College Baseball’s Coaching Carousel Has Begun

Collegebaseball360.com contributor Chase Titleman from Road2rosenblatt.com checks-in with a look at where coaches could be headed (and where some already are headed) during the off season.

By Chase Titleman

With the announcement by new UNLV Athletic Director Jim Livengood that head coach Buddy Gouldsmith will not be retained for the 2011 season, the first initial shot sailing over the bow of the annual coaching carousel has been fired.

With other coaching openings rumored to be open soon, which may include Tennessee, Georgia, USC, Notre Dame, UNC-Greensboro and Hawaii, this could be a monumental year for not only the experienced head coach who desires to move up the coaching ladder of success and on to greater challenges, but for developing assistant coaches looking for their first gig at running a Division I show.

This past month, Mike Weathers (Long Beach State) and Bob Todd (The Ohio State University) both announced their retirements, while earlier in the season, Mike Hutcheon was replaced via a forced resignation by interim head coach Mike Kazlausky at the Air Force Academy.

None of these positions carry the attractiveness of UNLV, which sports an outstanding baseball stadium with rich university athletic facilities, and is located within the heart of a 500 radial mile recruiting hot bed, which includes the Phoenix, Los Angeles and Bay Area markets, not to mention the fertile baseball grounds of Las Vegas itself.

Obviously attractive in it’s own right for the young developing coach looking to create a coaching resume before bolting to greater opportunities, neither The Ohio State University, nor the Air Force Academy are highly sought after positions, being from cold-weather climates and limited recruiting resources specific to baseball.

The one job that is attractive to experienced head coaching icons (Long Beach State) has already been filled with the announced hiring of Troy Buckley, a former alum, who after a years sabbatical with the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization, will run the “Dirtbags” over on “The Beach” next season.

The Ohio State University certainly has the resources to be a very attractive position given the wealth of the Athletic Department.

A natural power harbinger for the developing Big-10 Network, but given Todd’s apparent success – or to some – “the lack of success” at the school, is there a serious contender with head coaching experience from outside the great lakes region who would consider the position?

The Todd debate is a convoluted affair as most of his supporters are thrilled with the 837 all-time victories, but the corporate power players are less than enthralled, especially considering the closest he came to Omaha were Super Regional losses in 2003 and 1999.

Todd, who has been a head coach at the Division I level for 37 of the 39 years he has been coaching, is one of the few in coaching who has achieved the much revered 1000-win milestone, and he is a member of the College Coaches Association Hall of Fame, as voted in 2009.

A winner of eight Big-10 regular season titles and eight Conference Tournament championships, as well as 13 trips to the post season tournament, is this – perhaps – as good as Ohio State can expect for a northern program with such a talented coach guiding the ship?

The obvious question to ask is if Todd couldn’t get it done with all of his credentials and accomplishments…who can?

Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell certainly can, but the former assistant at Ole Miss who led Louisville to the College World Series in 2007 has his sight set on a bigger horizon as he is rumored to favor a return to the SEC, where both the climate and fertile recruiting grounds harbor greater hopes of reaching college baseball’s promise land on an annual basis.

With openings rumored at both Tennessee and Georgia by seasons end, McDonnell will have to fend off stiff challenges within the region, especially from Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore, who won his 600th game in a 7-2 win over Radford last week.

Gilmore, who is 600-300 in 21 seasons heading the Chanticleer ship, is currently in the middle of his most successful campaign as Coastal Carolina (47-7, 25-0 Big South) is a major player in the race for the national championship this season.

Not that he is necessarily looking, but if ever there was a season that led Gilmore to the SEC, this would be it as his overall coaching record of 853-402 certainly fits the SEC criteria of success, and he has a trip to a super-regional to tack on his rising resume.

Another rising star within the SEC footprint is Western Kentucky’s Chris Finwood, who had his most successful season last year in guiding the Hilltoppers to their first 40-win season in 21 years.

No stranger himself to the post-seasons of the past, but this season his Topper program has struggled to maintain the high benchmark the program has recently established, falling all the way to 5th in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a little over a week to go in the regular season.

Finwood may no longer be a “Flavor of the Month,” hire the SEC is so duly noted for, and he may in fact need another year or two of seasoning before getting his SEC invitation.

But with McDonnell waiting patiently in the wings for an SEC opening to occur, his decision to return to the SEC could set off a potentially wild off-season of coaching changes across the landscape of college baseball.

Imagine the following scenario:

McDonnell takes the Georgia job, which opens up Louisville.  Gilmore then takes the Tennessee position, which opens up Coastal Carolina.  Would Finwood be interested in the lateral move to Coastal, or would his sights be set upon the beautiful ballpark in Louisville?  Would Louisville even be interested in Finwood considering the program’s latest fall?

Would the assistants under McDonnell or Gimore stay to take over Louisville and Coastal, or would they follow their leader to the SEC schools of Tennessee and Georgia and the land of higher paychecks and greater prestige?

And who knows, given the surreal and unrealistic demands of the SEC, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see Mississippi State or even Kentucky open as well, which would send the carousel into an absolute shark frenzy, and potentially leading college administrators to some stressful and sleepless nights.

Which brings us back to UNLV and the urgency that Jim Livengood is faced with for the various scenario’s must be keeping him up at night wondering how to attack and take advantage of the timing surrounding his baseball opening.

Given the current opportunities at low profile schools, such as Ohio State and the Air Force Academy, coupled with what would now be potentially high profile openings at Louisville and Coastal Carolina, two teams that could end up in Omaha this season, should Livengood wait until the end of the post-season, which could extend the Rebels coaching search into July and risk trying to sell UNLV as a destination job when so many are jockeying for high profile positions, or should he strike while the opportunity is hot in taking the best assistant coaches the country has to offer?

Florida took this option three seasons ago in hiring Clemson assistant coach Kevin O’Sullivan after Florida failed to make the post-season and look where the Gators are now…a solid Top-5 program and a legitimate contender with a solid pitching staff to win the national championship.

Given this scenario, Livengood should narrow his focus to two longtime successful assistant coaches who have major west coast ties and get his program moving in the right direction now while the irons are hot.

In most circumstances, the failure to reach postseason play would be a fatal doom to many assistant coaches looking for head coaching positions as the “Flavor of the Month” factor is a vital key for young coaches looking to capitalize on a masterful season.

However, with both Oklahoma State and Washington in the midst of youthful rebuilding projects, ironically, the timing may be just right for assistant coaches Dave Nakama (Washington) and Billy Jones (Oklahoma State) to capitalize on the marketplace for they are not involved with the daily preparations on the post-season “Road to Omaha.”

Both are no strangers to post-season play as Nakama has been to Omaha with the Stanford Cardinal on more than one occasion, even participating in a national championship game in recent past, while Jones has been as close to Omaha as you can get without actually getting there, losing in game three of the super’s at both NC State and Oklahoma State, programs that were largely built on his recruiting efforts.

Livengood must face the music for UNLV is not a destination job to most, but rather a stepping stone job one can use to reach greater fortunes. He won’t attract names like McDonnell, Gilmore or Finwood for they would simply see a move to UNLV as a lateral move, or worse yet, a step down in stature.

For Jones and Nakama, however, who are no strangers to multiple second place finishes in multiple coaching searches across the country in the last decade, UNLV would in fact be the destination job that Livengood so intends to sell considering both have experienced the trials and tribulations of developing various schools into successful programs and recognize the importance of not only the timing, but the opportunity itself.

Plus their age, with both now over 40, is likely to make both realize the fragility of the opportunity.  Both can neither afford to take any job, for the job they take at their age may certainly be their last chance at the coaching carousel.

The ironic timing of the situation is that UNLV is not just any run of the mill coaching job.  It is a sleeping giant waiting for the right mix of coaching intelligence and fortitude to mold it into success.

With the Mountain West Conference on the verge of a possible automatic BCS invitation in the near future, the conference and its member schools may just be awash in revenue sooner than later.

With outstanding facilities and a state government friendly to the dynamic needs of the corporate world, UNLV could be a major player in the Western region if the right coach is hired, and the right coach is someone who recognizes that you can get to Omaha from Las Vegas if you are willing to develop the foundation and commit the time to see it to fruition.

If Livengood is serious about building a program in “Sin City,” he should focus on hiring a coach who is not intent on building a program for 5 years, padding his resume only to move on to greater exploits, which is exactly why Nakama and Jones make so much sense from the long term viewpoint.

If the small school baseball powers – all within the 500 radial mile footprint of UNLV – schools such as Cal-State-Fullerton, Cal-Irvine, Long Beach State or UC-San Diego can achieve success on the baseball diamond without a cash-cow football program generating substantial revenue for the entire athletic department, the Rebels certainly should have a major advantage over this list of baseball Titans in the west if they can get their act together.

In today’s climate of player motivation and team communication, you need a coach who can garnish the will of the athletes to grind out a championship.

You need a coach who can sell not only his institution, city or state, but himself.  You need a coach who can manage the educational demands of the classroom and the professional baseball aspirations of the family.  You need a coach who can sell the corporate sponsors within his region with excellent speaking and entertaining skill sets, as well as a grounded sense that the program is not about his personal coaching recognition, reputation and fame, but the recognition, reputation and fame of the university and the players who represent it.

For Livengood, he needs a coach who has been through the grind and recognizes that UNLV is not a stepping stone job and who isn’t going to bolt 5 years down the line, which is a rare combination when considering the current recycled head coaching candidates.

It is time for Livengood to give either Billy Jones or David Nakama, two often forgotten names among the coaching fraternity, a chance to develop a program that will one day play on the fertile soil in Omaha on a regular basis.

The Jones File

Jones began his coaching career in 1997 at Green River Community College in Washington State following in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Dan Spencer, who after over a decade of work at Oregon State and two national championship rings later, is now the head coach at Texas Tech.

Green River College, under the direction of Jones, won the NWAACC’s Western Region championship in 1998 and a year later Spencer, then the lead assistant coach at Oregon State University under head coach Pat Casey, offered Jones the volunteer assistant position where he earned his degree in Liberal Studies.

Noted as an outstanding hitting coach (he hit .433 as a player at Lower Columbia College), his Green River wood bat program once hit 60 home runs in just 36 games.

The strong hitting trend has followed Billy’s coaching pursuits across the country as the Oklahoma State program led the Big-12 in home runs and batting average in 2005, his first season in Stillwater, and by year three at the school the Cowboys led the conference in batting average, home runs and slugging percentage altogether.

The 2008 team alone had 8 members in the starting line-up who hit .317 or higher!

A noted players coach, Jones developed national recruiting classes at both NC State and Oklahoma State after being mentored by Arizona State coach Pat Murphy, where he was the Director of Baseball Operations for two seasons.

While in Raleigh, North Carolina – Jones helped guide the Wolf Pack to two NCAA Regional appearances in three seasons and was one of five finalists for the Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2003.

Although he coaches outfielders and hitting at present with the Cowboys, his troops at NC State improved their team fielding percentage every year, from .958 in 2002, to .966 in 2003 to .976 (4th best in the nation) in 2004, the year NC State lost in the super-regional finals.

Former Oklahoma State volunteer assistant coach Trevor Brown, who now works as the Northwest Area Scout for the Minnesota Twins Organization, has nothing but glowing words for his coaching mentor Jones.

Brown, a former NAIA All-American who won a national championship at Lewis and Clarke State College under the direction of Ed Cheff, claims that “Jones is the best coach he has worked for or played under in terms of getting the most talent out of his players.  “He has an innate ability to connect to all players of differing backgrounds as he approaches each player individually, playing to their strengths and masking their weaknesses to improve player performance.”

Brown played for both Cheff (Lewis & Clarke State) and Donny Harrel (the current head coach at Seattle University) at Lane Community College, and although not taking anything away from those other coaches, believes Jones has a special talent in developing players compared to most of the coaches around the country today.

“His players have extreme loyalty and he is somewhat of a master in identifying and recruiting diamond-in-the-rough type players and developing them into All-Americans and professional baseball prospects.  It would be a shame not to see him lead his own program in the near future as he is certainly qualified and well equipped to run a championship level program.”

The Nakama File

After spending 10 plus seasons at Stanford University, Dave Nakama has moved up north in the PAC-10 Conference joining coach Lindsey Meggs initial staff at Washington in 2010.

At Stanford, Nakama worked with the infielders and hitters while coaching first base, and was a central figure in recruiting, helping the Cardinal land four top-10 recruiting classes in the last 8 years according to BaseballAmerica.com

During his decade on “The Farm,” Nakama helped the team to four PAC-10 Championships, five NCAA regional titles and four trips to the College World Series.

Among the many he mentored as coach, Boston Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie, first-rounder John Mayberry Jr., and Seattle Mariners farmhand Chris Minaker stand out among a crowded and talented athletic baseball crop that populated the Stanford dugout.

Under Nakama’s watchful eye, the Cardinal posted their five best seasons for fielding percentage in school history, including a .977 mark in 2005 where they committed 51 errors in 59 games.  All in all, Nakama led the Cardinal to five top-10 finishes in his last eight years at the school, including another .977 mark in his last season.

According to Husky coach Lindsey Meggs, who worked with Nakama at Chico State and San Francisco State, “having Dave on the staff is like having another head coach in the dugout…he has all the intangibles needed to be a head coach as he can manage the game both offensively and defensively, and more importantly, he knows the PAC-10 Conference inside and out.”

Having personally watched Nakama work with the En Fuego Academy program in Seattle, he has an innate ability to communicate with young athletes and what impresses me the most is his genuine interest in helping players move on in college baseball, even if his school (currently the Huskies) isn’t on the players list of schools as he believes the college decision is one of the five defining choices a young man will make in his lifetime.

Like Jones, who has Junior College and collegiate summer-ball coaching experience, Nakama spent five seasons as the head coach at Mission Junior College (Santa Clara, CA), leading his squad to the California State Tournament in each of his final two seasons, earning conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996.

Although Nakama would be a great hire at UNLV, which is a job he wouldn’t turn down, the natural position for the Hawaiian native and perhaps the job he covets most is the Hawaii job.

A graduate from Kaiser High School in Honolulu and a former head and assistant coach for the collegiate summer-ball Hawaii Island Movers, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Nakama isn’t named the program’s next head coach.

That is if someone like UNLV doesn’t beat Hawaii to the punch.

The question athletic director Livengood should seriously consider is what other coaching candidates have ties to so many successful coaches and championships programs in comparison to Jones or Nakama?

Jones has worked with Pat Casey and Pat Murphy, no strangers themselves to the College World Series.

Since leaving NC State, the Wolf-Pack have not sustained the barometer set by Jones who led them to a super-regional.  Jones has also worked with Frank Anderson, who came to Oklahoma State after winning a national championship on the Texas staff in 2005.

For coach Nakama, is there another assistant coach in the country who has worked for two coaching icons like Mark Marquess at Stanford or Lindsey Meggs at Chico State?

With four trips to the College World Series and team records in fielding percentage, not to mention his recruiting prowess, what exactly is Livengood looking at to eliminate Nakama?

The same can be said of Jones.

FAU-WKU Rain Delay

Western Kentucky & Florida Atlantic players get creative during a recent rain delay.

College Baseball Attendance Report #10

Here’s the week ten college baseball attendance report as compiled by Tami Cutler of the NCBWA.  We have included the top ten most attended games from last week as well as the top ten season to date attendance averages and the ten top single-game attendances of the 2010 season.

Last Week’s Top Attended Games (4/19-4/25)
1.  10,509 Northwestern State at LSU, 4/21
2.  10,022 LSU at Ole Miss, 4/24 (1)
3.  8,783 LSU at Ole Miss, 4/25
4.  8,236 LSU at Ole Miss, 4/24 (2)
5.  7,776 Oral Roberts at Arkansas, 4/20
6.  7,314 Oklahoma State at Texas, 4/24
7.  7,217 Kansas State at Wichita State, 4/20
8.  7,138 Oklahoma State at Texas, 4/25
9.  6,183 Kentucky at Western Kentucky, 4/20
10.  5,688 Miami, Fla. at Florida State, 4/24

Top Season Attendance  School/Avg./Total #
1. LSU 10,664 / 319,934 / 30
2. Arkansas 7,372 / 199,069 / 27
3. Ole Miss 6,759 / 175,740 / 26
4. South Carolina 6,425 / 147,782 / 23
5. Texas 6,333 / 177,349 / 28
6. Mississippi State 6,066 / 151,661 / 25
7. Florida State 4,763 / 123,840 / 26
8. Clemson 4,643 / 116,095 / 25
9. Alabama 4,174 / 79,310 / 19
10. Texas A&M 3,827 / 103,341 / 27

Top Game Attendances Season To Date
1.  36,056 Louisiana Tech at Minnesota, 3/27
2.  14,588 UCLA vs. USC, 2/28
3.  12,313 Alabama at LSU, 4/17
4.  11,588 Centenary at LSU, 2/19
5.  11,332 Alabama at LSU, 4/16
6.  11,225 Arkansas at LSU, 3/19
7.  11,220 Pepperdine at LSU, 3/6
8.  11,157 Kansas at LSU, 3/12
9.  11,126 Centenary at LSU, 2/20
10.  11,089 Tennessee at Mississippi State, 4/17

CLICK HERE to see the full report.

Around The Bases-April 15

Four Things I’m Thinking About Right Now…

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

As April hits its stride we’re getting ready for another weekend of college baseball.  We’ve had some new podcasts and will continue to have more in the coming weeks as we look at different teams and conferences around the country.  Here are some things that gnawed at my mind this week…

Say What… Here are the current statistics of two catchers.  One is on the 2010 Johnny Bench Award Watch List, but

the other is not.  See if you can guess which one is:  A.  .414 BA, 7 HR, 37 RBIs, 1.211 OPS, 1 Passed Ball  B.  .294 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBIs, .888 OPS, 3 Passed Balls.  If you said catcher “B” is the one on the watch list you would be correct (I won’t mention his name here).  Catcher “A” is Miami Hurricane Yasmani Grandal.  After hitting 16 home runs and then playing last summer for Team USA the junior was not only not on the original watch list, but also left out of the group of nine catchers who were added to the watch list this week.  That’s 61 total catchers now on the watch list, but the guy hitting .414 at one of the best programs in the history of the sport is not one of them.

Big Shake-Up…Before last week the Big East was looking like it was going to be a one-bid league when NCAA selections come out next month, and Louisville was looking like it might earn the programs first top 8 national seed.  That all changed when Pittsburgh took two of three games from the Cardinals in the Steel City.  Pittsburgh (22-9, 6-3) was three outs from sweeping the series before Louisville rallied to salvage the series finale, but their two wins shook-up the Big East standings.  South Florida (16-16, 8-1) is in first place followed by UConn (24-7, 7-2) and Rutgers (18-13, 7-2), with Louisville (26-6, 6-3) and Pitt tied for fourth place.  USF played a brutal early schedule, but has zero quality wins to show for it.  UConn handed Louisville its other conference loss and seems to be gaining momentum.

Revving-up The RPI…The NCAA’s official RPI is out, and it’s no shock that the top five teams include Arizona State, Arkansas, UCLA, Florida, and Virginia.  Three of those five teams made it to Omaha last year and a fourth (Florida) played in a Super Regional.  Louisville (Big East), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Clemson, Texas, and Oregon State round-out the top ten.  That gives the Pac 10 three top ten RPI teams, the ACC and SEC each have two.  Here are some “non-power conference” teams that join Louisville and Coastal Carolina in the RPI Top-50:  17. Western Kentucky 21. The Citadel 23. TCU 24. New Mexico 30. College of Charleston 35. Western Carolina 39. Texas State 40. Connecticut 41. San Diego 44. Southeastern Louisiana 47. South Alabama 49. Pittsburgh 50. VMI

Gary Brown (mattbrownphoto.com)

Titan Turnaround…Since a disappointing 8-8 start to the season Cal State Fullerton (18-12, 5-1 Big West) has won ten of its last 14 games, including two of three from Big West rival UC Irvine last weekend.  The Titans also won a midweek match-up over UCLA (26-3)-a team that moved to #1 in two polls this week.  Fullerton didn’t shy away from tough competition early on, with six of those losses coming at the hands of TCU (24-7), Arizona (23-9) and Arizona State (28-3).  The Titan’s offense is starting to click, with Gary Brown and Billy Marcoe hitting .443 and .402, respectively.  The biggest issue has been inconsistent pitching from a team that has been traditionally dominant on the mound.  2010 Team USA invitees Tyler Pill and Nick Ramirez are a combined 2-7, although Pill gave-up just an unearned run in 8 1/3 IP and also had an RBI in Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Anteaters.  Expect the Titans to build some serious momentum over the next month…

College Baseball Notebook-Week 6

A By The Numbers Look At The Latest Week’s Action

36,056…Fans who attended the first game at the new Target Field in Minneapolis, MN-a college game in which Louisiana Tech beat Minnesota 9-1.

0…Hits allowed by South Florida’s Randy Fontanez in Friday’s 4-0 win over Notre Dame.  The right-hander struck out 12 with two walks in the first 9-inning no-hitter in Division One baseball this season.

18…Years since a USF pitcher last tossed a no-hitter, when Mark Reed spun a perfect game vs. Charlotte in 1992.

1…Win this season and career shutouts by Fontanez after Friday’s gem.  The Preseason Big East Pitcher of the Year was 0-4 prior to his team’s conference-opener with losses to the likes of Florida and Ohio State and a no-decision in a loss to Oklahoma.

23…Consecutive wins by Arizona State to open the season-a record for the storied program.

2…Runs scored by ASU in the 8th inning to tie Cal in Sunday’s 3-2 win.  Drew Maggi’s two out RBI single in the 9th gave the Sun Devils their 23rd straight win.

13…Strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings by ASU starter Jake Borup in Sunday’s win.  He allowed just two hits, but  settled for a no-decision.

20…Consecutive wins by UCLA to open the season-the longest winning streak in Bruin’s history.

6…Wins with no losses by UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole.  He became the nation’s first 6-game winner with Thursday’s 11-7 win over Cal Poly.  Cole walked a season-high seven batters with seven strikeouts in the outing, which UCLA led 11-0 after four innings.

10…Combined double plays turned in Pacific’s 3-2 win in 11 innings over San Jose State on Sunday.  Each team turned five double plays to tie a single-game  NCAA record set on April 4, 1989 by Georgetown and George Mason.

8…Runs given-up in 5 2/3 IP by Texas pitcher Taylor Jungmann in Friday’s 12-5 loss to Texas Tech.

9…Runs given-up by Jungmann (2-1) in his first 36 1/3 IP this season prior to suffering his first loss.

10…Runs scored in the bottom of the 8th inning by George Mason in Friday’s CAA opener vs. James Madison and send the game to extra innings with the score tied 12-12.

9…Runs scored in the 10th inning of that same game by James Madison, which won the game 21-16.

14…Strikeouts by Cal State Fullerton’s Noe Ramirez in Friday’s 3-0 win over Hawaii in his second complete game of the season.

0.40…ERA of Hawaii starter Josh Slats, who was Ramirez’s counterpart in that game-which lasted just 2:18.

18…Game home field winning streak that ended last Tuesday when Elon beat Clemson 15-10 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

4 of 5…Games Clemson lost last week after opening the season with a 17-2 record.  The Tigers also lost at home to Elon on Wednesday and then dropped 2 of 3 games at Virginia over the weekend.

5…Walks issued by Kansas State pitcher Evan Marshall in Friday’s 14-11 win over visiting Oklahoma State.

7…Runs scored in the 8th inning of that game to give the K-State its third straight win in a Big 12 opener.  (The Wildcats took two of three games in the series.)

2…Walks issued by Marshall (along with 22 strikeouts) in his first 33 2/3 IP this season.

15…Strikeouts in 6 IP by Oklahoma State’s Kevin Chambers, who allowed just one hit with one walk, in Tuesday’s 26-0 win over Alabama A& M.  It was the second game of a doubleheader in Stillwater, OK.

5…Strikeouts by Chambers’ teammate, Brian Denneny, who pitched the last three innings of that game.

13…Combined strikeouts by four OSU pitchers in a 6-5 loss to A&M in game one of that twin bill.

10…Home runs hit by ten different players in Tuesday’s 20-15 win by Morehead State over Indiana.  The teams combined for 35 runs on 43 hits.

8…Pitchers used by Webber International in Thursday’s 9-0 win over Ohio State.

617…Enrollment of Webber International-an NAIA school located in Babson Park, FL.

52,715…Enrollment of Ohio State-a Big Ten school located in Columbus, OH.

1…Career hit by The Citadel’s Josh Pless.  The freshman’s single to left field gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 win over Appalachian State Saturday afternoon.  He was 0-4 prior to the at-bat.

5…Runs scored by North Carolina State against Miami with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the game at 6-6 & send it to extra innings.  The Wolfpack won 7-6 after a game-winning sac fly by Chris Schaeffer in the 11th inning.

4 1/3…Relief innings pitched in that game by freshman Felix Roque-a Miami native-to earn his first career win.

10…Consecutive hits by East Carolina in Sunday’s 20-1 win over North Carolina Central.

65-7…Combined score of the Pirates‘ three wins over the Eagles.

2 of 3…Games won by Memphis over Rice over the weekend to give the Tigers their first ever series win over the Owls.

11…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Louisville’s Thomas Royse (5-0, 1.42 ERA) in Friday’s Big East Conference opening 1-0 win over UConn.

4…RBIs by Cody Lassley on his game-ending grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Wichita State a

5-1 win over Bradley.

0…Runs allowed in his last 11 2/3 IP by TCU’s Paul Gerrish after 5 2/3 scoreless innings in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Texas State.

16-15…Air Force’s lead in Sunday’s game vs. TCU when play was halted in the 7th inning due to TCU’s travel plans.  The game will be resumed on May 15.  The two teams split the first two games of the Mountain West Conference Series.

7…Straight wins by Georgia Tech after Sunday’s 11-8 win in 10 innings over North Carolina.

5…Runs scored in the 9th inning by the Yellow Jackets to tie the game 8-8 and send it to extra innings.  The scoring was capped on a 2-run home run by Derek Dietrich, who had a career-high five hits in the game.

10…Years since Georgia Tech last swept a series from the Tar Heels, which were swept at home for the first time since 2003.

10…Strikeouts by GT pitcher Deck McGuire in 7 innings in Friday’s 2-1 series-opening win in Chapel Hill.

20-5…School record best start to a season by Western Kentucky after beating Louisiana-Monroe 10-8 on Sunday to cap a weekend sweep.

1…Win over a Division One team by Division II Lake Erie College after Sunday’s 19-4 win over Cleveland State.

11…Strikeouts by Charleston Southern’s Tyler Thornburg in 8 IP in a 1-0 win over VMI.

446…Wins at UC Santa Barbara by head coach Bob Brontsema after an 11-6 win over San Francisco.  The mark is a new school record.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll-March 29

Pitt Among Four New Teams In This Week’s Poll

TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona St. is ranked No. 1 for the third straight time in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s NCAA Division I baseball poll.

The Sun Devils (23-0, 3-0 Pac-10 Conference) swept a 3-game series at home against California during the past week. The 23 consecutive wins to start the season is a new school record, surpassing the 21-0 start by the 1961 squad. ASU is hitting .358 as a team and averaging 9.39 runs per game with 64 doubles, 22 triples, 18 home runs and 54 stolen bases. The pitching staff has a 2.88 ERA and has struck out 221 batters and walked only 62. Only 10 stolen bases have been allowed by Sun Devil pitchers and catchers over the 23-game span.

Poll Notes: Several other schools have been red hot. UCLA is also unbeaten at 20-0 which is the best start in school history. The Bruins have outscored their opposition, 181-53. Other notable winning streaks include Pittsburgh (11 in a row), Georgia Tech. (7), Louisiana St. (6), and Vanderbilt (6). Arizona has won 15 of its last 16, Western Kentucky 11 of its last 12 and The Citadel 7 of its last 8. Teams that fell out of the poll this week include Alabama (0-4 last week), Ohio St. (1-3), North Carolina (1-3) and Auburn (3-2). New to the poll this week is Kansas St. (19-3), Western Kentucky (20-5), Pittsburgh (18-4) and The Citadel (18-6).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

(Top 30 Agate Follows)

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s
NCAA Div. I Poll (As of March 29, 2010)
www.baseballnews.com
Rank School (Record)	Points	Previous
1. Arizona St. (23-0)	497	1
2. UCLA (20-0)	495	3
3. Virginia (20-4)	493	2
4. Louisiana St. (20-3)	491	4
5. Georgia Tech. (21-2)	490	5
6. Florida St. (19-4)	486	7
7. Texas (18-6)	484	10
8. Louisville (20-3)	481	12
9. Oklahoma (20-3)	479	13
10. Oregon St. (16-5)	476	9
11. Mississippi (19-6)	474	17
12. Florida (18-5)	472	8
13. Clemson (18-6)	469	6
14. South Carolina (19-5)	467	18
15. Coastal Carolina (19-5)	465	11
16. Texas Christian (17-5)	463	14
17. Miami, Fla. (16-7)	460	15
18. Arizona (20-5)	458	19
19. Arkansas (18-5)	457	20
20. Kansas St. (19-3)	454	—
21. Western Kentucky (20-5)	452	—
22. S.E. Louisiana (22-3)	451	21
23. Vanderbilt (21-4)	449	23
24. Pittsburgh (18-4)	445	—
25. The Citadel (18-6)	443	—
26. U.C. Irvine (14-8)	441	24
27. Texas A&M (17-6)	439	25
28. Stanford (12-6)	437	26
29. Va. Military Inst. (20-4)	432	28
30. Wichita St. (14-7)	427	30

Baseball America College Baseball Poll-March 22

Three New Teams In BA Top 25

DURHAM, N.C.—Virginia swept ACC foe Boston College over the weekend to finish a perfect week and remain at No. 1 in the Baseball America Top 25 rankings for the fifth straight week.

While Virginia continued its dominance, the real story of the week came from a pair of Pac-10 squads that have been perfect over the season’s first month. Arizona State has started the season 20-0 and last week swept a two-game midweek series at Cal State Fullerton then swept Houston over the weekend to move up to the third spot in the rankings. Meanwhile, UCLA is 16-0 and swept Oral Roberts last weekend, earning the Bruins a place in the top 10 at No. 9.

Florida was another big mover at the top of the rankings. The Gators won a midweek game against rival Florida State, then swept Mississippi State in the opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play, allowing them to jump to No. 2. Mississippi was another SEC school to move up after a big opening weekend in conference play, as the Rebels went on the road to then-No. 22 Kentucky and took two out of three, helping them reach No. 18 and knocking the Wildcats out of the rankings.

Three teams joined the rankings for the first time in 2010. Alabama opened conference play with a series win against Vanderbilt to enter the rankings at No. 20. Western Kentucky also faced the Commodores last week, splitting a midweek series, before sweeping Virginia Commonwealth over the weekend, earning itself the No. 22 ranking. And finally, Texas A&M won its opening series of Big 12 play against Texas Tech, joining the rankings at No. 23.

The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records indicated are through games of March 21 and do not include ties.

Rk.	Team	W-L	Last Week	Prev.
1.	Virginia	17-3	5-0	1
2.	Florida	16-3	5-0	6
3.	Arizona State	20-0	5-0	10
4.	Georgia Tech	16-2	3-1	3
5.	Texas Christian	15-3	3-1	4
6.	Florida State	15-4	2-2	5
7.	Louisiana State	16-3	3-1	7
8.	Texas	15-5	2-2	2
9.	UCLA	16-0	3-0	12
10.	Coastal Carolina	17-3	2-1	8
11.	Louisville	17-2	3-1	9
12.	Clemson	17-2	4-1	11
13.	UC Irvine	13-6	4-0	15
14.	South Carolina	16-4	5-0	16
15.	Miami	14-5	4-1	17
16.	Arkansas	13-5	1-2	13
17.	Oregon State	14-3	4-0	18
18.	Mississippi	15-5	3-1	21
19.	Stanford	10-4	3-0	23
20.	Alabama	16-2	4-1	NR
21.	Oklahoma	18-2	3-0	25
22.	Western Kentucky	16-5	4-1	NR
23.	Texas A&M	15-4	2-1	NR
24.	Vanderbilt	16-4	2-3	19
25.	Rice	12-9	2-2	14
Dropped Out: East Carolina (20), Kentucky (22), North Carolina (24)

Illinois-Chicago 2010 Baseball Schedule

CHICAGO – The UIC baseball team unveiled its 2010 schedule today with a season-opening trip to Cary N.C. for two games apiece against LeMoyne and Canisius to begin another challenging slate for the eight-time defending Horizon League champion Flames.

UIC’s campaign begins a month from now against LeMoyne on Friday, Feb. 19 at

2:00 p.m. in Cary, N.C. The Flames will also face the Dolphins on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 9:00 a.m. In between, UIC will play a doubleheader against Canisius on Saturday, Feb. 20 beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Complete 2010 UIC Schedule

From there the Flames head to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to face the University of Alabama in a three-game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium from Feb. 26-27. This marks the second consecutive season that UIC will square off against the Crimson Tide on the diamond. The Tide took both contests played by the schools, while two others were washed away by inclement weather.

Two more non-conference series in the early part of the schedule include trips to Bowling Green, Ky. to battle Western Kentucky in a three-game set, March 5-7 and a swing through Waco, Texas the following week to face the Baylor Bears, March 12-14.

After spending the first month of the season on the road, the Flames host Opening Day at Les Miller Field on Friday, Mar. 19 against Creighton at 4:05 p.m. to begin a three-game series against the Bluejays.

UIC will host Concordia on March 23 and travel to Notre Dame to take on the Fighting Irish on March 24 before beginning the Horizon League campaign at home against Milwaukee on Mar. 26. The Flames and Panthers will play a three-game set.

Another big non-conference clash for the Flames takes place from May 7-9 in Atlanta, Ga., as UIC takes on Georgia Tech in a three-game series.

The Flames end the regular season with five straight home games at Les Miller Field. UIC will entertain Cleveland State for a doubleheader on May 16 before welcoming the Valparaiso Crusaders for three on May 20-21.

UIC will seek to clinch a fifth trip to NCAA Regional play in the last eight years at the 2010 Horizon League Baseball Championship in Gary, Ind. beginning on May 25. The Flames have won two of the last three tournament crowns.

Head coach Mike Dee has 17 players from last year’s squad back to anchor the Flames, including returning 2009 All-Horizon League honorees: third baseman Jason Ganek (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey H.S.), catcher Nathan Orf (Wentzville, Mo./Francis Howell H.S.) and pitcher Chris Kovacevich (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East/Coastal Carolina).

(Release)

South Alabama 2010 Baseball Schedule

MOBILE, Ala. - University of South Alabama baseball head coach Steve Kittrell announced the Jags’ 2010 regular season schedule Wednesday afternoon. The 56-game slate features 32 home games, including the 25th annual South Alabama Classic.

“I think it’s a very competitive non-conference schedule, and it should prepare us for Sun Belt Conference play, which is getting better every year,” Kittrell said. “We’re excited about the challenges ahead and look forward to starting practice on Jan. 29.”

Kittrell’s club starts the season with 14 of its first 16 games at home. USA opens with a doubleheader against Jackson State (Feb. 19), then the Jags hit the road to take on Alabama the next day before returning home for a Sunday rematch with the Crimson Tide to round out the opening weekend.

Complete 2010 South Alabama Schedule

USA hosts the South Alabama Classic the following weekend. The tournament field includes another team with a great baseball history – Wichita State – along with North Florida and Eastern Michigan. Wichita State played in the 2002 Classic, while North Florida and Eastern Michigan will be visiting Stanky Field for the first time.

Following the tournament, the Jags take on a pair of storied programs in consecutive midweek games. USA travels to Mississippi State (March 2), then gets a visit from Tulane the following day. South Alabama’s last nonconference series is a four-game set with Siena (March 5-7).

After a pair of midweek games at home against Tennessee Tech, the Jags open Sun Belt Conference play with a three-game series at Arkansas-Little Rock. The Jags took two of three from the Trojans a season ago. The Jags follow that series with a pair of midweek games at Memphis, then return to Stanky Field for the conference home opener when they host longtime rival Louisiana-Lafayette (March 19-21).

After four more road games, including a series at Middle Tennessee, the Jags return for a five-game homestand when they host Southern Miss (March 30), New Orleans (April 2-4) and Southeastern Louisiana (April 6).

The Jags hit the road for Western Kentucky the following weekend (April 9-11), but not before making a stop along the way to take on Auburn (April 7). After the three-game set with the Hilltoppers, USA heads back home for games against Nicholls State (April 13) and Louisiana-Monroe (April 16-18). The Jags took both games of a rain-shortened two-game set against the Warhawks last year.

Kittrell’s squad then travels back to Arkansas, this time to take on Arkansas State (April 23-25), and on the way back the Jags stop for games with Nicholls State (April 27) and Southern Miss (April 28), before closing with seven of the last 10 at home.

USA rounds out the regular season hosting Florida Atlantic (May 7-9), Auburn (May 11) and Troy (May 20-22), and going on the road to face Florida International (May 14-16).

The Jags’ game against Auburn will be their fifth game of the season against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference. USA went a perfect 4-0 in home games against teams from the SEC in 2009, including a win over No. 6 Ole Miss that gave Kittrell his 1,000th career win, and a win against No. 21 Alabama in front of a Stanky Field record crowd of 4,436.

The Sun Belt Conference Championship is scheduled for May 26-29 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

(Release)

Arkansas State 2010 Baseball Schedule

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