The USC Trojans athletic department has posted a season preview on the USC Trojan baseball program. The Trojans enter a new era by naming former MLB player Chad Kreuter who is the son-in-law of former head coach Mike Gillespie. He spent the 2005 season as the Director of Baseball Operations for the USC Trojans before becoming the Manager in 2006 of the Modesto Nuts which is an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The full preview of the Trojans is available here.
SeBaseball.com has posted a previews for the ACC and the SEC conferences. They pick North Carolina to win the conference over Clemson which they have winning the Atlantic division. In the SEC, they pick South Carolina to win the East and Arkansas in the West. The SEC is by far the deepest conference as any team can logically win if they get their players rolling.
ACC Preview
SEC Preview
Tulane University is trying to get back to normal and this includes the baseball program. The team is rebuilding Turchin Stadium and will be in the stadium by the end of the year. The team will start the season playing at Zephyr Field but will move back to Turchin when the stadium is ready. The full article is available here.
Conference USA is doing a series of previews on each team in the Conference. The first one is on the University of Central Florida. The Golden Knights are a young team and will be battling their youth to get to the top of the conference. The full preview is available here.
Everyone that follows this blog knows that I have been a huge fan of Milan Dinga's game since I saw him pitch up at Holy Cross when he was pitching for Army last year. He came into a tight game and throw some fire to close the game out. He registered 94 MPH on the radar guns around me and really impressed me with his composure. He ended up spending the summer in the Cape Cod League playing for the Hyannis Mets where he impressed some scouts even more against the best competition in the country.
Mitch Harris is of a similar mode since he plays the Naval Academy. Harris was named the second best pro prospect in the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. I will have the chance to see Harris pitch against Holy Cross this year and I will give my impressions on this stud of a pitcher.
Doug Kroll of CSTV wrote an article about how Harris and Dinga face challenges that other college baseball players don't have to deal with. The article is available here.
Wes Roemer and Jared Clark both of Cal State Fullerton have recently been injured according to Aaron Fitt of Baseball America. He states that Roemer has a broken pinky finger on his throwing hand. The Titans are trying to have Roemer pitch through the injury. Jared Clark is out for the 2007 season with a torn ACL. This a huge loss for the Titans since Clark hit five home runs last season and was expected to contribute significantly this season. There are also some more news in notes in this article from Aaron Fitt.
University of Arizona Head Coach Andy Lopez will return this season to coaching the pitching staff. Last year, he took the year off from coaching the pitchers so he could deal with his ailing father who passed away after last season. He has been the Pitching coach in addition to his head coaching duties every time the Wildcats have made a trip to the CWS. He will try to lower the team ERA this season from a 5.41 in conference play in 2006. The full article from the Arizona Daily Star is available here.
The current Chatham A's head coach John Schiffner (Providence college grad) has just come back from the World Baseball Coaches Convention in Connecticut. He was a presenter of "Coaching the Bases" and made a great speech. The article deals how successful he has become as a head coach in Connecticut for high schools and also with Chatham. The full article is available here.
Bethune-Cookman has been named the top team in the nation in by BlackCollegeBaseball.com. They are the defending champions of the MEAC conference where they went 30-27. They tied Prairie View A&M in 2006 in the final poll. The top ranked team in the lower division poll is West Virginia State who went 45-9-1 in 2006.
The University of Illinois-Chicago Flames have moved into a new facility called the Colvin Center. It features locker rooms for players, coaches, and umpires in addition to a study lounge, lounges, new coaches offices, equipment room, shower facilities, and other amenities. The full release is available here.
The Gonzaga Baseball program has lost former head coach Dick Busch who coached the Zags from 1949 through the 1967 season. He also taught civil engineering at the school from 1949-1982. He was responsible for building four baseball fields during his tenure at the university. Current Zags head coach Stave Hertz said "Dick Busch was a friend and a colleague, "He loved baseball and was a true Zag. Although I never played for him, it was a pleasure to be both a player and a coach and wear the uniform for the program he helped shape. We shared many good conversations about Gonzaga baseball and he was a frequent visitor to the field. He not only loved Bulldog baseball, he loved Gonzaga University." He was 86 years old. The full release from the Gonzaga athletic department is available here.
The CAA has picked the VCU Rams to win the conference this season. They received 4 first place votes with UNC Wilmington and Delaware getting 3 and Old Dominion get a lone vote. The rest of the pre-season poll is available here. The College Baseball Blog staff might be seeing some CAA action at Northeastern this season so keep your eyes open.
Julio Borbon will be out 8-10 weeks with an ankle injury which hampers the beginning of the season for the Tennessee Vols. They are expected to compete for teh SEC championship this year and Julio was expected to be the catalyst for the program. He led the team in hitting in 2006 with a .366 batting average. The full article written by Kendall Rogers is available here.
Sean Clark of Clemson will not be playing the 2007 season even though he still has another year of eligibility left. He became an emergency starter at the end of last season and provided the victory in the ACC championship game, a regional, and the first game of the CWS in Omaha. He was expected to be an integral part of the Clemson staff but will not be able to play because of commitments with his current employer. Sad to see a kid's life get decided by some bosses at his job. Full article available here.
The ACC has released their preseason coaches poll. The UNC Tar Heels and the Clemson Tigers are both picked to win their respective division. The Tigers are expected to win the whole conference according to the coaches. The full release from the ACC is available here.
The Tallahassee Democrat has an article in Jan. 18th edition about the expected new center fielder for the Seminoles. His name is Ruairi O'Connor who is entering his redshirt sophomore season. He missed the 2006 season with a wrist injury but in 2005 he contributed with in 40 games including 14 starts. He has a tough shoe to fill because Shane Robinson (former CF) was a two-time All-American and also the national player of the year in 2005. The full article is available here.
The Kansas baseball program had some recent articles published in The University Daily Kansan about the preparations for the season. The first article deals with the new indoor batting cages which were added before the 2006 season and how they have helped the program out. The other one talks about the large gift that was given to the program for a new home clubhouse.
New Clubhouse
Indoor Facility
The Mountain West Conference has released their pre-season coaches poll and TCU is expected to win the conference garnering 9 out of the 10 first place votes. The full release is available here.
The Southern Miss Baseball team start practice on Monday for the 2007 season. They return 18 letter winners including five position players to a team that went 39-23 last season. The team will try to win a regional this season as they are looking on qualifying for their fifth straight regional. The full article is available here.
Conference USA has released the results from the Pre-Season Coaches Poll. The Rice Owls are the unanimous choice to win the conference receiving all nine first place votes. They are followed by Tulane and Houston to fill out the Top 3. Rice had both Joe Savery and Cole St. Clair named Pre-Season player and pitcher of the year. The full release with the rest of the Top 5 in the conference and the rest of the Conference team is available here.
Harvard Captain Brendan Byrne had a nice article written about him which discusses the amount of commitment it takes today to compete at the D-1 level in two sports. Byrne besides playing second base also plays Forward on the hockey team. This is an interesting combination since there is some overflow from the Hockey season to the beginning of the baseball team. Byrne is a local guy growing up in Dorechester and Milton. The full article is available here.
The Navy athletic department is doing a series of previews on the upcoming season. The first part is about the Starting Pitchers which is led by All-American Mitch Harris. He went 10-3 with a microscopic 1.74 ERA in 2006. He is expected to put up similar numbers again. The full preview is available here and the season prospectus is also posted here.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has released a new style for their hats for the coming season. The hats resemble Alabama Crimson Tide but are Green and Gold instead. The full article is available here.
The BYU Baseball team has started preparing for the season by taking their workouts indoors at a local boxing gym. The full team has started the cross training this season after pitching coach Bobby Applegate implemented the regimen last year with his pitchers. The whole team wanted in on the project thus the odd workout regimen. The full article is available here.
SeBaseball has posted a preview of Conference USA this season. They expect Rice and Tulane to battle with Houston to finish in the top 3 of the conference. They expect Rice to edge out Tulane. The rest of the conference is improving but still not at the same level of the perennial powers of Rice and Tulane. The full article is available here.
Jeff Dietz was honored by the Collegiate Baseball as their pick for the Ivy League pitcher of the year. Jeff went 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA last season in the Ivy League and is expected to contribute more this season. The full release is available here.
The San Diego State Aztecs announced plans to host a doubleheader at Petco Park which is the home of the San Diego Padres. They will face the Michigan Wolverines in the nightcap while the San Diego Toreros will face Oklahoma in the early game. This will take place on Saturday, March 10th which is the middle day of the Round-Robin format tournament. The full article about the event is available here.
Mark Etheridge of SEBaseball has an article posted by CSTV on the struggles of the mid-majors in college baseball. Most of the bids have gone to teams in the Big 5 conferences which are the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac 10, and C-USA. Since the year 2000, the amount of teams coming from outside of these conferences has dwindled from 42 to 34 last season. Considering that 25 of those bids are automatic bids, you can see how difficult it is to make the tournament for the mid-major schools like College of Charleston who ended up winning a regional last season. The full article is available here and can be discussed in my comment section.
The Tallahassee Democrat checks in with an article about newcomer Brandon Reichert. He is entering the season as a senior and this will be the first season he suits up for the hometown team. He signed with Mercer University but was not given his release by Head Coach Craig Gibson. The full article about Mr. Reichert is available here.
GoJackets.com checks in with a preview on the Virginia Cavaliers. They are led by 4th year Head Coach Brian O'Connor and All-American two-way player Sean Doolittle. They need to replace starting pitcher Mike Ballard, closer Shooter Hunt, and DH/first baseman Tom Hagan but should be able to continue to compete for the ACC championship this year with the quality of recruits coming to Charlottesville. The full article is available here.
Scout.com checks in with an article about the new draft rules which go into effect this season. The rules now state that all players beside college seniors must be signed before August 15th. The article has some quotes from some people who write for the Scout.com network and the comments can be read here.
A very nice article came across my desk today on one of my favorite College Baseball players in Kellen Kulbacki who plays for James Madison University and played for Cotuit this summer. He led the nation in homeruns, slugging percentage, and OPS in 2006. He will try to stay at the top in the nation without the protection of his former teammates Nate Schill and Micheal Cowgill. The full article about the All-American is available here.
Perfect Game CrossChecker are posting a series of previews about the top 100 teams in the nation. The top team has been released with University of South Carolina ranked Number 1 but from 2-49 have not been released but will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. The listing of teams from 51-100 are available here.
Cstv.com has started posting a series of articles previewing the 2007 NCAA Baseball season. The first article posted was a vote taken by CSTV on the Pre-season player of the year. The projected player of the year is Wes Roemer of Cal-State Fullerton. The full list is available here.
The second article is about players who are solid in the pitching and hitting departments like Virginia's Sean Doolittle and GT's Matt Wieters. The article is written by CSTV writer Glenn Tanner and can be read here.
Mike Anderson of Nebraska is preparing for the upcoming season with his Husker baseball program. The Lincoln Journal Star checked in on them and talk about how the reduction in scholarships in the college baseball world has led to student-athletes who get partial scholarships. The Husker program spread the scholarship money between about 30 players which comes out to each scholarship athlete having .40 of a scholarship. The full article is available here.
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.
Harvard University has posted the 2007 Pre-Season prospectus. The Crimson made the Ivy League Championship last season losing to Princeton in the final. They are expected to again compete for the Ivy League title behind the leadership of Brendan Byrne. The prospectus is available in PDF format here.
The NCBWA has released their 2007 Pre-Season poll. The Owls of Rice are the number 1 pick overall with Clemson, UNC, University of South Carolina, and Miami rounding out the top 5. The full poll is available here.
The Elon Baseball team has released their 2007 schedule. They open the season in the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina where they will take on UVA, Coastal Carolina, and North Florida. They also have a trip to Miami to face the Hurricanes for a three game set before opening the season in the Southern Conference. They have big weekday home games against North Carolina, South Carolina, and Wake Forest to name a few. The full schedule is available here. The athletic department also has posted some news and notes in this press release which was released today.
The Daily O'Collegian checks in with an article about the Oklahoma State baseball program. They are ranked 22nd by Baseball America and return a ton of offensive talent including NC State transfer Matt Mangini who impressed The College Baseball Blog staff and scouts in the Cape Cod League this summer. Mangini has to work on his defensive skills to become a better player all around but is an excellent hitter. The full article is available here.
Maryland Media Relations has posted a new season preview about the Terps season. They believe that the team is going to be able to compete for the ACC Championship this year. I believe this is unlikely as they really don't have too much talent in their pitching staff. The full season preview is available here.
The Daily Toreador also has written an article previewing the Red Raiders season. The article written by Wes Skipwith can be read here.
Recently, this blog has taken off. I know that there are some members of college baseball world that read this blog and if anyone would be interested in doing a quick Question and Answer session through email feel free to email me. Note: It is a new business email address.
Thanks to LeftyDad for helping out.
Rivals also posted a new article about the BYU Cougars. They will be returning 4 significant players from last year team but are getting a ton of players back from the missions which are required at BYU. The full preview about the Cougars of BYU is available here.
Rivals has released their top 25 for the upcoming season. The top team is Rice with UNC, University of South Carolina, Virginia, and Miami rounding out the top 5. I believe that Miami is a little overrated being in the top 5 but we will have to see how the season falls to find out the truth. It is nice to see 3 ACC teams in the Top 5.
The full poll is available here.
Mike Martin was officially enshrined into the ABCA Hall Of Fame today. This was a very high honor for Coach Martin who enters the season with a career record of 1435-493-4 (.744). The full press release on Coach Martin is available here.
Also, The Florida State Baseball team has officially started practicing this week for the upcoming season. They open the season on Feb. 2nd against Tennessee. There is a nice little photo gallery on the official Seminole site here.
The College Baseball Hall of Fame has elected four new members. The four people were Lou Gehrig, Christy Mathewson, Joe Sewell, and Jack Barry. Lou Gehrig played with the Columbia Lions before joining the New York Yankees and having a great professional career. Mathewson played for Bucknell from 1898-1900, in addition to Baseball, Mathewson played Football and Basketball. Joe Sewell played at Alabama from 1918-1920 and returned to coach the team in 1964 where he compiled a record of 106-79 in five seasons. Sewell and Gehrig were roommates with the New York Yankees which is ironic since they both are great players and contributers to the College Baseball World. Jack Barry played for Holy Cross from 1905-1908 and returned to the school in 1920 to coach the team. Barry is known as the Knute Rockne of the College Baseball World where he compiled a record of 616-150-6 (.802).
The full press release from The College Baseball Foundation is available here in PDF format.
Rivals.com has added some Conference Previews with the Big 12, ACC, and SEC already done. They are fairly short but gives the readers a quick synopsis about the key players and teams in the respective conference.
Big 12
SEC
ACC
It is a bad day when I have to post a story about a death but I have to. Jody Schrage, 45, wife of Notre Dame Head Coach Dave Schrage passed away on Tuesday from complications with cancer. The College Baseball Blog wants the readers to keep her and the Schrage family in your thoughts.
The full article is available here.
Cal-State Fullerton is picked to win the 2007 Big West Conference behind Head Coach George Horton. They will rely on Co-National player of the Year Wes Roemer and third baseman Evan McArthur to carry the load for the Titans. The full article about the poll is available here.
Big West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Cal State Fullerton (7) - 63
2. UC Riverside - 50
3. UC Irvine (1) - 48
4. Long Beach State - 43
5. Cal Poly - 31
6. UC Santa Barbara - 23
7. Pacific - 22
8. Cal State Northridge - 8
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