The USA Olympic Team will begin play on Wednesday August 13th when they open up round robin play against South Korea. It will be the first game in the Olympics for Team USA since their Gold Medal victory over Cuba in the 2000 Olympics behind the right arm of Ben Sheets. We break down the position players today with some background information. We will be checking out the pitchers on Sunday as we continue our preview of Team USA. They open play on Tuesday when they play South Korea at 6 am Eastern time. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Olympics, Arizona, Big 12, CBB Column, Chabot CC, Florida, Oregon State, Pac 10, SEC, Stanford, Team USA, Texas

Recruiting coordinator Eric Bakich of Vanderbilt has kicked off recruiting season with a bang.  Today, it was reported that stellar defensive shortstop Anthony Gomez of top ranked Don Bosco high school of New Jersey committed to the Commodores.  Gomez, a sure handed, line-drive hitting shortstop standing 6′ 180, is the third ‘09-’10 recruit known to have committed to Vanderbilt and Tim Corbin.  He received a Perfect 10 rating from Perfect Game. 

Last week, TCBB scribe Don Boyles tipped off that Connor Harrell, a physical specimen and top outfielder had committed to the Commodores.  PG rates Harrell the #65 prospect in the class and awarded him a Perfect 10 rating as well.  The Kinkaid School product is a strapping 6′3″ 190lb speed demon, clocking a 6.66 time in the 60 yard run at PG’s National Showcase.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2010 Recruits, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, SEC, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

I know we don’t cover Minor League baseball in general but the 2008 USA Baseball Team was announced today with a bunch of players with collegiate experience in the last few seasons including one player who will be entering his junior season at San Diego State in the fall. The biggest name that is on the roster is Matt LaPorta and the biggest surprise to me is Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 Olympics, Arizona, CBB Column, Delaware, Florida, Loyola-Marymount, Michigan, Oregon State, Pratt (Kan) CC, San Diego State, Stanford, TCU, Team USA, Texas, Vanderbilt, Ventura (CA)

By Willie Nicklaus

With the NCAA regionals finished, I thought it was a good time to post my All-Freshman team for 2008. The high school Class of 2007 was a highly touted one, and they did not disappoint as contributors to their respective teams. Here they are with a little information about each. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2010 Top Players, ACC, Alabama, Auburn, Big East, Big South, Big West, Cal, Cal State Fullerton, CBB Column, Coastal Carolina, Conference USA, Florida, GT, Kent State, MAC, Miami (FL), Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss, Rice, Santa Clara, SEC, Tennessee, Texas, UNC, University of San Diego, West Coast Conference, West Virginia

FSU 17 Florida 11

Tallahassee, Fla. - Second-ranked Florida State (49-11) thwarted elimination on Saturday afternoon downing intra-state rival Florida (34-24) 17-11 in game three of the Tallahassee Regional. The Seminoles registered a season-high 25 hits as every batter in the starting line-up recorded a hit, while eight of the nine batters collected multiple hits. It was the fifth time this season that FSU has posted 20 or more hits in a game. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 NCAA Tourney, 2008 Tallahassee Regional, ACC, Bucknell, Conference USA, Florida, FSU, Patriot League, SEC, Tulane

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Bucknell 7 FSU 0

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In the biggest win in Bucknell baseball history, senior Mathew Wilson pitched a complete-game, six-hit shutout against hard-hitting Florida State, and the Bison pulled off a 7-0 upset on opening night of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Dick Howser Stadium.

Dane Grandizio went 4-for-5 to lead the offense, and the Bison scored three times in the second inning, another in the third and three more in the fourth. Wilson took it from there, eclipsing the school record with his fifth career shutout. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 NCAA Tourney, 2008 Tallahassee Regional, ACC, Bucknell, Conference USA, Florida, FSU, Patriot League, SEC, Tulane

The Florida State Seminoles will host a Regional this year with rival Florida, Tulane, and Bucknell. The Seminoles have a 48-10 record while going 24-6 in the ACC which was good enough to win the Atlantic Division. The Gators of Florida will take their 34-22 record and a SEC record of 17-13 up the road to Tallahassee. The Green Wave of Tulane will come over from New Orleans to get back in the NCAA Tournament after a one year absence. They have a 37-20 record while going 13-9 in Conference USA. The last team in the Regional is Bucknell out of the Patriot League where they have a 29-22 overall mark and a conference record of 10-10. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2008 NCAA Tourney, 2008 Tallahassee Regional, ACC, Bucknell, Conference USA, Florida, FSU, Patriot League, SEC, Tulane

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

South Carolina 11 Florida 3

Hoover, Ala. - South Carolina scored five runs in both the second and eighth innings and behind a solid seven inning effort from senior right-hander Nick Godwin earned an 11-3 win over Florida on day two of the SEC Tournament in an elimination game. Carolina junior first baseman became the seventh player in SEC history to record 60 or more career homers and also set a South Carolina career record for RBI with 200 in his three seasons with the Garnet & Black. Carolina improves to 38-20 on the year with the loss dropping Florida to 34-22 this season. The Gamecocks will meet the loser of the LSU-Vanderbilt game on Friday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4 pm ET and the game broadcast live on FSN South and the Gamecock Radio Network. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, SEC, SEC Recap, SEC Tourney, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

Game 1: LSU 5, USC 4

LSU rallied for 4 runs in the ninth and Blake Dean hit a walk off shot in the 10th as LSU stunned USC with a major come from behind win in the SEC tournament opener.

Game 2: Vandy 7, UF 3

Vanderbilt avenged a Florida sweep last weekend that knocked VU completely out of the NCAA hosting picture by sending Florida to the loser’s bracket behind 14 singles and steady, if imperfect relief pitching by Drew Hayes, Richie Goodenow and Russell Brewer.

Game 3: Ole Miss 4, UGA 1

Is UGA mailing in the tournament? A presumptive national seed, Georgia fell to Ole Miss 4-1 in their first game in the SEC tourney. But the #1 seed had the unenviable task of facing pre-season all-American Lance Lynn, who struck out 12 of the 27 batters he faced. Fuller Smith and Jordan Henry had 3 hits apiece for the Rebs.

Game 4: Kentucky 9 Alabama 3

Making his first career start senior Aaron Lovett tossed a complete-game and senior outfielder Sawyer Carroll set the school record for RBI in a season, as the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats pounded No. 29 Alabama 9-3, in front of 11,967 fans during the first round of the 2008 Southeastern Conference Tournament at Regions Park.

Full SEC recaps of the day’s action.

Tags: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, SEC Recap, SEC Tourney, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

The SEC Conference Tourney starts up tomorrow with a double elimination tournament taking place in Hoover Alabama. The University of South Carolina will take on LSU at 10 am, Vanderbilt against Florida at 1 pm, Ole Miss against Georgia at 5 pm, and the nightcap will be Alabama playing Kentucky at 8 pm. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, SEC, SEC Tourney, SEC Weekend Preview, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia junior shortstop Gordon Beckham was selected 2008 SEC Baseball Player of the Year, fellow senior closer Joshua Fields was named SEC Pitcher of the Year and Auburn first basemen Hunter Morris was named SEC Freshman of the Year by a vote of the league’s 12 head baseball coaches. The coaches also tabbed Georgia skipper David Perno as SEC Coach of the Year. Beckham was also named SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, SEC, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

By Willie Nicklaus

Thought this would be a good time to do a follow up on some of the freshmen who have been contributing to their respective teams, as the regular portion of the season has concluded and conference tourneys are ready to begin.

I like to use OPS percentage as a gauge as the equation includes power factors as well as on-base frequency. I have also included the HR and Extra-base hits frequencies to show a player propensity for delivering a big hit. With the conferences getting ready to do battle this week, we included the overall batting averages and also batting averages in conference play only. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2010 Top Players, ACC, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Big 12, Big East, Big South, Big West, Cal State Fullerton, CBB Column, Coastal Carolina, Conference USA, Florida, GT, Kent State, LSU, MAC, Middle Tennessee, Rice, SEC, Tennessee, Texas, University of San Diego, West Coast Conference, West Virginia

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES

Wednesday, May 21
Game 1 10:00 a.m. #7 South Carolina vs. #2 LSU [CSS HD] (XM 199)
Game 2 1:00 p.m. #6 Vanderbilt vs. #3 Florida [CSS HD] (XM 199)
Game 3 5:00 p.m. #8 Ole Miss vs. #1 Georgia [CSS HD]
Game 4 8:00 p.m. #5 Alabama vs. #4 Kentucky [CSS HD] Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, SEC, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

Josh Fields saved each of Georgia’s wins over the weekend to lead the Dawgs to 4-2 (10 innings) and 12-10 victories.  Georgia (33-17-1, 19-7-1 SEC) now has a 4 game lead over both LSU (35-16-1, 15-11-1 SEC) and Vanderbilt (37-15. 15-11 SEC) heading into the last weekend of SEC play. 

LSU swept struggling Mississippi State (20-32, 7-20) to run their winning streak to 12 games.  Meanwhile, South Carolina (34-18, 13-14 SEC) dropped three to Arkansas (31-21, 13-13 SEC).  The GameCocks collapse appears to have left Georgia as the only sure bet to host a regional.  LSU seems to be in good standing with respect to earning a regional host.  Vanderbilt and Florida (30-20, 14-13) may be playing this weekend for a chance to earn a third SEC host bid.  Kentucky (38-14, 14-13) and Alabama (30-22, 14-13) also harbor hosting hopes, with Alabama unranked but traveling to Georgia for a road set that could significantly improve their profile. 

Friday SEC Recap

Saturday SEC Recap

Sunday SEC Recap

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, SEC Recap, South Carolina, Vanderbilt

Vandy Takes Game One from UGA

Despite a big 4 run inning from UGA in which they took a one run lead at 7-6, Georgia starter Trevor Holder and the UGA bullpen could not hold down Vanderbilt’s bats.  Dominic de la Osa (pictured)  and David Macias hit 2 run homeruns and every Vandy player rapped out a hit in a 13-7 shellacking.

Holder, who entered the game with a 2.84 ERA, gave up 10 ER in 6 innings and saw his ERA baloon one run to 3.84.  The strike zone was tight, often frustrating Vanderbilt’s Mikie Minor, who allowed 3 runs on a surprising 9 hits in just 5.1 innings.  There was question as to whether any pitcher would be able to get consistent outs in the game.

Vandy’s Russell Brewer (a swingman who shares closing duties with Brett Jacobsen) came in and answered that question, striking out 7 of the 10 batters he faced to pick up his 4th win.

On the day, Rich Poythress and Lyle Allen of UGA had 4 hits apiece.  Joey Lewis had three RBI, including 2 on a fifth inning homerun.  For Vanderbilt, the top three in the order (Macias, de la Osa and Alvarez, combined for 7 runs and 10 RBI on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 HBP). 

The teams square off again today at 3 p.m. Eastern.  Vanderbilt is currently 2 games behind Georgia atop the SEC standings and can take over 1st place by percentage points with a clean sweep. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, SEC Recap, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt