Wright State And Illinois-Chicago Look To Continue Dominance

2009 Regular Season Champ: Illinois-Chicago (UIC)

2009 Tournament Champ: Wright State defeated UIC 6-2 to win its 3rd league title and first since 2006.

The two most successful programs in the Horizon League for the past several years battled it out again in 2009.  Wright State and UIC, winners of 5 of the last 6 Horizon League Tournament titles squared off in the championship game where Wright State won the championship and earned their ticket to the NCAA tournament.

The Horizon League also saw three players earn national recognition.  Wright State’s Casey McGrew made the 22-man USA Collegiate National Team that played teams from around the world last summer.  Jared Miller from Valparaiso and Wright’s State’s Michael Schum both garnered Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American honors.

2010 Horizon League Preview

Butler

2009 Record: (13-41, 6-20)

Mascot: Bulldogs

Head Coach: Steve Farley

Location: Indianapolis, IN

Vitals: .253 BA, 18 HR, .340 OBP, .952 Fld. %…7.59 ERA, 6 SVs, 346 K, 174 BB, .350 Opp. BA

Junior Achievers: Butler’s top two offensive threats juniors Luke Duncan (.308 BA, 25 R, 4 triples) and Grant Fillipitch (.302 BA, 17 doubles, 7 HR) return to lead the Bulldogs lineup in 2010.

Boys of Winter: The Bulldogs open their home schedule March 3rd against Indiana Tech.  They also host Marian College and Buffalo before the calendar officially turns to spring.

Outside All-Pro Freight Stadium

2009 Record: (21-31, 12-13)

Mascot: Vikings

Head Coach: Kevin Kocks

Location: Cleveland, OH

Vitals: .297 BA, 50 HR, .365 OBP, .959 Fld. %…6.56 ERA, 9 SVs, 290 K, 228 BB, .300 Opp. BA

Brand New Park: Cleveland State has a new place to call home for 2010.  The Vikings will play their home games at All-Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, OH, the home stadium of the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League.  They open the park March 24th against Eastern Michigan.

Team of the Rise: The 21 wins a year ago are the second most for one season in the past decade.  The most were the 22 wins in 2008.

Key Returners: Sr. Ryan Franks (.380 BA, 12 doubles) and So. Tyler Wynn (.303 BA, 11 HR) lead the Viking offense, while Sr. Travis Miller (1-0, 3.48 ERA, 4 SVs) and So. Nate Dick (4-1, 4.13 ERA) return to headline the pitching staff.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

2009 Record: (28-27, 14-9)

Mascot: Panthers

Head Coach: Scott Doffek

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Vitals: .306 BA, 44 HR, .373 OBP, .965 Fld. %…6.33 ERA, 10 SVs, 346 K, 201 BB, .301 Opp. BA

Big Tests: UW-Milwaukee travels to Minnesota, Arkansas, and Kansas State during their non-conference schedule.

In Good Hands: Head Coach Scott Doffek was the Horizon League Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to a second place finish last year.  He’s guided

Tim Patzman

his team to 25 wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons and currently has a 13-game home winning streak carrying over into this season.

Looking for More: Two 1st team All-Horizon League players return in 2010 for UW-Milwaukee.  Sr. OF Tim Patzman hit the team Triple Crown for the Panthers last year with a .389 BA, 11 HR, and 44 RBI.  He’s joined by Jr. OF Doug Dekoning (.338, 44 R, 5 HR) to lead the offensive attack.

Illinois-Chicago

2009 Record: (29-23, 17-6)

Mascot: Flames

Head Coach: Mike Dee

Location: Chicago, IL

Nathan Orf

Vitals: .297 BA, 36 HR, .383 OBP, .968 Fld. %…4.62 ERA, 7 SVs, 292 K, 136 BB, .290 Opp. BA

Leading the Way: A pair of 2nd team All-Horizon League selections are back to lead UIC this year.  Jr. INF Jason Ganek (.333 BA, 3 HR, 35 RBI) and So. C Nathan Orf (.429 BA, 10 doubles in 36 games) solidify the lineup.  Orf was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team for his effort.

Aces Gone: UIC must replace Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Adam Worthington (4-5, 3.48 ERA, 3 CG) and closer Derrick Miramontes (6-2, 2.58 ERA, 7 SVs).  Worthington was drafted 606th overall by the  Arizona Diamondbacks, while Miramontes signed a professional contract with the independent Southern Illinois Miners.

Tough Tests: A challenging schedule awaits the Flames.  UIC makes road trips to Alabama, Western Kentucky, Notre Dame and Baylor and play host to Georgia Tech for a three game series in early May.

Valparaiso

2009 Record: (28-24, 12-11)

Mascot: Crusaders

Head Coach: Tracy Woodson

Location: Valparaiso, IN

Vitals: .275 BA, 25 HR, .361 OBP, .957 Fld. %…4.47 ERA, 20 SVs, 316 K, 135 BB, .275 Opp. BA

Everyone’s All-American: Valpo closer Jarad Miller (2.16 ERA, 17 SVs, .178

Jarad Miller

Opp. BA) is a preseason Louisville Slugger 3rd team All-American.
Key Returners: Jr. RHP Bryce Shafer (7-3, 3.59 ERA, 2 CG) leads the Crusader pitching staff, while Horizon League All-Newcomer OF Kyle Gaedele (.278, 3 HR) will provide pop in the lineup.  This past summer, he stole 30 bases, hit .278 and cracked a league-leading 5 homers in The Prospect League.

Hit the Road: Valpo spends the first 23 games on the road before opening their home schedule March 30th against Central Michigan.

Wright State

2009 Record: (33-30, 14-12)

Mascot: Raiders

Head Coach: Rob Cooper

Location: Dayton, OH

Vitals: .318 BA, 49 HR, .375 OBP, .969 Fld. %…4.97 ERA, 15 SVs, 385 K, 183 BB, .296 Opp. BA

Big Hitters: As a team, Wright State hit over .300 for the fourth straight season led by Horizon League Player of the Year Jeff Mercer who hit .357 with 21

Michael Schum

doubles, 8 HR, and 74 RBI.  Newcomer of the Year Quentin Cate returns to the lineup after hitting .352 with 12 HR and 57 RBI.

That’s a Relief: Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year So. RHP Michael Schum (5-7, 1.95 ERA, 13 SVs) is back to lead the pitching staff.  The Raiders also welcome back three starters and see the return of Sr. LHP Jon Durket, a 1st team All-Horizon League pitcher in 2008, who missed 2009 due to injury.

Tough Tests: Wright State prepares for a challenging 2010 schedule.  The Raiders travel to Clemson, Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

Youngstown State

2009 Record: (16-35, 10-14)

Mascot:  Penguins

Head Coach: Rick Pasquale

Location: Youngstown, OH

Vitals: .279 BA, 32 HR, .347 OBP, .954 Fld. %…6.62 ERA, 4 SVs, 300 K, 210 BB, .314 Opp. BA

Pocket Aces: Youngstown State returns two of the top pitchers in the Horizon League in Jr. RHP Phil Klein and Sr. RHP Aaron Swenson.  Klein was a 1st team All-Horizon League selection after going 5-2 with a 4.62 ERA and 80 K in 76 innings.  Swenson (3-6, 6.10 ERA), the 2008 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year, looks to rebound after a down year in 2009.

Big Return: Three key position players are back in 2010.  Sr. C Anthony Porter (.316 BA, 4 HR), So. 1B Jeremy Banks (.302 BA, 4 HR, 30 RBI), and Sr. INF Jacke Healey (.293 BA, 17 doubles, 8 HR) return to lead the Penguins offense.

No Place Like Home: Youngstown State doesn’t open their home slate until a March 31st game against Canisius.  The Penguins then spend 21 of the next 23 games at the friendly confines of Eastwood Field.

2010 Horizon League Predictions

Champion: Wright State, with UIC and UW-Milwaukee challenging

Player of the Year: Tim Patzman–UW-Milwaukee

Pitcher of the Year: Michael Schum—Wright State

(By Collegebaseball360.com contributor Shawn Lewallen)

Horizon League Champs Look To Return To NCAAs

Wright State head coach Rob Cooper

that made the NCAA Tournament last season and square off against teams from 12 different conferences.

Complete 2010 Wright State Schedule

The Raiders will face 2009 College World Series participant Virginia, Super Regional Participant Clemson, along with Dartmouth, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and Xavier who were all among the field of 64 at season’s end in 2009. The Raiders appeared in their third NCAA Regional in 2009 – their second in four seasons under Cooper – and dropped a pair of tightly contests to nationally ranked TCU and Texas A&M at the Ft. Worth Regional.

In 2010, the Raiders will play 26 games versus Horizon League opponents and, in their 31 other scheduled contests, WSU will face teams from 12 separate conferences. WSU will face teams from the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big East, Big XII, Conference USA, Ivy Group, Mid-American Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, SEC and Summit League, along with independent LeMoyne.

“Our 2010 schedule features a wealth of talented teams from around the nation,” said head coach Rob Cooper. “We will see many different styles of baseball to open the season and play some very good baseball teams to prepare us for the Horizon League schedule. Our goal is to play in an NCAA Regional every season and we have a handful of teams on our schedule, this season, which play at that level.”

The Green and Gold will open the season with four games in a round-robin tournament with Canisius and LeMoyne (2/19-21) at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, NC. The following weekend, coach Cooper and his squad will head to Clemson, SC to tangle with the Tigers (2/26-28) in a three game series with the 11-time College World Series participant.

The next weekend will feature a pair of NCAA Tournament participants as the Raiders will head to Charlottesville, Virginia to play in the UVA Tournament. WSU will bookend their game against Dartmouth (3/6) with a pair of contests versus Virginia (3/5 and 3/7), who advanced to the College World Series last season. WSU will then co-host a round robin affair and kick off their home slate with a single game versus Oakland (3/12) and a twinbill with Indiana State (3/13), before traveling to Dayton for a contest on March 14.

The next three of the next four opponents for the Raiders will include a trio of NCAA Tournament regulars. WSU will travel south to take on Kentucky in a midweek tilt (3/17) before heading to Oklahoma State for a round robin tournament. The Green and Gold will take on Missouri State (3/19 and 3/21) twice and take on the host Cowboys (3/20 and 3/21) in a pair of contests. Wright State will conclude their road trip with a single game at Vanderbilt on Wednesday, March 24.

“The Horizon League has become a very competitive conference from top to bottom over the past few seasons,” said Cooper. “Every team has a chance to win on any day and our hope is that the non-conference schedule prepares our team for the grind of the league schedule. We want to be playing our best baseball at the end of the year and competing against the teams from our conference will prepare us to defend our Horizon League Championship.”

From there, WSU will open Horizon League play with a three-game set versus Valparaiso (3/26-27) at Nischwitz Stadium and then host Xavier (3/31) to close out the month. April will start with six of the first seven games on the road, with coach Cooper leading his squad into a series at Butler (4/2-3), before hosting Ohio (4/6) and traveling to Cleveland State (4/9-10) and taking part in the Joe Nuxhall Classic (4/13-14) hosted by Miami University.

The Green and Gold will then host eight-time defending Horizon League Regular Season Champion UIC for three games (4/16-17) and, then, square off with Dayton (4/21) in WSU’s Fifth Annual Military Appreciation Night at Nischwitz Stadium.

The next nine games will be on the road for the defending Horizon League Tournament Champions, starting with a double-header swing through the Chicago-area. WSU will compete at Valparaiso (4/23) and at UIC (4/24), before returning to the Buckeye State for five contests. After traveling to Toledo (4/28) for a midweek tilt, the Green and Gold will head to Niles, Ohio for a three-game series with Youngstown State (4/30-5/1).

The schedule sees a pair of contests with Cincinnati on back-to-back days, staring at Marge Schott Stadium on May 4 and then followed with a contest at Nischwitz Stadium on May 5. The next seven games will be played at Nischwitz Stadium with Milwaukee coming to town for a three game series on May 7 and 8. Cleveland State and Youngstown State will venture south for a pair of twinbills scheduled on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16, respectively.

The Green and Gold will close out the regular season with a trip to Huntington, WV to take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall. WSU will play one game each day versus the Herd starting on May 20 and ending on May 22.

The 2010 Horizon League Championship will take place at U.S. Steel Yard in Gary, Ind. as the Raiders will begin their title defense on Wednesday, May 26. A champion will be crowned on Saturday, May 29, with a rain date on Sunday, May 30, where WSU will be looking to defend their 2009 title and make a third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five years.

(Release)