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.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 12

A By The Numbers Look At Week 12 Action…

42…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels, who singled in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Arkansas State.  He’s now in fourth place in Division One history with Chuck Abbott of Austin Peay, who hit safely in 42 straight games in 1996.

58…NCAA record hitting streak set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.  Wittels needs hits in five more games to to Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson (1981) for the second longest streak in D1 history.

3 & 7…Home runs and RBIs by Wittels’ teammate, Mike Martinez, in the same game Wittels hit safely for the 41st game to help FIU down Arkansas State 15-4.

21…Game winning streak by Texas snapped in Friday’s 2-1 loss at Kansas State.  It’s the first ever home win against a number one ranked team for the Wildcats.

2…Consecutive Big 12 regular season titles for the Longhorns (41-8, 21-3), which clinched this year’s championship with wins in the last two games of the series with the Wildcats (32-15, 11-9), who are in third place in the Big 12.  Texas Tech (26-12, 12-9) is in second place.

50…Mile per hour wind gusts Saturday afternoon in the Buffalo, NY area where Canisius beat Manhattan 23-20.

68…RBIs this season by Canisus’ Steve McQuail-a new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference single-season record-after the junior drove in 6 runs with the help of a grand slam in the Griffs’ win.  The previous record of 67 RBIs had stood since 1993.

3…Grand slams hit this season by McQuail, who is 8-for-9 with 24 RBIs this season with the bases loaded.

9…Saves this season by UCLA pitcher Dan Klein-the most for a Bruin pitcher since 1993.

28…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by # 32 New Mexico’s Willy Kesler prior  to allowing a one out two run home run in the top of the 9th inning in Saturday’s 3-2 win over #12 TCU.

140…Pitches needed by Kesler (5-1) to pick-up his third complete game of the season.

6…Straight games New Mexico had lost to TCU prior to Saturday’s victory.

9 & 67…Home runs and total bases by TCU in Sunday’s series-clinching 26-4 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque.  The home runs ties a new single-game program record, while the total bases sets a new school record.  In addition to the nine long balls, the Horned Frogs tallied 20 singles, four doubles and a triple.

2 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by TCU’s Aaron Schultz, who was 4-for-4 with a double in the victory.

16…Straight series wins by the Horned Frogs dating back to last season.  TCU (36-10, 13-4) leads New Mexico (31-17, 13-7) by three games in the Mountain West Conference standings.

24-1…Record of TCU’s weekend pitching rotation.  Kyle Winkler (7-1) suffered his first loss Saturday to the Lobos, while Matt Purke (9-0) and Stephen Maxwell (8-0) remain unbeaten.

13…Combined earned runs given-up by Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo in Friday’s 15-16 game won by the Tigers.

15…Strikeouts by San Diego’s Kyle Blair in Friday’s 2-0 win over Portland. Blair (7-3) gave-up just one hit in the complete game effort.

2…Outs in the 9th inning when Blair’s no-hit bid ended thanks to a double by Portland’s Kris Kauppila.

14…Wins with no losses in WCC play for San Diego after winning the first two games of the series.

3…Outs recorded on a ground ball off the bat of #30 Texas State’s Jeff McVaney in Saturday’s 5-2 upset loss to McNeese State.  Steven Irvine, Matt Fontenot and Bryn Thompson combined on the 5-4-3 triple play.

1…NCAA bid officially locked-up when Dartmouth beat Columbia 11-5 in Sunday’s deciding game three of the Ivy League Championship Series.

4…Pitchers, Cole Green of Texas, Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina, Quintavious Drains of Jackson State, and Pittsburgh’s Cory Baker, who share the Division One lead with 10 wins this season.

1,022…Career wins by Ohio State’s Bob Todd, who announced his retirement last week after 27 years as a college baseball head coach.  Todd has 898 wins in his time in Columbus.  His Buckeyes dropped two of three games to Illinois over the weekend after he announced his intentions to step down at the end of this season.

13…Runs scored by Tennessee in Saturday’s 25-5 win at Georgia.  The Vols hit four home runs in the inning and scored 9 runs before an out was recorded.

52…Total bases for the Vols in the game to break the previous program record of 47.

0 & 11…Runs allowed and strikeouts recorded in 8.0 IP by Arkansas’ Mike Bolsinger in Sunday’s 7-0 series-clinching win at Ole Miss.  The Rebels’ 1-7 batters combined to go 0-for-22 in the loss. The win has the Razorbacks (36-11, 15-8) tied with the Rebels (34-14, 15-8) tied for first place in the SEC’s Western Division.

2…Wins by #44 Kentucky ( 25-21, 8-15) over South Carolina (36-10, 17-6) to keep the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes alive.  The SEC series win is just the second of the season for the Wildcats.

10…Consecutive SEC series South Carolina had won (dating back to last season) prior to losing two of three games in Lexington.  The Gamecocks are now tied for first place in the SEC’s Eastern Division with Florida (33-11, 17-6), which took two of three games vs. Alabama over the weekend.  The Gamecocks and Gators meet in Columbia in two weeks in the final weekend of the regular season.

3…Games won by #47  Oregon State (24-17, 7-11) over # 20 Oregon (30-18, 10-11) to give the Beavers just their second Pac 10 series win of 2010.

11 of 12…Games Oregon State had lost prior to sweeping its weekend series vs. the Ducks.

8…Teams within three games of one another in the Pac 10 Conference race.  Arizona State is 39-5 overall and leads the conference race with a 14-4 mark.  Cal (11-9) UCLA (10-8) and Stanford (10-8) are all tied for second place at four games back, followed by Arizona (9-9), Oregon (10-11), Washington State (8-9), Washington (8-10), and Oregon State (7-11).

4…Games won by Fresno State (30-20, 11-5) at #48 New Mexico State (35-16-1, 13-6-1) to move ahead of the Aggies and into first place in the WAC standings.

23…Years since Auburn (33-15, 15-9) had swept a series from Mississippi State prior to taking three games from the Bulldogs over the weekend.  The Tigers are in second place in the SEC East.

3…Consecutive SEC series lost by defending national champion LSU (34-14, 12-11) after dropping two of three vs. Vanderbilt of the weekend. The Bayou Bengals  are in fourth place in the SEC East.

11…Home runs hit this season by Notre Dame outfielder Ryan Connolly, who is the only Irish player with double digit long balls.  Connolly also leads the Irish with a .367 batting average and 1.140 OPS.

4…Home runs hit by Connolly from 2006-2009.  The fifth-year senior missed all of 2006 and most of the next three seasons due to shoulder injuries.  All four of his previous career home runs were hit over the last 13 games of the 2009 campaign.

10…RBIs by West Virginia’s Grant Buckner in Saturday’s 22-6 win over the Irish.  The third baseman was 4-for-5 with three home runs, while setting a new school record for single-game RBIs to help the Mountaineers to their first Big East series sweep of the season.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 4

A By The Numbers Rundown Of The Latest Action

Things got interesting in week four of the season, with a pair of traditional SEC powers losing home series over the weekend as well as a four time CWS team losing to an arch rival.  Here’s a look at some team and individual performances from week four of the college baseball season.

2…Games won by Kansas at #1 LSU over the weekend to hand the defending Nation Champions their first losses of 2010.

13…Runs in 13 IP by LSU’s three starting pitchers in the series.

0…Hits and runs allowed by Jayhawk closer Brett Bochy in 3 2/3 IP to earn saves in both KU wins.  The son of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy struckout five with two walks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

College Baseball Notebook-Week 3

A By The Numbers Look At The Weekend’s Action

1…Run allowed in 7 IP by Wright State starter Alex Kaminsky in Friday’s 2-1 win over #1/#2 Virginia.  Kaminsky struckout 7 to earn his first win of the season in a head-to-head dual with UVA sophomore ace Danny Hultzen.

2…Wins in the last two years by the Raiders on a top ranked team’s home field.  WSU beat #1 Georgia last year in Athens.

10…Runs and hits allowed in 2 1/3 innings by Kentucky starter Taylor Rogers in Saturday’s 14-13 win over Monmouth.

0 & 9…Hits allowed & strikeouts recorded in 4 IP by Wildcat reliever Matt Little, who earned the win in that game after allowing just two hits.

10…Hit batters by Monmouth pitchers in the loss to Kentucky to tie an NCAA record.  It’s just the third time a pitching staff has hit 10 batters in a game.

4…Straight hit batters by Monmouth pitchers Andy McDonnell (1) and Stephen Prosapio, who hit Kentucky’s Braden Kapteyn with the bases loaded and the score tied 13-13 to give the Wildcats the winning run.

1…Career home run by 5′9-160 pound Kentucky redshirt junior Neiko Johnson, whose long ball on a 2-2 pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning tied the score at 13 just before the four straight hit batsmen.

103…Runs scored by Georgia State in a 4-game series vs. North Carolina Central.

14…Of the runs scored by Georgia State junior Mark Micowski, who transferred to the school this year after Vermont disbanded baseball last year.  Micowski hit for the cycle in the first four innings of Friday’s 32-3 victory.  He batted .636 with 10 RBIs in the four games.

17…Combined strikeouts by George Washington pitchers Matt Branham and Scott DeCecco in Friday’s 5-1 win over USC Upstate.  The combined effort tied a school record.

210…Career Ks by Branham-whose career high 12 strikeouts in the win made him the 3rd pitcher in GW history to top the 200 K mark.

6…Straight wins by USC Upstate prior to the loss-a record for the Spartans since joining the Division One ranks.

1…Hit allowed by West Virginia’s Jarryd Summers in 8 innings in a 1-0 loss to Western Carolina.  Summers fanned 11 in the loss.  The only hit he allowed was a solo home run by WCU third baseman Tyler Kirkpatrick.

3…Hits allowed by Catamount starter Jason Sullivan-who struckout 8 in 9 shutout innings to improve to 3-0 on the season with the win over the Mountaineers.

9…Strikeouts by Houston’s Michael Goodnight in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Texas at the Houston College Classic.

1…Wild pitch by Longhorn starter Brandon Workman-after a triple by Houston’s Blake Kelso-which allowed the game’s only run to score.

2…Losses by Cal State Fullerton in a 3-game series at Arizona to fall to 4-6 on the season.  The Titans started the year ranked in the top 10 in every poll.

1…Inning pitched by Titan All-American Daniel Renken in Friday’s 8-7 loss to the Wildcats.  Renken was lifted after hitting Wildcat CF Joey Rickard to lead-off the 2nd inning.

3…Walk-off wins by Arizona this season after freshman Seth Mejias-Brean singled home classmate Alex Mejia in the bottom of the 11th inning in that win over the Titans.

8…Strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings by Florida starter Alex Panteliodis in Friday’s 7-1 series-opening win over Miami (FL).

7…Strikeouts in 3 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings pitched by Gator reliever Nick Maronde to earn his first save of the season in that same win over the Hurricanes.

4…Shutout innings pitched by Florida reliever Kevin Chapman in Sunday’s series-clinching 4-2 win over Miami.  Chapman gave-up just one hit with two strikeouts to earn his second save of 2010.

17…Combined strikeouts in 12 innings pitched by Duke starters Eric Pfisterer (10) and Michael Ness (7) who each tossed six shutout innings to help the Blue Devils to a 3-game sweep of Temple.

11…Strikeouts in 6 IP by Florida Gulf Coast ace Chris Sale in a 7-2 win over Wichita State.

2…Home runs hit over the weekend by Middle Tennessee State’s Bryce Brentz.  The outfielder led the nation with 28 HR last year, but he had been shutout through the first two weeks of the season.

1…Loss this season by Washington State after falling 4-1 in Sunday’s finale of a 4-game series with Utah.  The Cougars had started 9-0 for their best opening to a season since 1988.

138…Pitches thrown by Santa Clara starter Alex Rivers in a 4-0 win over San Jose State.  Rivers scattered seven hits with five strikeouts for his third career complete game.

5…RBIs by St. Louis redshirt freshman Steve Fernandez to help St. Louis down Ohio State 10-9 on Saturday.

109…Pitches thrown by West Virginia’s Chris Enourato, who struckout 9 in seven innings of relief to help the Moutaineers to an 11-8 win over Illinois.  Enourato retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced.

3…Wins by WVU (with seven losses) this season.  Enourato has earned two of the wins and a save in his five relief outings.

16…RBIs in five games by New Mexico State’s Wade Reynoso.  He batted .522 (12-23) with 3 home runs and 11 runs scored as well in wins over New Mexico and St. Joseph’s.

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

Texas Tops Baseball/Football School List In 2009

Both Longhorn Teams Are National Runners-Up

Technically we’re cheating a little bit, but what the heck.  The seemingly forever lead-up to the January 7 BCS National Championship game between Alabama and Texas I started thinking about schools that have been exceptional this year in both baseball and football.

Texas finished second at the College World Series in 2009, and then came-up short again with a 37-21 loss to the Tide to end the 2009 college football season.  As I said, we’re cheating a bit, because while the bulk of the action came in the 2009 calender year the CWS was in the 2008-2009 academic year.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s a look at how schools performed on the diamond and gridirion in ‘09…

1. Texas:  Lost to LSU in the CWS Championship Series in Omaha and lost to Alabama in Pasadena in the BCS Title Game.
2. LSU:  The Tigers won college baseball’s national championship and lost to Penn State 19-17 in the New Year’s Day Capitol One Bowl.  Two Sport star Chad Jones pitched for LSU in Omaha and started all 13 football games at safety in ‘09.
3. Alabama:  The football team won the BCS Championship and the baseball team played in an NCAA Regional.  Mark Ingram won the school’s first Heisman Trophy in 2009, while Kent Matthes tied for the national lead with 28 home runs.
4. Arkansas:  The Razorbacks made it to the College World Series and the football team beat East Carolina 20-17 in the Liberty Bowl.
5. North Carolina:  Baseball went to a fourth straight CWS and football fell 19-17 to Pittsburgh in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
6. Southern Mississippi:  The Golden Eagle baseball team had a Cinderella run to Omaha while the football team lost 42-32 to Middle Tennessee State in the New Orleans Bowl.
7. Florida:  Tim Tebow ended his career with a 51-24 pasting of Brian Kelly-less Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl and baseball played in a Super Regional.
8. TCU:  The Horned Frog football team’s only loss was to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl and the baseball team was one win away from Omaha with a Super Regional loss to eventual national runner-up Texas.
9. Ole Miss:  Baseball played in a Super Regional and football beat Oklahoma State 21-7 in the Cotton Bowl.
10. Florida State:  Bobby Bowden cruised into retirement with a 33-21 win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl and the baseball team played in a Super Regional.
11. Clemson:  The football team beat Kentucky 21-13 in the Music City Bowl and baseball advanced to a Super Regional.  Kyle Parker threw a touchdown pass in the bowl win and scored a run in the Super Regional.
12. East Carolina:  Lost to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl and played in a Super Regional.
13. Middle Tennessee State:  Football beat Southern Mississippi in the New Orleans Bowl and baseball played in an NCAA Regional.  Bryce Brentz tied for the national lead with 28 HR.

There were other schools such as Miami (FL) that played in both a bowl game and made an NCAA Regional in an NCAA Regional, but we cut the list off with MTSU.  The Blue Raiders have played in just four bowl games in their history.   The fact that they also played in a baseball regional in the same calender year makes the feat all the more unique for the Sun Belt Conference school.

Towson 2010 Baseball Schedule

Tigers To Face Most Challenging Slate In School History

TOWSON, Md. - Starting his 23rd season as the Tigers’ baseball coach, Mike Gottlieb has put together the toughest schedule in school history for the 2010 Tigers. The Tigers, 28-25 last season, will play a very ambitious 57-game schedule which features two teams that reached the College World Series in 2009.

The Tigers, who play their first 15 games on the road, will travel to Arizona State in late February for a four-game series against the Sun Devils, ranked fifth in the pre-season poll. Arizona State posted a 51-14 record last year and reached the College

World Series. In late March, the Tigers will visit #3 Virginia for a two-game series. The Cavaliers had a 49-15-1 record last season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Virginia also reached the College World Series.

Complete 2010 Towson Schedule

The Tigers open the season on the weekend of February 19-21 with an appearance at the Elon Classic. Towson faces Elon in the first round before playing North Carolina A&T and Ohio University in the second and third rounds.

After visiting Arizona State for a four-game series on Feb. 26-28, the Tigers travel to Maryland for a single game on March 3. From March 5-7, the Tigers travel to High Point University for a three-game series. On March 12-14, the Tigers will be on the road for the fourth straight weekend when they visit Tulane University.

On Wednesday, March 17, Towson opens its home schedule by hosting Mount St. Mary’s at Schuerholz Park.

The Tigers, who were 12-12 in the Colonial Athletic Association last season, open their 24-game CAA schedule with a three-game series at James Madison University on March 19-21.

A two-game home-and-home series with West Virginia and a three-game set at North Carolina State also highlight Towson’s non-conference schedule.

“I really like this schedule,” says Gottlieb, who has led the Tigers to back-to-back winning seasons. “Playing some of the teams that we play should help us prepare for the CAA. The only way to get better is to play the best teams.”

The Tigers return 21 letter winners from a team that narrowly missed qualifying for the CAA Tournament. Led by senior centerfielder Kevin Collins and junior second baseman Chris Wychock, the Tigers have four of their top six hitters returning from a squad that set a school record with a .321 team batting average.

CLICK HERE to see more 2010 baseball schedules.
(Release)

Next Page »