USA Today has released their first Top 25 for the season. They have Rice leading the poll with 22 first place votes out of a possible 31 first place ballots. Clemson comes in at number 2 with 4 first place votes. Miami, South Carolina, and North Carolina all round out the Top 5. The University of Texas picked up a first place vote but finished 6th in the poll. Oregon State, the defending national champions picked up 4 first place votes but ended up in 15th position in the poll.

Full Poll
Poll Story
Poll Outlook
Chat with Kendall Rogers

The University of Cincinnati will be opening the season on Febraury 9th against FAU for a three game set. The program at Cincinnati is coming off a 32-26 record last season and they hope to improve on that. The athletic department is doing a great job of getting articles written about the program.

Scout.com preview
Cincinnati Media Relations: Pitching Preview
Cincinnati Media Relations: Getting to know you

Oregon State opened the season last night in Hawai’i and they got off to a fantastic start with four pitchers combining for a no-hitter which was the first in 40 years for the Beavers. Oregon State won the game 5-0 over Hawai’i-Hilo. Mitch Canham was the star on offense going 4-5 at the plate with one run scored and one batted in. He also caught the no hitter which was thrown by Mike Stutes (5 IP, 7 K’s, and 2 BB), Josh Keller (2 IP and 2 K’s), Mark Grbavac (1 IP and 2 K’s), and Jorge Reyes (1 IP and 1BB) who pitched the ninth. Lars Knepper started the game for the Vulcans and pitched 4.2 innings giving up 2 runs (1 earned) while striking out ten batters. He was followed up by Jeffrey Germain (2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, and zero earned runs) and Emil DeAndreis (2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 Earned run, and 3 BB).

Press Release from Oregon State available here.
Press Release from Hawai’i-Hilo available here.

I know that I have been posting about the Oregon State Beavers often but they are getting a ton of press for being the defending national champion. The Register-Guard in Eugene, OR checks in with an article about the losses that Oregon State has had to graduation and the MLB draft. It can be read here.

Columbia starting pitcher Joe Scarleta (Walpole, MA) had Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow during the 2006 season after experiencing pain during the spring trip to Florida. The article is an excellent tool to learn about this particular surgery and can be read here.

Conference USA is still posting previews on a team every day. Today they have previewed the Pirates of East Carolina. Head Coach Billy Goodwin is entering his second season at East Carolina. He brought them to a 33-26 record and an NCAA appearance. The full preview is available here.

The McNeese State Cowboys were picked to finish in 1st place in the East Division of the Southland conference by both the media and the coaches. In the West Division it is an absolute mess. The Coaches poll is led by the University of Texas-Arlington and Texas State which tied for first place. The Media poll is led by UT-Arlington but University of Texas-San Antonio is right behind them with the second most first place votes. The full release is available in HTML format and PDF format.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are expected to compete for the SEC title this year behind Preseason All-American pitcher Nick Schmidt. They are coming off a 39-21 record overall and a respectable 18-12 record in the conference. There is some heat on Head Coach Dave Van Horn to produce since his teams have been talented but have failed in the eyes of the Razorbacks supporters. The full article from Scout.com is available here.

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.

One of the top college baseball writers in the country in Kendall Rodgers checks in with an article about the top 5 storylines for the upcoming season. He discusses how Oregon State has become a key player in the college baseball world in addition to how Paul Mainieri is going to adjust to the pressure of LSU. The full article is available here.

SeBaseball has posted a preview on the Big South Conference. The Eagles of Winthrop are picked to win the conference for the second consecutive season with Coastal Carolina and Liberty trying to knock off the Eagles from their perch atop the standings. The full preview is available here.

CSTV has posted two articles on the Vanderbilt Baseball team. The first article deals with ace pitcher David Price. It talks about how dominant he has been the last few summers on the USA National Team. He has a 95+ fastball with two off-speed pitches that he can through for strikes. The full article is available here.

The second article is about David Price’s teammate Pedro Alvarez who spurned the Boston Red Sox in 2005 to pursue a college education at Vanderbilt. Alvarez has become a superstar at Vandy nailing 22 home runs as a freshman. The full article is available here.

The Navy Media Relations Department is continuing the series of previews on the Midshipmen baseball team. This week’s release focuses on the relief pitching of the team. They need to replace career leader in saves Ryan Hefner and career appearance leader Joe Koessler. This will be a tough task but players are available for Paul Kostacopoulos including transfer from Wofford JD Melton who is expected to close. The full preview is available here.

The Oregon State Beavers have decided to change the surface of their infield from natural grass to FieldTurf at Goss Stadium. This type of field is the same type that the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Devil Rays play on. The surface change is expected to be ready for the home opener for the Beavers on March 8th against Evansville. They are also adding a new scoreboard and a new seating area to the ballpark in the near future. The full article from The Daily Barometer writer Casey Grogan is available here.

Conference USA has posted their preview on the Rice Owls for the 2007 season. Every publication is expecting the Owls to take the title this year but I believe that Tulane will keep the race competitive. Rice superstar two-way player Joe Savery is expected to lead the team on the mound and also at the plate where he has a .356 career average. The full preview is available here.