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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,

Mike Fox (UNC photo)

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

Toby Gerhart hit 16 HR and ran for 44 TDs in his two-sport career (Stanford photo)

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.

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A By The Numbers Rundown Of The Latest Action

Brett Bochy

13…Straight wins to open the season by Louisville-the best for the program since a 15-0 mark in 1957-after Friday’s 6-1 win at Ole Miss.

5…Runs scored by Louisville in the top of the 12th inning of that game to pick-up the victory.

17…Combined strikeouts by Rebel pitchers Drew Pomeranz (12 in 6 1/3 IP) and Brett Huber (5 in 4 1/3 IP) in the loss.

7…Walks issued by Louisville starter Thomas Royse in 6 1/3 IP.  Royse had walked just 3 batters in 18 innings in his previous three starts this season.

9…Ks by Mississippi starter Drew Barrett in Saturday’s 8-3 win to hand Louisville its first loss of the season.

2…Wins by Louisville (14-1) in the series after winning 10-8 in Sunday’s series finale in Oxford.  Cardinal head coach Dan McDonnell, a former Ole Miss assistant, was making his first trip back to Oxford since becoming Louisville’s head coach in 2007.

1 & 1…Win and save by Cardinal pitcher Neil Holland in the series.  Holland pitched a total of four innings in his two appearances with 6 strikeouts and a walk while allowing a run on one hit.

8…Combined home runs hit by North Florida and James Madison in UNF’s 22-19 win over the Dukes.

7…RBIs powered by two home runs by Ospreys shortstop Andrew Hannon in the win.

2…Wins by Duke over North Carolina in its 3-game ACC-opening series.  The Blue Devils also took 2 of 3 games from the Tar Heels last year.

8…Runs scored in the 6th inning of Duke’s 15-11 win, which came a day after falling 21-9 in the series-opener.

1/3…Inning pitched by Illinois starter Brian de la Torriente-who gave-up 6 runs on 5 hits in the Illini’s 11-10 over Coastal Carolina.

Casey McMurray (Illinois photo)

5…RBIs by Illinois DH Casey McMurray who doubled and hit his first home run of the season in that game to hand the Chants just their second loss of 2010.

6…Runs scored by Virginia in the top of the 9th inning to rally to beat Florida State 9-8 at Dick Howser Stadium on Saturday.

4…Of the UVA runs that scored with two outs to give the Cavs the first two games of the series and the first series win over the Seminoles in program history.

15…Strikeouts by UCLA’s Gerrit Cole in 7 2/3 innings Friday vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the Whataburger Classic.

41 & 4…Strikeouts and walks by Cole (4-0) in 25 2/3 IP so far this year.

15…Strikeouts by Cole’s teammate, Trevor Bauer, in 8 plus innings in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Mississippi State.

13-0…Record by UCLA after Sunday’s win over 5-2 win over Oklahoma in their finale at the Whataburger Classic.

1969…The last time the Bruins had a 13-game winning streak.  The 13-0 start is UCLA’s best of the modern era (dating back to 1955).

10…Straight games Oklahoma had won prior to Sunday’s loss to the Bruins.

Mario Hollands (UCSB photo)

16…Strikeouts in eight innings by Santa Barbara pitcher Mario Hollands in Friday’s 8-1 win over Northern Illinois.  The lefty matched a school record held by Barry Zito (1997) and Walt Rehm (1970).

8…Runs scored by Georgia Tech in the bottom of the 6th inning Saturday to rally for a 15-8 win over Wake Forest.

24…Total runs scored by Rice in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings of Saturday’s 26-11 win over Cal.

12…Of the runs that scored in the 6th inning as the Owls sent 17 batters to the plate in the frame.

7…Times Rice SS Rick Hague reached base in the game to tie a program record.  He was 4-for-4 with two walks with four runs scored and 3 RBIs.

8…RBIs in the game by Owl 3B Anthony Rendon, who homered twice in the victory.

8…Strikeouts in 8 IP by Manhattan’s Tom Costigan in a 13-1 win over West Virginia to help the Jaspers to a Saturday sweep of the Mountaineers.

4 & 3…Strikeouts and walks, respectively, in 8 total IP by Notre Dame’s Brian Dupra in his first two starts against Mississippi Valley State and Ohio State.  The junior surrendered 9 ER as he started the season 0-1 with a 10.12 ERA.

13 & 1…Strikeouts and walks, respectively, in Dupra’s last 14 IP vs. Stetson and Gonzaga to improve to 2-1 and drop his ERA to 4.91.

8…Total errors committed by Pacific in its first 13 games of the season.

5…Errors committed by Pacific in the 7th inning of Saturday’s 10-1 loss to Bradley in San Antonio.  The five miscues led to five unearned runs.

35 & 7…Strikeouts and walks by the Texas pitching staff in a weekend 3-game sweep of Iowa.

17…Strikeouts in 7 2/3 IP by Longhorn starter Taylor Jungmann in Friday’s 2-1 win.  It took a 10th inning walk-off home run by Tant Sheppard to get Texas the victory.

Taylor Jungmann

30-24…The score of Sunday’s Georgia State win over New Mexico State.

12…Combined home runs hit in the game by the Panthers and Aggies.

4…Of the home runs that were grand slams.   Ryan Aguayo hit the lone slam for NM State, while Carl Moniz, Bradley Logan and Joey Wood all had them for Georgia State.  The three slams ties an NCAA team record for a single game, while the four combined slams also ties an NCAA record.

14…RBIs in five games last week by Wood.  The sophomore DH batted .640 with an 1.160 slugging percentage for the Panthers.

10…Strikeouts in 8 innings by Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers (4-0) in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Tennessee.

8…Double digit strikeout performances by Wimmers in his 20 career starts.  He also won for the fourth time on the heels of a Buckeye loss.

5…Home runs last week by Tennessee Tech’s A.J. Kirby-Jones.  The junior is now Tech’s all-time home run leader with 33.  Kirby-Jones hit three of the long balls in Friday’s 9-0 win over Buffalo.

Jabari Henry (FIU photo)

2006…The last time an Indiana pitcher tossed a complete game shutout prior to sophomore Drew Leininger accomplishing the feat in Sunday’s 9-0 win over Central Michigan.

17…RBIs in five games by Florida International OF Jabari Henry, who hit five home runs while hitting .500 (9-18) during the week.

6…Home runs in five games by VMI 1B Jordan Ballard who had 14 RBIs in 14 at-bats.  He ended the week with a 1.929 slugging percentage.

7…Extra base hits-3 home runs, 3 doubles and a triple-in four games by Rutgers’ Pat Biserta.  The junior had a grand slam and totaled 13 RBIs to help RU go 4-0 after a 1-8 start to the season.

XU to Face Six 2009 NCAA Tournament Participants in 2010

Musketeer head coach Scott Googins

teams will prepare us for our conference play. We’re excited about the atmosphere of where we’ll be playing, against teams in the ACC, SEC and Big XII, all good baseball conferences and good teams in those conferences.”

Complete 2010 Xavier Schedule

XU will open the season with 10 straight road games before its home opener on March 9 against LeMoyne. The Musketeers will take on tournament participant Missouri in Columbia Mar. 12-16 followed by a single game at Louisville and then will host Oakland for a three-game homestand Mar. 19-21. Xavier is set to play at Kentucky (Mar. 23) and at Indiana (Mar. 24) before opening Atlantic 10 conference play at Saint Louis Mar. 26-28.

“We have young arms but they have to be able to produce and we are definitely hoping to build off success from last year,” Googins mentioned. “It’s hard to look that far ahead, to the A-10 schedule, but I think we will be in the mix. Hopefully our guys will be up to the challenge.”

The Musketeers will play nine three-game A-10 series this season, including La Salle (Apr. 9-11), Duquesne (Apr. 16-18), Charlotte (May 7-9) and Massachusetts (May 14-16) at home. Other than SLU, Xavier will travel to Richmond (Apr. 2-4), Rhode Island (Apr. 23-25), Dayton (Apr. 30-May 2) and Saint Joseph’s (May 20-22) to round out its conference schedule.

Other teams in the Musketeers’ schedule in 2010 include Campbell University, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky and Ohio. XU will once again be participating in the second annual Joe Nuxhall Classic Apr. 13-14, which will be hosted by Miami (Ohio) this season. Xavier will defend its 2009 title at the Classic in 2010 against the field that includes Cincinnati, Miami and Wright State.

(Release)

Phoenix Hosts 2010 Elon Classic To Open Season

“I believe that we’ve put together a very challenging schedule again in 2010,” said Kennedy. “This is the kind of schedule that, if we play well, will put us in a position to make a third straight trip to the postseason. The Southern Conference is always a competitive and balanced league. Our non-conference portion of the schedule is as tough as you

Elon Head Coach Mike Kennedy

will find with the likes of Rice, Nebraska, North Carolina, Clemson and East Carolina. The obvious challenge will be how well we handle such a demanding schedule.”

Series versus Florida, North Carolina and Virginia highlight home slate

Miami Head Coach Jim Morris

The 56-game slate also features an exhibition contest against the Florida Marlins on March 3, 19 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams and a total of 44 games played inside the state of Florida.

Complete 2010 Miami Schedule (PDF)

The Hurricanes will open the 2010 season with a seven-game homestand beginning with a weekend series versus Rutgers, Feb. 19-21. It marks the second straight year UM will open its season at home against the Scarlet Knights.

Miami will open the month of March with a trip to Tampa to play USF at George Steinbrenner Field – the spring training home of the New York Yankees – on March 2. The next day, the `Canes will take on the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter before playing host to rival Florida for a three-game set at Alex Rodriguez Park, March 5-7.

The `Canes will open Atlantic Coast Conference play at home against Boston College, March 12-14. The remaining home series in league play include Wake Forest (April 2-4), North Carolina (16-18), Maryland (April 30 – May 2) and Virginia (May 20-22). The series against the Cavaliers will mark the conclusion of the regular season schedule.

Miami’s road schedule in league play begins with a series at Duke (March 19-21 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park), followed by trips to NC State (March 26-28), Virginia Tech (April 9-11), Florida State (April 23-25) and Georgia Tech (May 14-16).

The 2010 ACC Tournament will be held May 26-30 at Greensboro’s NewBridge Bank Park. Full tournament passes are on sale now by calling (336) 268-BALL or by visiting www.theacc.com. Individual game tickets for the ACC Tournament will go on sale in April 2010.

Regional play of the NCAA tournament will be held the weekend of June 4-6, followed by Super Regionals, June 11-13, and the College World Series, June 19-30.

The `Canes return 17 letterwinners from last year’s 38-22 team, including 2009 All-ACC performers Chris Hernandez, Yasmani Grandal and Scott Lawson. In addition, two-time All-ACC performer Eric Erickson returns after missing the 2009 season rehabilitating from an injury.

Prior to the season-opener against Rutgers, the team will hold three of its biggest annual events — the preseason banquet, the alumni game and golf tournament – all in the same weekend. The weekend kicks off with the banquet on Friday, Feb. 12, followed by the alumni game on Saturday, Feb. 13 and the team’s golf tournament on Monday, Feb. 15. Former Hurricane and current MLB All-Star Ryan Braun will be the guest speaker at the banquet.

(Release)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Boston College baseball team released its schedule for the 2010 season. The 58-game slate begins on February 19 at Tulane and concludes with a nine-game home stand that features two perennial ACC powerhouses.

BC Head Coach Mikio Aoki

following weekend, BC will compete in a tournament at Auburn where it will face the host Tigers, Florida Atlantic and Missouri.

Complete 2010 Boston College Schedule

Boston College’s annual exhibition game with the Boston Red Sox is scheduled for March 3 at 6:05 p.m. at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla. Last season, BC nearly won for the first time as it led 1-0 after four and a half innings (in a six inning game). The Red Sox scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth and went on to win, 7-1.

The Eagles will stay in Florida until March 14 as they have a three-game series at Florida Atlantic (March 5-7) and then a two-game midweek set at Florida International (March 9-10). BC then opens ACC play at Miami on March 12. The Hurricanes finished No. 20 in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and reached the NCAA Regionals.

Boston College returns to New England for two more away contests at Connecticut (March 16) and Bryant (March 17) before traveling to Virginia, which reached the College World Series and finished No. 5 in the country.

The Eagles open their home schedule on March 23 when they host Hartford at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field. Holy Cross visits Chestnut Hill the next day before Duke comes into town for a three-game ACC series beginning March 26.

BC’s early ACC away schedule does not get any easier as the next weekend it heads to South Carolina to take on Clemson, which finished No. 14 in the poll and advanced to the Super Regionals.

The Eagles will spend a good amount of time at home after their Clemson trip as it hosts Maryland beginning April 9, sandwiched by two non-conference games at Shea Field against Bryant (April 7) and Massachusetts (April 13).

Wake Forest will make a trip to Chestnut Hill on April 16 for a three-game series and BC will also host Harvard in a local tilt on April 21.

The Beanpot is also scheduled for April but dates and times will be announced at a later date. The championship game of the Beanpot is annually played at Fenway Park.

Boston College will be back on the road for two more ACC series at NC State (April 23-25) and Virginia Tech (April 30-May 2) before closing out the season with a nine-consecutive games in Chestnut Hill.

The Eagles will host non-conference match ups against Northeastern (May 4), Connecticut (May 10) and St. John’s (May 18) to finish up its out of league contests. BC will also host a pair of ACC and national powers to close out the season as Florida State (May 7-9) and Georgia Tech (May 20-22) come to town. The Seminoles reached the Super Regionals and finished No. 10 in the poll and the Yellow Jackets advanced to the Regionals and ended at No. 18.

The 2010 ACC Baseball Tournament will be held May 26-30 at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C.

(Release)

Blue Devils Release Challenging Slate

Duke Head Coach Sean McNally

North Carolina and Virginia, NCAA Super Regional qualifiers Clemson and Florida State and NCAA Regional teams Baylor, Georgia, Boston College, Miami and Georgia Tech.

Complete 2010 Duke Schedule (PDF)

Five of those series will take place at home in Durham, N.C., with four being played at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, home to the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The home sets against North Carolina, Miami, Clemson and Virginia will all be played at the DBAP, while the three-game showdown against Florida State will be at Jack Coombs Field on the West Campus of Duke University.

The Blue Devil baseball program recently announced an agreement with the Durham Bulls to play 18 home games in 2010 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which is one of the top minor league facilities in the country and will now serve as one of the top-tier venues in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Along with the aforementioned conference series at the DBAP, Duke will also host Fordham and Temple for a pair of three-game sets at the park.

Duke’s schedule boasts 11 teams that won at least 30 games in 2009 and four that finished with at least 40 wins. Duke’s 2010 opponents combined for a 654-575 (.531) record last year. Of Duke’s 56 games scheduled for 2010, 25 will be played against 2009 NCAA Tournament participants.

Rounding out Duke’s ACC schedule will be road trips to Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and NC State. Exempt from the Blue Devils’ ACC slate this year is Maryland, which will be replaced on the 2010 slate by Florida State, who Duke has not played since 2006.

Duke will still use Jack Coombs Field, its home stadium since 1931 on the West Campus of Duke University, as a practice facility and home field. Along with the home series against Florida State, Duke will host non-conference foes Quinnipiac, High Point, William and Mary, Davidson, UNC Greensboro, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils will also make road trips to non-conference opponents Wofford and Liberty.

Duke’s 2010 season opens on Feb. 19, 2010, in Waco, Texas, as part of the QTI Apparel Opening Weekend Classic, hosted by Baylor where Duke will face both Baylor and Georgia. The season finale takes place on May 22 at NC State, just before the start of the ACC Tournament on May 26-30 in Greensboro, N.C.

(Release)

Yellow Jackets open schedule with eight games in first 10 days

Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall

“I think when you look at our schedule the one thing that you’ll see right away is that we get to open up earlier this year than we did last year,” head coach Danny Hall said. “The NCAA gave us an extra week to play our season, which I’m excited about because it doesn’t force us to play every Tuesday and Wednesday. Now we can space out some of those Tuesday-Wednesday games and have a little more room to play the season.”

Complete 2010 GT Schedule

The Jackets will open ACC play at home against Wake Forest on March 12, one of five home conference series in 2010. Duke (Apr. 2-4), Clemson (Apr. 16-18), Virginia Tech (Apr. 23-25) and Miami (May 14-16) also will visit Russ Chandler Stadium.

Tech travels to Maryland (Mar. 19-21), North Carolina (Mar. 26-28), Virginia (Apr. 9-11) and NC State (Apr. 4-Mar. 2) before concluding with a three-game series at Boston College May 20-22.

Not on the schedule this year is Florida State, as the Seminoles roll off the ACC slate for the next two seasons.

“I think that Florida State is one of the premier programs in the ACC, and I don’t like not having them on the schedule. I understand why we’re not playing them, but it’s not something that I really like because they always produce great games whether we’re playing in Russ Chandler Stadium or at Florida State.”

The mid-week schedule is filled with in-state teams, including a three-game series with rival Georgia. The Jackets and the Bulldogs square off March 16 on the Flats and Apr. 14, in Athens before concluding the series with the annual Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta contest at Turner Field Apr. 27.

“I think it’s a very competitive schedule that will challenge our team to the fullest,” added Hall. “You look at the three games we have with Georgia. We play Georgia Southern four times. We play Mercer twice. We play Kennesaw State twice.”

The 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will take place May 26-30 in Greensboro, N.C. The five-day tournament will be held at Greensboro’s NewBridge Bank Park.

“The ACC Tournament in Greensboro is a new experience in that we’ve never played there. I’m hearing that it’s very hitter-friendly in the power alleys. I’m not sure that I like that, particularly with an aluminum bat. But everyone else has to play in it, and I think the biggest thing for us is making sure we’re in that tournament because only the top eight teams in the league go. We definitely have our sights set on getting to Greensboro and then hopefully playing extremely well in that tournament.”

The 2010 NCAA Tournament will kick off June 4 with regional action, to be followed by super regionals (June 11-14) and the College World Series (June 19-30).