Boston.com is reporting that Blaine O’Brien of Scituate MA has verbally committed to playing for the Georgia Bulldogs during the 2008-2009 school year. O’Brien is a 6′7 185 pound right hander who also drew interest from Florida and Vanderbilt before settling on the Bulldogs. The full article is available here.

The BYU baseball program has released their 2008 schedule whihc is highlighted with visits from Oregon State and Kansas State. They will take part in two tournaments this year with the Banana Belt Tournament in Idaho on Feb. 28th-March 1st and the Sacramento State Tournament where they will battle UC-Davis, San Jose State, and Sacramento State from March 6th-8th. They will also play a full Mountain West schedule including a visit from conference power TCU. The full schedule is available here.

Thursday was a banner day for the Auburn baseball team as the Tigers welcomed 13 freshmen and a transfer to the squad for the 2008 season. The freshman class includes three players that were drafted in this past summer’s Major League Baseball Draft while 23rd-round pick junior Mike Bianucci also chose to return to The Plains for the upcoming season.

PGcrosschecker.com had this to say about Auburn’s recruiting class. “Big, Deep and Talented (Brian Fletcher, Wes Gilmer, Hunter Morris, Kevin Patterson). If these hitters show up for class at Auburn, the Tigers might have the best offensive team in college baseball in a couple of years. They all hit and can hit right now without needing much projection. Morris and Patterson are left-handed hitters with middle-of-the-order potential; it’s a scary thought where they might be in three years with metal bats.”

Press Release from Auburn

There is already rumblings from the teams that 7 teams will not return next year unless changes are made. The 7 teams that have said that they will not return are Denton Outlaws, Duncanville Deputies, Coppell Copperheads, Colleyville LoneStars, Wichita Falls Roughnecks, Mineral Wells Steam and Weatherford Wranglers. The two that have said that they will return are Brazos Valley Bombers and the Mckinney Marshals. That is a shame as the state of Texas needs a Summer Collegiate League to continue promoting high quality College baseball. I have personally attended games in the DFW area and it has always been a blast. It is a more intimate settings and the Boys of Summer are always more than receptive in talking to the younger fans. Click here for the Star-Telegram article

The Iowa Baseball Program has released their 2008 baseball schedule. They will take part in two tournaments this year. The first tournament will be hosted by Notre Dame in Clearwater, Fla and the other tournament will be hosted by Vanderbilt. The teams in each tournament are unannounced. The top OOC game for the Hawkeyes will be when perennial power Nebraska visits them on April 8th. The full schedule is available here. Big Ten Hardball had this schedule posted a few weeks ago and I forgot to add the link.

Following up a story by djbfootball, Ritch Price of Kansas has been linked to the job opening with the Oregon Ducks. Price has lead the Kansas program for five seasons with an overall record of 173-142 including getting to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 after winning the Big 12 Tournament. Price has connections with Kansas currently as two of his sons play for him. Ryne being a senior and his youngest Robby being a sophomore. Price is a native of Sweet Home, Oregon and went to college at Williamette University in Salem Oregon. The full article from The Lawrence Journal-World News is available by clicking here.

The College Baseball Blog has seen unprecedented growth over the last year and it could not have happened without our great readers and contributors. We are currently on the hunt for College Baseball news around the nation. We are in the dead period between the end of the summer leagues and the beginning of the school year. We have found some 2008 schedules but are on the hunt for more. If you have any news feel free to email us by clicking here.

Coach Dave Serrano will be visiting University of Oregon and the facilities on Monday and Tuesday. When they approached him two weeks ago to see if he was interested he told them thanks but no thanks. He felt he was not ready for to make this move. Well he had second thoughts about this job and it is a good move on his part to at least go and see what they are willing to provide for a program. This may not be the right job for Serrano but, for the long term he needs to know what is out there. Coach Dave Serrano is a coach that will make a name for himself rather it be at UC Irvine or at another University. Coach Dave is capable of turning UC Irvine into a Cal State Fullerton. Fullerton was not on the baseball map until Augie Garrido came in and turn that program into a Baseball powerhouse which Coach Horton as continue that with Great success. Both Horton and Serrano has played and or coach under Garrido. So, Serrano will be successful wherever he goes.

Some other articles in regard to the coaching job.

The Register Guard
Daily Pilot

Pack Baseball, the unofficial home of NC State Baseball has released the 2008 schedule. The Wolfpack will open the season on Feb. 22nd when they host Appalachian State for a three game series. The next weekend they take part in The Citadel Tournament on Feb. 29th-March 2nd. The Wolfpack will play a full ACC schedule missing Georgia Tech this season. The full schedule is available here.

The Utah Utes Media Relations department has released a great article about Team USA’s summer. The article talks with Bill Kinneberg who is the head coach of the Utah Utes baseball program and acted as the pitching coach on the tour this summer. The article discusses how the great game of baseball is spreading throughout the world and the challenges that the team faced this summer in terms of travel. The full article is available here.

The Harvard Crimson released a special article about Steffan Wilson on Thursday. The article talks about how Wilson signed with the Milwaukee Brewers over coming back for his senior season. The article also discusses how many people are doubting the decision to go pro including Keith Law. The full article is available here.

Rivals.com has picked up wire reports announcing the incoming Miami Hurricanes and LSU Tigers incoming classes. Miami is bringing in 9 players, including 5 from the South Florida region.

Meanwhile, Paul Mainieri, a true class act and well respected SEC coach, has brought in his first full-year class at LSU. It includes 18 new players, of whom 7 were drafted this year. LSU only lost infielder Drew Cumberland to San Diego (46th overall pick).

LSU’s class will be welcomed with the opening of the beautiful new Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. A rendering of the new Stadium is pictured above, as LSU becomes the latest SEC program to upgrade its facilities in the recent facilities arms raise in the South.

Miami Hurricanes Class

LSU Tigers Class

For the Roster, I have made some changes for the positional players.

Pitchers (19) Drew Bishop Jr, Riley Boening Soph, Hunter Harris Soph, Kenn Kasparek Jr, Pat McCrory Jr, Alex Posey Soph, Andy Reese Jr, Keith Shinaberry Jr, Juston Street Jr, Kyle Walker Jr, Blake Williams Soph, Austin Wood Jr. Garrett Clyde, Soph, Cole Green Freshman, Lee Johnson Freshman, Chance Ruffin Freshman, Stayton Thomas Freshman, Brandon Workman Freshman(3rd Rd Phillies), Casey Whitmer soph.

Catchers (5) Preston Clark Junior, Todd Gilfillian senior, Russell Moldenhauer Sophmore(OF), Cameron Rupp Freshman, Kawika Emsley-Pai Freshman.

Infielders(6) Travis Tucker Junior, Jeff Bose Junior, Brandon Belt Soph, Bobby Buckner Freshman, Tant Shepherd Freshman, Marcus Tackett Soph.

Outfielders (7) Jordan Danks Junior, Kyle Russell Junior, Kyle Lusson Sophomore, Clint Stubbs Sophomore, Runney Davis Freshman, Connor Rowe Freshman, Kevin Keyes Freshman

Note: I have move Brandon Belt and Marcus Tackett to the infield but they will also pitch. Also please note there 37 players and the Roster can only have 35.

Remember this is only my best guess as how I see it today:

1st Base. Brandon Belt
2nd Base Travis Tucker/Pat McCrory
Short Stop Pat McCrory/ Bobby Buckner
3rd Base Tant Shepherd/ Marcus Tackett
Left Field Kyle Lusson/ Davis/Rowe/Keyes
Center Field Jordan Danks
Right Field Kyle Russell
Catcher Preston Clark/Cameron Rupp
DH Russell Moldenhauer/Cameron Rupp
Friday Starter- Riley Boening
Saturday Starter- Casey Whitmer
Sunday Starter- Austin Wood

Closer- Lee Johnson/Keith Shinaberry/Drew Bishop

Mid-day starter- Brandon Workman/ Kyle Walker/Cole Green

When the schedules comes out later on in the fall you will see more 5 games in a week than in years past. That is also why Augie and staff has more pitchers than in years past.

Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin announced yesterday that he was remaining in Nashville. Just 10 hours after that decision, VandySports.com’s Mike Rapp broke the news that Corbin and Erik Bakich had landed coveted transfer candidate Drew Hayes.

Matt Harvey of Fitch High School (CT) and Nate Striz of Sante Fe Catholic (FL) both will be heading to North Carolina after failing to sign professional contracts by the deadline on August 15th. Matt Harvey was expected to be a first round pick but slid to the third round (118th overall) where he was picked by the Los Anglos Angels of Anaheim. Teams were scarred away from drafting him with the association with Scott Boras. He was rated by Baseball America as the number 1 prospect in the senior class in February. He ended up being named the Louisville Slugger Connecticut Player of the Year. Nate Striz was a fifth round pick (182nd overall) by the Minnesota Twins. He was rated as the 95th best prospect by Baseball America before the high school season.

Both players are excellent additions to the North Carolina pitching staff. These players should be top of the line starters for the Tar Heels in the coming years while they try to make it to their third straight CWS Championship series.

UNC Release
LA Times Article on Harvey