USC Releases 2008 Schedule

The USC baseball program announced its 2008 schedule with the Trojans set to open with their first-ever appearance at Florida International (Feb. 22-24) in Miami, Fla. This will be the first year that the "uniform starting date" set by the NCAA will be in effect, which accounts for the later starting date for USC.

USC will host Arizona, California, Washington and Oregon State in Pac-10 Conference play with road trips to Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford and Washington State in the final season with nine teams before Oregon rejoins the conference in 2009.

The Trojans will also make their first-ever appearance at Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C., in a three-game series, March 7-9.

A total of 25 games are on tap at Dedeaux Field. Other home games for USC this season include Southern (Feb. 29), Bethune-Cookman (March 2), Pepperdine (March 5), Long Beach State (March 15), Loyola Marymount (March 25), UC Riverside (April 1), Cal State Fullerton (April 8), UC Santa Barbara (April 19), Cal Poly (May 6) and Cal State Northridge (May 10-11).

On Saturday (March 1), USC and UCLA will play one nonconference game at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.

This season, USC will also play UC Irvine twice (Feb. 27 at Irvine and March 12 at Dedeaux Field). Both games will draw more intrigue this season after Mike Gillespie, former USC head coach and father-in-law of current USC head coach Chad Kreuter, was hired at UC Irvine to lead its program earlier this month.

For the 2008 season, the Trojans return freshman All-America shortstop Grant Green and freshman All-America pitcher Brad Boxberger. All but two pitchers from last year's staff return under the supervision of first-year assistant coach Tom House, including junior left-hander Tommy Milone, who was named Cape Cod Baseball League Pitcher of the Year this summer.

Catcher/pitcher Robert Stock, outfielder Nick Buss and third baseman Roberto Lopez anchor the group of returning position players with the addition of senior first baseman Mike Roskopf, who transferred from North Carolina State after hitting 13 home runs last season for the Wolf Pack.

All 56 games will be broadcast live on usctrojans.com, with live video webcasts courtesy of TrojanTV All-Access for all home games. This season, TrojanTV All-Access will bring an improved broadcast with the usage of four remote-control cameras at Dedeaux Field.

USC Press Release.

For the full schedule

Fall Ball Update for October 18th

Here is your update on Fall Baseball Scrimmage Action for October 18th. Click on the links below for more information.

Wake Forest
Georgia Tech
Washington
Xavier
Miami (OH)
Wayne State

Arizona releases 2008 schedule

The Arizona Wildcats have released their 2008 schedule. They will open the season on February 22nd when they head Georgia for the beginning of a three game set. The Wildcats home opener is against Sacramento State on February 29th. The next weekend they head to Corpus Christi Texas to take on South Alabama, Texas AM Corpus Christi, and Notre Dame. They will play a big nonconference series with a three game set against Cal-State Fullerton on March 14th-16th. They will play a full Pac-10 schedule with UCLA, Washington State, Stanford, and Arizona State visiting Tuscon. The Wildcats will head on the road for series against USC, Washington, Oregon State, and Cal. The full schedule is available here.

Cal 2008 Schedule is out

The Cal Bears released their 2008 schedule recently which is highlighted by taking part in a tournament in San Diego where they will take on USD, Fresno State, SDSU, and Missouri. They will play a full Pac-10 schedule with UCLA, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon State visiting Berkley while Washington State, USC, Arizona State, and Stanford will welcome the Bears to their stadiums. The full schedule is available here.

Horton grabs first recuit for Oregon

George Horton has received his first commitment for the 2009 season in Darrell Hunter of Thurston High School. Hunter is expected to play shortstop for the Ducks. Hunter turned down two time national champions Oregon State who offered Hunter a 25 percent scholarship but Oregon offered a 35 percent scholarship which forced Hunter to commit immediately. Oregon Live checks in with an article here. Jacob May of The Oregon Daily Emerald talks about the commitment and about George Horton here.

Stanford Releases 2008 schedule!

Mark Marquess has put together a very impressive schedule for the 2008 season. It includes home games against big 12 foe Nebraska at the Sunken Diamond as well as CS Fullerton visiting a week later. Then they go on the road to Austin Texas to play against a very talented ball club in University of Texas. Coach Mark Marquess has been at the helm of Stanford Baseball for 32 years. Coach Marquess has always put together a very High Quality product at Stanford and this year will be no different. Look for Stanford to make some noise this year in Pac 10 play as they get closer to Regional tournament time. For the full article click here.

Officially Corbin set to stay at Vanderbilt

Tim Corbin has officially announced that he will stay at Vanderbilt after overtures from the University of Oregon according to the press release from the official Vanderbilt athletic site. The full press release is available here.

News and Notes from Around the Country

The Pacific University Tigers coaching staff will be making an appearance on the Discovery channel show Mythbusters which is set to air on Wednesday August 8th at 9:00 pm (PST). Tiger Head Coach Ed Sprague and Undergraduate assistant coach John Devaney were invited to be involved in the shooting at Klein Family Field. The full release is available here

The Miami (FL) Media Relations Department has released a feature on Kyle Bellamy who played this summer in the NYCBL with the Geneva Red Wings. He recorded 16 saves in 26 innings while recording a perfect ERA of 0.00. The full article is available here with updates on other Hurricanes players progress throughout the summer.

The Daily Utah Chronicle checks in with an article previewing the Utah Utes 2008 team. The article discusses some of the disappointments of the 2007 season and the future of the program. The full article is available here.

The UCLA Bruins have released their 2008 schedule which includes a game in Compton CA against USC. They also have a visits from the Oklahoma Sooners and UC-Riverside as the highlights of their OOC schedule. The full schedule is available here.

Stay tuned to The College Baseball Blog for the most up to date news from around the country. If anyone has any comments or ideas feel free to e-mail me by clicking here.

Wichita Regional Preview

The Wichita State Shockers were named a regional host last weekend and will be joined by New Orleans, Oral Roberts, and Arizona.

Wichita State

The Wichita State Shockers are led by Damon Sublett who is hitting .360 on the season. He also has 14 stolen bases. Tyler Webb leads the Shockers with ten homers on the season. Aaron Shafer went 7-2 during the season with 2.39 ERA. They open the weekend at 8 pm EDT on Friday with University of New Orleans.

Wichita State Tourney Notes

Arizona

The Arizona Wildcats got an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament this season after going 40-15 overall and 15-9 in the Pac-10 as they finished in second place in the conference. They are led by All-American pitcher Preston Guilemt who is 11-2 on the season with a 1.79 ERA. He has struck out 133 batters in 126 innings. The Wildcats offense is Bill Rhinehart who is hitting .362 on the year with 11 homers. They open the tournament with Oral Roberts at 2 pm EDT.

Arizona Tourney Notes

Oral Roberts

The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (40-15) turned some heads last year by making the Super Regionals in 2006. ORU is led by a strong pitching staff in Chance Chapman who is 8-1 with a 1.23 ERA. They also have two other starters with 2.53 ERA or less in Jeremy Hefner (9-1, 2.53 ERA) and Jerry Sullivan (5-0, 1.75 ERA). The offense is led by Brendan Duffy who is hitting .362 on the year. ORU opens the tournament at 2pm EDT on Friday.

ORU Tourney Notes

New Orleans

The New Orleans Privateers won the Sun Belt title by knocking off Louisiana Ragin Cajuns 8-2 last weekend. They are led Johnny Giavotella (.373 BA, 15 HR) and T.J. Baxter (.372 BA, 11 HR) on offense. The pitching staff is led by Bryan Cryer who is 8-4 on the season with a high 5.28 ERA. They open against Wichita State at 8 pm EDT.

UNO Tourney Notes

The CBB predicts that Oral Roberts will win the Regional behind their strong pitching.

Tempe Regional

Arizona State will be hosting the NCAA Regional this upcoming weekend at Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. They will be joined by UC-Riverside, Nebraska, and Monmouth.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils (43-13) have one of the best offenses in the country with a team batting average of .349. They have 11 players who are batting over .300 on the year. Brett Wallace leads the team in average at .426 including 15 homers and 73 RBI. Josh Satow has become the ace of the staff as he has an 11-3 record with a 2.23 ERA. They open the tournament at 7 pm PDT against Monmouth.

Arizona State Tourney Notes

UC-Riverside

The UC-Riverside (37-19) Baseball squad is led by one of the top pitchers in the country in James Simmons. He leads the team with a 10-3 record and a 2.32 ERA. He recently was named the Big West pitcher of the year. The offense is led by Joey Gonzales who is hitting .360 on the season. They will open up against Nebraska at 2 pm PDT.

UC-Riverside Tourney Notes

Nebraska

The Cornhuskers (30-25) are in the midst of a rebuilding year. They are led by Jeff Tedak who leads the team with a .331 average. The Huskers will be without starting catcher Mitch Abeita who is out for the Regionals with a broken leg. The Husker pitching staff is headlined by Tony Watson who is 6-4 with a 3.94 ERA. Nebraska opens up against UC-Riverside at 2pm PDT.

Nebraska Tourney Notes

Monmouth

Monmouth (36-22-1) enters this weekend as the automatic bid out of the Northeast Conference after defeating Central Connecticut State in the championship game 7-1 in which the CBB attended. The full article is available by clicking here. They are led by Kyle Messineo who is hitting .346 on the season and leads the team in stolen bases with an outstanding 41 on the season. Ryan Buch and Brad Brach both went 9-2 on the year to lead the pitching staff. Monmouth opens against Arizona State at 7 pm PDT.

Monmouth Tourney Notes

The CBB predicts that Arizona State will win the Regional fairly easily.

Charlottesville Regional

The University of Virginia will be hosting for the second consecutive year in Charlottesville Virginia. They will be joined by Rutgers, Oregon State, and Lafayette.

Virginia

The Virginia Cavaliers (43-14) enter this weekend after winning two out of three games in the ACC Tournament. They did not qualify for the ACC Championship as they lost the head to head tiebreaker with North Carolina. They are led by a very strong pitching staff in Jacob Thompson and Sean Doolittle. Thompson has an overall record of 11-0 with an ERA of 1.35. (The CBB had the chance to see him pitch and a full report on him is available here.) Sean Doolittle is one of the top two-way players in the country as he has a record of 7-3 with a 2.57 ERA while batting .318 with 52 RBI. The Virginia offense is led by Brandon Guyer (.369) and David Adams (.368). They receive some bad news about two weeks ago when leadoff hitter and batting average leader Greg Miclat had surgery on a torn labrum and is out for the season. Virginia opens the tournament against Lafayette at 4 pm Friday.

Virginia Tourney Notes

Rutgers

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights made an impressive run through the Big East Tournament by coming through the loser's bracket before taking out UConn in the conference championship game by a 7-6 scoreline. Rutgers is led by All-American candidate Todd Frazier who is hitting .379 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI. He has also stolen 25 bases in 29 attempts. Dave Williams is the leading hitter on the team with a .408 batting average in 57 games. Steve Healing leads the pitching staff with a 10-3 overall record and an ERA of 3.56. Rutgers opens the tournament against defending champion Oregon State at 8 pm on Friday.

Rutgers Tourney Notes

Oregon State

The Oregon State Beavers are the defending champions and will head to Charlottesville after finishing in sixth place in the PAC-10. They have an overall record of 38-17 but were under .500 in the PAC 10 at a 10-14 mark. Mitch Canham is one of the top catchers in the country who will likely be drafted in the top five rounds in the upcoming draft. He leads the team in hitting with a .346 average and in homers with nine. The Oregon State pitching staff is led by Mike Stutes who has a 9-4 record and has struck out 101 hitters in 102.2 innings. Oregon State opens against Rutgers at 8 pm on Friday.

Oregon State Tourney Notes

Lafayette

The Lafayette Leopards (33-18) enter the weekend with the automatic bid from the Patriot League after sweeping the Army in the Championship series. Lafayette split with Ivy League Champion Brown last week in preparation for the NCAA Regionals. Lafayette is led by pitchers Kevin Reese and Matt Kamine. Reese is 7-1 with a 2.70 ERA in nine starts including four complete games. Kamine is 7-4 with a 2.72 ERA. The Leopards offense is led by James Conrad who has a .351 average with 48 stolen bases in 52 attempts. Jeff Butler has a .350 average also so he is also a player to watch.

Lafayette Tourney Notes

The CBB predicts Virginia to advance through the regional and the sleeper team in the regional is Rutgers with a potent lineup.

Fullerton hosts Stanford

Cal State Fullerton will open the season on Friday against Stanford. Fullerton is expected to start All-American pitcher Wes Roemer on Friday to face off against Stanford ace Nolan Gallagher. The Saturday match up is Jeff Kaplan facing off against Jeffrey Inman. The Sunday match up will be Jimmy Bleich taking the mound for the Cardinal while Sean Urena will make his first appearance as a Titan. Fullerton lost a ton of talent from last year's team but at Fullerton you reload instead of rebuilding. Stanford should be ready this season to contend for the Pac 10 crown like usual.

Fullerton Game Notes
Stanford Game Notes
Scout.com article about the Cardinal

SouthernCollegeSports.com Previews

SouthernCollegeSports.com has posted a series of previews on different conferences recently which are very knowledgeable for a quick synopsis of each conference. Each preview that has been released is listed below.

Southern Conference and Sun Belt
Conference USA and Big Ten
West Coast and Big West
Other Schools to Watch
Pac 10
ACC

Oregon State article

The Statesman Journal in Salem Oregon has posted an article about the Oregon State Beavers. Gary Horowitz talks with the players and coaches about how they are going to put the 2006 season behind them and focus on winning back to back titles in 2007. The full article is available here.

OSU and SD getting ready!

Can you believe it that the season starts on Thursday in Hawai'i with Oregon State taking on Hawai'i-Hilo in the first official game of the season. They ended the season in Omaha by winning the national championship and they begin their title defense in the first game. They will be playing a 5 game set in Hawai'i before returning to the mainland of USA. They will not be the only team in action as many other west coast schools start the season this weekend including San Diego which will be hosting Cal Poly for a 3 game set.

Game Notes for Oregon State
Game Notes for San Diego

USC updates Stadium

Chad Kreuter and the USC Athletic Department announced some renovations today to Dedeaux Field. They will be replacing the old fence with a new one for the upcoming season. After the season they will also be replacing the batting cages on the third base side of the field. There also is a fund raiser currently going on to upgrade the scoreboard and the lights. The full release is available here.