Two Illini players honored for Summer Success

The University of Illinois infielders Joe Bonadonna and Brandon Wikoff were recognized for their summer accomplishments. Bonadonna played for the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League where he received the Silver Glove Award (top defensive player) for second basemen. He was also named to the league's post season All-Star team. Bonadonna also broke the Northwoods league record for stolen bases in a season with 45 in 56 attempts. Wikoff received accolades from Perfect Game Crosschecker as the 24th best prospect in the Northwoods League and picked up a spot on the post season All-Star team. The full release is available here.

Dowdy dismissed from ECU Baseball team

Josh Dowdy of East Carolina has been dismissed from the baseball program according to a press release put out on Saturday. He earned a spot in the rotation in 2007 where he posted a 5-2 record with a 3.62 ERA. The full release is available here.

NCAA ties College World Series to new stadium

Months of negotiations remain to hash out the details of a new downtown home for the College World Series, but Omaha's mayor said Friday that the plan offers a "historic" chance to keep the championship in Omaha through 2030.

Rosenblatt Stadium

Seats: 23,145

Size: About 21 acres

Year built: 1947, for $1 million

Public investment: About $36 million in improvements have been made since 1989.

A plan to build a new ballpark north of the Qwest Center Omaha won the NCAA's blessing Friday, and city officials said they hope to finalize the stadium's design and financing plans by Jan. 1.

"This is a critical step in what is still a very long process. Now we can get to work on the details requested by the NCAA," Mayor Mike Fahey said.

Fahey's goal is a downtown home for the CWS by 2011.

Dennis Poppe, the NCAA's senior director for baseball and football, said: "We have a sense of direction, and we are moving forward."

Opponents of moving the CWS from its home at Rosenblatt Stadium said they are not giving up.

OMAHA.com

TCU announces 2008 Schedule

The TCU Horned Frogs have released their 2008 schedule recently. The Horned Frogs will open up the season on February 22nd when they host Cal-State Fullerton for the first game of a three game set. This game marks the beginning of the Dave Serrano era at Fullerton. The next weekend they will head up to Minneapolis to take part in the MetroDome tournament with Minnesota, Pepperdine, and Tulane. If you are in the Minnesota area, you need to make it to that tournament to see top of the line College Baseball as each school is expected to finish near the top of their conference. TCU then heads home for two non-conference weekday games before hosting Ole Miss for a three game set. TCU finishes their non-conference weekend schedule with a visit to Wichita State from March 14th-16th. TCU then heads into conference match-ups on the weekends and get the key match-up against Utah in Lupton Stadium on May 2nd-4th. TCU will also host the Mountain West Conference tournament on May 20th-25th. The full schedule is available in PDF format here. The College Baseball Blog expects TCU to make a run for the conference title in 2008.

Notre Dame opens up Fall Practice

The Notre Dame baseball program has opened up fall practice after a disappointing 2007 season which saw them finish the year with a 28-28 overall record while going 11-15 in the conference which gave them a seventh place finish. The Irish are welcoming a top ten recruiting class to South Bend and will try to return to the top of the Big East conference under second-year head coach Dave Schrage.

Ole Miss Fall Preview

The Ole Miss baseball program is starting up fall practice on Friday. The Daily Mississippian writer Chase Parham checks in on the team and provides some insight into the program's plans for the upcoming season. The full article is available here. The Ole Miss athletic department has also put out a release about the upcoming Fall practices which is available here.

Pitt and Charlotte start Fall Practice

The Pittsburgh Panthers and the Charlotte 49ers have started up Fall practice at each school. The Panthers finished the 2007 season with a 27-27 record and a 15-11 record in the Big East conference. Charlotte is coming off an NCAA appearance in the Columbia (SC) regional where they held their own against South Carolina and NC State. They won the Atlantic 10 conference with a 23-4 conference record and an overall record of 49-12.

Pittsburgh
Charlotte

Washington State Summer Recap

The Washington State Media Relations department has put out a release detailing the successful summers of many different Cougar baseball program. Greg Lagreid picked up the biggest honor as he was named an All-American at the National Baseball Congress World Series. The entire release is available from Washington State here.

Houston focusing on 2009 roster

The Daily Cougar, the official student newspaper of the University of Houston, has posted an article from Scott Gonzales on the recruiting efforts of the Houston program. Rayner Noble tells the writer that they already have four commitments for the 2009 season but want to pick up two more by the final signing day in November. The full article is available here.

Cornell returns a strong team

The Cornell Daily Sun writer Eric Haskel checked in on the Cornell baseball program status for fall practice. Cornell lost Justin Milo to UVM and pitcher Jim Hyland to graduation but return a veteran squad. Cornell finished the 2007 season in last place with a 8-12 record in the Gehrig Division in the Ivy League. The full article is available here.

Cornell releases 2008 schedule

The Cornell baseball program has announced their 2008 schedule which is highlighted by a season opening tournament where they will play face Siena and the host Virginia in four games. They will also take part in the Villanova Classic where they will play Temple, LaSalle, and the host Wildcats. The Big Red will make their annual trip to Florida but they have not announced opponents for the entire week. The team will open at home against Ivy League power Harvard on March 29th. The full schedule is available here.

Oregon State set to visit White House

FROM PRESS RELEASE
HILLSBORO, OREGON—September 17, 2007—The next grassy field the two-time NCAA Division I National Championship baseball team will march onto will be the famed south lawn of the White House. President George W. Bush has invited the Oregon State University Beavers to his home at the nation’s capital city, Washington, D.C., on Friday, September 21st. The President is expected to formally congratulate the team for its repeat win at the College World Series in June.

OSU Head Coach Pat Casey will present President Bush with a team jersey and a unique, commemorative championship baseball bat made by Wilson/DeMarini. The bat is painted in the Beavers’ colors, black and orange, with the OSU National Champion Team logo hand-painted on it alongside the DeMarini logo.

The gift is notable, since not only is DeMarini an Oregon company located not far from Oregon State University, DeMarini has played a major role in OSU’s success at the world-class plate. In the two years OSU has been exclusively swinging DeMarini bats, they have won national championships. In addition to OSU’s success, the NCAA Division II and III national championship teams also won swinging DeMarini, as did many top players at the Little League World Series.

Established in 1989, DeMarini Sports took the bat industry by storm with the world's first high-tech softball bat. Acquired by Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in 2000, DeMarini continues to research, design and build high-performance softball and baseball bats in its state-of-the-art Hillsboro, Oregon facility.

Lobos Add Another Carlson

New Mexico has signed its third of the four baseball playing brothers of Kansas. The Carlson klan of Topeka has pretty solid genes. Three brothers, including former stud Chris Carlson, signed with New Mexico. One is at Missouri State.

The latest is Zach Carlson and the story is linked here.

Rice Owls Release their Schedule for '08!

Rice opens the '08 campaign on the road against the Dirt Bags of Long Beach State. Then they come home to the Minute Maid Park College Classic with teams as Texas, ou, and Texas Tech.

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
02/22/08	at Long Beach State	Long Beach, Calif.	8:30 p.m. CT
02/23/08	at Long Beach State	Long Beach, Calif.	4:00 p.m. CT
02/24/08	at Long Beach State	Long Beach, Calif.	3:00 p.m. CT
02/26/08	vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Reckling Park	4:00 p.m. CT
02/27/08	vs. Houston	Reckling Park	4:00 p.m. CT
Minute Maid Park College Classic
02/29/08	Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech	Minute Maid Park	TBA
03/01/08	Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech	Minute Maid Park	TBA
03/02/08	Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech	Minute Maid Park	TBA
03/04/08	at Sam Houston State	Huntsville	6:30 p.m. CT
03/05/08	at Dallas Baptist	Dr Pepper Ballpark - Frisco	6:00 p.m. CT
Rice Classic
03/07/08	vs. Michigan State	Reckling Park	4:30 p.m. CT
03/08/08	vs. UC Irvine	Reckling Park	1:00 p.m. CT
03/09/08	vs. Creighton	Reckling Park	2:30 p.m. CT
03/11/08	vs. Texas	Reckling Park	6:30 p.m. CT
03/12/08	at Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Whatburger/Hooks Field - Corpus Christi	7:00 p.m. CT
03/14/08	vs. Winthrop	Reckling Park	6:30 p.m. CT
03/15/08	vs. Winthrop	Reckling Park	2:00 p.m. CT
03/16/08	vs. Winthrop	Reckling Park	1:00 p.m. CT
03/17/08	vs. Winthrop	Reckling Park	6:30 p.m. CT

Rice Owls

College Baseball In Jeopardy!

This letter was written by Coach Polk of Mississippi State University. Coach Polk has been a supporter of College Baseball during his long coaching career. This letter is very lengthy but very detail. Please take the time to read it and leave your comments.

Allow me to first of all apologize for the extreme length of this letter, but I deem it necessary to fully express my thoughts which are reflective of the concerns of a majority of our college baseball coaches (NCAA-I), our student-athletes, their respective family members, and those that care about the value and worth of intercollegiate baseball.

All educators, which includes coaches, must first gain the attention of those with whom they are communicating so they are fully aware who the communicator is and what credentials that person possesses.

My name is Ron Polk, and I am the head baseball coach at Mississippi State University which is a member of the Southeastern Conference. As you read this letter, you will quickly ascertain that my grammar is not the best, nor is my sentence structure and punctuation. For, I am just a baseball coach.

Scout.com

Help Wanted??

I have recently been told by my current employer that they will be cutting my hours down so I will have some more time to cover college baseball for the time being but I am in the need for a full-time position in New England. I have a Bachelor's of Science from UNH in Sport Studies and a minor in Recreational Management and Policy. Does anyone have any job openings that I am qualified for? I will do pretty much anything that will use me to the best of my abilities. If you have any ideas or possible openings feel free to email me by clicking here.

This is one of the reasons why I have not been posting much on the site as I am currently looking for a job and don't have all the time to work on the site but I hopefully will be able to settle this situation soon.

Penn State Scrimmage Recap

The Penn State Baseball Program played two scrimmages on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, The teams played until a 2-2 tie which was ended because both teams ran out of pitchers. The White team scored two runs in the first inning off of Blue starter Mike Lorentson. The game would stay 2-0 until the fourth inning when Grant Youngblood got a two out walk. He proceeded to move to second on a single from Mike Deese. Youngblood would then steal third base and would advance home as the throw got away to put the Blue team behind 2-1. The game would stay 2-1 until the ninth inning when with two outs Mike Deese hitting a double and coming home on a single from Joe Blackburn. The scrimmage on Monday was won by the White team 3-1. The White team would use a two run sixth inning to grab the victory. The score was tied at one in the sixth when Jack Greenberg got a leadoff walk moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single from freshman catcher Bobby Jacobs. Jacobs would get moved to second on a pass ball and then scored on a single from Rob Yodice. The full recap from the scrimmages is available here.

What's In Store for 2008

Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com has been busy churning out quality content. Some of his latests items include:

- A rundown of the issues for SEC teams in 2008

- The same rundown for Big 12 squads

- A pre-Fall listing of the top 25 teams heading into the next season (not really a top 25, but rather a 25 teams to watch, listed in alphabetical order).

In his latest Mailbag, Kendall also discusses Irvine, Wake Forest, Oregon and Oregon State, and the differences between Fresno State and San Diego.

Commodores land another All-American

What does it feel like to recruit running backs like Southern Cal? Probably a lot like how Coach Tim Corbin feels when he's recruiting arms. Corbin has nailed down a seventh big time Pitcher for the '09 recruiting class.

This one might be the biggest. Adding in a two top JuCo transfers, an elite third sacker and a stud outfielder, and Coach Erik Bakich is close to finishing up recruiting for the current cycle.

Mike Rapp reports on the newest commitment and on the three blue chippers that the Commodores are believed to still be waiting to hear from. You can read the article here if you're a Rivals.com subscriber.

The latest commitment comes after three weekends in a row in which the Commodores hosted top recruiting prospects, including the blue chippers above referenced. They follow a recruiting class from which Bakich and Corbin escaped Draft-unscathed. Highlighting the new Commodores are potential true-Freshman impact players Catcher Curtis Casali, Pitcher Chase Reid, and Firstbaseman Aaron Westlake. Expected to have more time to grow are high ceiling Pitcher Kellen St. Luce and Outfielder Joey Manning.

Inside look at Kansas Baseball

Shawn Shroyer of The Daily Kansan provides an inside look at the walk-on tryouts for the Jayhawks baseball program. Shroyer went into the tryouts as the only first baseman and provides some insight on how hard it is to play Division 1 baseball. The full article is available here.

Arkansas filling holes?

The Arkansas Traveler writer Cory Crawford checks in on the Arkansas baseball program where they have welcomed 20 new players. The Hogs will be looking to fill in the starting rotation where they were decimated by the MLB where they had three starting pitchers picked in the first two rounds. They will also replace five position players who were lost to the MLB draft. The full article is available here.

Maine to play four games this fall

The Maine Black Bears have announced that they will play a pair of games against the Academy of Baseball Canada and Team Ontario the next two weekends. On September 21st they will host Baseball Canada at 5 pm and then will take them on the next day at 5 pm or at the conclusion of the Umass-Maine football game. They will play Team Ontario September 29th and 30th at 2:30 to round out the fall schedule. The full release is available here.

Baylor Bears start fall Practice!

The players are lacing up their cleats. The leather mitts are popping from blazing fastballs. The ping from the impact made on aluminum bats echoes across the street.

Fall baseball practice has arrived for Baylor, and although most of the team still hasn't had much of a break from the game since spring practice started late last January, the Bears are back on the diamond preparing to contend for their first College World Series appearance since 2005.

Baylor will return six starting position players and a deep pitching rotation for the 2008 season.

But head coach Steve Smith said the fall is an important time to evaluate the incoming freshman class as well as the progression of his returning players after summer leagues at various locations across the country.

"Obviously we have a lot of new guys," Smith said. "We get a chance to see them up close and personal, so there is a lot of evaluation going on. A lot of the teaching going on for the guys is much of a review since we have so many returning players."

Sports.Yahoo.com

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