Lafayette Leopards Update

The Lafayette Leopards have put out the 2008 schedule which is highlighted with a season opening series at VMI. They will make a trip to Bradenton Florida for their annual trip to Florida to play four games. They will open the Liberty Bell Classic on March 25th against the Penn Quakers and will play the winner of the St. Joe’s/Delaware matchup on April 1st. The Leopards will host Patriot League opponents Bucknell and Navy. They will head on the road to take on Holy Cross, Army, and Lehigh. The College Baseball Blog will be in attendance for at least one of the doubleheaders at Holy Cross. The full schedule for the Leopards is available here.

The Lafayette Athletic Department is renovating many fields at the Metzgar Fields Athletic Complex. The Baseball program is getting the most benefit in these renovations with an expansion of the dugouts, more seating, and a better locker room for the team. The full release is available here.

UTA releases 2008 schedule

FROM PRESS RELEASE
Thirty-one games at Clay Gould Ballpark – including a home stretch in March to open Southland Conference play – highlight the 2008 UT Arlington baseball schedule released earlier this week by head coach Jeff Curtis.

The Mavericks open the season Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. against Arkansas-Little Rock.

UTA will play seven games against Big 12 competition. The Mavericks participate in a neutral-site event at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas, and do battle in two games against Tarrant County rival TCU.

The biggest difference this season is a late start. The NCAA pushed back Opening Day until Feb. 22, which means the Mavericks will cram 56 games into a season that lasts two fewer weeks. Instead of the single mid-week game that became commonplace over the past several years, the Mavericks and most other NCAA Division I teams will play two. In fact, UTA plays a Tuesday, April 15 game against Oklahoma State at Clay Gould Ballpark before traveling to Austin for a game the next day against Texas.

“Finding teams to play is never difficult, but getting the dates to work was a trick this season because of the shorter year,” says Curtis, whose team will try to bounce back from a 13-40 finish last season. “What it means is that teams are going to have to have a deep, deep pitching staffs. We’re going to find out pretty quick what players we’ll have out there because of the number of games we have to start the year.”

Including the season-opener, UTA will play 10 games in the first eight days of the season.

The Southland Conference opener is scheduled Friday, March 14 at home against Lamar, which finished 34-25 overall last season and won the SLC East Division crown with a 20-10 record. That series will close out a stretch the features eight of nine games at home. The only road game in that mix is in Fort Worth against TCU.

“With that many games at home and Lamar coming in, it’s really important that we’re playing well in that two-week span,” Curtis said.

The popular UTA Invitational begins March 6 and includes the Mavericks, Dallas Baptist, McNeese State and Oral Roberts. That game against McNeese State will not count in the conference standings.

Each team in the SLC will play a three-game set against every other team in the league except one. This year, UTA will not face Central Arkansas. UTA’s regular-season schedule ends Saturday, May 17 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The SLC Baseball Tournament is scheduled May 21-25 in Huntsville.

Curtis said another differences from last year to 2008 is that rainouts might simply not be made up. There might not be enough open dates in the schedule.

“It’s a lot of games in a short amount of time, but kids really enjoy that 56-game schedule,” Curtis said. “We’re looking forward to it. Last season was unusual and disappointing, so we’re ready to get underway.”

FSU Fall Ball Recap

The Florida State Seminoles have finished up Fall practice this week with a two Garnet vs. Gold games.

The Garnet team won Game 1 with a 9-0 shutout of the Gold Team in five innings. Matt Fairel picked up the victory by going three innings while allowing only three hits and two walks. Buster Posey also pitched a shutout inning while allowing one hit. Jack Posey (Buster’s brother) led the offense with three RBI’s. Jimmy Marshall of the Gold team came in to pitch the third inning but was lit up for six runs (one earned) while walking four batters. The Gold offense was led by Ruairi O’Connor who went 2-2.

Game 1 Recap
Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 was won by the Garnet team with a 7-5 victory to complete the sweep. They were led by Tennessee transfer Tony Delmonico who went 2-3 with two RBI. Mike McGee (Garnet team) chipped in with three hits in the victory. Elih Villanueva pitched three perfect innings with two strikeouts with Mike McGee picking up the victory on the mound by pitching two perfect innings. Trenton Jarvis had the best day on the mound for the Gold team by pitching two scoreless inning while allowing only one hit. Dennis Guinn led the Gold offense with a three run homer in the fourth inning.

Game 2 Recap
Game 2 Box Score

UC-Irvine announces 2008 schedule and new pitching coach

The UC-Irvine Anteaters and new head coach Mike Gillespie have announced the 2008 schedule. The team will open the season on February 22nd when they head to Nevada to take on the Wolfpack in a three game series. The Anteaters will open the home slate on February 29th when the University of San Francisco heads down the coast. The following weekend they will fly across the country to New Orleans to take on the Tulane Green Wave from March 7th-9th. They will also host Hawaii and take part in the Arizona State tournament before opening up the conference season. The full schedule is available here.

Mike Gillespie has also announced that Ted Silva has been named the new pitching coach for the Anteaters. He spent the 2007 season with the Fresno State program where he developed the team to the second lowest ERA in the conference. Before taking the job with Fresno State, He spent the 2005-2006 season with the Cal-State Fullerton program where he led the team to a nation best ERA. The full release is available here.

Wake Forest releases 2008 schedule

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have announced their 2008 schedule this past week. They will open the season on February 22nd when they head to Malibu CA to take on the Pepperdine Waves for the beginning of a four game set over three days. The next weekend the Deacons will head to Troy to take part in a tournament where they will play Kennesaw State and Penn State for single game and Troy for two games. The Deacons will host conference opponents Clemson, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Duke. Wake will head on the road to face conference opponents Miami, Boston College, NC State, Virginia, and Georgia Tech. The full schedule is available here.

White defeat Orange to win the Fall World Series!!

The White squad posted a 7-2 win in the finale of the University of Texas Fall World Series at The Dell Diamond on Friday and won the series 2-0-1.

The Orange struck first when Russell Moldenhauer launched a solo home run over the leftfield wall in the bottom of the first inning.

The White responded with two runs in the top of the third inning when Kyle Russell hit a triple down the first base line bringing in Tant Shepherd and Russell scored on single by Cameron Rupp for the 2-1 lead.

Connor Rowe knotted the bottom of the third with triple to leftfield, plating Brandon Belt who reached on a walk.

Russell hit his second triple of the game in the top of the fourth bringing in Ben Kaplan, Pat McCrory and Jordan Danks to stake the White to a 5-2 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, the White added two insurance runs when McCrory hit a two-out, two-run to inflate the cushion to 7-2.

McCrory lead all hitters going 3-for-5 with two singles, one home run and 2 RBI.

Cole Green earned the win for the White allowing two runs in four innings and Garrett Clyde pitched three innings of scoreless relief to earn the save.

The Fall World Series wrapped up UT’s autumn practice session and the Longhorns return to action February 22 with a three-game home series against Virginia Commonwealth University.

For the rest of my pictures from the game CLICK HERE.

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Checking in on Coastal Carolina

Coastal Carolina had a very successful season in 2007 where they were named as a Regional host for the first time in school history. They also accumulated 50 wins for the second time in the last three seasons. Doug Kroll of CSTV recently checked in with head coach Gary Gilmore about his expectations for the upcoming season and including some of the challenges facing the program . The full article is available here.

CBB Top Pitchers to Watch in 2008

We are starting up with our previews of the 2008 season. We have broken down the top five pitchers in the country. Stay tuned for more previews of the upcoming season as the season gets closer.

Aaron Crow, Jr. Missouri

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT8DdNI1_UI&rel=1&color1=0xd6d6d6&color2=0xf0f0f0&border=0">

Crow was named the top pitching prospect in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League this summer. Crow has a mid-90’s fastball with a plus slider and a solid cutter. Crow went 9-4 with a 3.59 last season but got bombed in the NCAA Tournament by Louisville as he let up seven runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Jacob Thompson, Jr. Virginia

Thompson had a breakout season in 2007 where he led the Virginia Cavaliers to the NCAA Tournament. He had a perfect 11-0 record with a 1.50 ERA. Thompson has a low 90’s fastball with downward action on it with a solid curveball. Thompson pitched over the summer for the USA National Team where he got a chance to pitch in the Pan Am Games. He went 1-2 with a 1.27 ERA in 21.1 innings. He was shutdown after the Pan-Am Games to rest his arm for the 2008 season.

Brian Matusz, Jr. San Diego

Matusz is a 6′4 left handed power pitcher for the University of San Diego baseball program. In 2007, He led the Toreros to the number 1 seed in the San Diego regional with a 10-3 record with a 2.85 ERA. He also struck out 163 strikeouts in 123 innings. He pitched for the USA National Team this summer where he compiled a 3-1 record with a 1.33 ERA in four starts. He was also shut down for the summer after the Pan-Am Games to rest his arm.

Kyle Gibson, So. Missouri

Gibson is a 6′5 right handed sinker ball pitcher who was named the number 3 overall prospect in the Cape Cod League by Baseball America and number 9 by Perfect Game. He lead the Missouri Tigers with help from Aaron Crow to the NCAA Tournament as he had a 8-3 record with a 4.12 ERA as he served as the closer with seven saves. He is expected to make the move to the rotation in 2008 and give the Tigers two legitimate aces on the staff.

Ryan Perry, Jr. Arizona

Perry dazzled scouts in the Cape Cod League with a mid-90’s fastball which hit 97 on some guns over the summer. He struggled in 2007 with the Arizona Wildcats as he went 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA. Perry was recovering from a January 2007 accident when he crashed his motorcycle going over 80 MPH without a helmet on which he walked away with a broken non-throwing arm. Perry pitched in 18 games coming out of the bullpen while picking up four saves. His record for the CCBL season was only 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA. He is expected to become an impact player in the Pac-10 for the 2008 season.

The College Baseball Blog would like to thank Cape Prospects for providing the videos for some of the pitchers.

Northeastern releases 2008 slate

FROM NORTHEASTERN MEDIA RELATIONS
Head coach Neil McPhee of the Northeastern University baseball team has announced his 2008 schedule and it includes 30 CAA contests, the 19th annual Baseball Beanpot Tournament and the fifth annual exhibition with the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. The season will begin with the exhibition at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla. on Feb. 29. The team will then spend a week playing at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. before heading north. The Huskies will host CAA opponents George Mason, UNC Wilmington, Towson, Hofstra and James Madison at Friedman Diamond while traveling to Delaware, Georgia State, Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion and William & Mary. The CAA Tournament will take place May 21-24 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C.

Full Story
2008 Schedule

Orange and White World Series Game 1!!!

The Orange and White played to a 5-5 tie in game one of the three-game Fall World Series Wednesday afternoon at The Dell Diamond.

The White drew first blood in the top of the first inning as Michael Torres scored on a wild pitch. Torres reached first with a single up the middle, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a groundout by Tant Shepherd.

The Orange bounced back in the bottom of the first inning. Travis Tucker hit a leadoff home run to leftfield to tie the score at 1-1. With one out, Russell Moldenhauer and Kevin Keyes both singled and an error put the runners on second and third. Todd Gilfillan singled to centerfield bringing in Moldenhuaer and Keyes, staking the Orange to a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the second inning, Jeff Boes trimmed the lead to 3-2, hitting a solo home run to leftfield.

The fourth inning saw the White take a 5-3 lead when Cameron Rupp homered to leftfield driving in Shepherd and Kyle Russell, who reached on a walk and single, respectively.

The Orange trimmed the margin to 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Walks by David Hernandez and Keyes sandwiched around a single by Moldenhauer loaded the bases. Belt drew a walk to drive in Hernandez.

The Orange tied the game with a sacrifice fly by Hernandez plating Runey Davis. Davis drew a walk and the Orange loaded the bases when Clint Stubbs was hit by a pitch and Tucker was issued a walk.

Boes led the White, going 2-for-3 with one double and one home run. Tucker and Moldenhauer each had two hits for the Orange.

Keith Shinaberry was the pitching standout of the day, weaving three innings of scoreless relief. He yielded two hits and one walk, while striking out four.

The Fall World Series continues with a 4 p.m. contest at The Dell Diamond. Link