BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-3 Results
(Feb. 28, 2010 … BIG EAST 7-3 margin for the day, won series 17-13)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)

GAME 30 – Cincinnati 12, Ohio State 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  CIN Recap |  OSU Recap

GAME 29 – St. John’s 6, Illinois 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  SJU Recap |  ILL Recap

GAME 28 – Michigan 4, South Florida 2  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  MICH RECAP |  USF Recap

GAME 27 – Iowa 11, Villanova 2  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  IOWA Recap |  VILL Recap

GAME 26 – Michigan State 17, West Virginia 5  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  MSU Recap |  WVU Recap

GAME 25 – Louisville 5, Minnesota 4 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  LOU Recap |  MINN Recap

GAME 24 – Connecticut 9, Indiana 5 (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  UConn Recap |  IU Recap

GAME 23 – Notre Dame 9, Penn State 8  (10 innings … Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  ND Recap |  PSU Recap

GAME 22 – Rutgers 6, Purdue 5  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  RU Recap |  PUR Recap

GAME 21 – Seton Hall 3, Northwestern 0  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  SHU Recap |  NU Recap

• • • • •

CollegeBaseball360.com again is compiling full tournament stats and will be announcing the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge all-tournament team (hopefully sometime tonight, assuming we have received all the game files), in addition to posting detailed tournament stats (team and individual) in PDF format. Check out the 23 players listed below – led by three each from Ohio State and Villanova – who each were batting .500 or better (min. 5 ABs) through the first two days of competition:

20201 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Top Hitters (after day-2)
(tournament stats provided courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com)

.750 – #35 Jerred Sabourin (Indiana, 3-hole, jr., 1B) … 6–for (4RBI, 2R, 2 2B, BB)

.727 – #20 Matt Szczur (Villanova, leadoff, jr., RF) … 8-for-11 (RBI, 5R, 3B, 2B, 0-1 SB, 2K)

.714 – #17 Matt Dittman (Illinois, cleanup, jr., 1B) … 5-for-7 (3RBI, 2R, 2B, BB, 2K)

.714 – #24 Michael Stephens (Ohio St., cleanup, sr., CF) … 5-7 (2RBI, 3R, 2 2B, BB, SB, SF, 2K)

.714 – #26 Kevin Plawecki (Purdue, 7-hole, fr., C) … 4-for-6 (RBI, R, 2B, BB, HBP, SB)

.667 – #34 Quentin Williams (Northwestern, 7/8-hole, so., LF) … 4-for-6 (2 RBI, R, HR, K)

.571 – #30 Adam Duvall (Louisville, 2-hole, sr., 2B) … 4-for-7 (3 RBI, 3 R, HR, 2 2B, BB, SAC, K)

.571 – #5 Stewart Ijames (Louisville, 7-hole, jr., LF) … 4-for-7 (3 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B, K, CS)

.556 – #23 Ryan Dew (Ohio St., 5-hole, sr., DH) … 5-for-9 (2 RBI, 4 R, 2B, K)

.500 – #19 Arby Fields (Northwestern, 2-hole, fr., CF) … 5-for-10 (3 RBI, K)

.500 – #30 Jon Moore (Purdue, 2-hole, sr., CF) … 5-for-10 (RBI, 2 R, 2B, 2 K)

.500 – #18 Justin Gominsky (Minnesota, leadoff, so., CF) … 4-for-8 (RBI, R, 2 2B, 2 K)

.500 – #7 Chris Fontenelli (Seton Hall, 5th-yr. sr., 8-hole, 2B) … 4-for-8 (2 R, BB, SAC, 2K)

.500– #23 Michael Glantz (Penn St., 7-hole, jr., SS) … 4-for-8 (RBI, R, BB, SAC, 2K)

.500 – #25 Paul Snieder (Northwestern, 5-hole, so., DH/P) … 4-for-8 (2R, BB, HBP, 4K)

.500 – #44 Matt Fleishman (Villanova, 5-hole, so., LF) … 4-for-8 (RBI, 2R, 2 2B, BB, 2K)

.500 – #1 Drew Haynes (Louisville, 9-hole, jr., CF)  … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, 3R, 2B, BB, CS)

.500 – #2 Joe Panik (St. John’s, 5-hole, so., SS) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, 2R, 3B, 2B, 2BB, HBP, 2K)

.500 – #3 Brandon Hohl (Illinois, 8-hole, fr., 3B) … 3-for-6 (2 RBI, R, 2K, GDP)

.500 – #9 Trevor Willis (Iowa, 8-hole, jr., LF) … 3-for-6 (3B, 2B, BB, SAC, 2K)

.500 – #1 Tyler Engle (Ohio St., 9-hole, jr., SS) … 3-for-6 (RBI, R, 2B, BB)

.500 – #22 Justin Bencsko (Villanova, 2-hole, sr., CF) … 3-for-6 (5R, 2B, 3BB, 2SB, 2 SAC, GDP)

.500 – #22 Mike Olt (UConn, cleanup, jr., 3B) … 3-for-6 (RBI, 2R, 3BB, SB, SF, 2K)

Day-2 Notebook (2010 Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge)

BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-2 Results
(Feb. 27, 2010 … BIG EAST 7-3 margin for the day, series tied 10-10)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)

GAME 20 – Louisville 17, Michigan State 6  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  LOU Recap |  MSU Recap

GAME 19 – St. John’s 2, Michigan 1  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  SJU Recap |  MICH Recap

GAME 18 – South Florida 12, Illinois 3  (Bright House Networks Field)
FINAL STATS |  USF Recap |  ILL Recap

GAME 17 – Ohio State 10, Notre Dame 2  (Bright House Networks Field)
FINAL STATS |  OSU Recap |  ND Recap

GAME 16 – Northwestern 7, Rutgers 5  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  NU Recap |  RU Recap

GAME 15 – Cincinnati 7, Purdue 6  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  CIN Recap |  PUR Recap

GAME 14 – Connecticut 8, Minnesota 2  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  UConn Recap |  MINN Recap

GAME 13 – West Virgnia 9, Iowa 5  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  WVU Recap |  IOWA Recap

GAME 12 – Penn State 3, Seton Hall  2 … 13 inn.  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  PSU Recap |  SHU Recap

GAME 11 – Villanova 8, Indiana 1  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  VILL Recap |  IU Recap

Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Day-1 Notebook

Big Ten wins 7-of-10 games on day-1 (note: day-1 notes will be continually added to this post, in blog post format)

2:54 p.m. (2/27/10) – Game-3 highlightes and notes:

Seton Hall     001  200  000  –  3  6  2
Michigan State 000  011  12X  –  5  5  0

MSU Notes – Jr. RHP A.J. Achter 5.1IP-3R-5H-2BB-8K … so. LHP Trevor Popp (W-3.2IP-H-BB-3K) … tying run in 7th, 2R in 8th: sr LF Bo Felt/6-hole RBI triple, so. 3B/8-hole Andrew Carpenter (2RBI-R) added RBI single

SHU Notes – Jr RHP Joe DiRocco 5.1 IP-2R/1 ER-2H-3BB-4K … jr. 3B/7-hole Sean Gusrang solo HR … sr. 1B/5-hole Chris Spagnuolo 2-run 2B

• • • • •

1:02 p.m. (2/27/10) – Game-2 highlightes and notes:

Connecticut   000   040   100   0  –  5  10   4
Northwestern  001   004   000   1  –  6  12   3

NU NOTES – So. DH/RHP Paul Snieder (5-hole) scored winning run in 10th (2-for-4/2R-BB; middle relief 2.2IP-2H-3BB-K) … winning sequence in 10th: Snieder leadoff 1B to CF, Colby Everett SAC, so. IF/9-hole Zach Morton 2-out 1B to RF (2-for-3, 2 RBI-R-BB-SAC) … sr. LHP starter Jack Muraski 6.1IP-5R-7H-2BB … game had 8 combined errors

UCONN NOTES – So. CF/3-hole George Springer 3RBI-R-BB-2B-SF … jr. LHP Elliot Glynn 5IP-R-5H-BB-5K … 4R in 5th (4-1 lead) … both teams 10 LOB (UConn left man on 2nd in 8th-9th-10th) … so. RHP Ryan Thompson (L) 0.2IP-R-2H-BB

• • • • •

11:32 a.m. (2/27/10) – Game-1 highlightes and notes:

Rutgers    010   010   001  –  3    7   0
Iowa       101   010   03X  –  6   11   0

TOP IOWA PLAYERS: so. LHP Jarrod Hippen 8.2IP-3R-6H-BB-8K … jr. SS/9-hole Kurt Lee 2-3/2RBI-R-2B-SAC-SB … jr. LF/9-hole Kurt McCool 2-3/2R-3B-SAC

RUTGERS NOTES: sr. RHP Casey Gaynor (L) 6.1IP-3R-8H-BB-5K … jr. 1B/cleanup Jared Matthews 3B/R…jr. RF/leadoff Michael Lang RBI 2B … sr. catcher/7-hole Jayson Hernandez 2-out RBI single in 9th, brought tying run to plate (Iowa jr. RHP Kevin Lee rolle up game-ending 6-4 groundout from pinch-hitter Ryan Kapp)

• • • • •

10:29 p.m. (2/26/10) – Day-1 scores and links

The first day of competition in the second Big Ten/BIG EAST Baseball Challenge is complete, with the Big Ten winning 7-of-10 games to take a four-game cushion into Saturday’s series of 10 more games (followed by 10 more on Sunday, the tournament’s final day).

The Big Ten outscored the BIG EAST by only 10 runs (56-46), with the day’s action featuring three 1-run games (two of them in extra innings and four others decided by 2-run margins (plus one 3-run game). The BIG EAST had one blowout win (Villanova 13, Purdue 5), while the Big Ten posted the day’s biggest margin when Illinois defeated Notre Dame, 11-1.

BIG TEN/BIG EAST CHALLENGE – Day-1 Results
(Feb. 26, 2010 … Big Ten won 7-of-10)
(BIG EAST wins in italics)

GAME 10 – Louisville 2, Michigan 0  (Dunedin Staduim)
FINAL STATS |  LOU Recap |  MICH Recap

GAME 9 – Illinois 11, Notre Dame 1  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  ILL Recap |  ND Recap

GAME 8 – Ohio State 4, South Florida 2  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  OSU Recap |  USF Recap

GAME 7 – St. John’s 5, Minnesota 4  (Dunedin Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  SJU Recap |  MINN Recap

GAME 6 – Villanova 13, Purdue 5  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  VILL Recap |  PUR Recap

GAME 5 – Indiana 10, West Virginia 8  (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  IU Recap |  WVU Recap

GAME 4 – Penn State 5, Cincinnati 4 … 12 innings  (Al Lang Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  PSU Recap |  CIN Recap

GAME 3 – Michigan State 5, Seton Hall 3  (Naimoli Complex)
FINAL STATS |  MSU Recap |  SHU Recap

GAME 2 – Northwestern 6, Connecticut 5 … 10 inn. (Jack Russell Stadium)
FINAL STATS |  NU Recap |  UConn Recap

GAME 1 – Iowa 6, Rutgers 3  (Al Lang Stadium
FINAL STATS |  Iowa Recap |  RU Recap

CB360 Weekly Recap Dec. 12

It was another busy week.  Here’s a look at some of the new stuff we had this week on Collegebaseball360.com (just in case you blinked)!

Top College Baseball Moments of 2009

#24 Oregon Brings Back Baseball

#23 LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

#22 Freshman Levi Michael Starts For North Carolina

#21 Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Long Balls

#20 Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge (along with Willie Argo podcast interview)

Two Sport Stars Golden Tate & Toby Gerhart win the Biletnikoff & Doak Walker Awards, respectively

A By The Numbers look at Golden Tate’s college baseball & football careers

Tate announces he is going to the NFL with video from the press conference as well

Training year round with Villanova Two Sport Star Matt Szczur

Szczur helps the Wildcats to the FCS playoff national semifinals

Monmouth adds Karl Nonemaker & Jim Belanger to its coaching staff

Former Kent State pitching coach Richard Schoonover dies

A scholarship fund established to honor former Arkansas Pine Bluff pitcher Kevin Edwards

Schedules from around the country including the Pac 10, Big 12, Big West, Big 10, Big East. CUSA, Summit, and other conferences

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.

Szczur Helps Villanova To FCS Playoff Win

Wildcat Football/Baseball Standout Receives CAA Top Honors As Well

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

Villanova, PA- Villanova two sport standout Matt Szczur had a career best 130 receiving yards to help the second ranked Wildcat football team to a 38-28 first-round FCS playoff win over Holy Cross Saturday at Villanova Stadium.  The win puts Villanova (11-1) into the FCS quarterfinals for the second straight season.

Szcur, a junior wide receiver who is also an outfielder on the Wildcat baseball team, reeled-in his 130 yards on seven receptions.  His biggest catch was a 45-yarder in the third quarter that set-up Villanova’s fifth and final touchdown of the day.

Szczur was recently named the Colonial Athletic Association 2009 Offensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year.  He is just the second player in CAA history to receive two major awards in the same season.

Holy Cross kicker Rob Dornfried, who also played for the Crusader baseball team in 2009, converted all four of his extra points in the loss.

Szczur and Dornfried are among several players who have been featured in the Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports throughout the fall.  A new update is coming this week.

Szcur and Villanova now face New Hampshire next Saturday (12/5) in the FCS quarterfinals.

(Wire reports contributed to this story)

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