Illinois 2008 schedule released

The Fighting Illini have announced their 2008 schedule which is highlighted by trips to Texas Tech, Baylor, and University of Texas-Pan American. The team will take part in tournaments at Baylor and UTPA while playing a three game set against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. The team will make their annual spring break trip to Florida from March 14th-21st where they will play six games against Northern schools. The Illini will play conference home series against Michigan, Penn State, Northwestern, and Purdue. They will head on the road to play Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio State for conference series. The conference tournament will take place from May 21st-24th at the regular season champs field. The full schedule is available here.

Texas Tech Baseball Announces 2008 Schedule

FROM PRESS RELEASE
A total of 34 home games and eight NCAA Tournament teams highlight the 2008 Texas Tech Baseball schedule that was announced today by Head Coach Larry Hays.

The 2008 season marks the first under the new NCAA guidelines that mandate a universal start date for all of college baseball and that date will be Feb. 22. The Red Raiders will kick of the 2008 season at home with a four-game series against Northern Illinois Feb. 22-24 with a doubleheader set for Saturday, Feb. 23.

Following a midweek trip to New Mexico on Tuesday, Feb. 26, Texas Tech will take part in the Eighth-Annual Minute Maid College Classic where the Red Raiders will face Houston, Tennessee and Rice. The game against Tennessee will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools while the game against Rice will mark the first of eight opponents that the Red Raiders will face who advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament. The Minute Maid College Classic is set for Feb. 29-March 2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Texas Tech will return home for a six-game homestand beginning on March 4 as the Red Raiders will play their first Tuesday-Wednesday series of the year against Central Arkansas. Due to the reduction in the number of days allowed for competition in 2008, Texas Tech will play a total six, two-game midweek series. Other midweek series for the Red Raiders will be at home against UC-Riverside (March 25-26), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 1-2), New Mexico (April 8-9), and Dallas Baptist (May 13-14) while on the road at UNLV (April 15-16).

Texas Tech will kickoff the Big 12 Conference season on the road at Texas A&M as the Red Raiders and Aggies open league play against each other for the third time since 2002. The Texas Tech-Texas A&M series is scheduled for March 14-16 at Olsen Field in College Station.

The home portion of the 2008 Big 12 season will begin with a three-game series against the Texas Longhorns, March 20-22. The series against Texas is being played Thursday through Saturday due to the Easter Holiday falling on Sunday, March 23.

The Red Raiders will take on Missouri (March 28-30), Kansas State (April 18-20), Oklahoma (April 25-27) and Baylor (May 16-18) all at Dan Law Field while facing Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma State on the road.

Texas Tech will wrap up the regular-season schedule at home for the first time in four years as the Red Raiders will face the Baylor Bears, May 16-18. The Big 12 Championship at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City is set for May 21-25 while the NCAA Regionals are set for May 30-June. The Road To Omaha continues with the NCAA Super Regionals June 6-9 and the 2008 NCAA Champion will be decided at the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium June 13-23.

Texas Tech

Copy of the schedule

Spencer making changes at Texas Tech

Dan Spencer who recently moved to Texas Tech from two-time national champion Oregon State is making drastic changes with the Texas Tech pitching staff. Spencer is trying to get the pitching staff to do three things every time they take the mound: Throw strikes, Be Aggressive, and Compete on every pitch. It sounds simple but will be tough to implement as the Red Raiders have the worst Team ERA since 2003. The goal of the program is to have an ERA of 4.00 or lower which will make the Red Raiders competitors on the national scene. The full article is available here.

Cuba ends Team USA's summer

Courtesy of USA Baseball
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Cuba (8-0 WPT) ran the table on the rest of the World Port Tournament, eliminating Team USA (25-12, 4-4 WPT) from the finals and ending their summer, following a 5-1 victory. The Cubans will take on Chinese Taipei, who also beat the USA twice over the last 10 days, in the finals starting at 7 a.m. Eastern.

The Americans sent the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth against reliever Yulieski Gonzalez with two outs, after putting two runners on with no outs against starter Arley Sanchez. Gonzalez got a hard lineout, followed by a strikeout and then walked Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State) to load the bases. Gonzalez though got Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) to strikeout, part of a nine-pitch at-bat, to keep Cuba in front 4-1.

Gonzalez then pitched a scoreless ninth, after Cuba added a run in the top of the inning, for the two inning save.

Three Cuban home runs were more than enough for Sanchez, who tired after seven-plus innings. Sanchez allowed a single unearned run on seven hits, while striking out six and walking one. Sanchez allowed a walk and a single in the eighth, before being relieved by Gonzalez.

Mike Minor (5-2, Vanderbilt), took the loss, going the first four innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits, two of which that left the ballpark. Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) and Brett Hunter (Pepperdine) each gave up single runs in their relief appearances.

A one-out error by Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) at short came back to haunt the Americans as Tournament RBI leader, Yosvani Peraza, hit a two-run homer to give Cuba a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Minor had a 33-pitch first inning.

A solo home run by Jose Julio Ruiz gave Cuba a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Hector Olivera’s solo home run off of Satterwhite in the seventh made it 4-0.

TEAM NOTES
Josh Romanski (San Diego) made a nice diving catch in the fourth, towards the line, to rob Alexei Bell of a hit... Cleanup hitter LF Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) missed the last five games, minus a pinch-hit performance yesterday, with a sore foot... 3B Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) was the designated hitter the last four days due to a sore arm... Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) ended the summer on an eight-game hit streak, while Jordan Danks (Texas) ended it on a seven-game streak.

WORLD PORT NOTES
Japan (0-7) and the Netherlands (3-4) close out the regularly scheduled tournament games tonight... Chinese Taipei (4-4), who finished yesterday, gained the tiebreaker with the USA yesterday, forcing the USA to win today to advance, based on number of wins against (2-0), if the USA and Taipei were tied and in runs allowed between the three tied teams, if the Netherlands were to finish in a three-way tie with the USA and Taipei (12 runs for Taipei to 13 runs for the USA to 21 runs for the Netherlands)... Games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/... Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.

FINAL TEAM LEADERS FOR THE SUMMER
Hitting--Average (Alvarez-.315), Home Runs (Alvarez/Kieschnick-7), RBIs (Alvarez-30), Runs (Danks-37) Hits (Alvarez-40), Walks (Danks-25), Doubles (Smoak-10), Triples (Danks-2), Multi-Hit Games (Alvarez-12); Pitching---Wins (Minor-5-2), ERA-Reliever (Hunter-0.66), Saves (Satterwhite-4), ERA-Starter (Ross-0.82), Strikeouts (Ross-39), Appearances (Hunter-14)

Team USA Routs Japan 10-0

-Courtesy of USA Baseball-

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Team USA (24-10, 3-2 WPT) made sure Japan (0-5 WPT) remained winless at the World Port Tournament, crushing the Japanese 10-0 in seven innings behind a 13-hit attack to snap a two-game losing streak.

Eric Surkamp (1-0, North Carolina State) pitched six scoreless innings, striking out four, while walking two. Surkamp and Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) combined on a four-hitter, as Satterwhite did not allow a hit in the seventh. Surkamp also rolled three double play balls and struck out the side in the second in the midst of eight in a row retired.

Brett Wallace (Arizona State) had three hits, while Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State), Josh Romanski (San Diego), Jordan Danks (Texas) and each had two hits. Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) had his second multi-hit game of the tournament. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) hit the team's first grand slam of the summer, part of a seven-run sixth inning.

The Americans pushed across two runs in the first to lead 2-0. An RBI groundout by Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt), his seventh RBI of the tournament, made it 1-0, before an RBI single by Wallace doubled the score. A Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 3-0 as Japanese starter and loser, Robert Booth, left after four innings, giving up three runs on seven hits.

Mercer's RBI double in the sixth made it 4-0, before Kieschnick's grand slam doubled the score to 8-0. Wallace's second hit in the inning, an RBI single, made it 9-0.

TEAM NOTES
The Americans finished 4-3 against two Japanese teams this summer, winning the last three games in the series... Team USA beat Japan 1-0 with their only hit, a Logan Forsythe base hit in the ninth in the earlier meeting in the tournament and also won on the last day of the series in Durham... Cuba beat Chinese Taipei 6-5 in 14 innings, tying the game in the ninth inning on their final strike after Taipei took the lead in the bottom of the eighth.... Cuba is now 5-0, Chinese Taipei is 2-3, and the Netherlands, who were off today and won last night over Taipei, 4-3, are 2-2... Logan Forsythe (foot) missed his second straight game... games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/... Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans will play have an off day on Wednesday and then close out the summer with consecutive games against the Netherlands (1 p.m. Eastern), Chinese Taipei (8 a.m.) and Cuba (8 a.m.). The Finals are on August 12 at 7 a.m, Eastern, finishing the summer.

Team USA assistant talks about World Port Tourney

The World Port Tournament is set to begin on August 2nd against Japan in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Official Site of the Utah Utes recently sat down with Team USA assistant coach and current Utah Utes head coach Bill Kinneberg. He discusses some of the issues that the team will face in the tournament and how the schedule will effect the team. Article available here.

USA Baseball has posted an article about how Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) and Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) have become the go-to guys for the team this summer. The full article is available by clicking here.

I have been in contact with the tournament hosts about possible webcasting of the World Port Tournament which they told me that all of the games involving The Netherlands will be broadcasted live on the Internet for free. I will be posting the link when I receive the information but I am looking forward to watching some good baseball. UPDATE: I was just notified that NONE of the games will be webcasted.

You can check out the World Port Tournament site in Dutch by clicking here. You can translate the site by using Altavista which is available here.

Team USA rallies for 2-1 victory

Team USA rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Netherlands 2-1 in Game two of their brief three game set. Team USA was down to their final out with Josh Romanski (San Diego) on second which represented the tying run and Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) up to bat. Alvarez came through with a double to drive in the tying run in Romanski. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) then hit a run scoring single to drive home Alvarez with the eventual winning run. The USA pitching staff was fantastic throughout the game as they only allowed one hit. Eric Surkamp (NC State) started for Team USA and went 5.2 innings while giving up the only hit and run of the game while walking the four batters. Brett Hunter (Pepperdine) relieved Surkamp and pitched a perfect 3.1 innings while striking out five. The teams will finish off a doubleheader on Sunday at 5 pm in Durham NC.

Team USA Story

UPDATE: You can watch tonight's game which started at 5 pm by clicking here.

Team USA hammers Holland 14-0

FROM PRESS RELEASE

DURHAM, NC— Tyson Ross (3-0, California) took a no-hitter into the sixth, striking out eight over seven innings in leading Team USA (19-7) to a 14-0 victory over the Netherlands in the first of a three-game, two-day series. Ross allowed just two hits while walking none, in his first appearance since the Gold Medal Game eight days ago.

Brett Wallace (Arizona State) drove in five with a three-run home run and a two-run double, while Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) went 3-for-5 with four RBIs a day after turning 21 years old. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) went 3-for-4, as the trio all hit home runs.

Flaherty, Kieschnick and Jordan Danks (Texas) all hit home runs as part of an eight-run eighth inning.

Ross was perfect through the first 14 batters, before an error by second baseman Ryan Flaherty allowed the first Dutch base runner to reach base in the fifth. Ross finished off the inning by striking out the side. Ross’ no-hit bid was broken up an inning later, by Danny Rombley, with a one-out base hit to center field.

Five of the Americans first six runs came with two outs to give them a 6-0 lead after three.

The Americans tallied back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) and Kieschnick to take a 2-0 lead in the first. Wallace’s two-out, two-run single in the second then made it 4-0.

A Kieshnick homer in the third gave the Americans a 5-0 lead in the third, before a two-out, RBI double from Josh Romanski (San Diego) made it 6-0. Dutch righthander Rob Cordemans gave up six runs on seven hits over the first two and two-third innings.

Wallace’s homer in the eighth made it 9-0, after reliever Diegomar Markwell pitched four and one-third scoreless innings. Wallace’s blast was one of three homers and eight runs in the inning, as Flaherty added a three-run shot and Danks followed with a solo shot.

TEAM NOTES
It was second baseman Ryan Flaherty’s 21st birthday last night... shortstop Danny Espinosa made a nice play off the glove of Ross in the first inning to rob Dirk van’t Klooster of a base hit... these same two teams will play in Holland in Rotterdam starting next week at the World Port Tournament... the four home runs was a summer-high... high school senior Tyler Stovall, a Team USA junior team invitee, pitched the ninth inning.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The nine-game American trip will continue with the Netherlands on Sunday in Cary (morning game at 11 a.m.), and Durham (afternoon game at 5 p.m.), before closing out with and Russia on Monday (one night game) in Cary, NC at 7 p.m... the team closes out their schedule at the World Port Tournament in the Netherlands starting on August 2.

Team USA wins 16-0 over China

Team USA won 16-0 over China on Thursday evening behind seven strong innings from starter Ryan Berry who only gave up four hits and walked no batters. Team USA was led on offense by Tommy Medica who went 3-5 with three RBI. Pedro Alvarez, Roger Kieschnick, and Jordy Mercer each added a home run.

Team USA Recap

Minor leads Team USA to 10-0 victory

Mike Minor (Vanderbilt) pitched six strong innings while striking out twelve batters to lead Team USA to a 10-0 victory in seven innings over China in Mobile AL. The offense was led by Jordan Danks (Texas) who went 2-3 with two runs scored. Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) and Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) each homered in the game also. Team USA will be back in action on Tuesday when they face off against China again in Mobile AL.

Team USA Recap

Team USA to take on Cuba for Gold Medal

Press Release

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--- Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) saved both ends of Team USA’s (15-5, 4-0 Pan Am Games) doubleheader at the Pan American Games, defeating Brazil 7-5 in the play-in game and then moving onto the Gold Medal Game following a 2-1 victory over Mexico. The Americans, who have won one gold medal (1967) and eight silver medals since 1951 at these Games, will face Cuba, who won their pool following a 4-0 victory over Nicaragua.

“Our goal for the summer was to play for a goal medal, and that’s where we are at,” said Manager Mike Weathers. “To win a double header in international play, is very difficult, and I’m proud of our guys today and the obstacles they had to face. We will be ready to go tomorrow.”

Logan Forsythe (Arkansas) had two multi-hit games today, giving him four for the Games, as he went 3-for-4 with the game-winning RBI against Mexico, after going 2-for-3 with a key two-run single against Brazil.

“I felt good today. Playing for a gold medal means a lot,” said Satterwhite. “Good hitting got us into the finals, and we continue to play well.”

Brian Matusz (1-0, San Diego) threw six and one third innings in the semifinal win, giving it over to the bullpen with a 2-1 lead after giving just three hits and five strikeouts. Francisco Campos countered with two runs on seven hits, pitching into the seventh, taking the loss for Mexico.

“It was exciting to pitch in a semifinal game, maybe outside the gold medal, our most important game,” said Matusz. “I didn’t know a lot about Mexico, but I knew they had some power by the way they swung the bat. My off speed pitch was not great, but I was spotting my fastball and my changeup was getting grounders and popups.”

USA reliever Brett Hunter retired six in a row and two and one-third overall, before Benjamin Gil hit a two-out double in the ninth. Satterwhite, after walking a batter, got a lineout of Ivan Terrazas to pick up his third save of the summer.

Team USA took a 2-1 lead on Mexico in the fifth with an RBI double by Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) and an RBI single from Forsythe.

The Americans guaranteed the No. 1 seed in Pool A earlier in the day, holding on for a 7-5 win over host Brazil, thanks to a five-run seventh inning.

Joe Kelly (1-0, UC Riverside) got the win in relief, as Satterwhite came on with the bases loaded and no outs with a three-run lead in the ninth and got the save.

Claudio Yamada, the third of four pitchers in the seventh, threw eight-straight balls to walk the go-ahead run in for the Americans to ignite the inning. A Forsythe two-run single followed, before a Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) double made it 7-2.

Ryan Berry (Rice) gave up four hits and two runs over five and one third innings, but walked five, as the Americans tied the game in the sixth and second innings.

U.S. PAN AMERICAN NOTES
The Americans have won a medal in 14 out of the previous 16 games since the games started in 1951. They won their only gold medal in 1967 in Canada, and finished a runner-up another eight times. In their last series in 2003, when Manager Mike Weathers and assistant Mark Scalf were assistants, Team USA finished with a silver medal to Cuba... Team USA’s pitching staff was called for 12 walks on Wednesday, after averaging just under three per game over the first 18 games.

TOURNAMENT NOTES
With Mexico winning the continued game over Venezuela 3-2 in 10 innings, Cuba earned the No. 1 seed in Pool B and Mexico was the No. 2 seed.... Nicaragua defeated the Dominican Republic 2-0 in the other play-in game, giving Nicaragua and the Dominican 1-2 records in Pool B, and guaranteeing the Americans a medal game about 90 minutes prior to USA’s final pitch against Brazil.

USA Baseball 8 Nicaragua 4

-Press Release-

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--- The top of the American order reached base safely a combined 11 times as Team USA (13-5, 2-0 Pan Am Games) remained perfect at the Pan American Games following an 8-4 victory over Nicaragua (0-2 Pan Am).

Number-three hitter Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt) drove in five runs, going 3-for-4, while No. 2 hitter Logan Forsythe walked three times and added two hits. Leadoff hitter Jordan Danks (Texas) added a hit and two walks, as the trio were a combined 6-for-10 with five walks, five runs and three steals.

Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State), Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) and Brett Wallace (Arizona State) added two hit days as well, part of the 14-hit attack.

Lance Lynn (1-0, Ole Miss) fought through seven innings, after giving up two runs in the first. Lynn gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking two and striking out one for the win. Lynn had entered the Pan American Games as the team's strikeout leader.

The Americans scored three runs in the first to chase Nicaraguan starter and loser Luz Portobanco from the game. An RBI single by Alvarez, followed by a double steal gave the Americans a 2-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Brett Wallace then made it 3-0.

After the Nicaraguans scored two in the bottom of the first, Alvarez came right back with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. A two-run double by Alvarez in the fourth then made it 6-2. Alvarez's final RBI came in the eighth, thanks to a two-out RBI single.

TEAM NOTES
A chance of rain threatened the game as a heavy fog blanketed the tops of the mountains... rain began sprinkling in the third inning and was off and on the rest of the game... Pedro Alvarez drove in a summer-best five and has seven RBIs over the last three games... the seventh inning stretch was actually provided by Dodgers Stadium's organist via computer... the Dominican Republic beat Brazil 14-2 in eight innings in the first game, as both the Dominicans and the Brazilians enter the final day of pool play with a record of 1-1... DR will play Nicaragua at 10 a.m. on the other field.... Panama finished their pool play on the B side 3-0 with a 9-0 win over Mexico.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans continue pool play with host Brazil on Tuesday at 10 a.m. on field one. The games were pushed back a day for the Americans, due to lighting safety concerns for night games during the Pan American Games... Two more medal-round games follow on July 18 and 19.

Box Score

Texas Tech lands Oregon State pitching coach!

Texas Tech hired Oregon State pitching coach Dan Spencer on Monday with hopes that he can help the Red Raiders return to the top of the Big 12 standings.

Spencer helped lead Oregon State to national championships the last two seasons and was also the Beavers' recruiting coordinator. Spencer, an infielder at Tech from 1985 to 1987, will serve as the Red Raiders' associate head coach in charge of pitchers and catchers and as the recruiting coordinator.

"I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that Dan Spencer is the hottest pitching coach in America," said Tech head coach Larry Hays, who recently completed his 21st season. "He really left a lot of money on the table with other [offers]."

Hays said Spencer, 41, turned down head coaching jobs to take the Tech position and said Spencer also had offers to become the pitching coach at other Big 12 schools. Hays said once he retires, he would like to see Spencer take over Tech's program.

"If we do well, that should be a natural result," Hays said. "If we do a good job and he's not the head coach, it would be a crime."

Tech also announced Monday the hiring of assistant coach Trent Petrie, an assistant the last two years at New Mexico. Petrie, 36, was an infielder at Tech in 1992. Petrie will be Tech's infield coach and assist with recruiting.

Tech assistant coach Daren Hays has been reassigned to the director of baseball operations. Volunteer assistant coach Lance Brown, the former TCU head coach who has served as the Red Raiders' pitching coach the last two seasons, will work with outfielders and likely become the bullpen coach, Larry Hays said.

Dallas Morning News.com

Texas Tech Story!

Oregon State Story!

Team USA takes Game 2 from Chinese Taipei

FROM USA BASEBALL RELEASE

BURLINGTON, NC— Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) hit his second home run of the series, the go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth, to lead Team USA (7-1) to a 6-4 victory over Chinese Taipei (1-2) in the second game of the five-game series. Kieschnick finished with three RBIs, all coming in the last two innings.

Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) had two RBI singles, while Jordan Danks (Texas) reached base safely three times, scoring three times on two walks and a single.

Chinese Taipei scored four runs in the eighth to tie the game at 4-4, after the Americans took a 4-0 lead in the top of the inning with three runs.

Closer Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) gave up a two-run, two-out double by Chuan Lin Yi to tie the game at 4-4. Back-to-back RBI doubles off of Josh Romanski (San Diego) cut the lead to 4-2. Satterwhite (1-0) ended up with the win, rebounding with a scoreless ninth.

Team USA finally solved reliever Wen Cheng Kai with three runs in the eighth to lead 4-0. Kai had retired the first six batters he faced, before giving up a leadoff walk to Jordan Danks (Texas). Danks came around to score for the second time in the game on a Kieschnick RBI single, before Flaherty followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. A sacrifice fly by Justin Smoak (South Carolina) made it 4-0.

Jen Lo Chia pitched five strong innings for Chinese Taipei, allowing just one hit, but trailing 1-0. He walked three and struck out another three on 72 pitches. Jacob Thompson (Virginia) countered with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He struck out two and walked two, using just 79 pitches.

Flaherty drove in Danks in the third to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. Catcher Mu Chen Jui had two of the first three hits for CTBA. The second hit came in the eighth. CTBA finished with six hits.

TEAM NOTES
The Americans were the designated visitor after serving as the home team on Friday... the first half of the game saw a steady downpour of rain.... Team USA had a three-hit shutout last night and had 16 scoreless innings in the series until CTBA scored in the eighth... the game times tonight, Sunday and Monday (7 p.m. /12 p.m./10 a.m.) represent close to the same times the Americans will play at the Pan American Games next month (7 p.m. /11 a.m. /9 a.m.).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Chinese Taipei series will continue in Cary, NC at the National Training Complex (July 1-2) at noon on Sunday and 10 a.m. on Monday, before finishing off in Kannapolis, NC (July 3) at 7 p.m. The 10-game North Carolina home stand continues with Japan on July 4 to begin a five-game series.

Texas Tech to name a new coach??

Texas Tech has scheduled a news conference on Monday at 1 pm local time to make an important announcement about the baseball program. Oregon Live is reporting Dan Spencer who is the top assistant coach of the Oregon State program will make the move back to Lubbock to work with current head coach Larry Hays. This story will be followed closely by The College Baseball Blog as this could be great news for the Red Raiders program.

Oregon Live article
Double T Nation article

Team USA knocks off North Adams

Team USA continued their tour of New England with a 9-1 victory over the North Adams Steeplecats who play in the NECBL. Justin Smoak from South Carolina and Roger Kieschnick of Texas Tech hit back to back homers while Ryan Flaherty went 2-4 with two RBI in the win. Mike Minor started the game and gave up only one hit and one run in three innings of work. Team USA is back in action on Thursday when they head to play against the Keene Swampbats who is also a member of the NECBL.

Team USA Recap
North Adams Recap

Team USA starts summer with a win

Team USA opened their summer schedule on Tuesday in Pittsfield MA taking on the Oil Can Boyd All-Stars and picked up a 9-1 victory. Team USA was led by Josh Romanski of San Diego and Roger Kieschnick of Texas Tech each got two hits in the victory. The full article about the team is available here. Team USA will be back in action on Wednesday when they play against the North Adams SteepleCats who play in the NECBL.

The College Baseball Blog will be going into a full summer mode once the CWS is over and will be covering the Cape Cod League and Team USA. If any other summer leagues or teams would like to add us to their e-mail lists feel free to contact us through e-mail.

Texas completes sweep of Texas Tech!

The Texas Longhorns won on Sunday.

They swept a series.

They did it in a come-from-behind fashion.

All those things haven't happened very often this season.

With so many positives in Sunday's 4-2 Big 12 win over Texas Tech, the biggest one for Texas (31-10, 12-3) might have been overlooked: Joseph Krebs.

Texas' Sunday starter put his best outing of the season together with a two-run, five-hit performance over six innings. It was the first time Krebs pitched more than five innings this season. And he did it with a smile.

In the fifth inning, Texas Tech (22-15, 5-8) had taken a 2-1 lead on Krebs, and a runner on first was jumping around, bothering the left-handed starter.

"(Pitching coach Skip) Johnson just came out there and slowed me down," Krebs said. "I would throw over to first, and Chance (Wheeless) would throw it back. Right as Chance would throw it back, the guy would jump off first. Coach Johnson told Chance to fake the throw and tag the guy.

"It calmed me down a lot. I started thinking about that. I had a little smile on my face the rest of the outing."

Krebs struck out the next two guys and breezed through the sixth inning.

"Joe turned it around for two more innings," Texas coach Augie Garrido said. "He broke through and took it to another level."

Then the Horns broke through.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Travis Tucker walked and stole second and third base. After shortstop Michael Demperio grounded out, leadoff hitter Jordan Danks, who went 3 for 4, came up with his second RBI of the game, shortening up his swing with two strikes and hitting a single to center field.

"Tucker gets on base, steals second and steals third, and that pumps the rest of us up," Danks said. "You get the adrenaline flowing. You get the crowd behind you, and you just get going."

Kyle Russell, who did not hit a home run this series and remains tied for the Longhorns' single-season home run total with Jeff Ontiveros at 20, followed up with an RBI double, giving Texas a 3-2 lead. Russell advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Wheeless, whose 17-game hitting streak came to an end.

That was plenty of runs as Randy Boone earned the win with three perfect innings.

He did get a little help from Russell, who made a great catch on what appeared to be a double down the right-field line.

"They swung at a lot of pitches early in the count. It was kind of surprising," Boone said. "I got a lot of ground balls and Kyle made a great play in right."

The sweep helped Texas keep a firm hold on first place in the Big 12, and it comes at the perfect time. The Longhorns now enter the toughest part of their schedule, traveling to Rice on Tuesday before heading to Nebraska and Oklahoma State the next two weekends.

Texas Recap

Texas Tech Recap

Texas.Scout.com

Texas gets two wins over Red Raiders!

It was the quickest two wins Texas will ever get.

First Randy Boone struck out Texas Tech's Geoff Byrns, recording the only out the Longhorns needed Saturday to complete a 7-2 victory, in a game that was suspended in the ninth inning Friday due to inclement weather.

Then, in Game 2 of their three-game series with the Red Raiders at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the Longhorns scored five runs in the first inning.

That contest was all but over, as the Horns (30-10 overall, 11-3 Big 12) cruised to a 10-1 victory.

"Early in the year we jumped out a couple of times and lost the momentum, but we learned from that," Texas coach Augie Garrido said. "We are not forgetting the lessons we learned from some of the adversity we faced."

Texas' early lead was plenty for Adrian Alaniz, who returned to form after a rough outing in Kansas, giving up one run on three hits in seven innings.

"We didn't have a chance today," Texas Tech coach Larry Hays said. "They got a big home run in the first inning, we misplayed a couple balls in the outfield and their guy pitched extremely well."

Alaniz fought gusting winds and chilly temperatures to improve his record to 9-2.

"Last week really helped me a lot," Alaniz said of his struggles. "I just kind of put that behind me today and just went out and pitched. I really wasn't affected by the weather."

Chance Wheeless continued his impressive season by recording a hit for the 17th straight game, the eighth-best streak in Texas history. The Longhorns first baseman did it in style, too, stepping up to the plate in the first inning and ripping a two-run home run over the right-field fence to give Texas a 3-0 lead.

"I didn't think anybody would hit home runs today with the wind, but I knew that one was gone right off the bat," said Wheeless, who went 2 for 3.

After Wheeless' blast, third baseman Bradley Suttle hit a single and catcher Preston Clark, who was 3 for 5 with an RBI, reached on an error. Two batters later, Russell Moldenhauer's two-run single gave Texas a 5-0 lead with just one out in the first, knocking Texas Tech left-hander Josh Scofield out of the game.

Garrido wasn't surprised at his team's success.

"Teams don't recognize — and I don't care if they know it — but everybody sees our lineup and starts left-handed pitchers against us," Garrido said. "We're hitting 50 points higher against left-handed pitchers than we are against right-handed pitchers."

Maybe the Horns have their work cut out for themselves today, as Texas Tech (22-15, 5-8) sends righty Travis Young to the mound to face Texas' Joseph Krebs.

Texas Recap

Texas.Scout.com

Texas Tech Recap

Texas hosts San Diego

The Texas Longhorns will begin the season tomorrow in Round Rock TX against the San Diego Toreros. San Diego swept a series from Cal Poly to jump out to a 3-0 record in the early season. Guest Contributor Donald J. Boyles was nice enough to write a nine page preview on the Longhorns season which is linked below. I have also linked both schools game notes.

San Diego Game Notes
Texas Game Notes
Austin American-Statesman Article
Projected lineup from Austin American-Statesman
Texas Season Preview from Donald J. Boyles