The College Baseball Blog will be attending the Boston College-Wake Forest game on Thursday and providing a live blog for the Division 2 Northeast Regional on Saturday from Franklin Pierce University. Please come by and visit on Saturday as I run the live blog.

Tags: Boston College, CBB Column, CBB Event, CBB Visit, Division 2, Franklin Pierce, Wake Forest

The CBB recently had an opportunity to take in the Missouri-Kansas series over this past weekend. We focused on the strong Missouri team which includes one of the top pitchers in the country for 2008 in Aaron Crow and one of the top 2009 pitching prospects in Kyle Gibson. We also checked in on some of the other top players on the squad who might make an impact in the coming future.

Aaron Crow JR 6′3, 195 RHP
Crow is one of the top players in the country and I believe him to be the best pitcher in the country (Brian Matusz of San Diego gets a close 2nd). Crow has 2 very strong pitches he relies on. His fastball and his slider. His fastball is in the lower to mid 90’s with good late movement. He has great command of it and throws it on both sides of the plate and will use it up in the zone. His control is extremely good. Having control and command of a mid 90’s moving fastball is a sick thing to have as a pitcher. He couldn’t do it all with just a fastball however. His second pitch is a slider in the mid 80’s. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, 2009 Top Players, Big 12, CBB Column, CBB Visit, Kansas, Missouri, MLB Draft

The Patriot League Conference Tournament starts up this weekend with Holy Cross heading to Navy and Army hosting Bucknell in best two out of three series to decide which team will advance to the conference championship series next weekend. Navy ended up taking three out of four games this season against Holy Cross while Army lost three out of four games against Bucknell. We previewed the Patriot League in our preseason season previews which can be read here. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Army, Bucknell, CBB Column, Holy Cross, Navy, Patriot League

Miami (FL) at Virginia Tech

The Miami Hurricanes head north to Blacksburg VA to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in a battle between the First place team and the worst team in the conference. The Hurricanes have an overall record of 39-5 and 20-2 in the tough ACC. The Hokies have a record of 20-28 and 4-20 in the ACC. The Hurricanes have one of the most potent lineups in the entire led by Yonder Alonso and Jemile Weeks. Alonso has a batting average of .384 with 14 homers and 50 RBI in 44 games. He has an on-base percentage of .550. Jemile Weeks leads the team with a .390 average with 16 stolen bases. Chris Hernandez has been perfect in his first collegiate season as he has a 8-0 record with a 2.70 ERA. The Hokies are led by Sean O’Brien who has a batting average of .335 with six homers on the season. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, ACC Weekend Preview, CBB Column, Clemson, Duke, FSU, GT, Maryland, Miami (FL), NC State, Savannah State, UNC, UVA, VT, Wake Forest

Samuel Wasson is the Co-Founder and Editor of BleedCrimson.net and covers New Mexico State University athletics. He comes to the CBB as our expert on the WAC.

SERIES OF THE WEEK: SACRAMENTO STATE AT HAWAI’I (Les Murakami Stadium)

Why It’s Important: Hawai`i and Sacramento State are separated by just a half a game in the WAC standings, with UH three games behind Fresno State for first place and Sacramento State 3.5 games back. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: CBB Column, Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico St., Sacramento St., San Jose St., Series Preview, WAC

Florida State at Clemson

The Florida State Seminoles head to Clemson SC for a Saturday-Monday series against the Clemson Tigers. The Seminoles enter with a 37-7 overall record while being 19-5 in the ACC. The Seminoles have been one of the better hitting teams in the country with a team batting average of .346. All-American catcher candidate Buster Posey is the top hitter on the team with a .470 average and a team leading 13 homers on the year. Matt Fairel has been the ace of the staff with an 8-1 record with a 2.81 ERA. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, ACC Weekend Preview, Big South, Boston College, Campbell, CBB Column, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, FSU, GT, High Point, Independents, Maryland, Miami (FL), NC State, Presbyterian College, Saint Mary's, Southern Conference, VT, West Coast Conference

Results of the NAIA Coaches’ Poll for April 30, 2008. Comments below.

Rank	Apr. 23	School (Region)	Record	Total Points
1	1	Lubbock Christian (TX) (VI)	45-2	499
2	2	Lewis-Clark State (ID) (I)	44-4	480
3	3	Lee (TN) (XIII)	53-7	488
4	4	Oklahoma City University (VI)	48-7	440
5	5	Azusa Pacific (CA) (II)	40-8	429
6	7	U. of the Cumberlands (KY) (XI)	43-11	374
7	8	Embry-Riddle (FL) (XIV)	38-13	369
8	6	University of Mobile (AB) (XIII)	40-12	358
9	T9	Spring Arbor University (MI) (VIII)	29-5	348
10	12	Fresno Pacific University (CA) (II)	34-11	299
11	T9	Tennessee Wesleyan College (XII)	37-15	289
12	11	Wayland Baptist (TX) (VI)	41-12	288
13	13	University of St. Francis (IL) (VII)	40-8	274
14	15	Bellevue (NE) (IV)	41-11	255
15	14	Union College (KY) (XII)	37-12	218
16	18	Auburn-Montgomery (AL) (XIII)	41-19	191
17	16	Trevecca Nazarene (TN) (XI)	33-12	180
18	19	Texas Wesleyan (VI)	37-12	137
19	17	Biola University (CA) (II)	33-16	117
20	21	LSU-Shreveport (XIII)	41-14	115
21	22	Avila (MO) (V)	32-11	112
22	20	Malone College (OH) (IX)	33-11	77
23	23	Warner Southern (FL) (XIV)	33-22	71
24	25	Madonna (MI) (VIII)	32-12	43
25	24	Southern Polytechnic (GA) (XIII)	38-15	20

First-place votes: Lubbock Christian 19. Lewis-Clark State 1

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Azusa Pacific, CBB Column, Embry-Riddle, Fresno Pacific, Lewis-Clark State, Lubbock Christian, Spring Arbor, Tennessee Wesleyan, U. of Mobile, U. of the Cumberlands, Wayland Baptist

Junior/3B/1B/Arizona State

Brett Wallace can hit - fastballs, curveballs, changeups, oranges, grapefruit, pinatas…you get the idea.
So, the obvious question is: why don’t most of the projection lists have him as a top 10 talent? I wondered the same thing - more specifically, why is there a feeling that Smoak, Hosmer, and Alonso are better 1B prospects? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, Arizona State, CBB Column, Pac 10

The following is a scouting report on the Texas Tech Red Raiders from Aman Reaka who watched them play against Kansas on April 11th-13th. We will continue to bring you scouting looks at certain teams throughout the season.

JR Roger Kieschnick 6′3, 215, RF
Kieschnick is a stud hitter with plus power who should be a first round pick in June. He is a true and legitimate power hitting prospect. He played for Team USA and even tied Pedro Alvarez for the team lead in HR’s. He is hitting .307 with 11 HR, 36 RBI, 10 Doubles, 21 K’s and 26 walks. I will be watching his stance and swing mechanics really close to see if he has many holes in his swing. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, Big 12, CBB Column, Texas Tech

Junior/Catcher/Florida State

Much like Gordon Beckham, a strong Junior year has caused Posey’s stock to sky rocket.

Career/ Background

Posey has been on the radar for a while, being ranked behind Justin Smoak and Reese Havens on Baseball America’s fab 50 Freshman list at #7.

His story is quite interesting, being drafted by the Angels in the 50th round as a SS, and signed by Florida State as a SS. However, he moved behind the plate after his Freshman season, not become of a lack of ability at SS, but because of the need of the team. The story goes that Coach Mike Martin saw one pitch and knew that he was gonna be an outstanding Catcher. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, ACC, CBB Column, FSU, MLB Draft

Eric Sorenson of CSTV and many sources around the internet are talking about the great series that took place this past weekend between FSU and Miami (FL). The Hurricanes were able to win the first and last games of the series to get the win. The biggest thing that came out of the weekend was the near brawl between the two squads after Sunday’s game which was called after seven innings due to the old curfew rule. At the end of the seventh inning, the umps called the game because it was after the curfew which was set up before the game. Mike Martin Jr. who coaches third base for the Seminoles made a comment to the Miami bench which led to both benches clearing and nothing actually happening. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, CBB Column, FSU, Miami (FL)

By Willie Nicklaus
The highly regarded Class of 2007 was touted as one of the best in recent years by the scouting community, major baseball publications, and all experts alike. Those that opted for college baseball are making the impact predicted by many, including our own Brian Foley, the head man here at the College Baseball Blog. We previewed the position players last week and that article is available by clicking here. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, Big East, California, CBB Column, GT, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Pac 10, SEC, Tennessee, UNC, University of San Diego, West Coast Conference

Junior/SS/University of Georgia

It is safe to say no player has earned more buzz that Gordon Beckham this year. The premier college middle infielder in this draft is shooting up draft boards. Here is the breakdown.

Career:

Freshman year: - Freshman All- American while playing in all 70 games at SS - hit .280 with 12 HR

Sophomore year: Hit 13 HR overall, while hitting .322 in SEC play

Cape Cod League: tied for league lead with 9 HR

Junior year: Up at the top of the list this year for college baseball’s best player. He has slowed down a bit, no doubt to being pitched around and seeing increased offspeed stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, CBB Column, Georgia, MLB Draft, SEC

By: Willie Nicklaus
The highly regarded Class of 2007 was touted as one of the best in recent years by the scouting community, major baseball publications, and all experts alike. Those that opted for college baseball are making the impact predicted by many, including our own Brian Foley, the head man here at the College Baseball Blog. (Our Top Freshmen article from the Pre-season is available here.) Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Top Players, ACC, Arkansas, Atlantic 10, Auburn, Big 12, Big East, Boston College, Cal State Fullerton, CBB Column, Elon, Florida, Georgetown, GT, Kent State, LSU, MAC, Miami (FL), Middle Tennessee, Richmond, SEC, Southern Conference, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Texas, UNC, West Virginia

Georgia Tech at Maryland

#21 Georgia Tech (27-10, 9-9 ACC) continues its road swing as it travels north to College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins (22-17, 5-13 ACC).

Georgia Tech enters the series coming off a 14-8 victory at Georgia Southern on Wednesday. Junior Luke Murton, who hit 2 home runs in the Georgia Southern game, leads the team with a .355 batting average. Freshman shortstop Derek Dietrich leads the team with 11 home runs and 39 RBI. Tech’s top three relievers, Andrew Robinson, Brad Rulon and Chris Hicks, have combined for 55 appearances, a 5-3 record with 12 saves, and a 3.66 ERA. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ACC, ACC Weekend Preview, Boston College, CBB Column, Clemson, Duke, FSU, GT, Maryland, Miami (FL), NC State, UNC, UVA, VT, Wake Forest