Hawaii Rainbows start practice

The Hawaii Rainbows will be starting practice today. Head Coach Mike Trapasso is in a rebuilding mode for this season but they should still be competitive with 3b Justin Frash returning and 9 game winner Ian Harrington. He lost his ace in Steven Wright, Darrell Fisherbaugh who led the team in saves, leadoff hitter Robbie Wilder, cleanup hitter Luis Avila, and fifth hitting Matt Inouye. These are some major losses but Coach Trapasso will be able to recharge the Rainbows batteries this upcoming season. The full article from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is available here.

GoJackets checks in with a UNC Baseball preview

GoJackets.com checks in with a preview on the UNC Tar Heels. They will continue to be a power in the ACC with their hitting but they need to replace both Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard to head back to the CWS Final. Robert Woodard is the only returning starter and Andrew Carignan returns in the Closer role. The full preview is available here.

Texas Tech starts practice

The Texas Tech Red Raiders have started practice for the upcoming season. The Red Raiders are led by 21st year Head Coach Larry Hays. The two stars of the team this year are Junior catcher Matt Smith and Sophomore outfielder Roger Kieschnick who were both named to the NCBWA Preseason All-America Team. The full article about them starting practice is available here.

AP checks in with Tony Gwynn

The Associated Press wrote a recent article about Tony Gwynn, the current Head Coach of San Diego State. He discusses the upcoming Hall of Fame voting in which he is probably going to be inducted to this year. He also talks about the expectations at SDSU of getting to a regional where his team has not been in over 15 seasons. The full article is available here.

Jacksonville releases 2007 schedule

The Jacksonville University Dolphins and head coach Terry Alexander have released the 2007 Baseball Schedule. They have many highlights for the upcoming season including a visit from Florida State. They will also face perennial SEC powers Florida and Auburn. The Atlantic Sun Tournament will be hosted by Stetson in Deland FL for the sixth straight season.
Press Release and Schedule available.

2007 Big East Pre-season Poll and Teams

The Big East Conference released the Pre-Season poll in which St. John's was given 7 out of the possible 11 first place votes. The University of Notre Dame received four votes with the Cardinals of Louisville getting the other vote. Notre Dame sophomore Kyle Wieland was picked as the Pre-Season Pitcher of the year and Rutgers junior Todd Frazier was the Pre-Season Player of the year. The full release is available here.

I think you should not sleep on USF and Duke transfer Danny Otero as they are my team to watch in the Big East.

Southern Miss Stadium News

The Southern Miss baseball program is making some serious progress at Pete Taylor Park. The stadium is getting a facelift for the upcoming season and the Southern Miss Sports Information has posted a new photo gallery on the official site which can be viewed here.

Update: One of my frequent readers sent me a link to some more detailed information on the project which can be read here.

Utes and Hoosiers getting ready for 07

The University of Utah Utes are preparing for the upcoming season. The first practice for the Ute squad will be Monday and the first game is on Feb. 2nd at Santa Clara. The full press release about them preparing for the season is available here. The full schedule is also available here.

The Indiana Hoosiers have started up a series of press releases about the newcomers to the program. The first player showcased is Tom Devero. They also have added a preview with Matt Bashore which can also be read.
The Hoosiers open the season on Feb. 23rd against Troy and the full schedule is able to be viewed here.

Coastal Carolina getting excited for season

The Sun News checks in with an article on Gary Gilmore and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. They will continue the small group and individual workouts until Jan. 19th when the team will first practice as a group. The full article from The Sun News is available here.

Manhattan Releases 2007 Schedule

Head Coach Kevin Leighton has released the 2007 schedule for the Jaspers. They will play a very weak schedule since they are members of the MAAC conference and even the Out of Conference schedule is against the likes of Liberty, Wofford, and FIU. The full schedule is available here.

Soto and Rodriguez both sign new deals

Both Jedd Soto and Steve Rodriguez have signed new contracts at their respective schools. Soto has been with Saint Mary's since the 2004 season where he has a 60-96 record. I know that record doesn't sound great but the program was in shambles before he joined and has increased the win total in every year since joining the program. The press release for Soto is available here. They will open the season on January 26th when they host Nevada.

Steve Rodriguez of Pepperdine University signed his new deal through the 2012 season. He has been the head coach of the Waves since the 2004 season and has a 113-76 record. Rodriguez knows that the expectations are always high at Pepperdine because he was a member of the 1992 National Championship squad. His press release about his new contract is available here. The Waves will open in Vegas against the Rebels of UNLV on Groundhog Day. (Just found out Runnin' Rebels is for the Basketball program only)

Perfect Game checks in with Recruits

Perfect Game has released a listing of the National Showcase players who have signed letter of intents to play college baseball next season. The full list is available here.

Soto sits down for an interview

Jedd Soto sat down with guest host Rich Davi to discuss his Saint Mary's Baseball program. It is a very interesting interview in which he goes into details about his preparations and expectations for the season. He also talks about how the stability of his staff has helped create a good working relationship between the coaches and the players. The full interview is linked here.

Baseball America Chat

Baseball America had a chat today about the upcoming season. They address many different topics including the ACC with some discussion about Andrew Brackman and Virginia's pitching among other topics. It is a pretty lengthy chat with Aaron Fitt and can be read here.

Baseball America releases a College Preview

Baseball America has released a Pre-Season Top 50 for the upcoming season. The article is in PDF format and can be read here.

Spencer checks in

Dan Spencer, an assistant coach with NCAA Champion Oregon State, checks in at College Baseball Insider with an article about pitchers and how they react to different situations. The full article is available here.

NU adds Glavine

Northeastern has added Mike Glavine to their coaching staff for the upcoming season Head Coach Neil McPhee announced. Glavine was recently inducted into the Northeastern Sports Hall of Fame in October. Mike will be in charge of the infielders and hitters. He is a resident of Billerica like his more famous brother Tom Glavine of the New York Mets. The full release available here and the his baseball facility can be checked out here.

Sebaseball free previews

SEBaseball checks in with some previews which I have missed in the recent weeks. They posted a very nice previews which are linked below.
Houston
Louisiana Tech
James Madison
Louisville

I have been slacking off lately but with the recent holidays and great football games on TV (see Boise State vs Oklahoma), I have not had too much time to be blogging. You can expect me to be blogging more in the near future and especially with the season starting up at the end of the month.

UAB picks up a late Transfer

UAB has picked up a very late transfer for the upcoming season in Dustin Colburn who will be playing for the school during the 2007 season. He attended Central Alabama originally but transferred to Shelton Community College for a couple of seasons before deciding to head back up to Division 1 in Alabama-Birmingham. The full press release on Mr. Colburn is available here.

UAB's full schedule is available here if you are interested in the Blazers this upcoming season.

Random Stuff

Louisville has released the 2007 schedule. They will be appearing in my neck of the woods April 13th-15th at Uconn. The full schedule is available in PDF format.

St. Mary's and Head Coach Jedd Soto have released the 2007 schedule. They play a very challenging schedule including visiting my favorite coach in Paul Mainieri at LSU. The full schedule is available here.

LSU also have released new artist renderings of the New alex Box Stadium which is due to open in 2008. The drawings are available here.

St. Louis and Head Coach Bob Hughes have announced the signing of five student athletes for the 2008 season. They are continuing to build a good program in the A-10. Full release here.

Ohio signs a pitcher

The University of Ohio has signed Ross Overstreet for the 2008 season. He will likely enter college as a pitcher. Last year as a Junior in HS, he had a 4-5 record with 2 saves and carried an ERA of 2.31. He will receive a 3/4 of a full ride at Ohio which was one of the deciding factors in the recruiting process. The full article is available here.

Shawn Roof Interview

I was recently tipped off about an interview with Shawn Roof of the University of Illinois Baseball Team. He spoke about many different topics including the upcoming 2007 season and how it is to grow up the son of a professional baseball coach in Gene Roof. The full interview is available here.

Hat Tip to Big Ten Hardball for the link.

2007 Wichita State Preview

The Wichita State Shockers have posted the 2007 season preview on the Shocker website. They are led by Gene Stephenson who returns for his 30th season. He has led them to their 29th consecutive season of having 40 wins and made the NCAA Tournament in 24 of those years. He will try to led the Shockers back to the CWS for the first time in 11 years. They return 87 percent of their pitching wins in returning pitchers. On the offensive side of things, Third Baseman Conor Gillaspie will be the focus of the offensive barrage. In 2006, He hit 352 with 18 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 67 RBI.

The full preview is available here.

University of Missouri-St. Louis loses in Court

The University of Missouri in St. Louis lost the appeal case that was pending in the courts about current head baseball coach Jim Brady's charges of age discrimination against the university. The administration asked every coach over 40 years old to sign a contract that they will go over .500 or resign the position. I really haven't been following this story so the full article is here.

Another Clemson Preview

Scout.com checks in with a very good preview on the Clemson Tigers this upcoming season. Clemson is ranked number 2 in the pre-season poll by Collegiate Baseball. They lost about half of the starting lineup from last season and the entire starting rotation. They will be able to fill one of those starting pitcher spots in David Kopp. He showed the College Baseball Blog staff a very live arm with a 6.1 inning emergency appearance last year at Boston College. He also had a very good pitching record last year with 6-2 record and a 4.32 ERA in mid-week starts last season. The other two starting positions are expected to be filled by two of the following: P.J. Zocchi, Sean Clark, and Ryan Hinson.

The full preview by Scout.com on Clemson is available here.

Slow Day

I came on here to post some articles but there is nothing interesting released by the great SID's of this country. The season is about to start in a month and I can't wait to see the best time of the year happen again. Hope everyone had a safe holiday and I am working my butt on the season preview which will be out around Jan. 15th. Email me here with any questions or comments.

PS What stadium is that statue at?

Happy Holidays

I just want to wish all my loyal readers a safe and happy holiday season. I will be back on Tuesday with some more articles about College Baseball.

Pre-Season poll and All-Americans Released

The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper has released their version of the 2007 Pre-Season Top 40 poll. They have Rice ranked in the first spot followed by Clemson, South Carolina, Arkansas, and North Carolina to finish out the top 5. The full list of schools is available in PDF format.

They have also released the 2007 Pre-Season All-American team. The team is led by Matt Wieters of Georgia Tech. He was an excellent player all year during the college and also during the Cape Cod League this summer. He should continue to dominate this upcoming season in his hunt to win the CWS and be the Number 1 overall pick in the draft. The full team is available here in PDF format also.

UMD Releases 2007 Schedule

The University of Maryland has released their 2007 Baseball Schedule. The highlights on the schedule are a visits from Florida State, CWS Finalist North Carolina, and perennial power Clemson. They will also make their first trip to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes. It is expected for Maryland to be in the lower tier of the ACC but things are starting to look up for Coach Rupp and the Terrapins. The schedule is available in HTML and PDF formats.

Kevin Cooney's Recent Article

Kevin Cooney, the Head Coach of the FAU Baseball checks in with his monthly diary about college baseball over at the College Baseball Insider. He talks about many different things including Peter Hughes and his headshot on his profile at Va Tech which is pictured above. Check out his full article here.

MSU Releases 2007 Schedule

The Michigan State Spartans have officially released their 2007 schedule. They will face a challenging season with the likes of Auburn and Oklahoma on the Out of Conference schedule in addition to the Big Ten powers of Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio State. The full schedule is available in HTML and PDF.

Clemson Update

The Clemson Tigers have signed 14 players which will start playing in the 2008 season. There are kids from seven different states which have signed letter of intent's to play for Jack Leggett. I know Jack used to coach at Vermont thus the reason he picked up Casey Harman from Burlington VT. The full list of recruits is available here.

The Clemson Media Relations Department has released a 2007 Season Outlook for the Jack Leggett led squad. The Season outlook is available here.

Gophers dig up nine athletes for 2008

Head Coach of the Minnesota Gophers John Anderson has signed nine players for the 2008 season. The team signed eight players from Minnesota and one from the great state of Wisconsin. The Gophers hope to compete for the conference title this year in a very tough Big ten.

Full press release on recruits here.

2007 Ole Miss Baseball Schedule

The 2007 Ole Miss Baseball schedule has been released. Ole Miss will take a trip to Minneapolis to play in the Dairy Queen Classic. They also host UCLA for a 3 game set in March. The rest of the schedule is SEC teams and the SEC is expected to be one of the top conferences in College Baseball.

Schedule available here.

Kent State Baseball Update

Head Coach Scott Stricklin has released his 2007 schedule. They will play in some marquee games this year including participating in the Winthrop University (includes East Tennessee State and Temple) and Louisville University (California and Indiana State) Invitationals and they visit Wake Forest, Florida, and Southern Miss each for a 3 game sets. This is by far the toughest Non-Conference schedule I have seen this season. I have to give Coach Stricklin some credit for going out and scheduling some big names. The full schedule is available here.

Kent State has also released the list of recruits for the 2008 season. They have six players who are joining the team and five of them are from Ohio. This class continues the tradition of strong recruiting under third year head coach Scott Stricklin who had his recruiting class last year ranked 17th by Baseball America.

Diamond Heels succeeding in classroom

North Carolina recently graduated four players who went on to play professional baseball before fulfilling their graduation requirements. All four student-athletes came back to college recently and finished up on their degrees. The four players are Bo Dickerson, Marshall Hubbard, Matt McCay, and Daniel Moore. Coach Mike Fox was quoted saying that "Our players are here first and foremost to receive an education, and these four have made us extremely proud. We have a great track record of graduating our players, even those that leave early to pursue a career in professional baseball."

Full release available here.

WVU releases 2007 Schedule

The West Virginia Mountaineers have released their 2007 schedule. They will start the season in Winston Salem to play Cleveland State for a three game set at Ernie Shore Field. They will then return to the Carolinas the next two weekends to take part in the Baseball at the Beach and the Coastal Carolina tournaments. They will then return to Morgantown to start the home schedule with a doubleheader against Niagara. They will continue their homestand for another 16 games before heading on the road to start the road portion of the Big East schedule. The full schedule is available here and The College Baseball Blog likely will see these guys when they visit the Huskies late in the season.

Arkansas Little Rock Releases Schedule

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock have released their 2007 schedule. There is no major surprises with them facing the teams in the Sun Belt conference in addition to mid-major powers in Northern Iowa and Creighton. The full press release is available here and the schedule in HTML format here.

Erik Morrison checks in

Erik Morrison, the junior infielder of the Kansas Jayhawk baseball team did a recent Q & A with the Kansas Athletic department on the upcoming season and other topics. It is an interesting read and gives you some insight into Mr. Morrison's world.

Article available here.

Maryland Sign Seven for 2008 Season

I was forwarded this article from Maryland Sports Information staff member Dan Reisig. He is always a big help with getting information on the Terps.

Maryland baseball head coach Terry Rupp announced today seven future Terrapins who joined the team by signing National Letters of Intent this fall. The seven players, four of whom have chosen to play collegiate ball in their home state, are valuable assets who will have the opportunity to contribute when they join the Terps for the 2007-08 school year.

The seven signees are: Kyle Blackwell ( Rockville , Md. /Sherwood HS), Reid Chenworth ( Baltimore , Md. /Calvert Hall HS), Brett Harman ( Baltimore , Md. / Westminster HS), Adam Kolarek ( Catonsville , Md /Catonsville HS), Curtis Lazar ( Stafford , Va. / Mountain View HS), Matthew Quinn (North Penn, Penn./Landsdale HS), and Bill Rice (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township HS),

“With our 2007 recruiting class, we have addressed a lot of our needs to help us down the road as we try to get better in this league,” Rupp said. “With the addition of these seven recruits, we have definitely helped our club immensely. We have addressed two key areas – left handed hitting and front-line pitching and added some size and some athleticism to our program. Overall, we are very excited to get these guys on campus.”

Blackwell is a slender 6-2, 165 pound right-hander whose live arm gives him tremendous upside as well. According to assistant coach Jim Farr: “We hope to develop his secondary pitches so that he can come into the mix as a freshman.”

Chenworth is a big 6-5, 210 pound athletic left-handed hitter who will see time in the outfield. A member of his high school volleyball team, he has good speed and power and projects to play left field, according to Farr.

Harman is a 6-5, 200 pound pitcher who can contribute in various ways. Said Farr: “He is an outstanding, in-state right-handed pitcher. He has exceptional movement to his fastball, and projects to be able to pitch up front in our rotation.”

Kolarek is a player who will contribute both from the mound and in the field. The 6-3, 190 pound left-hander will compete for playing time in the outfield as well as out of the bullpen. His fastball is in the upper 80s and the Terps coaching staff will be working on developing his secondary pitches as well.

Lazar is a big, 6-4, 190 pound left-handed first baseman/outfielder who, according to Farr, “is an athletic kid who can run. He can hit with power and is good around the bag.”

Quinn is a 6-5, 205 pound right-handed pitcher who, according to coach Farr, has a large upside. “Matt is just starting to come into his own,” he said. He throws in the 86-88 mph range with three pitches. He has the ability to pitch at either the front end or the back end of a game.”

Rice, a 6-0, 180 pound left-handed hitter will see time at all three positions in the outfield. Said Farr: “He’s a good enough runner to play center, and he has the arm strength to play right field. He projects to hit some doubles for us with occasional power.”

Among the seven recruits, four hail from the Free State , adding to the 18 Maryland natives on this season’s roster. Overall, the Terrapin coaching staff feels that it has assembled a group of recruits who will be valuable members of both the baseball team as well as the campus community.

“We have some quality kids, both athletically and academically,” Rupp said. “We feel that all seven players are men of great character.”

2007 Maryland Baseball Signees

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School)
Kyle Blackwell RHP 6-2 165 Rockville , Md./Sherwood HS
Reid Chenworth OF 6-5 210 Baltimore , Md. /Calvert Hall HS
Brett Harman RHP 6-5 200 Baltimore , Md./Westminster HS
Adam Kolarek LHP/OF 6-3 190 Catonsville , Md./Catonsville HS
Curtis Lazar 1B 6-4 190 Stafford, Va. / Mountain View HS
Matthew Quinn RHP 6-5 205 North Penn, Penn. /Landsdale HS
Bill Rice OF 6-0 180 Sewell, N.J./Washington Township HS

More Schedules Released

I am trying to keep this site updated with the most current releases of schedules for the 2007 season. The schools below have released their schedules in the last week.

Harvard
McNeese State
Stephen F. Austin

Micheal Fisher and his fellow Student-Athletes

The Georgia Tech Media Relations department recently released a very good article on Micheal Fisher and other Georgia Tech athletes on their efforts to raise money for the Hillside Foster Home in Georgia. They raised over $900 in Gift Cards to Target in addition to 75 gifts and toys they had donated through the three toy drives which occurred during the fall semester. It is nice to see Mr. Fisher and his fellow athletes doing a great thing for people that are in a tough situation.

The full release is available here.

Recruiting update for 2007-2008 season

There have been some recent releases on some more recruits for the 2007-2008 school year.
Virginia
UC Davis
Georgetown
Louisville
UTPA
Cal Berkeley
Wisconsin Milwaukee

SeBaseball previews Boston College

SeBaseball.com has posted a recent article on the Boston College Baseball program. They expect BC to compete for a spot in the ACC Tournament this upcoming season and possibly get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The full article available here.

Warchant checks in with Micheal Hyde

Warchant checks in with a Q & A with Seminole pitcher Micheal Hyde. He discusses the upcoming season and the challenges in which the Seminoles will face this year with other information so you can get to know him better. The Q & A is available here.

Notre Dame releases 2007 Schedule

New Notre Dame Head Coach Dave Schrage has released the 2007 baseball schedule. They will continue their tradition of opening the season in San Antonio with one game against Prairie View A & M and two games with Texas State. They were scheduled to play Northwestern in a 3 game set but Northwestern had to back out at the last minute. The Irish will also participate in the Baseball at the Beach Tournament at Coastal Carolina with UNC-Wilmington and TCU joining them. They also head down to Stetson to participate in that tournament with perennial power Nebraska joining Stetson and Iowa in the tourney. There is no major surprises in their schedule with no trip to Uconn this year the College Baseball Blog Staff will not see the Irish. I hope Head Coach Dave Schrage good luck on the season and hope they make it back to Omaha and continue the tradition of Paul Mainieri.

Full Schedule available in PDF format and HTML.

Notre Dame released the signings for the 2007-2008 season recently and that article can be found here.

Fullerton Season Preview

George Horton checks in with his comments on the team for the 2007 season after fall practice. He lost a ton of talent from last years team and has to replace them with inexperienced players if he wants to make it back to Omaha. The full season preview is available here.

Duke releases Schedule

The Duke Blue Devils have released their 2007 schedule. They will compete in the East Carolina Invitational this year on February 23rd-25th. The ACC portion of the schedule has two highlights on the season with Florida State and Georgia Tech visiting Durham. In addition to FSU and GT, Boston College, Maryland, and Virginia Tech come in for ACC teams. The schedule is extremely challenging for second-year Head Coach Sean McNally but they are headed in the right direction. They have to replace Dan Otero who served as the Number 1 pitcher for the Blue Devils because he transferred to South Florida to join Lelo Prado in building a power.

Full Schedule available here.

Rivals

Rivals has posted a new Mailbag which talks about issues with Florida State, Ohio State, Georgia, and East Carolina. Kendall Rogers does an excellent job covering college baseball and check out his mailbag here.

Staehely named to Clemens List

Christian Staehely of Princeton has been named to the 2007 Roger Clemens Award Watch list for the upcoming season. He posted a strong season in 2006 including leading the Princeton Tigers to their sixth NCAA appearance in the last 11 years. He posted a 5-2 record with a 2.57 ERA during the regular season. He also carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Arkansas but ended up losing the game after having the no-hitter broken up. This summer he was a member of the Cotuit Kettleers where he went 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA against the best college baseball players in the country. He is one person to keep your eye on this season and the College Baseball Blog will be attending his start at Harvard this year.

Full press release available here.