College

National College Baseball News :

• Cent. Arkansas to host Sam Houston St. in series May 17, 2012
  Central Arkansas is hoping to retain sole possession of sixth place in the Southland Conference when it takes on Sam Houston State in the Bears' ...
• Oklahoma takes on Samford in baseball series May 17, 2012
  Oklahoma concludes its regular season at home with a three-game series against Samford beginning on Thursday.
• Oklahoma St opens 3-games series with Texas A&M May 17, 2012
  Oklahoma State opens a three-game, Big 12 Conference baseball series against Texas A&M on Thursday.
• Despite 32-game streak, Utah Valley's postseason hopes slim May 16, 2012
  Wolverines' string, broken Tuesday, ties for third-longest in Division I history but doesn't mean they are sure thing for NCAA field
• Utah Valley's 32-game win streak stopped by Utah May 16, 2012
  Utah Valley University's 32-game winning streak, tied for the fourth-longest in NCAA Division I history, was stopped in an 11-10 loss to Utah ...
• 3 Oklahoma baseball players receive academic honor May 16, 2012
  Three Oklahoma baseball team members have been named to the 2012 Academic All-Big 12 teams.
• Dallas Baptist tops Oklahoma State 7-4 May 16, 2012
  Ryan Behmanesh hit a tie-breaking home run to help lead Dallas Baptist to a 7-4 victory over Oklahoma State in a non-conference game in Dall ...
• NC State baseball coach given 3-game suspension May 15, 2012
  North Carolina State baseball coach Elliott Avent has been suspended for three games for making physical contact with an umpire.
• NCAA, MLB ponder partnership on additional scholarships May 15, 2012
  Major League Baseball considering funding full scholarship for select Division I programs in effort to improve diversity in college game
• LSU's Raph Rhymes keeps on swinging with .500 in sight May 12, 2012
  Tigers junior outfielder hitting in territory that has not been occupied in NCAA Division I in more than 20 years

CollegeBaseball360:

• Thursday’s College Baseball Top-50 Scoreboard & Wrapup May 17, 2012
  Scores & More Presented By Baseballtips.com … Indiana State (cb360 #31) – despite being picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference (behind Missouri State, Creighton and Wichita State) – clinched the MVC regular-season title with two games still to play, following Friday’s 6-3 win over visiting Missouri State (cb360 #39). Another conference-title showdown (#11 Rice at #18 UCF) was one of five games rained out or suspended on Thursday that involved  top-50 teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings, but 23 other top-50 games were played and the favorites won 70% (16-7). front-page photo courtesy of Indiana State Thursday’s eight head-to-head matchups between cb360 top-50 teams produced yet another upset loss for #1 Florida State (10-5 vs. visiting #14 North Carolina State), as FSU now is 1-4 over the past 11 days. Elsewhere in key matchups, Mississippi State ace Chris Stratton picked up his 10th win of the season in a 3-1 victory for the #36 Bulldogs over SEC regular-season title contender Kentucky (#9). Surging #49 Vanderbilt moved two games over .500 with a 3-0 win at #26 Mississippi. #2 Florida’s 6-0 win at Auburn kept the SEC race a 4-team battle – as the Gators are 17-11 and Kentucky 18-10, while #8 [...]
  Pete LaFleur
• College Baseball Composite Rankings #14 May 17, 2012
  The May 16 CNR Top-50, Presented By Dugouthats.com … As has been noted throughout the national baseball media over the past few days, there was little movement at top of the various polls and projections over the past week – but plenty of significant shuffling in the crucial “bubble” territory for potential NCAA qualification. Note that this update to the CB360 Composite National Rankings (CNR) is a bit of a hybrid, as the 16-element formula includes polls that were released on Monday (May 14), NCAA projections that came out the following day (May 15, after a couple key Mon. games), and then various RPI-type factors that reflect games played through Wed. (May 16; official NCAA RPI only reflects games through May 13). front-page photo courtesy of Vanderbilt There are three returners (each of them NCAA bubble teams) to the CNR top-50, while the same teams occupy the top-3 spots but in a slightly different order (Florida State still #1, Florida back to #2 and Baylor slipped to #3). Oregon has surged from #9 to #4, one spot ahead of UCLA (up from #6) while current #6 North Carolina also bumped up one spot. Scroll down for more detailed info. on the most-recent CNR [...]
  Pete LaFleur
• Terry Rooney Video May 17, 2012
  Central Florida head coach Terry Rooney discusses this weekend’s clash with Rice with the regular season Conference USA championship on the line.
  Sean Stires
• Johnny Bench Award 2012 Semifinalists May 17, 2012
  12 Players Remain In Running… Wichita, KS – The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced the twelve semifinalists for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com.   The Johnny Bench Award semifinalists are (in alphabetical order): Derrick Chung, Sacramento State; Zachary Fisher, New Mexico State; Tucker Frawley, Coastal Carolina; Mitchell Garver, New Mexico; Tyler Heineman, UCLA; Joe Hudson, Notre Dame; Jeremy Lucas, Indiana State; Josh Ludy, Baylor; Jeff Melillo, Rutgers; Kevin Plawecki, Purdue; Jeremy Schaffer, Tulane and Mike Zunino, Florida. Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 4, 2012. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 15th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 28, 2012.
  Sean Stires
• College Baseball 360 Primetime Performers #13 May 16, 2012
  With their teams’ NCAA tournament hopes hanging in the balance, a pair of juniors – Vanderbilt shortstop Anthony Gomez (Nutley, N.J.) and Oklahoma lefthander Jordan John (Curpus Christi, Texas) – rose to the occasion while each facing one of the nation’s top teams, thus earning the top spots among  the CB360 Primetime Performers for the second week of May in 2012 (as presented by CollegeBaseball360.com). They are joined by 13 others in comprising the week-13 Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll (full list at bottom of page), with Gomez and John the top honorees as the respective CB360 Primetime Player of the Week and Primetime Pitcher of the Week. front-page photo courtesy of Oklahoma (Headshots, action shots and player info. are in the process of being added to this release for all of the week-13 Primetime honorees) Previous CB360 Primetime Performers (2012): Week-1 … Week-2 … Week-3 … Week-4 … Week-5 … Week-6 … Week-7 … Week-8 Week-9 …Week-10 … Week-11 … Week-12 The Primetime Performer awards program – also utilized on affiliate sites CollegeSports360.com, CollegeSoccer360.com and CollegeFencing360.com – seeks to recognize players based on more than simple raw stats, instead taking into account quality of opponent, contribution to team success/postseason qualification, and various situational factors (such as clutch play, all-around performance, leadership, adversity overcome, etc.). GOMEZ played a lead role [...]
  Pete LaFleur
• Tuesday’s College Baseball Key-Games Scoreboard & Wrapup May 15, 2012
  Scores & More Presented By Baseballtips.com … Tuesday night started with Purdue (cb360 #10) rallying to score in the 9th & 10th for a 2-1 win over Missouri Valley leader #31 Indiana State – and the drama continued to build, with plenty of upsets, fantastic finishes and all-around significant results in the big picture that is college baseball RPI, seeding position, etc. Typically on these CB360 Scoreboard wrapup pages, we include an action photo for each game that was a key head-to-head matchup or produced a noteworthy upset. Of the 36 games that were played on Tuesday, 14 results fit into those categories (a very high number for midweek – plus we had the FSU at Clemson doubleheader on Monday, see bottom of page). The night was significant on a number of levels, ranging from the end of cb360 #43 Utah Valley’s 32-game winning streak (visiting Utah held on for the 11-10 win) to five different SEC teams being upset, by teams from the Ohio Valley (2), SoCon, Sun Belt and Southland conferences. front-page photo courtesy of Samford (note – the CB360 Composite National Rankings top-50 was updated on May 16 and those rankings now have been integrated into this page). Here’s how [...]
  Pete LaFleur
• College Baseball Stats Leaders – May 14 May 15, 2012
  Sean Stires
• NCBWA College Baseball Poll – May 14 May 15, 2012
  South Carolina Tops For First Time In 2012… DALLAS – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association continues its tradition of NCAA Division I polls for the 15th year with its 2012 weekly surveys. Polls will be circulated from Feb. 20-June 28 following the 66th annual NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb., at the second-year TD Ameritade Stadium. Two-time defending NCAA champ South Carolina holds the No. 1 position for the first time in 2012. Previously, Florida State (four times) and Florida has (eight times during the first 13 surveys) have been No. 1, and ACC and SEC remain as the two conferences represented atop the poll in 2012. The poll voters come from 42 college baseball writers and related media persons from throughout the nation. This week’s poll has representation by 12 different conferences among the 291 baseball-playing schools in the 2012 NCAA Division I ranks, and there have been 21 circuits and independents in the surveys this season. Last year there were 16 different leagues (from 30 in NCAA Division I) among the Top 30 polls. For more information or to join the NCBWA, please go to www.ncbwa.com. The Dugout is where you’ll find authentic College Word Series shirts, [...]
  Sean Stires
• USA Today/ESPN College Baseball Coaches’ Poll – May 14 May 14, 2012
  Gamecocks Gaining Ground On ‘Noles… The Dugout is where you’ll find authentic College Word Series shirts, hats and other gear year-round. Located right across the street from TD Ameritrade Park’s home plate entrance, they also have authentic hard to find college baseball caps of all your favorite teams. The Dugout also has South Carolina, Florida and Clemson jerseys and other CWS apparel at drastically reduced prices! Get them now while they last, and make sure to tell ‘em you heard about it at Collegebaseball360.com!! Rank  Team  (1st Place votes)  Record  Points Florida St. (15) 40-10  737 South Carolina (10) 38-13   709 Florida (6) 38-14   699 Baylor 39-11   607 Kentucky 41-11   595 North Carolina 38-13   594 Rice 36-14   577 Texas A&M 37-14   574 LSU 39-13   572 Oregon 37-14   540 UCLA 35-13   508 Stanford 32-14   435 Purdue 39-10   362 Cal State Fullerton 32-15   334 North Carolina St. 36-13   324 Central Florida 40-12   320 Arizona 33-15   317 Arkansas 35-17   231 Virginia 34-15-1   201 Oregon St. 32-17   150 Miami 32-18   149 Ole Miss. 34-18   111 San Diego 38-13   94 Louisville 35-17   88 TCU 32-16   53 Dropped out: No. 25 (tie) Texas. Others receiving votes: Texas (29-18) 31; Oklahoma (33-19) 30; Indiana State (40-12) 28; [...]
  Sean Stires
• College Baseball By The Numbers Notebook – May 14 May 14, 2012
  Sean Stires