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By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

It’s starting to look more and more like winter in most parts of the country, but since the calender still officially says it’s fall we’ll continue with our latest Fall Notebook…

UCSD head coach Dan O'Brien (jacket) and his Tritons could be headed to the Big West.

A Big West Boom?

We started last week’s Notebook with the news that TCU was headed to the Big East Conference. This week we start with news that Hawaii, Cal State Bakersfield and UC San Diego have each applied for membership in the Big West Conference. Hawaii plans to join the Mountain West Conference for football, but the rest of its sports would join the Big West if membership goes through. The Big West would make travel much easier for Hawaii’s non-revenue sports since all nine current Big West teams are located in California.

Keep in mind, it’s UC San Diego – as in the Tritons –  not the University of San Diego – as in the Toreros – that wants to join the Big West. Dan O’Brien’s Tritons were the Division II national runner-ups this past season after advancing to the D II national semifinals in 2009. This year’s team won a school record 54 games with a record low eight losses. They would obviously have to make the move to Division One though to join the Big West.

CS Bakersfield, coached by Bill Kernen, just began playing college baseball in 2009 as part of the school’s transition to Division One. The Roadrunners won 13 games in 2009 and doubled that to 26 victories last season.

The Big West had put a moratorium on conference expansion back in 2005, but it just ended that ban last month.

The Call Of The Hall…

1988 NCAA Player of the Year John Olerud (courtesy Washington State)

He’s a long shot for induction, but former Washington State star John Olerud is on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. The 17-year MLB vet was the 1988 college baseball Player of the Year. He was 15-0 with a 2.49 ERA on the mound that year, while also batting .464 with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs. Olerud was an integral member of the Toronto Blue Jays‘ World Series winning teams in 1992 and ’93, but his 2,239 career hits and 255 home runs are far from HOF benchmark numbers.

Other former college players in this year’s Hall of Fame ballot are: Mark McGwire (USC), Bret Boone (USC), Barry Larkin (Michigan), Bobby Higginson (Temple), Rafael Palmeiro (Mississippi State), Charles Johnson (Miami), Tino Martinez (Tampa), Kirk Rueter (Murray State), John Franco (St. John’s), and B.J. Surhoff (North Carolina). Franco tossed a pair of no-hitters during his freshman year at St. John’s. Surhoff was the National Player of the Year in 1985. He was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year.

The results of HOF voting will be announced on January 11, 2011. The induction ceremony is July 24 in Cooperstown, NY.

Tigers Get Their Rings…

The Clemson baseball team recently received its 2010 College World Series rings. Jack Leggett’s squad received its hardware before last week’s Clemson-Michigan basketball game at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson finished 2010 with a 45-25 record after making its 12th trip to Omaha. CLICK HERE to see the video.

The Scouts Like Nino…

Nino Girratano

The Northern California Scouts Association has named University of San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano its four-year college baseball Coach of the Year. The NCSA is comprised of at least 70 scouts who work for the 30 MLB clubs. Of Giarratano, Florida Marlins scout John Hughes said “He does such a great job at USF and his coaching staff does a great job overall. They do more than coach baseball at USF — they develop kids into great people. Nino is cooperative and communicates well with Major League Baseball scouts so that he can do what’s best for his players.” Giarratano was the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team head coach this past summer.

Two-Sport Playoff Push…

If you saw our latest Two-Sport Report last week, you know that several college baseball players who also play football were involved in the FCS (formerly I-AA) playoffs last week. In a head to head match-up, Landon Bennett (punter) and Wofford knocked Jacksonville State and freshman QB Coty Blanchard out of the playoffs with a 17-14 win. Wofford now takes on Georgia Southern.

Defending FCS national champion Villanova beat Stephen F. Austin 54-24 to advance to the FCS quarterfinals and the Wildcats have three baseball/football players. Matt Szczur (signed with the Chicago Cubs last summer) scored a touchdown, while Marlon Calbi threw a TD pass. Villanova next faces Appalachian State.

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Bulldogs open the 2010 season on Feb. 19 vs. Marshall

Samford Head Coach Casey Dunn

single games on Feb. 19 and 21, and a doubleheader on Feb. 20.

Complete 2010 Samford Schedule

“We’ve brought in some quality non-conference opponents,” Dunn said. “We’re bringing in Marshall out of Conference USA and also Minnesota and Michigan State out of the Big 10. These are teams that play good baseball but who people in our state are not used to seeing on a regular basis. We feel like the strength of our non-conference schedule should be great for us as we prepare for a tough conference schedule.”

The Bulldogs will play their next four games on the road. Samford plays at Troy on Feb. 23, and then plays a three-game series at Kennesaw State Feb. 26-28.

Samford will play host to the University of Alabama on Mar. 2. The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide will square off at 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford will welcome Evansville to Joe Lee Griffin Field for a three-game series Mar. 5-7. The Bulldogs will play host to the first of two Big 10 opponents when they take on Michigan State on Mar. 9 at 6 p.m.

After paying at in-state rival Jacksonville State on Mar. 10, Samford will open Southern Conference play at College of Charleston, Mar. 12-14.

“This is a great conference with very good baseball,” Dunn said as his team prepares for its second season as a member of the Southern Conference. “We are excited about year two in the league. We are excited about the opportunity to compete and we feel like we have a Southern Conference caliber team this year.”

Samford will then play its next nine games at home. The Bulldogs will play host to Jacksonville State on Mar. 16, and they will play a four-game series with Minnesota Mar. 18-21.

Samford will play host to Auburn University on Mar. 23. The game between the Bulldogs and the Tigers is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford will host its first home conference series of the season Mar. 26-28, when the Bulldogs take on the Furman Paladins. The following weekend, Apr. 1-3, Samford will play at SoCon foe Davidson.

The Bulldogs will return home on Apr. 6, when Samford hosts in-state rival Troy at 6 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

Samford will then play host to the UNC Greensboro Spartans in another SoCon series, Apr. 9-11. After playing a midweek game at Alabama, Apr. 13, Samford will travel to Georgia Southern for a conference series Apr. 16-18.

Next up, Samford will play two midweek games against cross-town rival UAB. The teams will play Apr. 20 at UAB’s Young Memorial Field, and Apr. 21 at Samford’s Joe Lee Griffin Field.

The weekend of Apr. 23-25, the Bulldogs will play host to Appalachian State in a league series. After playing at Auburn on Apr. 27, the Bulldogs will play host to The Citadel in a SoCon series Apr. 30-May 2.

The Bulldogs will play at conference foe Wofford, May 7-9, and then Samford will play its final home games in a SoCon series against Western Carolina, May 14-16.

Samford will wrap up its regular season with a SoCon series at Elon. The Bulldogs and Phoenix will meet May 19-21 in Elon, N.C.

The 2010 SoCon Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 in Charleston, S.C.

(Release)

WCU’s 56-game schedule features 28 home dates and 30 SoCon games

WCU Head Coach Bobby Moranda

Carolina. Our players and coaches are honored to participate in an event that was named for one of our most respected alum. I am a big believer in a strong schedule that will challenge our players to execute the game of baseball at the highest possible level each and every time they take the field.”

Complete 2010 Western Carolina Schedule

Western Carolina will open its 2010 season at home at Ronnie G. Childress Field at Hennon Stadium on Friday, Feb. 19 as it welcomes the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs to town for an afternoon game. The two will complete the three-game series in Forest City, N.C., at McNair Field, the home of the Coastal Plain League member, Forest City Owls, Feb. 20-21.

Additional early-season, non-conference foes visiting Cullowhee include Eastern Kentucky – Moranda’s alma mater – on Feb. 26-28, with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville coming to town for a two-game set March 9-10. It will be the first meeting between the two since 1978.

Between the EKU and SIU-Edwardsville dates, the Catamounts will again travel to Greenville, N.C., to participate in the Seventh Annual Keith LeClair Classic at East Carolina’s Clark-LeClair Stadium. The three-day tournament includes the host Pirates and Catamounts, as well as meetings with West Virginia and Illinois. The tournament is named in honor of WCU Hall of Famer, former head coach at WCU and ECU, Keith LeClair, who passed away in July of 2006 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Western hosts first-time foe, New York Tech, in Cullowhee at the beginning of April.

The Catamounts will also have home-and-home, non-conference meetings with Charlotte, UNC Asheville and High Point. Also, after a meeting in Knoxville on April 7, former WCU head coach Todd Raleigh will bring his Tennessee Volunteers to Childress Field/Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee on Wednesday, April 21.

“It is a testament to our program’s great tradition that Coach Raleigh and a very talented Tennessee squad will visit Cullowhee in 2010. Over the last two seasons, we have attracted BCS conference schools such as Clemson, BYU, Georgia Tech and now UT to Cullowhee. I know our fans will be very excited to welcome Todd back for this mid-week match-up,” Moranda added.

Other headline road trips include visiting Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 2 and Georgia on Wednesday, April 28.

Western Carolina, which finished 35-22 overall and 19-10 in SoCon play a season ago and won 18 of its 30 home games, will host conference opponents College of Charleston (March 26-28), Wofford (April 9-11), UNC Greensboro (April 30-May 2) and Furman (May 7-10). The Catamounts will wrap-up their 2010 regular season slate by hosting Davidson on May 20-22 before traveling to Charleston for the conference championship.

SoCon road trips this season include visiting The Citadel for its conference opener, March 12-14, with a trip to Boone and arch-rival, Appalachian State, the following weekend (March 19-21). Other road three-game conference series include at Elon (April 16-18), Georgia Southern (April 23-28) and Samford (May 14-16).

Western Carolina will resume individual preparations for the 2010 season on January 11, with the first official team practice scheduled for February 1, per NCAA regulations.

(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)

Toby Gerhart And Golden Tate Are Among More Than 35 Players In The Report

Zach Collaros

Zach Collaros- 6’1-209 – Football: QB & Baseball: IF
Collaros batted just .204 in 49 at-bats in 2009 for the Bearcat baseball team.  However, he has had a much bigger impact this fall for the UC football team.  Collaros has passed for 1,434 yards with 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions in 2009.  He has also rushed for 344 yards and four more TDs.  He has played in all 11 Cincinnati games in 2009, including four starts after Heisman contender Tony Pike went down with injury.

Cincinnati (11-0) plays Pittsburgh (9-2) on Saturday, Dec. 5.  A win would send the Bearcats to a second straight BCS bowl.

Clemson

Kyle Parker- 6’1-200 – Football: QB & Baseball: OF
Parker graduated high school a semester early to enroll at Clemson in January 2008.  He’s a redshirt freshman on the football team, but he will be a junior on the baseball squad in 2010.

Parker has passed for 2,294 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2009.  Clemson (8-4) plays Georgia Tech (10-2) on Saturday, Dec. 5 in the ACC Championship Game.

Elon

Scott Riddle-6’0-210-Jr. – Football: QB & Baseball: IF/C
This season Riddle became the  Southern Conference record holder for career completions and passing yards.

Elon's Scott Riddle

Riddle passed for 3,345  yards with 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Phoenix in 2009.

Riddle led Elon (9-3)to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, but the Phoenix lost 16-13 to #4 Richmond in the first round.  He finished seventh in the nation with 278.7 passing yards a game.

Fairfield

Tucker Nathans-6’0-180-Jr. – Soccer: Forward & Baseball: 2B
Nathans started 10 of Fairfield’s 17 soccer games and totaled three points in 2009.  Nathans started all 47 games for the Fairfield baseball team last season, and led the Stags with a .377 average with a 1.006 OPS.

George Washington

Marshall Seedorf-6′3-185-So. – Swimming: Sprints & Baseball: P                                               Seedorf was one of just two freshman to qualify for the Atlantic 10 Championship finals in both the 50 and 100 meter freestyle events in 2009.  He pitched in relief in 13 games last season for the GW baseball team.  He is currently competing

Hofstra

Anthony Nelson-5’10-180-Jr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Nelson finished the 2009 season as  Hofstra’s second-leading receiver with 40 catches for 520 yards and four touchdowns for the (5-7) Pride.

Holy Cross

Rob Dornfried-5’8-176-Jr. – Football: K & Baseball: IF
Dornfried hit 7 of 9  field goals and 40 of 41 extra points for the Crusader football team this fall.  He played in 15 games in 2009 for the Holy Cross baseball team.

Holy Cross (9-3) won the  Patriot League title but lost 38-28 to Villanova in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

Josh Hauser-6’4-218-Fr. – Football: TE & Baseball:

Kentucky

Brian Adams-6’4-212-Fr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Adams is a true freshman who was a high school quarterback and is now making the transition to receiver in college.

Louisiana-Monroe

Kolton Browning-6’2-181-Fr. – Football: QB & Baseball: Pitcher.
Browning is a true freshman that is a back-up quarterback on the football team and is expected to pitch for the Warhawk baseball team next spring.

LSU

Chad Jones-6’3-231-Jr. – Football: Safety & Baseball: Pitcher
Like his former LSU teammate, Jared Mitchell (drafted and signed by the Chicago White Sox), Jones has both a football and a baseball national championship ring.

Jones is LSU’s fifth  leading tackler with 60 takedowns along with 3 interceptions.  Jones is also averaging 21.5 yards on six punt returns, including a 93 yarder for a touchdown vs. Mississippi State.  LSU (9-3) beat Arkansas 33-30 to close the regular season.  The Tigers will finish their season in a bowl game.

McNeese State

Jace Peterson-6’1-190-So. – Football: Safety & Baseball: IF

Jace Peterson (#6) In On A Tackle

Peterson had 39 tackles, three sacks and an interception in 2009.  He batted .366 with 16 stolen bases in limited action on the diamond last spring.

Malcolm Bronson-5’11-188-So. – Football: Safety & Baseball: OF
Bronson led the Cowboys with 75 tackles in 2009.  He also had two interceptions.

McNeese State lost 49-13 to New Hampshire in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

Minnesota

Eric Decker-6’2-215-Sr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Decker entered the season on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.  The award is given to the nation’s top receiver.  He started Minneosta’s first eight games, but suffered a foot injury against Ohio State missed the rest of the season.   Depite missing the Gopher’s last three games, Decker was still named All-Big Ten by a vote of conference coaches.  He finished the season as Minnesota’s  leading receiver with 50 catches for 758 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Nebraska

Khiry Cooper-6’2-180-rsFr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Cooper started 20 games for the Cornhusker baseball team as a true freshman
last spring.

New Mexico State

Tanner Rust-6’2-195-Fr. – Football: QB & Baseball:
Rust is the Aggie’s third-string quarterback and he plans to play baseball next spring as well.  He would be just the second athlete to play both football and baseball at New Mexico State.

Nicholls State

Mike Barba-6’1-180-Fr. – Football: WR & Baseball

Kyle Hughes-6’5-220-Sr. – Football: LB & Baseball
Hughes recorded 34 tackles with an interception for the Colonel’s (3-8) in 2009.

Kevin Persick-6’2-215-rsFr. – Football: LB & Baseball

North Carolina State

Russell Wilson-5’11-201 – Football: QB & Baseball: 2B
Wilson is a redshirt sophomore for the football team, but he will be a junior on the 2010 Wolfpack baseball squad. He

Wilson Tops The ACC With 31 TD Passes

totaled 3,027 passing yards with 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2009, while also rushing for 260 yards and 4 more scores.   His 31 touchdown passes led the ACC.

He passed for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns to help N.C. State (5-7) upset North Carolina (8-4) to end an otherwise disappointing season for the Wolfpack.

Notre Dame

Eric Maust-6’2-190-Sr. – Football: P & Baseball: Pitcher
Maust has averaged 35.8 yards on 19 punts in 2009.  As the holder on ND’s field goal team he completed a pass to convert a first down on a fake FG vs. USC.  He was an All-Big East pitcher in 2008.

Evan Sharpley-6’2-217-Sr. – Football: QB & Baseball
Sharpley is the ND 3rd string quarterback in 2009. He was named the
team’s scout team player of the week for his impersonation of Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick prior to ND’s 35-0 win. 2009 was Sharpley’s last season with the Irish baseball team. He was picked by Seattle in the 50th round of the June MLB draft. Sharpley batted .333 with 7 HR, 29 RBIs and a 1.043 OPS for the Mariner’s AZL Rookie League team.

Golden Tate-5’11-195-Jr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Tate is one of three finalists for the 2009 Biletnikoff Award.  He’s had a record-setting season in 2009 with 93 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns (all single-season school records).  His 2,707 career receiving yards are also an Irish school record.

Tate finished the regular season with 10 catches for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 45-38 loss to Stanford.  The Irish (6-6) lost their last four regular season games, but they are bowl eligible.

Oregon State

Jordan Poyer-5’11-181-Fr. – Football: S & Baseball

Penn State

Jesse Alfreno-5’11-194-Jr. – Football: CB & Baseball: Pitcher
Alfreno was 1-0 with one save in 20 relief appearances in 2009 for the Nittany Lions baseball team.

Sacred Heart

Steve Tedesco-6’1-195-Sr. – Football: WR & Baseball: IF

Tedesco is the Sacred Heart (2-8) school record holder with 37 career touchdowns.  Tedesco had a career day with 12 catches for 144 yards and four touchdowns in the Pioneer’s season-ending 45-42 loss to Duquesne.  He finished the 2009 season with a team-high 67 receptions for 865 yards and 11 touchdowns.  He was selected to play in the 9th annuall East Coast Bowl All-Star Game.

Bobby Shepherd-6’1-180-rs Fr. – Football: P & Baseball: Pitcher
Shephard made four relief appearances and two starts in ’09 for the Sacred
Heart baseball team. He’s the football team’s back-up punter.

South Alabama

Eddy Cabrera-5’9-160-Fr. – Football: DB & Baseball: OF

This is South Alabama’s first season of college football, which makes Cabrera the first player in the 45-year history of the USA baseball program to play football and baseball.

Stanford

Toby Gerhart-6’1-235-Sr. – Football: RB & Baseball: OF
Gerhart is one of three finalists for the 2009 Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s top running back.  He is also a top contender for the 2009 Heisman Trophy. Gerhart was an outfield starter for Stanford’s 2008 College World Series team.

Gerhart capped his regular season with 205 rushing yards and 3 touchdown runs in Stanford’s 45-38 win over Notre Dame.  He also complete his first career pass attempt for an 18-yard touchdown pass in the game.

As of Nov. 29 Gerhart leads the nation with 1,736 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns.  His 42 career touchdowns are a Pac 10 record.  Gerhart has now topped the 200 yard mark three times this season.  Coming into 2009 no Stanford back had surpassed 200 rushing yards in a game since 1988.

Gerhart could exercise a fifth year of football eligibility (he missed most of 2007 with a knee injury) and he still has a final season of baseball eligibility remaining.  However,  he  is expected to forego those options to prepare for February’s NFL combine and, ultimately, April’s NFL draft.

Texas State

Jeff McVaney-6’2-220-So. – Football: FB & Baseball: OF/LHP
McVaney made 12 relief appearances as freshman for the 2009 Bobcat baseball team that made it to the NCAA Tournament.   The fullback had four carries for nine yards in 2009.

Villanova

Matt Szczur-5’11-195-Jr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF

Matt Szczur

Szczur was second team All-CAA in football last season as a sophomore.  He was named the Colonial Athletic Associations Offensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year in 2009.   He is just the second player in CAA history to receive two major awards in the same season.

As a redshirt freshman in 2009 he led the baseball team with a .346 average.  Szczur was a 38th round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of high school in 2007.

Szczur’s 2009 stats include:  45 catches for 534 yards and 4 touchdowns, 86 rushes for 562 yards and 7 TDs, 3 of 3 pass attempts for 21 yards and 2 touchdowns, and 26 kickoff returns for a 27.7 average and another TD.

He and the Wildcats have playoff wins over Holy Cross and New Hampshire & are now in the FCS national semifinals.

Marlon Calbi-5’11-180-So. – Football: QB/Holder & Baseball: SS
Calbi is a third-string quarterback who has played every career game as the
team’s holder. He started more than half of the baseball team’s games at
shortstop last season.

Christian Culicerto-5’9-190-So. – Football: QB & Baseball: LHP
Culicerto is a backup quarterback on the football team who walked on to the
baseball roster last season. He pitched in two games in relief.

Kenny Miles-5’11-180-Fr. Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Miles is a highly-touted freshman in both sports. He is currently low on the depth chart for football, because the team is deep at the wide receiver position.

Wofford

Landon Bennett-6’3-200-So. – Football: K/P & Baseball: OF
Bennett had 8 punts in four games in 2008 for the football team. During the 2008 baseball season played in 25 games with 14 starts and hit .298 with 17 hits and 8 RBIs.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate baseball team has proven, even with the move to Division I, that it is not afraid of a challenge, and the 2010 season will be no exception, as the Spartans will play 32 of its 56 games in 2010 against teams that finished 2009 with non-losing records, 21 against teams with 30 or more wins, 18 against teams with an RPI of better than 100 and seven against teams that competed in the NCAA Regionals, as head coach Matt Fincher announced the schedule on Monday.

USC Upstate Head Coach Matt Fincher

Upstate, celebrating its 25^th season of play in 2010, will not stray from the path that Fincher has laid out for the team in its move to the Atlantic Sun Conference and Division I play. Once again, the team will find itself challenged every step of the way, beginning with a game against Appalachian State, which went 33-21 and finished 83^rd in the RPI in 2009, on Feb. 20.

Complete 2010 USC Upstate Schedule (PDF)

The Spartans will have a few more advantages up its sleeves in their schedule during the 2010 season, thanks mainly to 30 games in the friendly confines of Harley Park and no non-conference mid-week games more than three hours from the Spartanburg campus, heading only as far south as Charleston and as far north as Knoxville, Tenn.

Upstate will also continue to develop rivalries with traditional regional foes and powers, like the Atlantic 10’s Charlotte (at Charlotte, March 31; at Harley Park, April 6), the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Clemson (at Clemson, April 21), the Southern Conference’s The Citadel (at Charleston, March 10; at Harley Park, May 12) and the Southeastern Conference’s South Carolina (April 20, Columbia), and Tennessee (March 23, Knoxville). Upstate will also keep rivalries with the Big South’s Presbyterian (Feb. 20, Harley Park; Feb. 21, Clinton; April 7, Clinton), UNC Asheville (March 30, Harley Park; April 14, Asheville) and Gardner-Webb (March 3, March 24, Harley Park), all within an hour’s drive of Spartanburg, and Charleston Southern (March 9, Charleston; March 16, Harley Park).

The team will also start a few other non-conference relationships, including home-and-home agreements with SoCon power the College of Charleston (April 13, Harley Park; May 11, Charleston) and 2009 NCAA Regional participant Georgia State (Feb. 23, Atlanta; Feb. 24, Harley Park).

Fincher has also worked to keep developing the working relationship with Wofford for the Courtyard by Marriott Classic, a co-operative classic run by the two schools. This season, the tournament will occur on the second weekend of the season, from Feb. 26-28, with five games occurring in three days at Harley Park and Wofford playing four games at Russell C. King Field. The Spartans will host Dayton, NJIT and Butler during the tournament.

A reduction in the number of conference games from 30 to 27 in the 2010 season will also allow Upstate to play three more games at home, as the Spartans host George Washington for a three-game non-conference set on March 6-7. The Spartans will also play a two-game homestand to end the season on May 18-19 against the Colonial Athletic Association’s William & Mary.

The conference season favors Upstate this year as a mix of tough match-ups will head to Harley Park, as both the 2009 A-Sun Tournament champions and the two-time defending A-Sun regular season champions will visit Upstate. FGCU, the regular-season champs will kick off Upstate’s A-Sun season on March 12-13 while 2009 A-Sun Tournament champs Jacksonville visit on April 2-3. Also on Upstate’s home slate in A-Sun series are Campbell (April 16-17) and Kennesaw State (May 14-15).

The Spartans will hit the road five times for three-game A-Sun series, heading to ETSU (March 19-20), Belmont (March 26-27), North Florida (April 10-11), Mercer (April 23-24) and Stetson (May 7-8).

The Spartans return four starters and six pitchers from a squad that went 17-37 overall in 2009. The Spartans will be led by senior catcher Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr’s Mill), who was an All-Star this summer in the Northwoods League, and senior Matt Branham (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley), who went struck out a school-record 82 batters in 82 innings before being drafted in the 47th round of the MLB draft by the Houston Astros in June.

(Release)

Gamecocks’ slate features 25 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams

South Carolina Head Coach Ray Tanner

and face the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday, March 5 with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. The two schools will then make the trek to Greenville, S.C. and face off at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. First pitch on Saturday is 2 p.m. The series then concludes on Sunday afternoon in Columbia at Carolina Stadium with a 2 p.m. start.

Complete 2010 South Carolina Baseball Schedule (PDF)

The Gamecocks’ 30-game SEC schedule begins on Friday, March 19 with South Carolina hosting Tennessee. The Gamecocks will also host Mississippi State (April 2-4), Ole Miss (April 16-18), Alabama (April 30-May 2) and Florida (May 20-22). SEC road contests include Auburn (March 26-28), Vanderbilt (April 9-11), Georgia (April 23-25), Kentucky (May 7-9) and 2009 CWS participant Arkansas (May 14-16). Carolina will also play 10 additional in-state contests this year with Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, Furman, Presbyterian, The Citadel, USC Upstate, Winthrop and Wofford.

The SEC Tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. with the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Super Regionals the following two weeks. The College World Series in Omaha, Neb. is slated from June 19-30.

South Carolina owns the longest current streak of NCAA Regional appearances among the 12 SEC schools with 10 straight trips to the tournament dating back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina has seven NCAA Super Regional appearances (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) and three trips to the College World Series (2002, 2003, 2004). South Carolina is one of only seven schools in the nation to make at least seven NCAA Super Regionals in the last 10 years and one of only eight schools in the country to have reached the NCAA Regionals every season in this decade. The program’s 10-year total record of 468-201 is the fourth highest win total among NCAA Division I schools.

South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner is entering his 14th season at the helm with the Gamecocks and his 23rd year as a collegiate head coach. Tanner’s career record is 975-439-3 (.689) with a 580-266 (.686) mark at South Carolina. The .686 winning percentage is third highest in SEC history.

(Release)

This is the latest installment of the Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Report.  We are updating the progress of college baseball players who also play sports like football, soccer and swimming.  We have added a couple new players to the list as well.  If you know of someone not on the list shoot us an email and let us know: editor@collegebaseball360.com.

Shinskie

Dave Shinskie- 6’4-215 – Football: QB & Baseball: P
While Shinskie is not a college baseball player, he is an interesting two sport athlete.  Shinskie is a 25-year-old freshman who is starting at quarterback for the BC football team.  He has passed for 1,503 yards with 12 touchdowns and 9 int. so far in 2009.  He guided a 70 yard touchdown drive, capped by a one yard sneak to give the Eagles a 14-10 win over Virginia on Saturday.  The wins keeps BC’s ACC Atlantic Division title hopes alive.

Shinskie was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins, and he finished his minor league baseball career in 2009 in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.   He is not eligible to play for the BC baseball team.

Collaros

Cincinnati

Zach Collaros- 6’1-209 – Football: QB & Baseball: iF
Collaros batted just .204 in 49 at-bats in 2009 for the Bearcat baseball team.  However, he has had a much bigger impact this fall for the UC football team.  Collaros has completed 75- percent of his passes for 1,434 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions for the unbeaten Bearcats.  Cincinnati sits atop the Big East standing, and is ranked fourth in the most recent BCS standings.

Clemson

Kyle Parker- 6’1-200 – Football: QB & Baseball: OF
Parker graduated high school a semester early to enroll at Clemson in January 2008.  He’s a redshirt freshman on the football team, but he will be a junior on the baseball squad in 2010. Parker has completed 134 of his 252 pass attempts for 1,665 yards with 14 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.  He has helped lead Clemson (7-3, 5-2 ACC) into the Top 25 in 2009.  A win over Virginia on Nov. 21 would clinch the ACC’s Atlantic Divsion for the Tigers.

Elon

Scott Riddle-6’0-210-Jr. – Football: QB & Baseball: IF/C
This season Riddle became the  Southern Conference record holder for career completions and passing yards.  For the season Riddle has completed 65-percent of his passes  for 2,758 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Phoenix in 2009.  Elon (8-2) finishes the regular season Saturday at Samford.  Riddle ranks 8th in passing yards and 17th in pass efficiency in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Fairfield

Tucker Nathans-6’0-180-Jr. – Soccer: Forward & Baseball: 2B
Nathans started 10 of Fairfield’s 17 soccer games and totaled three points in 2009.  Nathans started all 47 games for the Fairfield baseball team last season, and led the Stags with a .377 average with a 1.006 OPS.

George Washington

Marshall Seedorf-6′3-185-So. – Swimming: Sprints & Baseball: P                                               Seedorf was one of just two freshman to qualify for the Atlantic 10 Championship finals in both the 50 and 100 meter freestyle events in 2009.  He pitched in relief in 13 games last season for the GW baseball team.  He is currently competing

Hofstra

Anthony Nelson-5’10-180-Jr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Nelson is Hofstra’s second-leading receiver with 28 catches for 352 yards and three touchdowns through nine games in 2009.

Holy Cross

Rob Dornfried-5’8-176-Jr. – Football: K & Baseball: IF
Dornfried has hit 6 of 8 field goals and 34 of 35 extra points through the Crusader’s first six games.  He converted all four extra points in Saturday’s 28-26 win over Lafayette.  The win clinched the Patriot League title & gave Holy Cross (9-1, 5-0) the league’s automatic entry into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Josh Hauser-6’4-218-Fr. – Football: TE & Baseball:

Kentucky

Brian Adams-6’4-212-Fr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Adams is a true freshman who was a high school quarterback and is now making the transition to receiver in college.

Louisiana-Monroe

Kolton Browning-6’2-181-Fr. – Football: QB & Baseball: Pitcher.
Browning is a true freshman that is a back-up quarterback on the football team and is expected to pitch for the Warhawk baseball team next spring.

LSU

Chad Jones-6’3-231-Jr. – Football: Safety & Baseball: Pitcher
Like his former LSU teammate, Jared Mitchell (drafted and signed by the Chicago White Sox), Jones has both a football and a baseball national championship ring.  Jones is LSU’s fourth leading tackler with 59 takedowns along with two interceptions.  Jones is also averaging 21.5 yards on six punt returns, including a 93 yarder for a touchdown vs. Mississippi State.

McNeese State

Jace Peterson-6’1-190-So. – Football: Safety & Baseball: IF
Peterson has 37 tackles, three sacks and an interception in the Cowboy’s first 10 games of 2009.  He batted .366 with 16 stolen bases in limited action on the diamond last spring.

Malcolm Bronson-5’11-188-So. – Football: Safety & Baseball: OF
Bronson leads McNeese (8-2) with 68 tackles in 2009.  He also has two interceptions.

Minnesota

Eric Decker-6’2-215-Sr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Decker entered the season on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List.  The award is given to the nation’s top receiver.  He started Minneosta’s first eight games, but suffered a foot injury and is out for the remainder of the 2009 season.  Although he has missed the Gopher’s last three games, he remains their leading receiver with 50 catches for 758 yards and five touchdowns.

Nebraska

Khiry Cooper-6’2-180-rsFr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Cooper started 20 games for the Cornhusker baseball team as a true freshman
last spring.

New Mexico State

Tanner Rust-6’2-195-Fr. – Football: QB & Baseball:
Rust is the Aggie’s third-string quarterback and he plans to play baseball next spring as well.  He would be just the second athlete to play both football and baseball at New Mexico State.

Nicholls State

Mike Barba-6’1-180-Fr. – Football: WR & Baseball

Kyle Hughes-6’5-220-Sr. – Football: LB & Baseball
Hughes has recorded 33 tackles with an interception in the Colonel’s ten games.

Kevin Persick-6’2-215-rsFr. – Football: LB & Baseball

North Carolina State

Russell Wilson-5’11-201 – Football: QB & Baseball: 2B
Wilson is a redshirt sophomore for the football team, but he will be a junior on the 2010 Wolfpack baseball squad.  He has completed 58-percent of his passes for 2,534 yards with 26 touchdowns and ten interceptions.  Wilson has also rushed for 319 yards and four touchdowns through seven games.

Notre Dame

Eric Maust-6’2-190-Sr. – Football: P & Baseball: Pitcher
Maust has averaged 35.8 yards on 19 punts in 2009.  As the holder on ND’s field goal team he completed a pass to convert a first down on a fake FG vs. USC.  He was an All-Big East pitcher in 2008.

Evan Sharpley-6’2-217-Sr. – Football: QB & Baseball
Sharpley is the ND 3rd string quarterback in 2009. He was named the
team’s scout team player of the week for his impersonation of Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick prior to ND’s 35-0 win. 2009 was Sharpley’s last season with the Irish baseball team. He was picked by Seattle in the 50th round of the June MLB draft. Sharpley batted .333 with 7 HR, 29 RBIs and a 1.043 OPS for the Mariner’s AZL Rookie League team.

Golden Tate

Golden Tate-5’11-195-Jr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Tate is a semi-finalist for the 2009 Biletnikoff Award.  He is ND’s leading receiver with 74 grabs for 1,172 yards and 11 touchdowns.  His 1,172 yards are the fourth most in the nation, and he’s 18th nationally in all-purpose yards.  Tate has also rushed for 159 yards and two TDs.  He returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown vs. Pittsburgh.

Oregon State

Jordan Poyer-5’11-181-Fr. – Football: S & Baseball

Penn State

Jesse Alfreno-5’11-194-Jr. – Football: CB & Baseball: Pitcher
Alfreno was 1-0 with one save in 20 relief appearances in 2009 for the Nittany Lions baseball team.

Steve Tedesco

Sacred Heart

Steve Tedesco-6’1-195-Sr. – Football: WR & Baseball: IF Tedesco is Sacred Heart’s leading receiver with 67 catches for 865 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.  His yardage ranks 14th in the Football Championship Subdivision.  He is the Sacred Heart (2-8) school record holder with 37 career touchdowns.  Tedesco had a career day with 12 catches for 144 yards and four touchdowns in the Pioneer’s 45-42 loss to Duquesne.

Bobby Shepherd-6’1-180-rs Fr. – Football: P & Baseball: Pitcher
Shephard made four relief appearances and two starts in ’09 for the Sacred
Heart baseball team. He’s the football team’s back-up punter.

South Alabama

Eddy Cabrera-5’9-160-Fr. – Football: DB & Baseball: OF
This is South Alabama’s first season of college football, which makes Cabrera

Gerhart

the first player in the 45-year history of the USA baseball program to play football and baseball.

Stanford

Toby Gerhart-6’1-235-Sr. – Football: RB & Baseball: OF
Gerhart is one of ten semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s top running back.  He has the third most rushing yards in the nation with 1,395 yards with 19 touchdowns in 2009.

On Sept. 26th he rushed for 200 yards and a TD in Stanford’s win over Washington.  On Nov. 7th he topped his own school record with 223 yards in a 51-42 upset of then #8 Oregon.  He also ran for 178 yards and 3 TDs in a Nov. 14th win at USC.  He is the first Cardinal back since 1988 to have a 200 yard rushing day.

In 2008 Gerhart was an outfield starter for Stanford’s College World Series team.

Texas State

Jeff McVaney-6’2-220-So. – Football: FB & Baseball: OF/LHP
McVaney made 12 relief appearances as freshman for the 2009 Bobcat baseball team that made it to the NCAA Tournament.   The fullback has four carries for nine yards through in 2009.

Matt Szczur

Villanova

Matt Szczur-5’11-195-Jr. – Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Szczur was second team All-CAA in football last season as a sophomore.  As a
redshirt freshman in 2009 he led the baseball team with a .346 average.  Szczur was a 38th round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of high school in 2007.

He has 33 catches for 335 yards and four touchdowns for the Wildcats (9-1)  in 2009.    Szcur is also averaging 28.8 yards on 19 kick returns (including one for a touchdown) this season.  As of Nov. 14 Villanova was third in the Football Championship Subdivision national rankings.

Marlon Calbi-5’11-180-So. – Football: QB/Holder & Baseball: SS
Calbi is a third-string quarterback who has played every career game as the
team’s holder. He started more than half of the baseball team’s games at
shortstop last season.

Christian Culicerto-5’9-190-So. – Football: QB & Baseball: LHP
Culicerto is a backup quarterback on the football team who walked on to the
baseball roster last season. He pitched in two games in relief.

Kenny Miles-5’11-180-Fr. Football: WR & Baseball: OF
Miles is a highly-touted freshman in both sports. He is currently low on the depth chart for football, because the team is deep at the wide receiver position.

Wofford

Landon Bennett-6’3-200-So. – Football: K/P & Baseball: OF
Bennett had 8 punts in four games in 2008 for the football team. During the 2008 baseball season played in 25 games with 14 starts and hit .298 with 17 hits and 8 RBIs.

A three-game home series with SEC member Alabama, road games at South Carolina and North Carolina, and 30 Southern Conference contests highlight the College of Charleston’s 2010 baseball schedule.

Cougar Head Coach Monte Lee

“We are excited about our 2010 schedule,” said second-year Cougar coach Monte Lee. “We have a three-game home series with SEC powerhouse Alabama, which has never happened here, along with non-conference games with South Carolina, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina and UNC Wilmington.

“We feel like we have a strong non-conference schedule to go along with an always competitive Southern conference schedule. We are excited about the challenge this schedule presents.”

The Cougars, who open the season with a three-game home series against Radford (Feb. 19-21), play 18 of their first 19 games at Patriots Point Stadium. Overall, Charleston plays 32 home games.

Charleston plays host to the Crimson Tide, March 5-7.  The Cougars have Southern Conference home series with Samford, Georgia Southern, Wofford, Elon and The Citadel.  The Cougars also play host to non-league members UNC Asheville, Holy Cross, Charleston Southern, Toledo, Ball State, Jacksonville, USC Upstate, UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina.

The Cougars play league series at UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, Furman, Davidson and Appalachian State.  Charleston also plays at Charleston Southern, South Carolina, USC Upstate, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, UNC Wilmington and a non-conference matchup with rival The Citadel on April 20.

The Southern Conference Tournament will be played at Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. from May 26-30.

(Press Release)

Commodores to play 35 games at Hawkins Field in spring

Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin

The Commodores will face 13 teams that made the NCAA tournament a year ago and 14 teams that finished with 30 or more wins.

Complete 2010 Vanderbilt Schedule (PDF)

Due to changes in the start date for baseball, Vanderbilt will open the season at home for the first time since 2005 as Niagara comes to Hawkins Field the weekend of Feb. 19-21 for a three-game series. VU will play Austin Peay on Feb. 23 before heading to Los Angeles to participate in the Jackie Robinson Tournament the weekend of Feb. 26-28. The Commodores will take on UCLA (Feb. 26) and USC (Feb. 27) at their home parks before concluding the trip against Big 12 power Oklahoma State (Feb. 28) at Dodger Stadium.

“I like the fact that we can open the season here at Hawkins Field for the first time in five years, then go out west the following week to play in a very high caliber tournament to prepare us for Southeastern Conference competition,” said Corbin.

Vanderbilt will return home for a nine-game homestand to start March, including hosting the Music City Classic after a one-year sabbatical. Tennessee Tech (March 2) will take on the Dores to open the skein before Kent State (March 5), Illinois State (March 6) and Indiana (March 7) come to Nashville to participate in the Classic the following weekend. Both Kent State and Indiana made the NCAA field in 2009, with the Commodores and Hoosiers facing off in the Louisville Regional last spring.

VU will close out its non-conference weekend schedule against Ohio (March 12-14) and will play home-and-home games against Western Kentucky (March 16 in Nashville, March 17 in Bowling Green) in midweek action.

The Commodores will open SEC play on the road against Alabama (March 19-21).

Vanderbilt will return home for a seven-game homestand with contests against Lipscomb (March 23), Wright State (March 24) Kentucky (March 26-28) and Wofford (March 30-31).

The Dores open April with a series at Florida (April 2-4) before beginning an eight game stretch at home against Belmont (April 6), South Carolina (April 9-11), Middle Tennessee (April 13) and Auburn (April 16-18).

The team will play its longest stretch away from home at the end of April with six games on the road: Lipscomb (April 20), Middle Tennessee (April 21), Tennessee (April 23-25) and at Austin Peay (April 27).

VU’s final stretch of regular season contests begins with a home series against Georgia (April 30, May 1-2) followed by a road series against defending national champions LSU (May 7-9). The Tigers are back on the schedule after a two-year absence due to the SEC schedule rotation. Ole Miss is not on the schedule for the next two years.

Vanderbilt will host Louisville in a rematch of last season’s regional championship game on May 11.

The Dores will travel to Mississippi State the weekend of May 14-16, before closing out the regular season at home against College World Series participant Arkansas on May 20-22. The series against the Razorbacks is a Thursday, Friday, Saturday set that every team in the league plays on the final weekend in preparation for the conference tournament.

The SEC tourney begins on May 26 in Hoover, Ala., and runs until May 30.

Schedule Notes:

• 2009 NCAA tournament teams on the schedule include Oklahoma State, Tennessee Tech, Kent State, Indiana, Western Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Middle Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Louisville, Arkansas.

• Opponents with 40 or more wins in 2009: Kent State (43-17), Western Kentucky (42-20), Florida (42-22), South Carolina (40-23), Middle Tennessee (44-18), LSU (56-17), Louisville (47-18), Arkansas (41-24).

• Opponents with 30 or more wins in 2009 (not including above teams): Oklahoma State (34-24), Tennessee Tech (31-24), Indiana (32-27), Alabama (37-21), Auburn (31-25), Georgia (38-24).

• Longest road trip: six games (April 20-27). Longest homestand: nine games (March 2-16).

(Press Release)