FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
ELMHURST, Ill. - After winning its record 10th straight league championship a year ago, Oral Roberts was selected to claim its 11th consecutive Summit League title in 2008 as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches. The Golden Eagles (49 points) were a unanimous selection after garnering seven first-place votes (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams). Read the rest of this entry »

The University of Oregon has put out plans for their new baseball facility which comes with a price tag of $12-15 million. They have already made an agreement with the Eugene Emeralds to play in the facility as soon as the 2010 season. The first phase of the stadium will be finished by the start of the 2009 season. The second phase will be completed soon after. The full press release from Oregon is available here. The Oregon Daily Emerald also checks in with an article which can be read here.

The College Baseball Blog continues our series of interviews with head coaches checking in with St. Edward’s coach Rob Penders. He is entering his second season in charge of the Hilltoppers program after coming over from the University of Texas where he severed as the first base coach for Augie Garrido. Coach Penders come from a long line of family members who are coaches themselves. Rob’s brother Jim is the head baseball coach at Connecticut and his uncle is the head basketball coach at the University of Houston.

1) The St Edawrds Hilltoppers had a 43-15 overall record and went 31-9 in the Heartland Conference. Patrick Colgan (12-0, 1.97 ERA) is the only returning starting pitcher as you lost Niel Smith (7-3, 3.95 ERA) and Casey Plant(8-4, 4.31 ERA) but return closer David Wagner to the squad. Who do you expect to fill Smith’s and Plant’s spots in the rotation? Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Coastal Carolina University’s baseball team has been unanimously voted the Big South Conference’s preseason favorite, as voted by the League’s Head Baseball Coaches and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the Conference office. In addition, Chanticleers’ junior outfielder David Sappelt (Saxapahaw, N.C.) has been voted the Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, while junior teammate Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J.) was voted Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the panel. Read the rest of this entry »

Our good friend Sam Wasson of BleedCrimson.net checks in with New Mexico State head coach Rocky Ward with a second pre-season interview with him. Coach Ward talks about some of the drills he leads the club through during the early season workouts and the goals that each drill has. Some of the other topics that he also touches on is the television coverage of the team, pre-season conference team member Joe Scaperotta, and some other topics. The interview is available by clicking here.

The Harvard Media Relation department has put out the 2008 Preseason Prospectus. The Crimson finished in second place in the Red Rolfe Division behind the Brown Bears. Harvard lost nine out of their 23 starters from last season’s squad including Steffan Wilson. The full prospectus is available in PDF format here. WARNING: IT IS A LARGE FILE.

Kendall Rogers of Rivals continues his countdown on the top teams in the nation today with UCLA coming in at Number 3. UCLA had a solid 2007 season which saw them go 33-28 but return two key players in 2008. They return pre-season All-American candiates Brandon Crawford and Jermaine Curtis. The full article is available here.

The University of Iowa Media Relations department has put out a great season preview for the 2008 season. The Hawkeyes are coming off a 31-23 mark in 2007 which led them to a fourth place finish in the Big Ten. They return a veteran squad in 2008 which should bring them closer to NCAA qualification. The full article is available here.

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — For the past six years, the University of Illinois at Chicago has stood atop the Horizon League baseball standings, winning six consecutive regular-season crowns and three League Championships. The 2008 season could be the dawn of a new era, according to the results of the League’s preseason coaches’ poll, released Wednesday (Jan. 30). Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
Coming off a second straight trip to the College World Series, Rice has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2008 Conference USA baseball poll, chosen by the league’s nine head coaches. Owls junior outfielder/designated hitter Aaron Luna, a preseason All-American, is the Preseason C-USA Player of the Year. Rice hurler Ryan Berry, a national Freshman of the Year selection by Collegiate Baseball last season, was named as the league’s preseason Pitcher of the Year. Read the rest of this entry »

According to an article from The Daily Illini and confirmed by Dan Hartleb, Tanner Roark has been left off the 2008 baseball squad do to academic issues. This is a huge loss for Illinois as he was expected to lead the rotation in 2008 after a respectable season which saw him tie for the conference lead in wins with six. The full article is available here.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College has announced the appointment of Bryan Haley as the new head baseball coach. Bryan will also work in the admission office in the capacity as Assistant Director.

Bryan comes to Endicott with an extensive coaching background having served as the assistant coach at his alma mater, Brandeis University, in 2000 and 2002. While at Brandeis, Haley coached a pitching staff that ranked 16th in the nation with a 3.41 ERA and earned an NCAA New England Regional Tournament bid. Three of Haley’s pitchers at Brandeis went on to sign professional contracts. Read the rest of this entry »

COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO MEDIA RELATIONS
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The 2008 University of San Diego baseball season will be much like a new season of a popular television series. Each season, a television show has the same name and airs on the same network but often introduces new characters and new storylines. While the premise and main characters of the show remain the same from year to year, each season is filled with new adventures, new drama and a whole lot of entertainment. Read the rest of this entry »

The College Baseball Blog continues our series of interviews with head coaches checking in with new Holy Cross coach Greg DiCenzo. He is entering his first season in charge of the Crusader program after coming over from Northeastern. He takes over a Holy Cross club which went 12-23 and 8-11 in the Patriot League.

1. Greg, You are entering your first season as a Head Coach of a Division 1 program after spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach with Northeastern. What is the biggest challenges you face in your first year with Holy Cross? Read the rest of this entry »

Rice has been the model program for consistency, so it should come as no surprise that the Owls are back in the national title hunt.

After taking care of business in Regional and Super Regional action last season, the Owls suffered a familiar fate in Omaha — they dropped two-straight games to North Carolina.

The Owls hope to leave no doubt this season.

While uncertainty surrounds the offense, the pitching staff is in outstanding shape.

Ryan Berry, Matt Langwell and Cole St. Clair spearhead the weekend rotation, while Lucas Luetge and Chris Kelley will log significant innings.

Like most teams, the Owls enter the spring with some question marks. However, we fully expect the offense to be better than people think.

To Read the rest of the article go Here.