How much more underrated can a conference get? Year in, year out the WCC gets more talent taken in the MLB draft than any other mid-major out there. Hell, they get more players drafted than some of the BCS snobs. Yet it’s still treated like a red-headed step child. That’s okay, in pure WCC style, they exact their revenge on the field.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Is this conference allowed an “off year” or not? Should we be harsh with them? This is the conference I continually trumpet up to be THE mid-major conference in college baseball. Come on guys! True, 2009 wasn’t a banner year for the usually dangerous WCC as only one (yes, 1) team made the NCAAs, and that was regular season champion Gonzaga, the northernmost school in the loop. The Zags led the WCC with 36 wins in a season that saw no 40-game winners and just three 30+ winners. Aye! With traditional powers San Diego and Pepperdine stricken with injuries and malaise, the WCC took some bruises in 2009.

2009 Results:
1- Gonzaga, 14-7
2- LMU, 13-8
3- Pepperdine, 12-9
3- San Francisco, 12-9
5- San Diego, 11-10
6- St. Mary’s, 9-12
7- Portland, 7-14
8- Santa Clara, 6-15

2010 in a Paragraph:
Well 2010 looks to be a much improved state of being for the WCC, at least it better be. Gonzaga lost enough to fall from the favorite position but it’s not like they’re gonna sink into oblivion. There is still enough talent there. If San Diego stays injury free (knock on anything made of wood that is near you) and Pepperdine gets big lifts from its talented sophomore class, these two WCC monsters could get right back on track to where they were in 2008. LMU finished in 2nd place last year and has the youthful arms to make another run at the WCC playoffs. Same goes for bay area MASH units San Francisco and Santa Clara, both of whom have unlimited potential when healthy. But I’m still leaning toward a re-hashing of the USD-P’dine rivalry to come out on top. But I’m not putting any of that into my secret Swiss bank account, ‘coz we’ve all seen these teams hit rock-bottom because of forces beyond their control.

Matt Thomson is part of a stable of lethal arms that will get USD back to prominence.

Favorite: San Diego

Contenders: Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine

Darkhorse: San Francisco

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: San Diego at Pepperdine, May 21-23

Best Non-Conference Series: Rice at San Diego, March 19-21

Hot Coach: Mark Machtolf, Gonzaga

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: 3B Troy Channing, St. Mary’s

Three Non-Conference Series WCC Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- San Diego at Arizona State, April 5-6
2- East Carolina at Pepperdine, March 11-13
3- St. Mary’s at Southern Miss, April 1-3

Three Bold Predictions:
1- San Diego – gulp! – makes it to the Super Regionals in 2010. (… then again, is Omaha too much to ask?)
2- Pepperdine will throw the kitchen sink at LSU and win at least one game at Alex Box Stadium on the first weekend in March.
3- Despite not being mentioned above, Portland could be the WCC spoiler with its May schedule of USD, USF and Gonzaga.

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- GONZAGA (36-18, 14-7)
2009 RPI: 47
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Cody Martin (5-4, 3.07, 6svs)
OF Drew Heid (.355, 10SBs)
OF Mark Castellito (.278-9-42)
SS Ernesto Ortiz (.257)
LHP Ryan Carpenter (6-4, 5.26

The Good News:
What a freakin’ job coach Mark Machtolf did last season. GU was coming off a pair of 30+ win seasons, but still a little off the radar. Then his charges won games against Missouri, Notre Dame and Creighton early on to open some eyes in 2009. The Zags also took advantage of a couple of off-seasons by fellow WCC members and won the conference, soon playing their way into a No. 2 seed at the Fullerton Regional. Twenty lettermen return to this year’s roster from that team. This past summer, Heid was the Alaska League MVP and Carpenter was named the No. 2-ranked prospect by Baseball America. Don’t be shocked if Ortiz busts onto the scene big-time this year as he showed great flashes as a frosh. The versatile Martin will take on a bigger role, be it as closer or starter, as will lefty Randy Berg (4-4, .540) who had 49Ks in 46.2 innings of work. Also, incoming OF Jordan Yellen was a draftee of the White Sox this past summer, but chose to be a Zag instead. We applaud.

The Bad News:
Lots of losses in the field as names like Van Winkle, Wells and Wiegand were great players and had been around the program a long time. The 29th-best team ERA in the country (4.44) will be tough to maintain with 2/3rds of the rotation and the top closer all moving on. Four of the top five hitters that were .300+ are gone, including all the big power bats. A good incoming class will be leaned up heavily, including OF Jordan Yallen, a WhiteSox draftee and Liam Baron, an Australian lefty from the JC ranks.

Schedule Note:
Going far and wide.
As usual, the Zags will get on their traveling shoes, playing the likes of Missouri, Washington and Kansas down in Arizona for the first two weekends. They’ll also play at Centenary and Texas Tech before heading to the Irish Baseball Classic in San Antonio against Notre Dame, Pacific and Bradley. They’ll wrap up pre-WCC play with a pair of big litmus tests at UC Irvine and Hawaii. Nine of their last 12 games will be home visits from Santa Clara, LMU and Portland.

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- LMU (23-32, 7-14)
2009 RPI: 94
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

All Conference Candidates:
2B Jonathan Johnson (.305)
OF Ryan Hawthorne (.307)
RHP Alex Gillingham (4-4, 5.74)
RHP Ramiro Carreon (3-1, 5.05)
RHP Xavier Esquivel (2-4, 5.09, 5svs)
RHP Chris Eusebio (5-5, 4.39, 2svs)

The Good News:
How ’bout this for a first season? After a few years in purgatory, LMU hired Jason Gill and all he did was inspire his team to a second place finish in the WCC. If I had told you that LMU would finish better than both Pepperdine and USD, you’da thought I was high, right? Well it happened. Last year’s hot frosh class will step up even bigger this season, including Carreon, Gillingham, LHP Jason Wheeler (0-2, 6.30) and LHP John Lally (1-3, 7.03), who are part of a deep bullpen. In the field, sophs-to-be 2B Shon Roe (.259-5-41) and 3B Trevor Gee (.274) grew into their roles as the season went along. Best news of all?…getting Matt Koch (.276 in ‘08) and RHP Martin Viramontes (3-6, 6.26 in ‘08) back after missing ‘08 with injuries will be huge.

The Bad News:
Despite all the success of year one, it was a 6-14 run at the end of the season that doomed their post-season chances. Let’s not repeat that in 2010 guys. The arms staff loses two big weekend starters in Lee Roberts and Ernie Cho, so a go-to guy will have to emerge from a talented bunch. Despite a decent team ERA of 5.65, that was still second-to-last in the WCC. Need to be more aggressive on the basepaths after stealing just 30 bases, second lowest total in the conference.

Schedule Note:
The usual… as tough as they can possibly make it.
LMU doesn’t mince words on wanting to play a tough schedule. And, well… bravo! You’ve done it again guys. The Lions will open with UC Irvine for three, then play four against UC Riverside and then take off for the great white north and play Minnesota and Oklahoma State in the Metrodome. They’ll also take on teams like USC, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and play four at Fresno State. Aye-yaye-yaye.

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- PEPPERDINE (31-23, 12-9)
2009 RPI: 138
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Cole Cook (7-3, 3.69, .195OBA – best in the WCC)
LHP Matt Bywater (6-1, 3.57, .217OBA)
3B Colin Rooney (.327-6-31)
1B Ryan Heroy (.290-7-28)
CF Brian Humphries (.305)
C Trent Diedrich (.346)

The Good News:
If you’re talking about the Waves, I’m pretty sure you’re going to mention the pitching and defense first. Sure enough, there’s a lot to like about those two areas in this year’s team, with Cook and Bywater becoming the next in line to be P-dine mound studs and also getting a big boost with the return of LHP Robert Dickman (a weekend starter in 2008) and RHP Ricky Villareal, both of whom missed last season and will help shore up the pitching depth. And the defense? Let’s just say it was on lockdown mode all year, posting a .982 fielding percentage, second-best in the country. (Now THAT’S Pepperdine baseball as prescribed by former 2B Steve Rodriguez). The hopes are that Diedrich and Aaron Gates (.309/3-3, 6.14) can put together full seasons of full-potential and join the wildly talented sophs Humphries and Rooney to lead an offensive renaissance. UCLA transfer SS Chris Amezquita has above-average arm strength and power at the plate.

The Bad News:
With all three weekend starters and six field starters coming back, the Waves seemed primed for a breakout year in 2009. Then senioritis and malaise reared their ugly heads and the bats went into hibernation. Can’t have any of that with a carryover effect for 2010. Losing the double-play combo of 2B Bryce Mendonca and SS Denny Duron will be felt. A new shutdown specialist must be found to replace Nick Gaudi, who had nine saves in ‘09. The team batting average of .284 must improve, obviously, since that was the one thing coach Rodriguez said was a huge sticking point.

Schedule Note:
Toughest three week stretch in the country?
Pepperdine will play two games against defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge on the first weekend of March. As if that isn’t challenging enough, they host UC Irvine on the Wednesday before that trip and, when they get back, they’ll host East Carolina for three and then travel up to Stanford the next weekend for three. Now that’s a tough stretch.

UP coach Chris Sperry will have Austin Pearce (#30) and Kris Kauppila to help his team pull some more upsets in 2010.

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- PORTLAND (25-26, 7-14)
2009 RPI: 190
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Zach Varce (3-5, 2.69, 9svs)
LHP Scott Burris (5-4, 4.70, .259OBA)
LHP Ed Wakefield (3-1, 4.86, .231OBA)
2B Riley Hendricks (.344-4-31)
SS Kris Kauppila (.336-4-21)

The Good News:
Coach Sperry should get a few backslaps for taking this program a step better last year. And now, the Pilots want more. They’ll do so with one of the better middle infields in the WCC as Kauppila, a Freshman All American, and Hendricks will be solid blocks to build around. There will be strength up the middle with senior C Rocky Gale (.194, only 5Es) and CF Craig Smith (.315-5-21) were really solid defensively. The arms staff will be deep and have a lot of combinations to work with, but keep an eye on weekend starter Kyle Kraus (4-6, 4.00) who should have a big second season at UP.

The Bad News:
Call me a little bit biased because the one time I got to see this team play they beat the stew out of San Diego, but we have to keep everything in perspective, this was still a sub-.500 team. After that win at USD, the Pilots skidded to a 4-8 finish, costing them a winning mark. Lots of pitchers returning, but need to establish more dominance, getting a WCC-low 295Ks. They also didn’t utilize their speed very much, swiping just 39 bases on the season.

Schedule Note:
Rack up some flight miles, hotel miles and rental car miles.
UP will have a long end of the season, since they will play 14 of their final 18 games away from Joe Etzel Field. From the April 20th visit to Washington to the final game at Gonzaga on May 30th, it will be a long stretch of games. The Pilots better stay focused or risk another poor finish.

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- ST. MARY’S (28-27, 9-12)
2009 RPI: 136
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
3B Troy Channing (.379-20-75, Freshman All Am.)
OF Justin Fazio (.302)
C Ryan Mulligan (.335, just 3Es)
RHP Brandon Berl (2-2, 4.01, 6svs)

The Good News:
For just the second time in the previous 19 years, the Gaels finished with a winning record. They also hope to emulate the 9-2 start from last year that included two wins over Stanford and a win over Nebraska. One big reason for the improvement was the emergence of the “off-the-beaten-path” Freshman of the Year in Channing. He was a slugging machine and a difference-maker. He’ll bash with gap hitters Fazio and Mulligan, who is a stoic senior backstop. Some losses in the arms staff will be made up with Kyle Barraclough (4-5, 4.70) and reliever Mark Anderson (1-0, 3.86). Some bats that are expected to produce need to go ahead and expect to produce if this team is going to make that great leap forward.

The Bad News:
Last year’s Gael lineup had seven starters back from a team that hit .321 in 2008, but sunk to just .288 at the dish. From that offense, top-round draftee Kyle Jensen, speed threat Cory Miller and on-base machine Anthony Aliotti have been lost. The two most-used ace pitchers (Bruian Justice and Scott Schneider) have also moved on, leaving huge holes to fill. The .965 defense isn’t bad… but in THIS conference, it pales.

Schedule Note:
Insanely difficult.
Coach Soto must REALLY want to test his team’s mettle. SMC is only going to play 18 home games and they’ll play teams like San Jose State, Cal, UC Irvine, Tulane and Southern Miss, all on the road. It will be very difficult to go beyond that 28-win plateau of last year, even if this is a better team in 2010.

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- SAN DIEGO (29-25, 11-10)
2009 RPI: 51
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (25+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Kyle Blair (3-2, 3.13, 2svs, .225OBA)
RHP A.J. Griffin (8-3, 3.33, 3svs, .250OBA)
RHP Matt Thomson (5-5, 5.98, 2svs, .258OBA)
LHP Sammy Solis (1-1, 4.50)
OF James Meador (.376-6-45)
SS Zach Walters (.377)
2B Chris Engell(.358)

The Good News:
I suppose right about now that Rich Hill is pretty tired of answering questions about his MASH unit of a team from 2009, because you could almost put together an NCAA tournament worthy lineup card with all the players that sat out with injury last season. But that means that a lot of young talent got its chance to get its feet wet and his team – cross your fingers here – looks like it’s ready to make life hell on everyone. Just look at all the All-WCC candidates above… that’s not a typo, every one of those guys are legit talents, including Solis and Blair who should both go in the early rounds of the June draft. If 3B Victor Sanchez (.263-5-23 in injury-shortened ‘09) plays to his level, he could be a great missing power source. Alongside him will be a solid double-play combo with Walters and Engell, giving USD one of the better defenses in the country. As if all this wasn’t enough, the incoming recruiting class was rated as the best in the WCC. Look for immediate input from wildly-talented 1B Jake Williams (29th round, Arizona), OF Matt Moynihan (37th round, Atlanta) and RHPs Sam Wolff (42nd round, Angels) and Andrew Walter (31st round, Detroit). I could keep going with the good news, but this entry is getting pretty long.

The Bad News:
Will the dregs of the 2009 season have any sort of carry-over effect? My God, they better not. Last year was a living nightmare for the Toreros. Of course, health is issue No. 1 for them going into this season, but also finding a bit more offense (odd to say that about a .319 team, right?). Or more specifically, more power needs to be found, always a USD bugaboo. Sean Nichol did it all (.359, 8HRs, 20SBs) and needs to be replaced. Loss of pitching coach Eric Valenzuela could be bigger than you think.

Schedule Note:
When they hit the road, the road hits back.
As we all saw from the movie My Blue Heaven, San Diego has the best weather in the world and is the best place to be during college baseball season. So it’s easy to see why so many schools want to play at USD in pre-conference play as 19 of USD’s first 22 games are in the city limits. But when USD decides to go on the road, this ain’t for kids. Here are their first nine road games: at Cal State Fullerton, at UC Irvine (2), at Coastal Carolina (3) and at Arizona State (2). That’s some RPI-building material there. I think I see what Rich Hill is trying to do with his team. We’ll see if it works.

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- SAN FRANCISCO (28-28, 12-9)
2009 RPI: 100
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
SS Derek Poppert (.352, 16SBs, All-WCC, 23rd round pick of Cincinnati)
RHP Matt Hiserman (4-6, 3.43, 2svs, .241OBA)
RHP Doug Murray (9-0, 3.77)

The Good News:
It does say a lot when a 28-win season is a “down” year for coach Nino Giarratano. After flirting with the Washington coaching position (allegedly), he’s determined to bring the Dons another post-season bid. They’ve got some momentum too, having won their last four WCC weekend series last year. There’s a deep arms corps to build the 2010 team around, and that’s something every coach likes. They’ll throw to a solid backstop in C Ryan Lipkin (.266, just 6Es), who manages the staff well. SS Poppert and 2B Robert Abel (.241) form a great double-play combo as part of a defense that fielded at .968. Watch for OF/RHP Pete Lavin, who hit .406-11-56 as a JC All American.

The Bad News:
For momentum’s sake, the Dons must avoid the 4-10 start that put their season in a funk. Four of the top six hitters and fielders have flown the coop, leaving Poppert as the only .300+ regular in the order. Power and speed are at a minimum as 1B Steven Yarrow (277-13-44) is the only big stick remaining on the squad and Poppert is the only remaining base-stealing threat.

Schedule Note:
Big West contenders?
USF will play six Big West teams this season, including three-game weekend roadies at UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara before WCC play begins. May will be a tough month as they’ll play USD, at SCU, Portland and then end the regular season at Pepperdine.

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- SANTA CLARA (19-34, 6-15)
2009 RPI: 201
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Nate Garcia (7-5, 4.33, 96Ks)
C Tommy Medica (.342 in ‘08, All American candidate)
1B Geoff Klein (.379-5-56)
RHP Alex Rivers (5-5, 4.85)

The Good News:
Things are only going to get better for the Broncos in 2010, mostly because it can’t get much worse than that awful 2009 season, replete with numerous injuries and just plain back luck. Getting Medica back at his backstop position will be an incredible mental boost to coach Mark O’Brien and Co., especially since he’s a returning team captain. There is a whole lot of quality pitchers coming back, as only 20 innings from last year will be missing on this year’s squad. Seniors Garcia and Rivers will be backed by senior reliever Steve Kalush (4svs) and soph Jason Westerberg (1-3, 6.08). Bronco pitchers issued a miniscule 170 walks last season and the defense committed just 68 errors in 53 games. Also keep an eye on frosh OF Pat Stover, who was a 17th round draftee of the A’s last summer.

The Bad News:
Man, it started early for SCU last year, losing All American catcher Tommy Medica to injury way too early in the campaign. The Broncs never seemed to recover from that, going 0-for-6 in the first two weekends of WCC play. Five of the top seven sticks have hit the bricks from a team that hit just .286 to begin with. Adding a bit more pitching depth to this year’s arms corps would be nice as well, since SCU used only eight pitchers for the most part in 2009.

Schedule Note:
Most taxing after Tax Day.
Santa Clara’s schedule is mostly manageable up until mid-April, which will allow for some confidence to grow. But starting on April 16th, things get serious with a three-gamer at USD. From there, the Broncos will play 16 of their last 24 on the road, including three game sets with the Toreros, Gonzaga, Cal State Fullerton and the season wrap-up at LMU. Buckle in guys.

Welcome to the conference that the NCAA committee must refer to as “The Runts of the Litter” because they rarely get much of a look. But the neighboring programs know all about these guys and can give testament to the fact that they’ll knock your block off, given the chance. Let me re-establish that last line… given the chance.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Coming off a season where one of its members won the national title, the WAC didn’t play up last year as much as was hoped. The WAC was still only the 12th best conference in the country, according to the RPI (although Boyd Nation’s ISR ratings had the WAC 9th, but I digress). San Jose State won the conference race by three games and had 40+ wins, but no post-season play in the NCAAs to show for it. And I’ve talked to some of the coaches they played against, each one of them assured me they were as good a team as they faced last season. They’ve beefed up the non-conference schedule a bit in hopes of alleviating that problem. Once again, Fresno seemed to get hot at just the right time and made its fourth straight trip to the Big Dance, but was still the only WAC representative there. Louisiana Tech made the biggest strides, going from 7-23 and last place in ‘08 to a second place finish last season, taking Wade Simoneaux off the hot seat.

Conference RPI: 12

2009 Results:
1- San Jose State, 15-7
2- Louisiana Tech, 13-11
3- New Mexico State, 12-12
4- Fresno State, 12-12
5- Hawaii, 11-12
6- Nevada, 10-13
7- Sacramento State, 8-14

2010 in a Paragraph:
With wholesale changes coming to just about every pitching staff in the WAC, that means a couple of things. 1- Look for this to be a heavy-offense league for 2010 (I see you smiling down there New Mexico State) and 2- This means that Fresno will return to the catbird seat of the WAC. Unlike any other teams in the loop, the Bulldogs will return all but one pitcher to their stable of arms and that usually spells trouble for everybody else. Beyond them, Hawaii could be making big strides under Mike Trapasso and could get back into the post-season picture with the right bounces. NMSU, with its wind-tunnel home field and light schedule, could be looking at 40+ wins again, but will fall short when it matters against good pitching. San Jose has a whole mess of pitchers to replace and that will keep them from repeating. For the first time in recent memory, the WAC tournament is going to be held at a neutral site, Mesa, Arizona’s Hohokam Park, the spring home of the Chicago Cubs. We’ll see how that’s received, but the general consensus among the coaches is that this is a long-needed move. Still, with a conference stretched out between six times zones, maybe just having the regular season champion go to the NCAA tournament might be the best solution.

CWS hero Steve Detwiler is still in uniform at Fresno and is a huge key to the 'Dogs season.

Favorite: Fresno State

Contenders: Hawaii, New Mexico State

Darkhorse: San Jose State.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: San Jose State at Fresno State, May 14-16

Best Non-Conference Series: Fresno State at SDSU Tournament, Mar. 11-14
(San Diego State, San Diego, UAB, San Francisco)

Hot Coach: Mike Batesole, Fresno State

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Devon Dageford, LaTech

Three Non-Conference Series WAC Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Oregon State at Hawaii, Feb. 19-22
2- Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech, March 19-21
3- San Jose State at Wichita State, April 23-25.

Three Bold Predictions:
1- The WAC gets two teams into the NCAA tournament. There, I said it.
2- New Mexico State will hit like mad, of course, but nothing close to the .353 of last year.
3- Fresno won’t lose 30 or more games again.

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- FRESNO STATE (32-30, 12-12)
2009 RPI: 153
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 3
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
SS Danny Muno (.375, 14SBs)
OF Dusty Robinson (.325-14-44)
RHP Derek Benny (4-3, 5.02)
OF Brennan Gowens (.286-5-27)

The Good News:
Don’t ever count out these resilient Bulldogs, because once again they got hot at the right time in 2009, just inching their way into the NCAA tournament after coming out of the loser’s bracket in the WAC tournament. Last year’s well-lauded frosh class should come into its own this season with Robinson, Benny and Gowens continuing to pull through and LHP Josh Poytress (2-2, 4.29), RHP Cody Kendall (2-1, 9.21) and LHP Tom Harlan (2-0, 7.02) expected to post better numbers. The power supply should still be potent with Robinson, part-timer Kenny Wise (.295-6-27) and Gowens still providing some pop. Look for C Trent Garrison to make a big impact, as he goes to full-time duty in 2010. Another solid recruiting class will contribute as well.

The Bad News:
With the loss of seniors Gavin Hedstrom, Holden Sprague and Danny Grubb and also seeing 3B Tom Mendonca say goodbye after being drafted in the 2nd round, the Dogs say goodbye to four of the most successful players in Fresno history, considering the four straight NCAA tournament appearances. The Dogs hope not to underachieve mightily again, as witnessed by the .963 defense and the opponents hitting .312 off the staff. Ouch. And throw in there that Steven Detwiler needs to hit better than .222, like last year. Want an even odder stat? For all their success lately, the Bulldogs have still lost 30 or more games each of the last two seasons.

Schedule Note:
Down cycling opponents.
The Bulldogs have potential for a tough schedule. But use “potential” in quotes because non-conference teams like Nebraska, Oregon, Washington, UC Davis, LMU and Dallas Baptist are in down-cycles right now. But all have potential to become RPI-building opponents. FSU will also play 11 of their final 15 games at home, including the rivalry series with San Jose State that could decide the WAC title.

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- HAWAI’I (32-26, 11-12)
2009 RPI: 68
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
OF Kolton Wong (.341-11-52, 13SBs, Freshman All Am.)
1B Kevin McDonald (.271-14-60)
LHP Sam Spangler (5-3, 4.17, 4svs)
RHP Matt Sisto (5-4, 4.37)

The Good News:
UofH got back to their winning ways last season after a rare losing mark in 2008. Coach Trapasso has his team playing with more confidence, especially after wins over the likes of Irvine, Minnesota, Fresno State and series wins over Mississippi State and Coastal Carolina. Nice, huh. The Warriors had the 2nd-best defense in the WAC and returns infield bellcow SS Greg Garcia (.265) and Wong may do some dirtbagging duty as well as his post in the outfield. The pitching arms are experienced and have some moxie to them. Beyond relief ace Spangler (who returns despite getting drafted by Pittsburgh last June) and the crafty Sisto, also watch for rising sophs Jesse Moore (0-1, 4.88, 20apps) and Connor Little (3-0, 6.49). The incoming class is pretty impressive, including J.C. All Americans in RHP Zach Gallagher (went 11-1, 1.08 at Cosumnes River), his battery mate David Freitas and SS/2B Kalani Brackenridge, a Tampa Bay draftee last summer.

The Bad News:
You don’t have to look far to find the biggest burr in the Warrior saddle last season since the offense hit a bony .278 and wasn’t the usual aggressive UofH style, stealing only 38 bases. This team started slow (3-6) and also ran out of gas at the end, going 5-11 down the stretch in the regular season. Staff ace Jayson Kramer (3.47ERA) was leaned on heavily as the only pitcher below 4.00. They’ll also move on without Sunday starter Jared Alexander. Oh and of course, losing team leader Vinnie Catricala is a huge hole to fill as well.

Schedule Note:
Not very central to them.
As you would expect, the Warriors play a home-heavy schedule with a lot of eclectic opponents from far and wide. They will play teams from three of the four mainland time zones, including a visit from The Citadel in weekend No. 3. Interestingly, they’ll open the season by hosting Oregon State and Oregon in back-to-back weekends. They’ll visit the mainland four times, including a rare non-conference weekend roadie at Fullerton and WAC trips to Sac State, LaTech and Jose State.

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- LOUISIANA TECH (29-22, 13-11)
2009 RPI: 111
Starters Returning: 1
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
OF Devon Dageford (.385-23-68)
RHP John Anderson (7-3, 5.86)

The Good News:
From last place in ‘08 to second place in ‘09, the Techsters had quite a revival last season. Keep it going guys. If the offense has anything to do with it, the ‘Dogs will be in good circles after hitting a blistering .323 with 92 yard calls. Dageford is obviously the ringleader in the fence-bashing department as he exploded on the scene last year and is a pre-season All American entering 2010. Power hitting part-time C Clint Ewing (.289-8-29) should help out on a full-time basis this season. Some well-used hurlers come back to Ruston, including the versatile LHP Mike Jefferson (3-3, 6.27) and capable sophs Jeb Stefan (4-5, 6.39) and Graham Meyers (1-2, 5.19), both hard-throwing righties. The infield gets a real kick with the addition of SS Tayler Terrasas, who was a 39th round pick of St. Louis, but chose to come to campus.

The Bad News:
Tech went 10-2 in the last three weekends of WAC play, but then went belly-up in quick fashion at the conference tournament, souring their ending. Somehow, the Techsters managed a 2nd place finish, but it’s unclear how, especially with the league-worst 7.24 team ERA and the worst defense at .962. Boy howdy, that’s not good. Lots of losses, including four .315+ hitters, most of which were significant power sources. None of the returning guys toeing the rubber had an ERA below 5.00. The lack of a lock-down closer was a particular problem last season. Someone needs to emerge in that role.

Schedule Note:
Lots and lots of warm-up games.
It will take a while for Tech to actually start to play games against teams with much of a pulse as they’ll open the first three weekends going up against Alcorn State, McNeese State and UT-Pan American. But in weekend No. 4, it’s time to strap it on tight guys, as they’ll travel to New Mexico, followed by a visit from Southern Miss and then a trip to Minnesota. Eleven of the final 16 games are going to be roadies, including treks to Arkansas, Texas and Nevada.

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- NEVADA (25-31, 10-13)
2009 RPI: 169
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
1B Shaun Kort (.329-4-62)
CF Westley Moss (.305, 15SBs)
LHP/DH Brock Stassi (6-5, 6.63/.262-4-18)
LHP Chris Garcia (4-6, 6.02)
OF Nick Melino (.352-4-39)

The Good News:
After a highly-uncharacteristic sixth place finish in ‘09, the only place to go is up, right? If the Pack is going to get back, they’ll rely on their seniors. Kort and SS Kevin Rodland (267, 12SBs) seem like they’ve been on campus 10 years and will team with the speedy Moss and the steady Brett Hart (.286-4-28) to bring a lot of leadership and offensive potential. Speaking of four-year guys, Daniel Tinlin (4-2, 3.62, 4svs) offers a proven closer for the Pack. Depth could be on its way with righties Tyler Rogstad, Tony Fagan and Bryan Suarez are all scheduled to be back at mid-season from Tommy John surgery. Incoming C Carlos Escobar could start behind the dish after turning down the Astros in the 41st round last June.

The Bad News:
A 1-11 finish sacked a promising ending, leaving the Wolf Pack with a sub-.500 record, which is rare in Reno. The 6.14 ERA was the main sticking point, along with allowing opponents to hit .307 off the arms corps. Okay, I suppose giving up 242 walks, 48 wild pitches, 62 plunks and six balks didn’t help either. The best starter on the staff, Derek Achelpohl, has hit the bricks as have the steady gloves and potent bats of 2B Matt Bowman and 3B Tyson Jaquez.

Schedule Note:
Lots of new blood (or… victims)
In a four week stretch from March 12th to April 3rd, the Wolf Pack will play D-1 newbies Cal State Bakersfield and Oregon on the road, then host re-instated Seattle University. In between the Ducks and Redhawks, UNR will get a visit from nationally-ranked UC Irvine – who they last played against in a snowstorm to open the 2008 season.

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- NEW MEXICO STATE (44-17, 12-12)
2009 RPI: 124
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Jared Jordan (7-3, 5.71)
RHP Daniel Simon (9-1, 4.55)
2B Mike Sodders (.422-13-68)
3B Wade Reynoso (.370-11-68)
DH Ben Harty (.279-17-56)

The Good News:
44 wins! Nice. The Aggies were all the rage after a 26-3 start. They went on to break 16 team records, most of those on offense. It’s going to be Bombs Away! again as you might expect with an offense that was downright scary last season, blasting the horsehide at a .353 clip. From that assault line, hitters like Sodders, Reynoso and Harty will be joined by 1B Chris Auten, who hit .365 in 2008 but was injured all last season. The Aggies also earned a staggering 419 walks in 2009, leading the WAC in that category by nearly 100 more than the rest. On the mound, NMSU chucked an amazing 446 strikeouts, despite the relatively weak staff. So there are some bee-bees being thrown, let’s just see if the Ags can induce more grounders now. Coach Rocky Ward called this year’s freshmen “as good as we’ve had” and will feature C Zach Fisher, who’s maturity is off the charts, 2B/SS Parker Hipp and OF Connor Eppard. Also keep an eye on J.C. transfer Matthew Kretchmer, a lefty – which is something the Aggies sorely missed last season.

The Bad News:
Well, obviously, a 44-win team that doesn’t get an at-large bid means you played a lot of tomato cans in pre-WAC play, which certainly was the case. Outside of Jordan and Simon, the pitching staff was shaky and needs some hurlers to come out of their funks this season in order for that 6.28 ERA and the .315 opponents batting average to drop a bit. SS Bryan Marquez not only put up video game-like numbers, but he was also the team leader and is now gone. Some young bats will have to be relied upon this season, which is always a dicey proposition.

Schedule Note:
Better than North Dakota, Chicago State, Hartford and Northern Colorado.
If there was EVER a team that needed a schedule upgrade (other than those SEC and ACC powers that refuse to play tough non-conference games) it was these Aggies. This year, it will be a tougher ride, including games against Missouri, Washington, Gonzaga, Georgia State, UC Santa Barbara, New Mexico and USC. Still, there are those weekend sets vs. Wofford, Houston Baptist, St. Joseph’s and Akron that will still drag down an RPI big time.

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- SACRAMENTO STATE (27-27, 8-14)
2009 RPI: 172
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Jesse Darrah (9-2, 5.54, Freshman All Am.)
RHP Brandon Sandoval (5-4, 5.49)
3B Josh Powers (.358, 11SBs)

The Good News:
The Hornets made some strides overall, improving to a .500 mark for 2009, and now search for more. The offense hit an impressive .318, despite only three starters returning last season. This time, Powers leads a unit that might not hit as well, but has great potential. Some sweet-fielding defenders with some offensive pop return in C Justin Lamb (.271-11-38) and SS Derrick Chung (.294-4-34). The mound mates should make a lot of improvement as well since they were so young last season.Keep an eye on incoming RHP Zach Morgan, a 35th round draftee of the D-backs last June.

The Bad News:
After 32 years at the helm, legendary head coach John Smith is calling it quits after this season. His second-to-last team was a streaky outfit in 2009 and needs to formulate some consistency. They started off 1-7 and then went 0-6 to end the campaign, which ruined their chance at a winning mark. All-World slugger Tim Wheeler has gone to the play-for-pay ranks now and will be a huge hole to fill in the lineup card.

Schedule Note:
This team must stay strong to the end.
It will be a tough month of May for Sac State, having to travel for WAC weekends at San Jose State, Louisiana Tech and the season finale at Fresno State in the last four weekends. Only a home date with Nevada is the lone comforts-of-home factor at that time. Won’t be easy, especially since they’ll be jockeying for their final post-season of play under Coach Smith.

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- SAN JOSE STATE (41-20, 15-7)
2009 RPI: 80
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
OF Jason Martin (.377-5-45, 2nd team All WAC)
3B Corey Valine (.387-7-46, 2nd team All WAC)
1B Danny Stienstra (.337)

The Good News:
A WAC championship was just the tonic for longtime skipper Sam Piraro after years of off-and-on struggle. And frankly, this team comes into 2010 with a pissed mentality, knowing they deserved better and are going to go out and get it. Don’t worry about the offensive end of things, because they’ll be ready with guys like Martin, Valine and Stienstra leading by example. They’ll also get help from a stellar incoming class. Coach Piraro told me to watch for SS Zack Jones (a 24th round pick of Kansas City), he’s going to be a bonafide super star. But he’s being pushed by fellow frosh Richie Johnson. There are also a handful of first-year pitchers that may be tossing in the weekend rotation: including 6′5″ RHP Blake McFarland and 5′11″ LHP David Wayne Russo. Also look for the Friday role to possibly go to JC transfer LHP John Austin, who had the best fall.

The Bad News:
As mentioned plenty of times before, SJSU felt wronged by not getting a sniff at the Big Dance as an at-large team last season. But again, the WAC doesn’t seem to get a lot of credit from the selection committee, so you’ve got to schedule better. Almost every pitcher of note is gone from that 41-win team (only four wins from last year are back), and you know how tough it is to succeed with an all-new staff. The offense still needs more bash (43HRs) and more dash (just 36SBs), even though they hit a solid .339 as a team. Coach Piraro also must hope that newbies like Jones and Johnson can keep the fielding numbers up in the .978 range again.

Schedule Note:
Beefed Up. But is it RPI-friendly enough?
Non-conference games against the likes of Chicago State, St. Joseph’s and Dartmouth wasn’t going to cut it for the blue and gold. So coach Piraro went out and got a three-game road trip to play at Wichita State this season (and at UCLA and at Arizona in successive seasons). They’ll also spend weekends against teams that should be much-improved this season like UC Santa Barbara, BYU and St. Mary’s.

It’s still the West that dominates the East in the SWAC, even though the East is making strides at the top. Some long-downtrodden programs in the West are burgeoning now with surprising runs coming from UA-Pine Bluff, Grambling and TSU.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Southern returned to its winning ways after taking a few years hiatus from the catbird seat in the SWAC. There’s also been a good bit of upheaval throughout the SWAC, especially with all the coaching changes that are at hand. So things shifted a little bit in 2009, with Jackson State and Alcorn showing marked improvement. And also, big props to UA-Pine Bluff and Grambing for getting on their feet and finishing 2nd and 3rd in the West. But at the top, it was a long-awaited return back to the Southern show as Roger Cador got his team back on top and into the NCAAs for the first time since 2005. Welcome back coach.

Conference RPI: 30

2009 Results
Eastern Division:
1- Mississippi Valley State, 15-5
2- Jackson State, 15-9
3- Alcorn State, 12-9
4- Alabama A&M, 10-12
5- Alabama State, 3-20

Western Division:
1- Southern, 17-6
2- Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 13-11
3- Grambling, 10-13
4- Texas Southern, 10-14
5- Prairie View, 9-15

2010 in a Paragraph:
With all the new blood in the coaching ranks, you never know how things are going to turn out… not as if the SWAC isn’t unpredictable enough as it is, right? The big three in the East – JSU, MVSU and Alcorn – all seem pretty even going into this year and should have a hell of a dog fight to the end. On the West side of things, Southern still seems a bit too strong for the up-and-coming programs over there. But watch out for TSU as second-year head coach Michael Robertson has a proven track record and should have his team back in contention in no time. This year’s SWAC tournament moves from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, which will host it at the home of the Shreveport Captains. This marks the first time the SWAC tourney will be played in Shreveport for the since 2002.

The steely glare of Jarrett Maloy is a huge reason why Southern is favored to win the SWAC again.

Favorite: Southern

Contenders: Jackson State, Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley

Darkhorse: Texas Southern

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Jackson State at/vs. Southern, April 24-25

Best Non-Conference Series: Southern at Urban Invitational, Feb 19-21
(UCLA, Bethune-Cookman, Cal State Northridge)

Hot Coach: Michael Bumpers, Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Hot Seat Coach: Waskyla Cullivan, Prairie View

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Chad Hall, Jackson State

Three Non-Conference Series SWAC Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Southern at the Urban Invitational, Feb. 26-28 (UCLA, Bethune-Cookman, Cal State Northridge)
2- Jackson State at South Alabama, Feb. 19
3- Alcorn State at Louisiana Tech, Feb. 19-21

Three Bold Predictions:
1- Southern will return to the Regionals again and for once the selection committee will reward them with a trip somewhere other than to LSU again.
2- Alabama A&M and Alabama State have the most personnel returning this year but will still do very little with them.
3- Despite tough early season schedule, Mississippi Valley ends up with a winning record.

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Eastern Division:

- ALABAMA A&M (14-31, 10-12)
2009 RPI: 292
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
OF LaDale Hayes (.301, 15SBs)
RHP Chris Hernandez (4-7, 7.32)

The Good News:
Holy cow! The Bulldogs doubled their win total from 2008 to 2009, and also went from four SWAC wins to 10. Strong work. Let’s see if that hot spell continues. LaDale Hayes is one of the most exciting players in the country, even though his numbers were down last season. Versatile arm Grant Maddox (3-4, 10.27, 3svs) returns after seven starts and 12 relief appearances last season.

The Bad News:
Still not much of an emphasis on the sport here – or any sports if you think about it. So seasons like last year’s 14-win affair are nearly as good as it will get. A culture change is still needed. The top three hitters from last season, the only players to hit .302+, are all graduated. The 8.89 team ERA was second-worst in the conference and the .937 defense tied for the worst. Obviously, you see where the work needs to be done.

Schedule Note:
More national powers.
Last year, A&M had the balls to take on teams like Alabama and Texas. And just to show that wasn’t a fluke, they decided to add games at Auburn and at Miami this season. Damn, that’s tough. An interesting travel note, the Bulldogs will also take to the skies and play at Seattle U. in early April.

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- ALABAMA STATE (15-30, 3-20)
2009 RPI: 302
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
1B/LHP Ron James (.311-6-34/0-4, 7.85)
C Cameron Webman (.309)
SS Darrion Pedro (.273, 14SBs)
INF Chris Davis (.356, 18SBs)
2B Ray Pickering (.313)
RHP Rannie Fore (3-3, 2.84)

The Good News:
This offense could give anybody the heebie-jeebies with four .300+ hitters returning and a lot of speed too. The Hornets are pretty effective base-stealers, having only been caught 18 times in 99 attempts last season. Though the numbers weren’t great, there are a whole mess of pitchers returning from last season’s young staff.

The Bad News:
The last time the Hornets had a winning season was way back in 2000. And 2009 was pretty painful, getting just three SWAC wins. Other than Frosh phenom Rannie Fore, RHP Devin Dominguez (1-2, 6.71) was the only half-decent arm that is coming back. The rest have potential, but it must be realized soon as the 8.4

Schedule Note:
Welcome snowbirds.
ASU didn’t have a schedule posted, but I DO know that they’ll host Western Illinois on February 26-28. So there’s that.

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- ALCORN STATE (29-19, 12-9)
2009 RPI: 283
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

All Conference Candidates:
1B Eduardo Gonzales (.407)
DH Rodney Warren (.356-4-50)
RHP/OF Josh Brumfield (4-0, 1.86/.338)
RHP Collin Armold (6-6, 5.94)
RHP Nicolas Carson (5-4, 7.80)

The Good News:
This team could finally be ready to shake the 30-win plateau and gather an Eastern Division title. The Braves had the best offense in the SWAC with a rousing .342 average. Frosh terror Eduardo Gonzales had a great season, earning SWAC Freshman of the Year. But he’s far from the only good bat coming back, as five .300+ hitters return. The arms staff has some quality returning, including Brumfield, one of the best two-way threats in the SWAC.

The Bad News:
Coach Willie “Rat” McGowan has retired, meaning his steady hand won’t be there any longer. The Braves lost last year’s SWAC title game to Southern after blowing an early lead. ASU needs a defensive clampdown, after posting a .951 percentage and also turning a SWAC low 20 double plays on the year. Went just 2-4 vs. East Division winner Jackson State last season.

Schedule Note:
3/13-3/14 and 4/16-4-17.
Those are the four days of this regular season that the Braves will take on their nemesis Jackson State. The March 13th and 14th dates will be the opening of SWAC play and will take place in Jackson.

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- JACKSON STATE (36-21, 15-9)
2009 RPI: 266
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
C Cortez Cole (.324, 15SBs)
OF Chad Hall (.402, 13SBs)
SS Braneric Holmes (.349, 14SBs)
2B Frank Solis (.372, 18SBs)
OF Willie Wesley (.354, 14SBs)
RHP Quintavious Drains (1-5, 4.26)

The Good News:
That’s now three straight 30+ wins for the Tigers, with last year’s win total being the highest in the SWAC. This team will run you ragged, with a solid average (.336 in ‘09) and also registering a mind-blowing 149 stolen bases. The leader is Cole, who controls the game well and has some quicks to him as well. Tell you what, go ahead and try to find another catcher anywhere in the country that has 49 stolen bases like Cole does. I dare ya’.

The Bad News:
The Tigers were the best team in the SWAC for most of the season. But the two exceptions were when they played MVSU (went 1-6 vs. the Devils) and then the SWAC tournament (they bowed out by losing twice to Grambling). Almost all the pitching outside of Drains has flown the coop and needs to be replenished. The .953 defense could stand for some improvement as well.

Schedule Note:
Home heavy at the right time.
JSU has the luxury of playing 18 of the last 25 games at home from April 13th onward. In fact, look for a big bump in the SWAC mark at the end, with the last three home weekends coming against Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Grambling.

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- MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (20-30, 15-5)
2009 RPI: 265
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Chris Mills (4-5, 5.23)
RHP Jeremy Breaux (4-5, 5.90)
RHP Justin Bautista (2-3, 4.44)
RHP Britt Goodman (3-0, 1.99)

The Good News:
Valley had some decent arms, finishing third in the SWAC at 5.44 ERA and issuing just 149 walks on the entire season. Some of those same arms are around for another season too as Mills and Breaux return to the weekend rotation in what should be a quality rotation. Goodman may be the best reliever in the conference, utilizing his crafty cutter and off-speed work. OF Chris Heron (.267, 25SBs) and Curtis Ford (.262, 20SBs) will keep the pressure on.

The Bad News:
MVSU went just 6-16 from April Fools Day onward last season, seemingly running out of gas down the stretch. The offense was the worst in the SWAC for the second straight year, hitting just .256, so that must improve for MVSU to turn their fortunes around. Opposite of that, Devils opponents hit a hearty .303 off the pitching staff.

Schedule Note:
Games that will put hair on your chest.
The Delta Devils will take on a good bit of toughies in D-1, including opening with two games vs. Notre Dame. They’ll also play Southern Miss, Mississippi State and two games against Alabama in late April.

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Western Division:

- ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF (21-25, 13-11)
2009 RPI: 250
Starters Returning: NA
Weekend Starters: NA
Mid-Week Starters: NA
Key Relievers (20+inns.): NA

All Conference Candidates:
3B Matt Pace (.224)
RHP Terrance Morse (1-0, 4.19, 3svs)
RHP Kyle Jone (3-2, 5.50)

The Good News:
This program is making great strides, going from 14 wins to 21 wins in one season. And check out that winning mark in conference play. Right?! The big reason was that the Lions ERA went from the worst in the SWAC in ‘08 to 4th in the SWAC at 6.42. Pace should be a team leader, but must revert to Frosh form when he hit .359 to lead the team.

The Bad News:
The Lions will play with a heavy heart this year after the tragic death of Kevin Edwards over the Thanksgiving holidays. Even though the pitching improved greatly for PB, the SWAC-worst .937 defense was still a pain. The staff will miss Friday ace Justin Moring (who went 9-2, 2.95 last year), since he was the only pitcher with decent numbers. Oh, as if that wasn’t bad enough, leading hitter Jerome McCollum (.358) is also gonzo.

Schedule Note:
Confidence builder?
The opening weekend will see the Lions play in the Arkansas-Little Rock Tournament where they’ll play UA-LR, St. Louis and St. Peter’s. In week three, they’ll host their first home games against Texas Southern to kick off SWAC play.

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- GRAMBLING STATE (17-37, 10-13)
2009 RPI: 256
Starters Returning: NA
Weekend Starters: NA
Mid-Week Starters: NA
Key Relievers (20+inns.): NA

All Conference Candidates:
1B Steve Kletke (.331-4-32)
OF Michael Roby (.282-9-39)
RHP Adrian Turner (5-2, 7.69)

The Good News:
Youthful new coach James Cooper officially becomes the first head coach that I actually wrote about as a player in a season preview back in 2004. As for the Tigers didn’t play all that well, but when it mattered, they went 3-2 in the SWAC tournament and gave eventual champion Southern a big run for the money. Adrian Turner is a winnable pitcher, and has mid-week starter Jonathon McDonley (0-7, 8.84) back as an experienced arm. At .953, Grambling had the 2nd-best defense in the SWAC.

The Bad News:
At 27, Cooper is the youngest coach in D-1 and will take some time to acclimate, so 2010 could be a roller coaster season, to say the least. With a team ERA of 8.90, the Tigers had the worst pitching staff in the conference, and lost the two most-used pitchers on the staff in weekend starters Baron Hinton and Manny Kumar. In the speed-heavy SWAC, GSU stole only 42 bases all season.

Schedule Note:
The road home.
During the last week of the season, GSU will play key games with Southern and Jackson State at home, so look for a home field advantage at the end of SWAC play to help their post-season push.

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- PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (21-25, 9-15)
2009 RPI: 288
Starters Returning: 0
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP/OF Benjamin Blackburn (4-2, 5.88/.182)
RHP Mark Almaguer (5-3, 7.79)

The Good News:
There were two PV draftees last June, showing the program has some talent going through it. Blackburn is obviously a huge part of any successful equation this season and will team with Almaguer for some decent mound work. Keep an eye on incoming J.C. All Americans in C Kyle Bible and 2B Matthew Greene, who should bat clean-up and leadoff respectively.

The Bad News:
Last freakin’ place in the SWAC West? You gotta be kiddin’ me! That’s unacceptable to the Panthers. They lose all nine starters from last year’s team and most of the pitching too. This will be an all-new team in 2010. Unfortunately, the odd two-year slide will probably continue.

Schedule Note:
The south Texas swing.
PV will have an opportunity to work in the large number of newbies with a manageable slate that will feature games at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American, and Texas-Brownsville in their first eight games.

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- SOUTHERN (30-17, 17-6)
2009 RPI: 156
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Jarrett Maloy (8-2, 3.14, .264OBA)
1B Frazier Hall (.338)
RHP Kyle Wahl (2-3, 3.72, 3svs)
OF James Armstrong (.343-8-39)

The Good News:
Coach Roger Cador continues to work his magic in Baton Rouge as the Jags look to have enough firepower back in the fold. The Earth returned to its axis as the Jags were back in the NCAAs last season, after a four-year hiatus. There is a lot of pop to the lineup, including an unusual amount of home run ability with Armstrong, and also Victor Franklin (.329-11-47) and INF Gregory Whitfield (.294-12-35). Sophs-to-be Daniel Garcia (4-0, 2.25) and Brian Foster (2-2, 6.29) will play huge roles in complimenting the weekend starters.

The Bad News:
Brad McDavid was a four-year starter and led by example and Jesse Olivar was a steady infielder, both will be sorely missed. Some better relief pitching is needed since the Jags were outscored in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th innings last season. The .946 defense SU posted last season is never going to be good enough to beat anybody in NCAA tournament play.

Schedule Note:
Urban Invitational, year three.
Once again Southern opens in southern California with games against UCLA, Cal State Northridge and fellow historically black college Bethune-Cookman. The Jaguars also play mid-week games against New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette as well.

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- TEXAS SOUTHERN (24-29, 10-14)
2009 RPI: 290
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
SS Ray Hernandez (.323)
OF Joe Bryant (.310-7-23)

The Good News:
TSU went from 16 wins in ‘08 to 24 last season, paced by a healthy .322 average on offense. And year two of the Michael Robertson tenure will mean a smoother trail is ahead. C Quinten Smith (.400-4-17) will be the full-time backstop this season and is steady behind the dish. He’ll work with second-year arms Joshua Long (2-2, 7.52) and Dakota Laufenberg (2-1, 7.75), who should step into weekend roles.

The Bad News:
The Tigers will certainly miss the multi-talented David Arrendondo, who was the best hitter (at .410) and best pitcher (5-5, 5.88). The top four hitters that went .327 or better are all missing from last year. All three weekend starters on the hill will need to be replaced as well. Achtung! This is a rebuilding season, for sure.

Schedule Note:
Hit the SWAC runnin’.
TSU won’t waste much time in dipping its feet into conference play, opening the season with a home series vs. Alabama A&M. In weekend No. 2 they’ll also play Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State in the JSU tournament.

In what has been a very up-and-down conference, put this year’s edition in the “up” category. There are a number of teams poised for a run at the post-season and a number of players looking like national Player of the Year candidates too. Good news all around, right? Well, that is, until we get to New Orleans.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Last year in this forum, I didn’t even make mention of Middle Tennessee. Not even as the “darkhorse” candidate. I won’t make that mistake again since all the Raiders did was come back with most of their starters returning and tied SBC favorite Western Kentucky for the regular season title and made the field of 64. Both teams had some positive points in the NCAAs as they came away with wins. The Hilltoppers even made it to the title round of the Oxford Regional. Can a push through to the Super Regionals be far behind?

Conference RPI: 8

2009 Results:
1- Middle Tennessee State, 21-8
1- Western Kentucky, 21-8
3- Troy, 18-10
4- Florida International, 18-12
5- Louisiana-Lafayette, 14-15
6- South Alabama, 13-16
7- Louisiana-Monroe, 12-17
7- Florida Atlantic, 12-17
9- Arkansas State, 12-18
9- New Orleans, 12-18
11- Ark-Little Rock, 7-21

2010 in a Paragraph:
You might want to discard that dismissive “mid-major” moniker right now. These guys don’t see themselves that way and have the wins over BCS schools to prove it. This season looks like more of the same as MTSU and WKU go on a mission to make it farther into the post-season. They’ll both be packed to the gills with talent and both could surpass their 2009 win totals of 44 and 42 respectively. Watch out for the development of the Sun Belt’s next major push for power, this time from Turtle Thomas’ FIU Panthers as they’ll get tested early and have the talent to make a rush to the post season as well. Troy could be there, as long as their pitching holds together long enough this time. And FAU could make a big move this season as well in year two of the McCormack era. Still, more than likely, this is one of those Big Two-Little Nine scenarios. But don’t fret Sun Belt fans, because those big two could make big noise come June.

Favorites: Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky

Contenders: Florida International, Troy

Darkhorse: Florida Atlantic

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky, May 20-22

Best Non-Conference Series: Southern Miss at La.-Lafayette, Mar. 5-7

Hot Coach: Chris Finwood, Western Kentucky

Hot Seat Coach: Steve Kittrell, South Alabama

The “You Gotta See” Player: Bryce Brentz, MTSU

Three Non-Conference Series SBC Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- WKU at Baylor Classic, Feb. 26-28. (Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas State)
2- FIU at Coca-Cola Classic, Mar.4-7. (UC Riverside, Cal Poly, Arizona State)
3- WKU at/vs. Vanderbilt, March 16-17

Three Bold Predictions:
1- One of the big two – MTSU or WKU – will push through to the Super Regionals.
2- Former traditional powers UL-L, USA, UL-M and FAU finished 5-thru-8 last year and one of them will bust into the top four this year. (My pick is FAU)
3- The final slot for the SBC tourney field will come down to the Natural State rivals UA-LR at Arkansas State series.

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- ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK (16-34, 7-21)
2009 RPI: 233
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Adam Champion (3-7, 5.60, 23rd round pick, San Francisco)
OF Nate Brown (.306-7-42)
RHP J.R. Boling (2-3, 3.53, 3svs)
C/3B Tim Emmons (.292-10-32)

The Good News:
The Scott Norwood era didn’t get off to a flying start, but at least they didn’t get worse. Besides, the biggest improvement usually occurs between year one and two. The schedule is much more manageable and should foster a better won-loss mark. A real whiz-bang recruiting class comes to campus as a pair of J.C. All Americans should have immediate input in LHP Ryan Juris and 3B Cody Gilles, who hit .421-21-65 at Heartland CC. Also watch for flame-throwers like RHP Daniel Golden and 6′6″ Travis Henke to make a big difference.

The Bad News:
Getting sun-belted: Seven of the last eight years the Trojans have finished last or second-to-last in the Sun Belt. Only 11 players return from last year as coach Norwood brought in 26 newcomers, meaning this will be an entirely new team. Chemistry could be a real problem for much of the season.

Schedule Note:
Same ole, same ole in the Sun Belt.
in a strange twist, the Trojans will, for the second straight year, travel to Florida Atlantic and then host Florida International. Don’t they usually trade off every year? As mentioned above, look for the Trojans to match last year’s win total early on as they’ll open with a pretty easy slate leading up to SBC play, including 18 straight home games.

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- ARKANSAS STATE (23-30, 12-18)
2009 RPI: 178
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

All Conference Candidates:
OF Todd Baumgartner (.350-8-43, 13SBs)
DH/1B Murray Watts (.305-10-44, 44BBs)
RPH Jacob Lee (2-5, 5.32, .250OBA)

The Good News:
Small steps were made in Tommy Raffo’s first season at the helm. Expect more to follow. Especially since they proved some mettle by winning weekends over UL-L, UL-Monroe and South Alabama last season. Between Lee, Andy Ferguson (5-5, 4.65) and Drew Benes (4-4, 8.41), the Red Wolves have 140 innings and 15 starts between them coming back. Baumgartner is one of those do-it-all types that can cover a lot of ground in the meadow. He’ll team with Watts for good power bats. SS Jordan Kimball (.268) and 2B Gioanni Garcia (.267) are sound middle-infielders.

The Bad News:
Amazingly, State still hasn’t had a winning season in SBC play since 1998. Raffo has got to change that redundant tune sometime soon. The bullpen has been decimated, losing every effective arm, including Chris Bullington, Nick Lambert and Jett Jones, who combine for 70 appearances and all six saves last season. The offenses loses three of the top four hitters, including the steady leadership of Brandon Eller, who hit .311 and was a rock at 1st base.

Schedule Note:
31. Lucky 31 again.
For the second season in a row the Wolves will play 31 home games (as opposed to 25 roadies) and will hope to get the favor of some home cooking shining down on them to help reverse their fortunes. The rivalry series with Arkansas-Little Rock takes place in Jonesboro. Let’s just hope it has some bearing on the post-season this time.

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- FLORIDA ATLANTIC (30-26, 12-17)
2009 RPI: 86
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Barry Rooks (3-2, 5.46)
RHP Glen Troyanowski (4-3, 5.75, 6svs)
SS Nick DelGuidice (.321-6-38)
OF Colby Gratton (.333, 10SBs)

The Good News:
The first season of the John McCormack era had some positives, including a sweet 13-3 start that gave the team some confidence. The 30 wins comes despite having to work in three new weekend starters on the hill. But Rooks and RHP Mike Gipson (4-5, 5.93) handled the pressure fairly well and will have bullpenners Troyanowski and Hugh Adams (3-2, 6.26, 3svs) as solid backups again this season. The offense hit .313 and returns three of the top five sticks, including DelGuidice and Gratton, who are joined by part-timer Mike “Iron Owl” Albaladejo, who hit .373 last season. A decent influx of talent comes in and J.C. transfer Andy Mee, an OF/RHP, and frosh RHP Kevin Alexander (a 39th round pick of Baltimore) should both make a big splash.

The Bad News:
The pitching was stuck out like a sore thumb, with an ERA of 6.37 and issuing a conference-high 281 walks. In addition, five .300+ hitters have gone the way of the buffalo, including most of the home run generating power in the order. The Blue Wave were also anything but a blue streak, stealing just 53 bases in 2009, many of those have moved on. When things went bad, things went REALLY bad, as 14 of their losses were by giving up double-digit run totals. Yikes.

Schedule Note:
Early tests will be telling.
The Owls will wing on up to Auburn in the second weekend of the season to play the home-team Tigers along with Missouri and Boston College. That should be able to tell us whether this team is ready to make a jump or not. Home weekends against Cincinnati and BC bracketing that weekend will also be great competition.

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- FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (34-23, 18-12)
2009 RPI: 82
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Scott Rembisz (6-3, 4.69)
LHP R.J. Fondon (7-2, 5.05, 2svs)
OF/DH Mike Martinez (.335-6-37)
1B Tim Jobe (.364-10-48)
SS Junior Arrojo (.316-3-32, 23SBs)

The Good News:
Look for the Turtle Thomas factor to kick into high gear this season as he becomes more and more familiar with the lay of the land as a head coach. If the offense has anything to say about it, FIU will make a huge splash, returning from a .324 season and featuring five hitters that went .300+ and a lot of speed. SS Arrojo and CF Lammar Guy (.265, 15SBs) can both fly and will help the defense with their quick feet. 3B Raiko Alfonso (.300) and OF Pablo Bermudez (.313) will be more comfy in their second seasons. The incoming recruiting class was rated the best in the Sun Belt by Collegiate Baseball (hey, we ARE talking about Turtle Thomas here, one of the best recruiters in the nation). The Texas Rangers must hate coach Thomas since he kept OFs Jabari Henry (39th round) and Yoandy Barroso (42nd round). RHP Alberto Cardenas (50th round, Minnesota) could be another immediate contributor.

The Bad News:
Back in May, FIU was on the radar for an at-large berth in the NCAAs, but a 7-8 finish sunk those hopes. As for 2010, on the mound, Fondon and Rembisz are stout and will have Eric Befkowitz (2-2, 5.24, 3svs) and Jorge Marban (1-2, 7.50, 4svs) to help out in the latter innings, but both must improve their numbers. That goes for the whole staff, who allowed opponents to hit .300 last season. Not good. The defense was only the 9th-best in the conference at .957, though there IS hope with three returning infield starters.

Schedule Note:
A rare trek out West.
It probably has a lot to do with the fact that coach Thomas was a former Arizona State assistant, but the Panthers will take part in the Coca-Cola Classic in Arizona in week three of the season, going up against ASU, Cal Poly and UC Riverside. Prior to that, they’ll get a visit from Oral Roberts and Maryland, a pair of interesting non-conference matchups.

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- LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (27-30-1, 14-15)
2009 RPI: 93
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Justin Robichaux (3-3, 1.98, 2svs, .252OBA)
RHP Zach Osborne (5-3, 3.44, .262OBA)
SS Greg Fontenot (.329)
OF Kyle Olasin (.305, 10SBs)

The Good News:
The Fighting Peppers showed some spicy play at times, burning opponents like Southern Miss, Nebraska, LSU, Houston and even sweeping (not a misprint) Middle Tennessee. Wow. Coach Tony Robichaux’s charges had some wicked hurlers that helped them post a Sun Belt-best 5.01 team ERA. Beyond the senior-experienced Robichaux and Osborne (a nice luxury to have, eh coach?), look for mid-weeker Michael Cook (5-3, 5.88) to take on a bigger role. Also watch for 2nd-year phenoms like RHP Blake Wascom (1-0, 3.91, .220OBA) and LHP Alex Fuselier (2-2, 6.50), who is also a stud outfielder that only hit .245 but should improve. The defense should get better as well with SS Fontenot joining the double-play combo of 2B Kyle Bostick (.289, 10SBs) and 1B Chad Keefer (.282-8-47), who brings some bash to the offense.

The Bad News:
Two straight disappointing seasons just don’t usually happen to the Cajuns. This is weird, man. A huge problem to the 2009 season was the lack of effective bats, as the team hit a bony-armed .278 which was 2nd-to-last in the SBC. I’m not making any headlines by saying that must change for this to be a good season. Players like Fuselier and Matt Goulas (.265, but went .288-7-31 in ‘08) must play up to potential. Losing hitters like Travis Whipple, Scott Hawkins and Les Smith means saying goodbye to most of the power on the team (28 combined HRs) and three solid leaders too.

Schedule Note:
A brutal month of May.
The final season of the month could be a crusher if the Cajuns aren’t locked in, taking on SBC favorites Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky at home and traveling to UNO and UL-Monroe. That’s pretty harsh. Oh, and I really like how UL-L and Southern Miss have been able to hook up the last few seasons in pre-conference play. That’s a solid matchup of teams that made great strides in the past decade.

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- LOUISIANA-MONROE (32-27, 12-17)
2009 RPI: 95
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
INF/RHP Jordy Poche (.365-3-362-7, 6.72)
OF Perry Smith (.365-5-34)
2B Boomer Blanchard (.351-12-38, 11SBs)
3B Nick Wade (.342-9-36)
OF Matt Laird (.301-10-55)

The Good News:
The Warhawks got hot at the right time in the SBC tourney and nearly fought all the way to the NCAAs last May. Hopefully that momentum will continue this season. Man, can this team bash and dash! They hit .325 and also pulled 278 walks as well. All five returnees are .301+ and are legitimate All-SBC candidates as listed above. Plug a few holes and this team will hit with anybody. RHP Don Williams (6-2, 5.47) threw three complete games and also relieved five times last season. Coach Jeff Schexnaider brought in a lauded recruiting class that features J.C. RHP James Jones, a 45th round pick of Cleveland, who should pay dividends pretty soon and may even push for a weekend spot.

The Bad News:
Year three was a rough one on the WarHawks as they dipped to their first conference losing mark in recent memory. And finishing two runs short of the NCAA tournament was frustrating as well. Ben Soignier, who has been the focal point of the program the last few years, has finally moved on to pro ball. The bullpen was (and is) a wreck, going to a saves-by-committee form – seven pitchers picked up a save. It would be nice if one dominant shut-down stud could emerge this year. And while we’re at it, two weekend spots will need to be filled as well. Lots of questions.

Schedule Note:
Tougher than a two-dollar steak.
ULM will have to hit the ground running or run the risk of being flat run-over. They’ll travel to Ole Miss for three games, then go to Texas for a tournament featuring Creighton and Northwestern State and play road games at Southern Miss and at LSU. That’s all in the first 11 games. As if that wasn’t enough, in SBC play they’ll open at Middle Tennessee, host UNO and then travel to WKU, all in the first three weekends. Aye Caramba!

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- MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE (44-18, 21-8)
2009 RPI: 38
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
OF/RHP Bryce Brentz (.465-28-73/5-3, 4.57, .265OBA, All American)
LHP Kenneth Roberts (11-1, 3.04, .225OBA)
RHP Nick Montgomery (4-1, 4.74)
SS Tyler Burnett (.344-7-37, 10SBs)
1B Blake McDade (.340-6-51)

The Good News:
2009 was a breakthrough season for the Raiders, including a Sun Belt title and a win over hated Vanderbilt in the NCAAs. Not a chance in hell the college baseball community will underestimate them this year. The big key is a plethora of pitching and a beat-you-to-death offense. Roberts leads the three weekend starters and is a classic ground out pitcher. Both mid-week starters, RHP Brett Wilson (3-2, 5.65) and RHP Jud Stoltz (2-1, 7.90) will improve and help make this a deep staff. This team will go arm-for-arm with just about anyone. Offensively, they hit .340 last year and the order is definitely junior-senior heavy – a coach’s best friend. And get this, all six returning starters hit .312 or better and accounted for 57 of last year’s 101 home runs. Expect much more of the same. Okay, lemme see, what am I forgetting here?… Oh wait, I didn’t mention Bryce Brentz yet. Silly me. This guy is the Terminator of college baseball. A true five-tool player AND a remorseless killing machine on the diamond. As Lou Pavlovich of Collegiate Baseball noted, he came to college as a drafted pitcher and will leave college as a drafted hitter.

The Bad News:
Even though this has the potential to be the best MidTenn team in history, there are a few nit-picky things for bad news. For instance, two of the best hitters were Rawley Bishop (.398) and Nathan Hines (.352), who won’t be around to protect Brentz in the order this year. Also, the ace closer Coty Woods, who had 15 saves, won’t be around to lean on any longer.

Schedule Note:
Damn! Nowhere near me.
I am bound and determined to check this team out at some point this season, but lo, they aren’t scheduled to play anywhere outside of their region all year long. Even their pre-conference roadies are at Memphis, at Southern Illinois and at Jacksonville State. Oh well, maybe I’ll get the lear jet out. Oh, the final weekend of the regular season is a SBC showdown at Western Kentucky. Niiiiiice.

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- NEW ORLEANS (22-33, 12-18)
2009 RPI: 160
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
INF Nick Schwaner (.332-12-53)
OF Rodarrick Jones (.299-7-28, 12SBs)
OF Jay Morris (.362)
1B Alan Harris (.344-9-44)

The Good News:
The Privateers had a modicum of inexperience entering last season, but now it’s ready to blossom. Bruce Peddie becomes the 6th coach in school history and has a lot to work with. Of the nine players that started 25 games or more in 2009, seven of them are now seniors and also six of the seven hurlers back are juniors or seniors as well. That kind of experience is a huge intangible. Improvement is imminent as five .299+ hitters return and 46 of the 54 team HRs. Schwaner and Jones will provide plenty of bash and pop and be team leaders.

The Bad News:
Not a lot of good for the Privateers, as last year saw them finish with a losing record and their hyper-successful coach, Tom Walter, moved on to different horizons. Not only that, but the off-season saw the near-elimination of the entire athletic program (it was reversed), though the move down to Division III is imminent. Yikes. The Sun Belt’s worst pitching staff needs to clamp down as Joe Zimmerman (3-4, 6.01) and Cory Myers (2-8, 9.31) are the returning weekend starters but have poor ERAs. In fact, reliever Randy Verdin (2-1, 5.40) is the only staffer back with an ERA below 6.00. Most importantly, the defense struggled mightily, with a .948 fielding percentage.

Schedule Note:
Snowbird refuge.
UNO will play a lot of home games early on and will welcome in St. John’s in the opening weekend, followed by Youngstown State and Fairleigh Dickinson in pre-conference play. Then they’ll host Western Kentucky in the SBC opener. They’ll return the favor in May when they play at Creighton to wrap up the regular season. How’s that?… they’ll play their final game in Rosenblatt Stadium.

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- SOUTH ALABAMA (25-30, 13-16)
2009 RPI: 130
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
CF Adam Heisler (.390, 16SBs)
3B Jake Overstreet (.336)
OF Sean Laird (.295-7-21)
LHP Lance Baxter (3-3, 3.74, 6svs)
RHP D.D. Hanks (3-0, 5.85)
OF/DH Clint Reynolds (.328, 18SBs)

The Good News
A good bit of the offense that hit .328 as a team last season, returns for ‘10, including four players that hit .300 or better. Zach Grinchor (.305, .974fielding) is a solid 2B and should help improve the .966 defense. Heisler and Reynolds will give pithers the heeby-jeebies with their speed on the bases. There’s a lot of excitement over the impressive incoming class which features J.C. All Americans in OF Taylor White (hit .480), IF Tyler Vick (24HRs), C Brent Tanner (15HRs and formerly at Mississippi State in ‘08) and RHP Garrett Harris (formerly a starter at Southern MIss).

The Bad News:
Three straight losing seasons has some long-time Jags fans feeling quite salty, and with good reason. Losing marks used to be as rare as a snow storm in Mobile. Now? Well, here we are. The Jags MUST have better bullpen play after getting outscored by 46 runs in the 8th and 9th innings last year. Also, three players that hit over .330 are gone, including the only power threat from last year in David Doss. The ERA of 6.70 is a huge no-no. C’mon Jags, hunker down.

Schedule Note:
Easing the newbies along.
With all the new faces coming in, the schedule is pretty finely set for bringing them along slowly as 14 of the first 16 games are at home. But there are some potential potholes as games with Alabama, Wichita State, Mississippi State and Tulane are included in that. Three of the final four SBC weekends will be at home as well with UL-M, FAU and Troy will come to Mobile.

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- TROY (33-23, 18-10)
2009 RPI: 69
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
OF Miles Hoyle (.350-9-35)
1B/OF Ryan Ditthardt (.327-7-54)
OF Chad Watson (.317-6-29, 10SBs)
SS Adam Bryant (.312-4-32)
RHP Tyler Ray (7-3, 4.60)

The Good News:
As usual with the Trojans, they don’t sweat anyone, having beaten Alabama, Kennesaw State and Western Kentucky and also won a series vs. Middle Tennessee last year. This time around, they’ll need to rely more on their hitting and defense, since three of the top four batters from ‘09 return, led by Hoyle and Ditthardt who both posses some gap power. Watson is a burner (7triples) who could be utilized more. Bryant and 2B J.R. Myers (.326 in part-time duty) should make for a solid middle and keep the defense up to its .970 performance of a year ago. Not sure if it’ll translate to this year as well, but Troy batters were plunked 68 times last year. But that’s just their mentality… no fear.

The Bad News:
The pitching just fell apart on Troy in the latter part of the ‘09 season, giving up double-digit run totals in six of their last ten losses, including bad routs to end the season in the SBC tournament. As a unit they went 6.32 in team ERA and a .299OBA. That’s too high if they’re ever going to make that big push to elite mid-major status. Two of the three weekend studs have bailed along with relievers Chris Sorce and Jeff Green, who had 47 appearances between them. In case you haven’t figured it out, lots of work to do on the mound.

Schedule Note:
Fit to be Hog tied.
The men of Troy will make one of the more difficult road trips of any team in the country in the second weekend of the season as they dare to venture into the pig pen and play Arkansas, a CWS team last year. If they survive that, another test follows as they’ll welcome fellow mid-major Bethune-Cookman to town the next weekend in what should be a solid matchup. The rivalry series with South Alabama winds things up at the end of the regular season in Mobile.

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- WESTERN KENTUCKY (42-20, 21-8)
2009 RPI: 41
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
C Matt Rice (.399-10-72)
RHP Matt Ridings (8-2, 4.84, 93Ks)
RHP Shane Cameron (5-2, 5.03)
1B Jake Wells (.314-5-36)

The Good News:
Three of the last five seasons have seen the Hilltoppers dipping their toes in the NCAA tournament waters – and winning too. WKU hopes to go further than the regional title round like they did last season, extending Ole Miss to a third game in Oxford. Freakin’ impressive. Team ace Ridings returns for his senior year despite being drafted in the 25th round by the Nationals last summer. That’s a huge boon to an already talented team. He’ll team with Cameron for a great one-two punch and they’ll have RHP Bart Carter (6-1, 6.00, 4svs) to back them as a valuable fellow senior starter/reliever. Also, look for the return of RHP Rye Davis, who missed all of 2009 after being hit in the eye by a line drive during the pre-season. They’ll throw toss with catcher Matt Rice, a real block of granite behind the dish with a cannon arm. The team moves into a brand new one-million dollar clubhouse at Nick Denes Field, no more basketball locker room for these guys.

The Bad News:
WKU had a 5.47 team ERA (3rd in the SBC), but beyond Ridings, Cameron and Carter, the cupboard is pretty bare in the hurling department after last season’s exodus by so many quality relievers. Good middle relief and a clamp-down arm must be cultivated from a stock of newbies. The Hilltoppers were awesome thieves last season, stealing 100 bases, but Wade Gaynor, Chad Cregar and Matt Hightower were responsible for 65 of them and each hit .300+. 2B Matt Payton (.307-3-34) is a sweet glove, but will be teamed with greenhorns at SS and 3B, so hopes of coming close to the .979 defensive team they had last season will be tough.

Schedule Note:
The newbies will have to grow up quickly.
Unlike last year’s fairly breezy start to the season, WKU will have to hit the ground running in 2010. They’ll open with a home weekend vs. MAC monster Kent State, then go to the Baylor Bears Tournament (where they’ll take on BU, Texas State and Texas A&M), and finish up pre-SBC play with Illinois-Chicago. That’s pretty good. Once again, the two favorites of the Sun Belt will face off in the final weekend of the regular season, as WKU plays the host to Middle Tennessee this time.

It’s still all about Oral Roberts here, but I have to admit the Johnny-come-latelys are starting to make headway toward the Eagles throne. But don’t get too giddy, the coup-de-tat won’t happen anytime in the foreseeable future. Paint this one ORU navy blue.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Last year was a better season for the Summit. Southern Utah gave ORU a run for the money. South Dakota State, of all teams, was just three and a half games behind. Centenary finished with 33 wins, including Ws over Texas A&M and Arkansas. Nice huh? Let’s just hope that this time around we don’t have Mother Nature interrupting the weekend showdown of the best two teams like when last year’s ORU-SUU series was a complete washout. Elsewhere, it was also good to see the Eagles return to the Regional title round like they did last season. Lots of good improvement across the board was pretty awesome for the Summit.

Conference RPI: 23

2009 Results:
1- Oral Roberts, 16-2
2- Southern Utah, 15-7
3- South Dakota State, 17-10
4- Centenary, 16-10
5- North Dakota State, 10-14
6- Oakland, 10-18
7- Western Illinois, 8-16
8- IUPU-Fort Wayne, 6-21

2010 in a Paragraph:
Well guess what? The Eagles went screaming to another Summit title in 2009 and then to a second place finish in the Tempe Regional. And if you bet against them pulling the trick again in 2010, you’re making a fool’s bet. Despite the heavy losses to his pitching staff, coach Rob Walton is reloading again with a stack of recruits that will keep the hardware at the Tulsa campus of the perpetual champs. But watch for the Jackrabbits and Thunderbirds to attack from the ground and sky and maybe – dare I say – make things interesting this season. One thing is for sure, for the first time in the history of my writing these previews, I can finally write some team names on the “Contenders” line below, instead of just writing “none” again.

Colby Pierce will be a steady glove in the field and a lead-by-example guy at the plate for ORU.

Favorite: Oral Roberts

Contenders: South Dakota State, Southern Utah

Darkhorse: Western Illinois

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: ORU at Southern Utah, April 15-17

Best Non-Conference Series: Missouri State at Oral Roberts, April 2-4

Hot Coach: Rob Walton, ORU

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: C Justin Kline, North Dakota State

Three Non-Conference Series Summit Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- ORU at Baylor, March 5-7
2- ORU at UCLA, March 19-21
3- SDSU at Metrodome Tournament, March 12-14 (Minnesota, Harvard, Creighton)

Three Bold Predictions:
1- ORU will suffer their most number of in-conference losses this decade.
2- The Dakota schools continue to improve to winning seasons, making Tod Brown and Richie Price hot names in the coaching carousel.
3- Inspired to play well, Western Illinois ends the year with a winning mark.

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- CENTENARY (33-19, 16-10)
2009 RPI: 159
Starters Returning: NA
Weekend Starters: NA
Mid-Week Starters: NA
Key Relievers (20+inns.): NA

All Conference Candidates:
INF Tell Ross (7HRs, 49RBI)
RHP Justin Kraft (6wins, 3.68ERA)
INF Michael Thompkins (8HRs)
RHP Boone Whiting (6-2, 4.16)
LHP Stephen Tromblee (5-3, 4.46, 4svs)

The Good News:
In the first 15 days of the 2009 season, the Gentlemen beat both Texas A&M and Arkansas, getting out to a 6-3 start and grabbing some headlines. That catapulted them to a second straight winning season, their first back-to-back since 1990-91. A sweet trio of All-Summit performers come back to campus, led by versatile RHP Kraft and infielders Ross and Thompkins.

The Bad News:
As you might expect, the bad news is that Centenary couldn’t handle ORU, going 0-for-5 vs. the Eagles. That’s a yearly occurrence. Three All-Summit performers were lost, especially team leader SS Ricky Imperiali and team sparkplug Travis Leversen. The slate is really tough, especially the season tipoff at Alex Box Stadium vs. national title winning LSU, where the Gents will essentially play the role of the Washington Generals. (five points if you get the reference)

Schedule Note:
… and it’s not just LSU.
The Gents will also have to take on Gonzaga, Texas A&M, Georgia State and Arkansas before Summit play kicks off. That makes this year’s slate a lot tougher than last year’s. They do get conference bully Oral Roberts at home in mid-May. That could be interesting.

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- IPFW (13-38, 6-21)
2009 RPI: 279
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Sam Walker (0-4, 4.17)
3B Shaun Van Driessche (.314-7-38)
INF/RHP Scott Micinski (.279/1-5, 8.66)

The Good News:
There’s some good talent still around for the Mastodons (cool name) to build around, including the return of four key seniors to the daily lineup. Van Driessche and Micinski are bolstered by OF Joel Washko (.261) and 1B Jason Doerffler (.252), a pair of four-year stalwarts. Walker, the staff ace, will be backed up by A.J. Risedorph (2-4, 6.75), who will move to a weekend role.

The Bad News:
Things just keep getting tougher for the Mastadons (cool name), now having gone four straight years since they’ve won 20+ games. Year two of the Summit Conference play saw them drop to just six wins. Only two players hit .300+ last season, including top hitter Chris Gottschall, who has moved on. The .952 defense and .261 team average were both conference-lows.

Schedule Note:
The tough 24.
April 6th can’t get here soon enough for IPFW, since that will be the first home game of the season. Prior to that the Mastadons will play 24 road games, including trips to UT-Martin, SEMO, Arkansas-Little Rock, Kentucky and Michigan. That’s some bruises-in-waiting man.

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- NORTH DAKOTA STATE (16-28, 10-14)
2009 RPI: 267
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
1B/RHP Zach Wentz (.349-3-25/3-2, 5.03)
C Justin Kline (.432, just 3Es, Freshman All Am.)
RHP John Straka (4-3, 3.49)
INF Max Casper (.301)

The Good News:
Ever so slightly, the Bison made more strides last season as they get more comfortable with their transition to D1. Kline is a special talent that doesn’t come to Fargo often and he’ll have experience around him, like Tim Jallen (.292, 23HBPs) and Max Casper (.301). Alex Chaput (2-1, 4.55) and McHale Maristuen (1-3, 5.93) bring some quality to the bullpen, as NDSU will sport a deep staff this season. Wentz is the most valuable player as far as being used on offense and defense.

The Bad News:
Try to avoid that 1-10 start that you had last season and you’ll be set for another step up in the win column. The defense tied for the worst in the Summit at .952 – which is typical of a northern team that doesn’t get outside much early on. Opposing teams hit a healthy .315 off them last season. Need to put the nose to the grindstone more as the hurlers only struck out 285 batters.

Schedule Note:
Rivaling Oral Roberts.
You’d think it was the Bison that needed the RPI points with the schedule that they’ve put together, playing the likes of Lamar, Missouri State and Minnesota. Relief will come in Florida, when the Big Green plays winnable games against Long Island, Akron, Bucknell, UMBC and New Jersey Tech during their 8-day stay.

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- OAKLAND (15-30, 10-18)
2009 RPI: 241
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
INF D.J. Jarrad (.291)
INF Tommy Jablondski (.328)
RHP Mark LaMothe (4-4, 5.45)
LHP Aaron Wick (4-4, 7.26)

The Good News:
Baby steps, sure, but last year’s 10 wins in Summit play was their best win total in conference games since 2000. They return a handful of capable bats in Jarrad and Jablondski, who can be building blocks and hope for another .299 offense. LaMothe is a good horse for the staff, which returns a good bit of experience. The defense was 3rd in the conference at .961, not bad.

The Bad News:
The top six hitters in the order have flown the coop, all of them hitting .304 or better and includes Andrew Stafford and Dan Ryan, a pair of .360+ bats. In fact, the power bats of Stafford and home run threat Justin Wilson will be the biggest holes since OU had some decent pop. The pitching staff had an ERA of 8.00, so that’s pretty self-explanatory there.

Schedule Note:
April 12th can’t get here soon enough.
This could be a rough, rough, rough start to the 2010 season for the Griz. Their schedule is daunting, including that sacrificial lamb-like season-opening weekend at Ole Miss. They’ll also take on A-10 regular season and post-season champions in Dayton and Xavier, a trip to Michigan State and – as if that wasn’t enough – they’ll open the Summit season with a trip to Oral Roberts. From there, 24 of the final 35 games will come at home.

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- ORAL ROBERTS (33-15, 16-2)
2009 RPI: 32
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
2B Colby Price (.343-6-37)
C Seth Furmanek (.333-17-63)
OF P.J. Sequeira (.330-9-38)
OF Tyler Garewal (.330-5-33, 13SBs)

The Good News:
Look, this Summit League joint is still the Eagles’ Nest until further notice. ORU won its way to their second straight Regional title round before dropping to Arizona State in Tempe last June. As you see above, the Eagles have four .330+ hitters back in the fold, so the .303 team average could improve. Watch for J.C. All American SS Tyler Saladino, who should fill a definite need and add some serious ability at the dish. There is some power returning from a squad that hit 80 bombs last year and also watch for more speed to become part of the offense with Garewal getting more comfortable and the incoming speed of Saladino and OF Justin Mitchell, who was injured after nine games last season. The program just keeps lapping the field in the Summit, having now erected a $1.2 million indoor facility for the baseball program.

The Bad News:
It’s weird to see an ORU team win ‘only’ 33 games. I know, it had a lot to do with games being cancelled and weather issues, but still. And how about THIS for losses to a pitching staff: All three weekend starters are gone. Ace reliever T.J. Kelly is gone. The most-used mid-week starter is gone. One of the two relievers with 20+ innings is gone. That’s some massive, massive losses to the arms staff as coach Walton will have to start from scratch there. Lots of J.C. transfers will need to catch up to speed here in short order.

Schedule Note:
Granted, nobody tries harder than ORU.
This is typical Oral Roberts schedulin, having to make up for the shortcomings of the weak conference anchor effect. Roadies from coast-to-coast sees the Eagles go to Florida International, Baylor, UCLA and Texas. They’ll also host games with Wichita State, TCU and Missouri State among others. Interestingly, there is a 14-game road stretch to begin the month of May.

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- SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (26-30, 17-10)
2009 RPI: 206
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Trever Vermeulen (0-0, 4.68, 3svs, .260OBA)
RHP Layne Somsen (4-7, 5.32)
UTL Joel Blake (.351-13-38)
INF Jesse Sawyer (.346-19-58)
OF John Lee (.305-6-27)
OF Billy Stitz (.302-4-30, 13SBs)

The Good News:
The Jackrabbits turned things around big time in their second year of Summit play, snapping up 17 wins and making the title round of the post-season tournament. That’s pretty cool. Because of that, Ritchie Price’s “interim” tag was taken off the head coach title. Unusual for a northern team, the Jackrabbits had a scary-good offense from February til May last season, hitting .315 as a team and having all nine starters hit .300+. Six of those sluggers return to the fold, led by the power sticks of Blake (13HRs) and Sawyer (19HRs). In one 13 game stretch last season, Sawyer homered in 11 games. Obviously, the offense is set. The defense was the best in the Summit at .963 and has most of the main players back.

The Bad News:
Please don’t pull another 5-22 start to your season guys. It sure soured that awesome 17-3 finish. Staff ace Caleb Theilbar (87inns) will be missed as a staff horse. Senior arms like Mike Robinson (5-4, 7.40) and Sam Pieczynski (5-3, 7.57) will have to jump up their game this year. The Jacks need a slightly better start in their games after getting outscored by 28 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings combined last year.

Schedule Note:
Loading up on the cold-weather teams.
Hey, why not? The ‘Rabbits will hope for good weather and play mostly cold-weather teams in the early season. Murray State, Nebraska, Air Force, Arkansas, Creighton, Harvard, Minnesota, Northern Colorado and Iowa will make up their first 19 games of the season, all on the road. SDSU must have the latest home debut in the schedule as they won’t play at Erv Huether Field until April 20th vs. the Gophers.

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- SOUTHERN UTAH (27-24, 15-7)
2009 RPI: 228
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
SS Bo Cuthbertson (.393, Freshman All Am.)
RHP Steve Johnson (8-4, 5.00)
LHP James Crockett (3-3, 5.35)

The Good News:
Last year I wrote “this is a program on the rise” and there is no reason to change that here. Coach Eldridge has it goin’ on man. There are losses from last season, but a good bit of arms come back, with Johnson as a legit stud and also having senior Kyle Melling (7-3, 5.58), who is one of those “effectively wild” kind of guys. The top two hitters are back to lead by example in Cuthbertson and the versatile Matt Sanford (.366- 5-23), who could take on a bigger role on the mound in ‘10. Taking over the big bat role will be 1B Bucky Aona, who hit .293-10-47 last season.

The Bad News:
Unfortunately, May was not kind to the T-birds last season. They had their vital series with ORU cancelled by rain, lost three of four at SDSU and went out with a 1-2 performance at the Summit tourney. School home run record masher Nick Freitas has moseyed on, along with four other guys that hit .299 or better. Saves leader Jacob Noyes (6svs) left off a staff that let their opponents hit .313. Though they turned a Summit-best 66 double plays, the Thunderbirds still fielded at only a .957 level.

Schedule Note:
Never on a Sunday.
One of the quirks you’ll notice about SUU’s schedule is that the Thunderbirds don’t have any games scheduled at home for Sundays – probably an homage to BYU’s philosophy in the Mormon-heavy state. But they do have four Sunday games away from home this season. For those of you who were pissed at Mother Nature last year, the series with Oral Roberts will be in Cedar City April 15-17.

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- WESTERN ILLINOIS (13-33, 8-16)
2009 RPI: 280
Starters Returning: 2
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidate:
OF Andrew Hagins (.292-10-37)
C John Koszulinski (.339)

The Good News:
Mike Villano, a former Florida Marlin, comes to Macomb and takes the reigns of the program. He was an assistant coach at Central Michigan for six years prior to. There are a handful of senior pitchers that should post better numbers, including three weekend returnees in RHP Randon Lingle (2-2, 9.07), LHP John Sneegas (2-5, 9.27) and LHP Austin Brough (4-8, 9.91).

The Bad News:
The Leatherneck family is obviously still dealing with the stunning death of head coach – and all-around great guy – Stan Hyman, who passed away in September after a two-month battle with leukemia. On the field, losing senior talents like Cooper Stewart (.337) and Drew Laidig (WIU’s 9th best hitter ever) are big losses. The pitching staff got rocked pretty roundly all season, ending with a 10.27 ERA, which included a pair of losses where opponents scored 30+ runs.

Schedule Note:
Great way to start.
The WIU schedule will be pretty rough once again (Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, UAB and Iowa in non-conference play), but at least the Leathernecks will have a good start, playing their first three games at Alabama State – which should translate to a couple of wins.

Getting multiple bids to the NCAA tournament? These guys just shrug and say “yeah… so?” Hell, they think they deserve even more after getting short-changed for a couple of years. See those guys sticking their chests out saying “bring it on!”, that’s the Southland just waiting to get their hands on more high-marquee opponents.

2009 in a Paragraph:
The top of the conference was good. Very good. But the bottom didn’t hold up its end of the bargain and that’s why you see the SLC way down at No. 16 in the RPI. It could be much better. Texas State, for example, dominated the Southland regular season, stayed in the 30s range of the RPI the entire time and garnered an at-large bid to the Big Dance after losing out to Sam Houston in the SLC tournament. Which reminds me, is that hiring of Mark Johnson at SHSU a beauty or what? This guy just keeps piling up the accolades. Neither team could pull an upset in the NCAAs but the Southland had its share of good wins during the regular season, keeping its reputation intact. Now if the bottom-feeders could just pull up the slack a little bit.

Conference RPI: 16

2009 Results:
1- Texas State, 24-7
2- Southeastern Louisiana, 21-12
3- UT-San Antonio, 20-12
4- Lamar, 20-13
5- UT-Arlington, 19-13
6- Northwestern State, 18-13
7- Sam Houston State, 18-14
8- Stephen F. Austin, 14-18
9- Central Arkansas, 10-21
10- McNeese State, 10-22
11- Nicholls State, 9-23
12- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 9-24

2010 in a Paragraph:
Seems like we need to add another category to the list below: Rebuilding Teams. That would include the defending champs in San Marcos, along with Lamar, UT-A and Sam Houston. All took on some heavy losses, including a host of senior leaders. Speaking of senior leadership, because of that, I’m giving the edge to SLU as their pitching staff could be really good. Their status as “favorite” however, is fairly slim. Speaking of senior-laden, that’s the reason why the Colonels are going to be an interesting team to watch. If Chip Durham can focus his charges and get his pitchers to keep the batters down, this could be a surprise season in Thibidoux. Overall, it always seems like when there is massive reloading to do in the conference, it just means a mad-dash free-for-all will ensue in the title chase. That’s what makes the Southland so much fun to watch.

Favorite: Southeastern Louisiana

Contenders: Texas State, UT-San Antonio, Northwestern State

Darkhorse: Nicholls State

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Texas State at SLU, April 16-18

Best Non-Conference Series: UT-San Antonio at San Francisco, March 5-7

Hot Coach: Mark Johnson, Sam Houston State

Hot Seat Coach: Scott Malone, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Michael Choice, UT-Arlington

Three Non-Conference Series Southland Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Texas State at QTI Baylor Classic, Feb. 26-28 (BU, Western Kentucky, Tex. A&M)
2- Sam Houston at TCU, Feb. 19-21
3- SLU at Mississippi State, Feb. 26-28

Three Bold Predictions:
1- The Louisiana teams will assert themselves for the first time in a long while as they make a dash for the title. (SLU, Nicholls, McNeese, Northwestern)
2- Despite having Michael Choice, UTA could make the biggest fall.
3- Back to one bid for the SLC. Sorry.

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- CENTRAL ARKANSAS (22-30, 10-21)
2009 RPI: 188
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
OF Tye Throneberry (.374-4-34)
SS/RHP Bobby Pritchett (.327/4-5, 4.85, 5svs)
RHP Reece Cross (4-4, 4.48, .227OBA)

The Good News:
Most of the pitching returns from last season, including Pritchett, Cross and Michael Wile (2-1, 4.34), who all had ERAs below 5.00. Throneberry and Pritchett will lead the offense (How valuable is that Pritchett dude, huh? Wow.) that came off a decent .309 season. They’ll get help from Jordan Getchell (.333) and Will Wagner (.313), a pair of part-timers as freshmen who will be asked to do more this year. The bullpen is stocked with experience which should make a big difference in ‘10. Watch for Jeremy Brewer (1-2, 5.10, .288OBA) who should come into his own as a senior.

The Bad News:
This team dropped from playing .500 ball in 2008 (27-27) down to a 30-loss season in ‘09. A terrible 2-13 stretch to end the Southland season blew any chance of making the conference tournament. Most of the power is gone from last year’s lineup, particularly the losses of Dillon Smith and Jonathan Yerby, who combined for half of the squad’s home runs. Speaking of big losses, the only two pitchers to hit the road are Matt Humphrey and Jeremy Cloud, but they were leaned on heavily last season – especially Cloud’s five complete games. The Bears must begin to apply more pressure to the defense as they only stole an SLC-low 29 bases all season.

Schedule Note:
A true “home” stretch.
The Bears will play most of their late-season schedule at home, including three of their final four Southland series with Northwestern, Corpus Christi and UTSA coming to Conway in the last four weeks. Hopefully this will give them some momentum as they hope to make a run at the conference tournament. The back-to-back roadies at Nevada and Wichita State early in the season might not only be confidence-breakers, but may also be cold as hell.

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- LAMAR (38-22, 20-13)
2009 RPI: 118
Starters Returning: 2
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
OF Quentin Luquette (.316-4-33, 10SBs)
RHP Eric Harrington (8-1, 3.01, Freshman All Am.)
RHP Matison Smith (6-6, 3.52, .263OBA)

The Good News:
Talk about a program that is consistent, the Cardinals have now won 38, 35, 34, 35 and 38 games over the last five seasons. Coach Jim Gilligan doesn’t have a lot of pitchers returning, but the ones that do are really, really good. Hammer-thrower Harrington could be the best in the SLC and Smith combines for a good Friday-Saturday combo. A pair of seniors will bolster the pen with Cory Holley (0-1, 4.35, 2svs) and Blake Ford (1-1, 7.65), who could also be in the mix for a weekend slot.

The Bad News:
Coach Gilligan has seen it all in his 30 years at Lamar, so a true rebuilding season won’t scare him off. But after losing all but Luquette and OF Anthony Moore (.279, 11SBs), the offense will need a major overhaul. Spot-duty players like Cameron Campbell (.302 in 14 starts) and Andy Mena (.315 in 16 starts) must deliver big this year. Beyond the four pitchers mentioned above, the mound corps will need to rely on greenhorns coming in and contributing right away.

Schedule Note:
18 and 2.
The Cardinals will only play 18 games away from Vincent-Beck Stadium all season long and just two of them will be non-conference roadies, at Rice and at Houston. Taking a page from their Big 12 brethren Texas, Baylor and Texas A&M, the Cards border war weekend with McNeese State will see the two square off in Lake Charles on Friday the 30th of April. The next two games are going to be in Beaumont on May 1st and 2nd. By the way, with home games vs. Maine, North Dakota State and Penn State before SLC play kicks in, my only question is: What, Univ. of Iceland wasn’t available?

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- MCNEESE STATE (21-30, 10-22)
2009 RPI: 189
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
OF Lee Orr (.301-15-57, 18SBs, Frosh All American)
OF Andy Riche (.340)
SS Mike Fontenot (.343)
2B Jace Peterson (.366, 13SBs and DB for football team)

The Good News:
Going from 13 wins in ‘08 to 21 last season was a good improvement. But now Coach Terry Burrows wants for more. He’s got plenty of experience back, including three-year starter RHP Tyler Davis (4-3, 6.91) to lead the mound corps and Orr, the super-frosh from 2009, leading an offense that hit .315. Also, Fontenot and Peterson should emerge into a great double-play combo, after the Cowboys only turned 39 DPs in ‘09.

The Bad News:
The Pokes seemed to throw in the towel as the season got longer, going 2-14 from April 21st onward. The pitching was the biggest crux of the problem, tossing an ERA of 7.60, second-worst in the SLC. The rotation of Davis, Jonathan Conrad (3-6, 7.10) and Matt Click (2-4, 7.30) will need to bear down more.

Schedule Note:
Good litmus test.
In weekend number three of the season, MSU will play in the Lamar Tornament against solid mid-majors Dallas Baptist, Penn State and fellow SLC member Lamar. That should give a good indication of where the team is as they head to conference play the following weekend at Northwestern State in Natchitoches.

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- NICHOLLS STATE (19-32, 9-23)
2009 RPI: 219
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
OF Scott Moseley (.346, 16SBs)
LHP Jarret Dunnam (3-8, 3.80)
RHP Tyler Minto (3-3, 4.26)
LHP Ryan Cooper (3-1, 4.44)

The Good News:
After two straight 10 win seasons, last year’s 19 wins was a small step in the right direction. Coach Chip Durham will have the luxury of a seasoned rotation with Dunnam, Minto and Cooper, who held their opponents to .295, .286 and .288 averages – not bad. Surprisingly, the staff was a respectable 4th in the SLC with a 4.97 ERA. Offensively, Moseley will get support from C Jason Dennis (.294) and fellow speed-merchant OF Keith Kulbeth (.285-5-33, 16SBs). Incoming transfer LHP Clint Dempster was a 31st round pick of Seattle last June.

The Bad News:
Losing the fleet-footed Chris Murrill and his .344, 27SBs numbers will be tough to fill. Beyond Moseley, Dennis and Kulbeth, none of the remainder of the returnees hit better than .233. So some bottom-of-the-order offense must be found. The bullpen will be rather thin and in need of some newbies to step in and play at a high level right away. The Colonels have a lot of experience around the infield, but they fielded at a Southland-worst .952 last year. Fundamentals, people!

Schedule Note:
Four… and that’s a very tough four too.
Wouldn’t you know it, during the stretch run of the season, Nicholls will play only four home games in the entire month of May. And those four will be brick-wall tough too, hosting Southeastern Louisiana and then SLC heavy Texas State. The roadies in May are to UTSA and McNeese State. That’s a tough way to make a run toward the post-season.

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- NORTHWESTERN STATE (26-26, 18-13)
2009 RPI: 141
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Chad Sheppard (4-1, 2.34, 10svs, .219OBA, Frosh All Am.)
OF Chase Lyles (.362-14-47, 17SBs)
Trent Grondin (.324)
Dan Meyer (.296, 15SBs)

The Good News:
There is definitely a good bit of star power in the Demons roster. Sheppard is getting some pre-season All American mention after a wicked-good freshman season last year and Lyles is a do-it-all type that has solid athletic ability at the dish and in the meadow. Don’t pass by Ryan Zimmerman either, as he heads into his senior campaign off a 3-3, 5.35 season. He’ll be the weekend horse for now and has Sheppard and seniors Andrew Plotkin (3-0, 5.90) and Trevor Geist (2-0, 6.41) to fall back on. Four of the five returning starters in the field are seniors as well. Gotta like the experience of this team for 2010.

The Bad News:
This was the second straight year for the Demons to go 0-2 in the SLC tourney, once again denying a Big Dance invite. They also finished with another non-winning record, their third straight such season. Losing Justin O’Neal (.373) and Joe Urtuzuastegui (.371) means a big drop in productivity for the offense, especially their power input. Finding someone to step up to the Saturday and Sunday starting role will be crucial to the success of NSU this year. OF Eric Deblanc (.333 in 14 starts) and Lance Lacoste (.317 in 18 starts) will have to assimilate to full-time roles.

Schedule Note:
Make an immediate statement.
The Devils have the opportunity to make one of the bigger splashes on the national scene when they travel to Southern Miss to kick off the 2010 season. With their losses, the Eagles could be vulnerable. In SLC play, NSU will have the arduous task of going to both Texas State and Southeastern Louisiana (to close the regular season), who were Nos. 1 and 2 in the Southland last season.

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- SAM HOUSTON STATE (36-24, 18-14)
2009 RPI: 70
Starters Returning: 2
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
2B Braeden Riley (.387, 12SBs)
SS Ryan Mooney (.305-4-42, 12SBs)
RHP Matt Shelton (7-0, 1.99, 2svs, .254OBA)
LHP Brent Powers (3-2, 4.77)

The Good News:
The hiring of coaching legend Mark Johnson is paying big dividends for The Sam, leading them to the regionals the last three seasons. How impressive is THAT? He may not have a lot returning from last season, but he really likes the hardscrabble nature of his double-play combo of Riley and Mooney, they’re his kind of players. He also likes a real horse in the bullpen that can come in and dominate, and that’s what he’s got in Shelton. Juniors Justin Jackson (3-0, 5.75) and Cape Cod alum Dallas Gallant (4-4, 6.52) should improve their numbers. Look for incoming OF Mark Hudson, a J.C. transfer, and John Hale, a catcher who transfered in from Rice, to help keep The Sam on track for another winning season.

The Bad News:
Coach Johnson may have to REALLY work some magic this season as he’s said sayonara to six .300+ hitters in the batting order, including the mean stick of Nick Zaleski, who hit .419 and garnered some All American honors last year. The arms corps lost a heaping helping as well, including two weekend starters and some lockdown bullpenners like Will Skelton and Sean Weatherford – who was versatile enough to start in mid-week games as well. I’m not saying this will be a losing season (with Coach Johnson around, no way!), but grab a shovel folks, there’s a lot of holes to fill here.

Schedule Note:
Not a pleasant way to indoctrinate the newbies.
With all the new blood that the Bearkats will be counting on this coming season, you’d figure there might be a better way than to throw them to the wolves with the season opener at TCU and the following weekend hosting NCAA tournament participant Utah. That’s six brutal games right there. And speaking of tough, SHSU will also be tested right off the bat in the Southland, going to UT-Arlington, hosting conference favorite Texas State and going to UTSA in the first three weekends. Ouch.

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- SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (37-22, 21-12)
2009 RPI: 54
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Chris Franklin (5-2, 2.60, 12svs)
OF Cass Hargis (.317-4-32)
RHP Ryan Boudreaux (6-4, 5.03)
3B Josh Cryer (.309-4-39, 22HBPs)

The Good News:
Lions are on a streak of four straight 30+ win seasons under the capable helmsman Jay Artigues. Nice goin’ coach. With all three weekenders coming back on the hill in Boudreaux, Josh Janaway (4-2, 4.50, 1sv) and Brandon Efferson (5-5, 5.07), he’ll have the building blocks for another 30+ win season… or more. Franklin is the cement between the bricks, setting the school record for saves in a season last year. There are five .300+ hitters back from an attacking offense that fears no one. Hargis and Cryer will be joined by seniors Philip Freeman (.343 in 25 starts) and 1B Joe Sparacino (.339). Incoming C Chad Gough-Fortenberry turned down the Dodgers as a 42nd round pick last June.

The Bad News:
Despite the run of 30-win seasons, it’s still been since 1994 that the Lions have been to the NCAAs. And we know who the villain in this play is, Sam Houston State. SLU swept the Sam in Huntsville in late April, but at the SLC tournament, the Lions lost twice to the Bearkats, ending their season. There wasn’t a lot of power to last year’s team and Ty Summerlin and Brandon Street – who have both moved on to pro ball – were the two biggest sticks in the lineup. The bullpen must have another dominant arm or two emerge beyond Franklin.

Schedule Note:
The perfect home schedule.
SLU will have the luxury of facing almost all the Southland contenders right there at Alumni Field as they’ll welcome UTSA (March 12-14), UT-Arlington (April 9-11), Texas State (April 16-18), Sam Houston State (May 7-9) and NSU (May 20-22). Only the roadie at Lamar looks like it could be treacherous – well, not like you can overlook any SLC opponents. Oh, keep a close eye on the first two weeks of the season as the Lions will host Ohio Valley favorite Eastern Illinois (who they lost twice to last year) and then travel to Mississippi State. Those two series should tell us what kind of team Coach Artigues has this season.

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- STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (23-32, 14-18)
2009 RPI: 198
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
SS Tanner Hines (.353, 11SBs)
Alex Moshier (4-3, 4.24, .235OBA)

The Good News:
As a general rule, coaches tend to have smoother second seasons at the helm of a new gig, and that’s what SFA will see under Johnny Cardenas this season. With two of his three weekend mound starters coming back to the fold in RHP Brett Rogers (2-4, 5.02) and RHP Jared West (4-3, 5.11), they’ll form a winnable combination with the wildly-talented Moshier. The most valuable player on the roster could be Alex Priest, who hit .370-4-26 in just 92 at-bats and had 10 appearances and 25 innings of work on the mound.

The Bad News:
SFA lost a trio of good hurlers when MLB teams drafted Chirs Court and Erik Gergersen and Richard Folmer (the relief ace who saved 12 games in ‘09) off last year’s team. Oh and the biggest loss on the mound? That would be Erich Lehmann using up his eligibility, since he was the school’s all-time wins leader with 25. As a unit, the ‘Jacks pitchers issued a Southland-high 246 walks last season. The slugging will take a hit as well with the top two home run sticks moving on in Sean Meyers (who hit .398) and Zach Gardner.

Schedule Note:
Taking it easy on the ego.
The Lumberjacks will have the luxury of a feeling-out period by hosting Grambling in the season-opening weekend and then also in Southland play by facing off with second-division Central Arkansas in the second weekend of March. On the flip-side of that, they’ll have to face the uphill climb of playing 11 of their final 14 games of the regular season on the road. The only three home dates?… vs. Southeastern Louisiana. Harsh man.

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- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (18-38, 9-24)
2009 RPI: 238
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
1B/RHP Trey Hernandez (.236-12-33/2-3, 8.10)
P Brandon Orr (2-6, 6.05)
OF Jeramie Marek (335)

The Good News:
Hernandez is a valuable commodity to the Islanders, supplying one of the few power-bats on the team and also pulling the closer’s role. Marek may be moved to 2B, in what should be a much-improved infield. Pitching staff has a lot of experience and should also post better numbers. The coaches are high on incoming products OF Chris Vergne, 3B/RHP Marc Damon and SS Cory Ege, who was actually at Northern Iowa last season and hit .282.

The Bad News:
Bad start, bad end. The Islanders went 1-7 in February and 1-8 in May last season. Let’s hope it doesn’t carry over. The pitching staff gave their opponents a healthy .346 batting average. Gah! Four of the five .300+ hitters from last season are gone and there’s almost no speed on the basepaths for this season. Defense must clamp down on the .955 fielding percentage. The early season slate is tougher than a two-dollar steak too, which will make it tough for the youthful scrappers to get their feet wet.

Schedule Note:
One of the best tournaments in the country.
Get a team from the SEC, the Big 12 and the Pac 10, and you’ve got a recipe for one of the most interesting weekends of the season. Check out that Whataburger Classic in mid-March. The Islanders will serve as gracious hosts to Mississippi State, Oklahoma and UCLA. That’s a hell of a coup to score those teams. TAMU-CC will also host the Southland’s post-season tournament at Whataburger Field in late May. Of course, they’ve gotta make the tournament field to take advantage of the home field.

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- TEXAS STATE (41-17, 24-7)
2009 RPI: 34
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
OF Brett Atwood (.368, 14SBs)
OF Tyler Sibley (.359-10-38, 14SBs)
RHP Brian Borski (7-3, 3.71)
RHP Michael Russo (4-3, 4.35, 6svs)

The Good News:
The Bobcats have built up a pretty good callus against losing seasons recently, having won 30 or more in each of the last three go-rounds. In 2009, coach Ty Harrington’s charges powered their way through the regular season and post-season Southland titles. Their big M.O. was to basically bash the hell out of their opponents with a .334 team average, which was 18th in the NCAA. From that unit they’ll welcome back five .300+ sticks for this year, including what should be a stellar infield, returning 2B Kyle Livingston (.314-5-34), SS Jason Martinson (.303-7-39) and 3B Kyle Kubitza (.300-6-21), all with some pop at the dish. Borski and Russo will get some help from mid-week senior starter Garret Carruth (4-4, 6.55) for the mound corps.

The Bad News:
If there is such a thing as rebuilding seasons in San Marcos, this could be it. The ‘Cats lose a ton of pitching, including ace Kane Holbrooks (who went 10-1 last season) and fellow weekend starter Zach Tritz (went 8-2). Those are big roles to refill this season. Also lost in the off-season was middle relief innings-eater Tyler Brundridge, who was a great dual threat with Russo. Obviously, new weapons on the rubber will need to be found. On offense, five .300+ hitters have moved on led by the invaluable services of Spenser Dennis, who hit .406 in ‘09, No. 2 hitter Keith Prestridge (.379) and Paul Goldschmidt (.354), all long time mainstays for the program.

Schedule Note:
Nearly as tough of a starting eight as anyone.
The Bobcats have a pretty rude awakening in the opening two weeks of the 2010 campaign. They’ll play three at Houston, a mid-weeker vs. Rice, then head to Baylor to take on the Bears, Western Kentucky, the Sun Belt favorite, and Texas A&M in a three-day grind. After that, they’ll host Rice in another mid-week contest. Then, a breather, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comes to San Marcos to start SLC play. Good luck ‘Cats. You’ll either boost your RPI into the stratosphere or need rebuilt confidence.

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- UT-ARLINGTON (30-26, 19-13)
2009 RPI: 101
Starters Returning: 2
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
OF Michael Choice (.413-11-52, All American, Team USA)
C Chad Comer (.266, only 3 Es)
RHP Rett Varner (2-3, 3.95, 34th round pick, Cubs)
RHP Jason Mitchell (4-5, 463. 2svs)
LHP Adam Boydston (1-5, 3.29, 9svs)

The Good News:
This program has come a long way since the 4-win SLC season in 2007. If there were such a thing as an “All World” candidate, Choice would be it. Guess he’ll just have to settle for being *only* an All American as he hit .350 for Team USA this past summer and could be one of the most dominant players in SLC history. Comer is a solid catcher, having thrown out 43% of base stealing attempts. Watch for DH/C Steffan Guest, who missed last season due to a leg injury, but hit .282 in 34 games of the ‘08 season. Also, expect J.C. transfer RHP Logan Bawcom to possibly inch his way into the weekend rotation. Varner is a fast-riser who was named the Texas Collegiate League’s Pitcher of the Year last summer and flashes a mid-90s flameball.

The Bad News:
A pair of painful 4-3 losses to Lamar sent the Mavs packing from the SLC tournament last summer. Those two were part of a 7-9 finish that doomed any chance of going to the Big Dance. A mere two (yes, 2) field starters come back since 21 lettermen moved on from last year’s 30-win team, including 10 pitchers that helped UTA lead the Southland with a 4.38 team ERA. Youth will be a problem as 19 newcomers arrived on campus this past fall. Andrew Kainer, who hit .417, was also the only base stealing threat on the team, before moving on after last season.

Schedule Note:
Mid-major litmus tests.
The Mavericks will have a tough non-conference slate, despite there being only one BCS team featured before SLC play kicks in. They’ll open the first three weekends with Dallas Baptist, then take on Missouri State and finish it up with a weekend at home vs. BYU. The Southland slate ain’t so easy either, having the Mavs start out vs. favored Sam Houston State in week one and traveling to UT-San Antonio and Northwestern State in the next two.

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- UT-SAN ANTONIO (32-24, 20-12)
2009 RPI: 84
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
3B Lance Brown (.372-4-40, 10SBs)
2B Ryan Hutson (.343-17-61)
OF Tyler Carpenter (.311-7-28, 16SBs)
LHP Matt Crocker (6-3, 3.46, .222OBA)

The Good News:
Coach Sherman Corbett has the Runners on a pretty good roll here, going 30+ in the win department each of the last four years. On top of that, they’ve also won 20 games or more in SLC play as well. That’s some good consistency there. This year’s edition may have to rely on its performance in the batter’s box. Four .300+ hitters come back, with the three above being joined by 1B Brett Aguilar (.304-5-29), who has also been a steady glove. The Road Runners were big bashers, finishing tops in the SLC with 89 home runs and will be paced by Hutson again, and has OF Jason Mohn (.260-8-27) to help bruise pitcher’s egos with. Crocker could be one of the better middle relievers in the country and has senior Zach Calhoon (4-3, 6.84, 6svs) to make a good shutdown crew.

The Bad News:
UTSA has to hope this isn’t another season of near-misses, as 14 of their losses came by a run or in extra innings. All American Michael Rockett and teammate Jose Hernandez both hit over .360 and got drafted away last June, taking their 32 combined yard calls with them. The two big weekend studs, Red Patterson and Kris Ruepke, combined for 163 innings last year and have also moved on. Crocker and fellow reliever Kevin Clarke (3-2, 4.60, 1sv) are the only returning pitchers with an ERA below 6.00. A lot of greenhorns might be relied upon for a major amount of innings this season, which is a dicey proposition of course.

Schedule Note:
Early litmus tests.
The early returns will probably be your first indication as to how well this Road Runner team adjusts to all the turnover of its pitching staff and how well they replace Michael Rockett, et al. They’ll play a Tuesday night game at TCU, then head to a weekend test at San Francisco and follow that with their SLC opening weekend at Southeastern Louisiana. That all takes place in a 12-day span at the beginning of March.

Always playing with a chip on its shoulder, the SoCon isn’t afraid to mix it up with anybody, any-damn-where. The profile of the conference has gone up along with the win totals the last few years. So when the SEC and ACC heavies have the brass to actually schedule these guys, lets face it, they do so at their own peril.

2009 in a Paragraph:
The Southern Conference got some good publicity right off the bat with Elon taking a series at Auburn, Georgia Southern beating Georgia Tech and Western Carolina winning two at USC. The good fortune machine rolled on with College of Charleston and The Citadel joining those three in the top 80 of the RPI and all of them pulling some more RPI-building wins as the season went on. Although Elon and GSU ended up in the NCAA Tournament, there were arguments WCU and CofC to join them, but some key losses late cost them their shot. The Phoenix and Eagles didn’t make a lot of noise in their respective regionals, but that only left them chomping at the bit for more.

Conference RPI: 9

2009 Results:
1- Elon, 23-4
2- Georgia Southern, 20-8
3- The Citadel, 20-10
4- Western Carolina, 19-10
5- College of Charleston, 17-13
6- Appalachian State, 15-13
7- Davidson, 11-16
8- Furman, 10-20
9- Samford, 9-21
10- UNC Greensboro, 7-21
11- Wofford, 7-22

2010 in a Paragraph:
This will be a season of change for the SoCon. After seeing six teams hit .312 or better and the conference average top out at .309, don’t look for quite so much offense this season since there were losses at the dish all across the board in the Southern Conference. As a whole, it might not be quite as prolific of a conference as last season, especially since there are less of the marquee matchups vs. BCS conferences. But there is still a handful of NCAAs-worthy teams to give the selection committee pause for thought. Elon has the most returning and should defend its title well. Southern took some hits in the personnel department but has plenty of talent to make up for it. Off the grid, The Citadel can go far with its pitching and speed, while WCU and CofC could tail off a bit.

Georgia Southern head coach Rodney Hennon has weapons like Eric Phillips back again for 2010.

Favorites: Elon, Georgia Southern

Contenders: College of Charleston, Appalachian State

Darkhorse: UNC Greensboro

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Georgia Southern at Elon, April 9-11

Best Non-Conference Series: Georgia Tech at/vs. Georgia Southern, Feb. 23-24 and Apr. 20-21.

Hot Coach: Mike Kennedy, Elon

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: SS Joey Bergman, College of Charleston

Three Non-Conference Series SoCon Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Elon at the Rice Invitational, Feb.26-28 (Rice, Nebraska, TA&M-CC)
2- Alabama at College of Charleston,, March 5-7
3- WCU at Keith LeClair Classic, Feb. 5-7. (East Carolina, Illinois, West Virginia)

Three Bold Predictions:
1- CofC will make the biggest jump in the standings this season.
2- Citadel pitcher Asher Wojciechowski will have a break out year and put his ‘09 stats (3-3, 4.39) to shame.
3- Though there are no coaches on the “hot seat” as many as three will be there next year at this time.

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- APPALACHIAN STATE (33-21, 15-13)
2009 RPI: 83
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
2B Wes Hobson (.380-9-60)
1B David Towarnicky (.328-4-35)
RHP Chris Patterson (4-2, 3.12)

The Good News:
The last few years have seen 33, 32 and 33 wins, the highest three-year win total in 22 years. Nice job coach Pollard. This year, he’ll bank on a lot of seniors throughout the lineup, including Hobson, an All American candidate, 1B Towarnicky and catcher Jerod Faggart (.286-8-30), who are all solid gap hitters and stellar defenders. Patterson had a breakout year in ‘09 and will team with Matt Andres (3-6, 6.19) for a pair of steady senior arms.

The Bad News:
The Mountaineers were certainly improved last season, but getting out to a 1-10 start in SoCon play was the main bugaboo. And that came against the top four teams in the conference. Win a couple more of those and this write-up may be completely different. A mere 255 of the 480 innings thrown last year have left campus, including Aubrey Edens and Josh Dowdy, the weekend aces that both went 6-3. The steady infield will need to find a new left side.

Schedule Note:
(Deep breath first) Just as daunting a task.
ASU will face a very similar task that cost them so dearly last year when going into SoCon action this spring. They’ll face contenders Georgia Southern, WCU and The Citadel in the first three weeks. Good thing the pre-conference slate is so marshmallow soft.

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- COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (35-22, 17-13)
2009 RPI: 62
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
SS Joey Bergman (.452-15-57, 24SBs)
OF Cole Rakar (.317-12-46, 18SBs)
RHP David Peterson (7-3, 5.73)

The Good News:
Coach Monte Lee got 35 wins in his first season and should grow into his role more this year. He’s got two exciting players in Rakar and Bergman – who could be one of the biggest secret weapons in the country. Fellow senior Ryan Daniels (.363-10-64) is a vital power source. Some decent bullpenners come back, including saves leader LHP Owen Brittle (0-3, 5.47, 3svs). Watch for two players who missed the ‘09 season, RHP Russ Tomlinson (5-1, 5.29, 3svs) and 2B/3B Matt Leeds (.300) as both should make an impact. A pair of impact transfers come to the pitching staff in Spartanburg Methodist righties Heath Hembree and Josh Salay.

The Bad News:
It’s been since 2006 that the Cougars have been to the NCAAs, so it’s a 30+ win program that’s still in a rut. The 2009 version of the Cougars was also very senior-laden, so lots of new faces will have to play up, early-on. Losing ace Jesse Simpson leaves a big hole since he was the only big strikeout guy on the staff. Tom Schiller (4-2, 5.82) and Kevin Decker (3-1, 8.03) may step into starting roles, but have to cut down on the free passes. Allowing opponents to his a robust .301 ain’t so hot either.

Schedule Note:
Tide rolls in.
CofC will play 18 of its first 19 games at home, including a real litmus test weekend when SEC power Alabama comes to Patriots Point Field in the third weekend of the season. Yikes. In a strange twist, Charleston will also be able to play the top three teams from the SoCon last year (Elon, GaSouthern, The Citadel) all at home in 2010. They went 0-9 vs. those three last year.

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- DAVIDSON (18-31, 11-16)
2009 RPI: 200
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (25+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Mike Frongello (3-2, 4.47)
LHP Chris Lamb (1-4, 5.65)
1B Danny Weiss (.323-6-37)

The Good News:
Despite all the losses in the month of May, three were by extra innings and five were by a single run, so they were still competitive and playing with heart. Lots of serviceable arms come back including weekend starter Thomas Middour (2-8, 7.11) and midweek starter Chris Kennedy (1-3, 7.11), both senior lefties. The staff will be re-built around Frongello, a freakish submariner who nearly throws underhand. OF Drew Gadaire (.289-11-32) joins Weiss in a pair of potent bats.

The Bad News:
A 9-6 start quickly crumbled last season, tailspinning with a 1-10 month of May to end the season. Coach Cooke’s first job is finding some newfound confidence. The Wildcats were the worst-fielding team in the conference again at .951 last season, and also hit at a wispy .278. Three of the four .300+ hitters have moved on and Frongello is the only returning arm to post a sub-.5.00 ERA. The offense needs to be more patient in order to draw more than 192 walks.

Schedule Note:
More home series.
Davidson gets a bit of a break with five SoCon series at home and four on the road, which is good, because the ‘Cats went just 4-17 in true road games last season. Also, notice that there are a lot of winnable games early on could lead to a winning record going into April, including the opening weekend vs. Georgetown and the second weekend’s tournament with Presbyterian and Mt. Saint Mary’s.

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- ELON (41-18, 23-4)
2009 RPI: 24
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Jimmy Reyes (8-0, 4.78, 101Ks)
RHP Ken Ferrer (8-1, 5.30)
RHP Thomas Girdwood (0-3, 5.33, 17svs)
RHP Daniel Britt (8-1, 5.86)
C Mike Melillo (.344-18-59)

The Good News:
Pitch. Pitch. Pitch… that’s all those Phoenix ever do! Actually, all tongue-in-cheek aside, unlike last year they’ll need to rely heavily on the mound crew this coming season. It looks like 436 of the 534 innings pitched from 2009 are back on the roster again, including all three weekend starters, Reyes, Ferrer and Britt, who combined to go 24-2 last season and each bring a different facet to the rotation. But the best arm may be Girdwood’s, after he saved 17 wins last season. He should become more of a lock-down pitcher this year. Those live arms will form a solid battery with Melillo, who will get better behind the dish. OF Justin Hilt (.288-16-55, 15SBs, a 41st round pick of the A’s) should reprise his leadoff role and SS Neil Pritchard (.276-10-42) will concentrate on his glovework. But both will still hit their share of bombs to carry on the long-ball tradition that last year’s team had.

The Bad News:
A lot of those home run trots will be missing this season, a full 86 yard calls moved on from the program after last season. In fact, five of the top six hitters flew the coop and will need to be replaced in leadership and example. Four of those five hit .336 or better… damn! That’s a lot of offense that has flown off the shelf. The arms staff returns nearly everyone, but it’s still a staff that had an ERA of 5.79. That must improve if the Phoenix are going to go beyond the Regionals.

Schedule Note:
Still love pickin’ off the big boys.
Nothing’s changed for Coach Mike Kennedy’s charges. Last year they pulled the wool over on Auburn, Wake Forest, N.C. State and East Carolina. This year, Elon is fishing for even bigger game, playing in the Rice Invitational against the Owls and Nebraska, and also have tests against Clemson, ECU, Wake, North Carolina and NC State again. Go get ‘em Phoenix.

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- FURMAN (24-31, 10-20)
2009 RPI: 161
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
DH Reese Wade (.315)
3B/1B Brian Harrison (.303-12-43)
RHP Nick Karow (1-1, 3.80, 4svs, .205OBA)
RHP Ian Parry (3-5, 4.87)

The Good News:
The Paladins see a whole slew of familiar pitchers back on the roster for 2010, including their ace reliever in Karow (ya’ gotta LOVE that opponents batting average) and two weekend starters in Ian Parry and lefty Barry Benton (2-6, 6.31). The bullpen is deep and will improve with a number of freshman growing into sophomore roles. A big recruiting class of 15 players comes in, 10 of which are J.C. types.

The Bad News:
From a school record 33 wins in ‘08 to a 10-20 SoCon mark in ‘09. Looks like this program hit an apex in ‘08 and came crashing down to Earth, including going from a .300 team average in ‘08 down to .278 last year. The defense was a solid .969 fielding, but with most of the infield gloves hitting the road, some rebuilding will be necessary. Lastly, and worst of all, the team ERA went from 5.47 in ‘08 up to 7.07 last season.

Schedule Note:
Carolinas on their minds.
The Paladins won’t leave the comfort of home very often in 2010. In fact, their first venture outside the state of South Carolina won’t be until March 24th when they take on Georgia at Foley Field. In all, only four games will they leave the Carolinas at all, that Georgia game and then the following weekend set at Samford.

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- GEORGIA SOUTHERN (42-17, 20-8)
2009 RPI: 37
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
3B A.J. Wirnsberger (.323-15-38)
LHP Jake Brown (6-3, 4.50)
RHP Matt Murray (6-3, 4.76)
DH Kyle Blackburn (.333-12-28)
2B Kevin Bowles (.289)
1B Eric Phillips (.333-4-45)

The Good News:
Strong program here. We’re now talkin’ about ten straight 30+ win seasons for Coach Rodney Hennon’s Eagles, including last year’s 42-win effort that saw them reach the NCAAs for the first time since 2002. Wow. That’s good stuff. Offensively, these guys are fence-bashers, cranking out a .327 average and 87HRs. With guys like Wirnsberger and Blackburn back, that should continue, though maybe not quite where last year’s team hit. Also watch for the emergence of OF Victor Roache, who was a 25th round pick of his home-state Detroit Tigers, but came to GSU instead. RHP Dexter Bobo (2-2, 6.55, 3svs) should improve his numbers after turning down the Pirates in the 44th round of the summer draft as well.

The Bad News:
When the Eagles lost, they lost bad, having given up double digits nine times in losses last season. The returning arms aren’t bad, but beyond Murray and Brown, no one had an ERA below 5.00, so incoming righties Ryan Sadler, a 39th round pick of the Twins, and Chris Beck must be counted on. You have to wonder about the power numbers though, with Ty Wright, Phillip Porter and Griffin Benedict taking their 38 combine home runs to pro ball.

Schedule Note:
Easy… but not RPI good.
The pre-SoCon slate is lilly soft, with their first three weekends coming at home against Tennessee Tech, Holy Cross and Marshall. And to boot, their bye week from conference play sees the Eagles host Alcorn State. Yuck. The good news is they will play Georgia Tech four times and Clemson and South Carolina once each in mid-week action. That will help.

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- UNC-GREENSBORO (20-29, 7-21)
2009 RPI: 196
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Warren Slack (4-0, 3.77, .251OBA)
RHP Matt Parish (3-1, 4.70, .259OBA)
OF Corey Overholtzer (.299, 14SBs)
OF Ed Jayjack (.343-4-21)

The Good News:
A whole slew of experienced players return to campus after Coach Gaski did so much mixing and matching of lineups last season. Three of the top four hitters return in Overholtzer, Jayjack and OF Drew Gehringer (.299), which should improve the .272 team average of last season. Likewise, six of the eight most-used hurlers come back as well, featuring Slack, Parish and weekend starter Greg Smith (4-8, 6.93) and reliever Blake Hassebrock (2-1, 5.32), whom Baseball America named the No. 2 prospect in the Cal Ripken League last summer. More facility upgrades dot the program as an all-new hitting facility is being constructed for later on this season.

The Bad News:
The Spartans have seen three of the last four seasons end up as losing affairs in Greensboro. Folks there don’t cotton to that too well as you’d imagine. Injuries ravaged the squad in ‘09 as only three players started every game. Pedro Leon was a real sparkplug on offense and will be missed. As will reliever Rob Gilliam, who pitched 65 innings and had four saves. The new replacements must help improve the .958 defense.

Schedule Note:
Scheduling like a BCS power.
The Spartans will spend most of the season at home, or near it. They’ll play 35 home games and then another four games in the local area at North Carolina, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest. Their only far flung ventures have them traveling in conference weekends at Georgia Southern, Samford and The Citadel. The other two SoCon road series will be at Appalachian State and at Western Carolina – both fairly close drives.

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- SAMFORD (17-35, 9-21)
2009 RPI: 177
Starters Returning: 9
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
2B Stephen Ballard (.350)
OF Wayne Miller (.339, 24SBs)
OF David Schultz (.335-10-57)

The Good News:
If the offense has anything to do with it, expect there to be some improvement on the 17 win-season of 2009. There are familiar faces all around the field and five of the nine returnees on offense hit .332 or better, including Ballard, Miller, Schultz and also seniors in OF Bo Smith (.333-6-27) and 3B Mason Meredeth (.332-9-41). C Brad Moss (.245, only 5Es) did a credible job behind the dish as a frosh and should blossom in 2010. Soph-to-be Kyle Putkonen (4-3, 8.44) could also reach stud status in this, his second year.

The Bad News:
From 35 wins in 2008 to just 17 last year, that’s a big dip in quality there Bulldog fans. But given coach Casey Dunn’s recent successful track record, it shouldn’t last. But I’m not sure it’ll be this season as a lot of pitching needs to be replaced, including two weekend starters and relief ace Kyle Nichols. Beyond Putkonen, the only other pitcher returning that won more than one game is RHP Andrew Jones (3-6, 8.13). Opponents hit .331 off of SU last season and that was with an experienced staff.

Schedule Note:
Rough, rough roads.
Not sure if any other team in the Southern Conference will have a tougher road slate than the Bulldogs will, having to travel to contenders CofC, Georgia Southern and Elon, which will be the final weekend of the regular season. The non-conference slate won’t be a cake walk either, with weekenders vs. Kennesaw State and Minnesota.

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- THE CITADEL (37-22, 20-10)
2009 RPI: 79
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Asher Wojciechowski (3-3, 4.39, pitched for Team USA last summer)
3B Dave Greene (.376-4-36)
OF Nick Orvin (.355, 18SBs)
C Bryan Altman (.368, 10SBs)
RHP Drew Mahaffey (2-3, 3.60, 7svs)
LHP Matt Talley (8-1, 3.43)

The Good News:
Coach Fred Jordan is becoming an institution on campus, winning his 300th SoCon game last year, more than any coach in conference history. The Dogs had a knack of jumping on opponents early, outscoring them by 49 runs in the 1st and 2nd inning of games. More dash and less mash to this year’s order, coming off a season where they hit .333. Look for Orvin to be a menacing baserunner. Wojo, Talley and Mahaffey are solid arms to build around and look for righties TJ Clarkson (3-2, 3.92) and Ray Copenhaver (2-3, 3.60) to take on bigger roles as the Citadel reloads on the mound.

The Bad News:
It’s been since 2002 that the Dogs have been to the NCAAs. Last year, they beat league-leaders Elon and Georgia Southern five out of seven times, but still saw those two advance to the Big Dance instead. Lost a lot of pop off last year’s team, including Richard Jones and Chris McGuines who combined for 32HRs. Leading hitter Sonny Meade is also gone. A handful of arms need to be replaced meaning that RHP Matt Reifsnider must revert to ‘08 form when he went 4-3 and 4.93 with nine saves.

Schedule Note:
Aloha.
Usually The Citadel doesn’t venture far from home in pre-conference play, but this year the Dogs have a weekend visit to Hawaii in early March. Nice. They also get the short straw in SoCon play, having to travel to Elon, CofC and Georgia Southern. What did Coach Jordan do to deserve this? Ouch.

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- WESTERN CAROLINA (35-22, 19-10)
2009 RPI: 57
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
2B/OF Ross Heffley (.391-4-51)
RHP Daniel Ottone (3-3, 3.86, 8svs)
RHP Jason Sullivan (1-0, 2.42)
1B Matt Johns (.323-6-37)

The Good News:
Coach Bobby Moranda had a great second season in Cullowhee, leading his Catamounts to 35 wins and nearly an at-large bid to the Big Dance. Having Ross Heffley back as an All American candidate is a comfort, as is having a senior backstop in Stephen Nataro (.287-13-39), who is a superb power source as well after leading the team in home runs. Trevor Collias (.293-8-36) is a blue streak (30SBs) that will set the table at the leadoff spot again. If he and Heffley play up to potential, this offense could be scary again after hitting .332 last season.

The Bad News:
Okay, now that we got the offense out of the way, I’m sorry but we must address the large amount of missing pitching. All three weekend starters are gone, as is the versatile Garrett Ozar, who threw for 72 innings in many different roles. Team captain Daniel Ottone and reliever Jason Sullivan are joined by RHP Brandon Johnson (3-0, 4.66) and mid-week starter Kyle Stewart (4-1, 4.85) as the only effective arms still around. The defense played at a sour .956 pace.

Schedule Note:
Ready for a big finish.
Not that we’re saying anyone in the SoCon is a pushover or anything, but check out WCU’s month of May. The Catamounts will have second-division dwellers UNCG, Furman, Samford and Davidson. That should ensure a good handful of wins to pad a possible post-season push.

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- WOFFORD (17-32, 7-22)
2009 RPI: 218
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

All Conference Candidates:
RHP John Cornely (3-3, 7.61)
OF Kyle Behrendt (.344-6-39)
OF Konstantine Diamaduros (.299-7-50)
OF James Foster (.287)

The Good News:
There’s a wealth of experience up and down the batting order and in the field, particularly the outfield and the middle of the order with Behrendt and Diamaduros. Cornely had a dominant summer in the Coastal Plains League and Drew Sheridan 1-2, 8.15) did the same in the Hawaiian Collegiate League. Hopefully that translates to this spring. The return of pitchers Pete Noordsy (1-2, 6.20) and Tom Dolinak (2-3, 8.67), who both had to sit out the 2009 season, will help big. The Terriers had flashes of greatness defensively, turning 51 double plays on the season.

The Bad News:
The Terriers seem a little overwhelmed in SoCon play the last few years, even the season they made the NCAA tournament, they went just 8-19. Last year’s pitching staff had an ERA of 8.49, 276th in the country. Yikes. The staff lost saves specialist Michael Gilmartin (27th round pick of the A’s) and weekend starter Scott Summers and will have to rely on youth. WC was also second-to-last in the SoCon in team defense at .952.

Schedule Note:
Toughest stretch of baseball in the country?
Considering their last place standing, the Terriers 13-game stretch that sees them play three vs. Georgia Southern, one vs. Presbyterian, four at New Mexico State, two at Vanderbilt and three vs. The Citadel could be as arduous as it comes. The seven game roadie at NMSU and Vandy will come in the span of six days too. Adding to all this misery is the fact that Wofford will also spend the next three weekends after that on the road with three-gamers at Western Carolina, at College of Charleston and at UNC-Greensboro.

Talent, speed, skill, athleticism and most of them carry Eastons… and that’s just the bat girls. There are no crybabies in this conference of monster mashers. You either bust your ass to try to keep up or you get crushed each and every weekend. The philosophy in the SEC is simple; hurdle the weak, trample the dead.

2009 in a Paragraph:
As all of you should know, college sports is all about cycles. Like last year, the SEC is usually great every year, but in reality they’ll have an off-year every so often (2007’s five NCAA bids, for example). But with this southern monster one thing is for certain, even in a “down” cycle, they are still going to put up a formidable national title contender or two… or three. The SEC took its place back in the national mindset with LSU winning its sixth national title and Arkansas pulling an SEC rarity (and something I’ve been most critical of the conference) by going on the road and winning in the post-season. That was huge. The conference did have its hiccups with both Ole Miss and Florida losing at home in the Super Regionals and Tennessee and Auburn still not making the Big Dance despite some wildly talented teams. But that’s the cost of having the best collection of talent in the country, someone’s still gonna sit at home, despite the rave reviews of the MLB scouts.

Conference RPI: 1
In-depth View of the SEC: check out SEBaseball.com

2009 Results
Eastern Division:
1- Florida, 19-11
2- South Carolina, 17-13
3- Georgia, 15-15
4- Vanderbilt, 12-17
5- Kentucky, 12-18
6- Tennessee, 11-19

Western Division:
1- LSU, 20-10
1- Mississippi, 20-10
3- Alabama, 18-11
4- Arkansas, 14-15
5- Auburn, 11-19
6- Mississippi State, 9-20

2010 in a Paragraph:
This should be another one of those strong years for the SEC, even moreso than last year when LSU took the national title and Arkansas held the No. 1 spot for a short while in the mid-season. Look for Kentucky, Vandy, Florida, Ole Miss and South Carolina to join the Tigers and Razorbacks as national heavies this season. Aw hell, who am I kidding, you KNOW there is potential for a major push from teams like Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State and Tennessee as well. And since this IS an even-number calendar year, you know Georgia is in line to make it to Omaha – just like the Dogs did in ‘04, ‘06 and ‘08. So the same rule applies as it does any other year, fall asleep against any SEC opponent for even one weekend and you’ll find yourself at the bottom rung of the ladder looking up at the rest of the league. There’s no solace to be taken here. Just when you get through a tough weekend where your team gave it all they had and left it all on the field, bloody and unbowed… they gotta go out there and do it again six days later. God I love this conference!

Mikie Mahtook has a heroic look about him, just like his play in the post-season last June.

Favorite: LSU.

Contenders: Everybody else

Darkhorse: Kentucky

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Arkansas at LSU, March 19-21
Close Second: All the rest of them.

Best Non-Conference Series: Georgia at Florida State, March 5-7
Close Second: Vanderbilt at Dodgertown Classic, Feb. 26-28, (UCLA, USC, Okie State)

Hot Coach: Paul Mainieri, LSU

Hot Seat Coach: None

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Blake Dean, LSU

Three Non-Conference Series The SEC Better Not Overlook:
1- Louisville at Ole Miss, March 12-14
2- Minnesota at Alabama, March 16-17
3- Xavier at Tennessee, Feb. 19-21

Three Bold Predictions:
1- This will be one of those nine-bid seasons for the SEC, six of which will play at home… outraging all national media besides Mark Etheridge.
2- Of the four teams that didn’t make the NCAAs, only Kentucky will make it this year.
3- The SEC “Roadie Weekend” of March 5-7 will see them go .500 in road contests.

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Eastern Division:

- FLORIDA (42-22, 19-11)
2009 RPI: 10
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
OF Matt den Dekker (296-5-37)
1B Preston Tucker (.364-15-85)
RHP Nick Maronde (3-1, 4.40)
LHP Alex Panteliodis (6-5, 4.38)
RHP Anthony DeSclafani (6-3, 4.98)
2B/3B Josh Adams (.342-8-52)
OF Jonathan Pigott (.357-6-32)

The Good News:
Coach O’Sullivan has quickly returned the Gators to prominence in Gainesville, including nabbing the SEC East title and a home Super Regional appearance. Back to normal, right? Indeed. And there is no indication of a falling off this year as some solid talent returns. The outfield returns a fleet-of-foot fleet. The return of den Dekker is pretty huge, bringing his leadership back to Gainesville despite being drafted by Pittsburgh in the 16th round. He’ll be joined in the meadow by Jonathan Pigott and his brother Daniel (.301), forming an athletic group that can cover some ground. Tucker played well beyond his years as a frosh (understatement alert!) and forms a really good right side with Adams. Despite some losses, a good bit of pitching comes back from the 20th best staff in the country (4.22 team ERA), including RHPs Maronde and DeSclafani, who made huge waves in their first seasons on campus. In case you haven’t noticed, there were a number of outstanding first-year players on the 2009 Gator squad. And guess what? This year’s class may be even better, as Baseball America named the UofF incoming class the No. 1 unit in the nation. Watch for RHP Hudson Randall and INF Nolan Fontana, whom Aaron Fitt said would assimilate to college ball easily. You know, like, Tucker-like.

The Bad News:
Losing the home Super Regional to unheralded Southern Miss is a pain that his lived with the Gators for eight months now. I mean, would Tim Tebow allow that to happen? Tsk, tsk. The Gators lost the top three pitchers from last season in Tony Davis, Billy Bullock and Stephen Locke, who represented a lot of experience and toughness on the mound. That leaves Panteliodis as the lowest returning ERA at 4.38. This team also really needs to toughen up on the road as they went just 12-12 away from McKeithen Stadium last year.

Schedule Note:
Revenge weekend in the Gables.
Florida makes the return trip to Miami in one of the better non-conference weekends in the entire country. Last season, the Canes strode into Gainesville and took all three games from UofF. This time, the Gators will take on the road favorite role. Prior to that Florida will have a decent challenge vs. South Florida in the home opener and then have a glorified scrimmage vs. LaSalle. The regular season finale at South Carolina could decide the SEC East Division title.

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- GEORGIA (38-24, 15-15)
2009 RPI: 20
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (25+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
3B Colby May (.339-11-42, Frosh All Am.)
RHP Justin Grimm (4-4, 4.15)

The Good News:
Hey, wouldn’t another 24-3 start like last year be just the tonic for this team? Well we wouldn’t put it past Dave Perno to rebound like that. He’s a stud. He’s got a potentially deep staff returning to the fold and hopes to get bounce-back performances from ALHP Alex McRee (4-4, 6.27 and drafted in the 27th round by the Dodgers) and LHP Justin Earls (0-1, 7.34 in 33 appearances and drafted in the 47th round by Pittsburgh). If those two lefties come through, the Dogs may not miss a beat. Grimm should be a big time draftee this coming June as well. RHP Cecil Tanner (3-1, 4.29, .224OBA) and LHP Chace Hawkins (3-2, 4.76) lead a capable soph brigade that should put the Bulldogs in good company for the next few years. Oh, and a trio of part-time starters will assume bigger roles in OF Zach Cone (.323-4-18), OF Peter Verdin (.316) and steals specialist Johnathan Taylor (.309, 23SBs). Also look for sweet-swinging OF Zach Taylor (31st round pick, Pittsburgh), the smooth glove of SS Kyle Farmer and RHPs Eric Swegman (28th round, Atlanta) and Jake Montgomery (32nd round, Atlanta) to make big splashes from the No. 20-ranked recruiting class.

The Bad News:
Dealing with the accident involving incoming frosh Chance Veazey has been heavy on the hearts and minds of Coach Perno and the ‘Dogs. A 3-12 cold spell down the stretch of the regular season last year was a pre-cursor to a poor post-season, which included the blowout losses to Florida State and Ohio State, to end the campaign. The offense, which only hit .292 (which is pretty wispy by SEC standards), will need some re-tooling as May is the only .300+ hitting regular coming back. The Dogs lost quite a bit from 2009 as legendary names like Rich Poythress, Bryce Massanari, Trevor Holder, Dean Weaver and Matt Cerione won’t be in uniform any longer. Some youngin’s will have to step in and make immediate contributions.

Schedule Note:
Okay, you know that 24-3 start? It won’t happen again.
The Bulldogs have a pretty stout early slate, including starting the season at Baylor against the Bears and improved Duke. Stetson at home and then a three-game roadie back to Florida State will be a tough go-round in the first three weeks. The SEC portion is pretty rugged too, with trips to LSU, Vandy and Florida not going in their favor.

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- KENTUCKY (28-26, 12-18)
2009 RPI: 46
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
2B Chris Bisson (.360-2-52, 13SBs)
OF Chad Wright (.343-4-23, 11SBs)
1B/RHP Braden Kapteyn (.319-4-27/5-0, 6.06, 4svs)
C Marcus Nidiffer (.312-10-31)
RHP Alex Meyer (1-4, 5.73, 80K in 59inns)
LHP James Paxton (5-3, 5.86, 115Ks in 78inns)

The Good News:
The biggest news was obviously the fact that supplemental first round pick James Paxton decided to turn down pro ball for another year and come back to the Bat Cats. That’s huge (if he DOES indeed play). When you consider a starting duo of Paxton and sophomore Alex Meyers, the former No. 5 high school prospect in the country, and then throw in Logan Darnell (5-6, 4.50, 3svs), a potential top-line reliever, that’s a trio that will not only win you a lot of SEC games, but a lot of games in June as well. And as we’ve seen lately, this is one program that just loves to blaze out to quick starts, like last year’s 15-4 mark through mid-March. Offense should improve a lot with the return of five guys that hit .300+ and three of four infielders come back to a defense that went .966. Great, great incoming class that was ranked No. 6 in the country features future phenoms like LHP Taylor Rogers (37th round, Baltimore), C Luke Maile (42nd round, Boston), RHP Sam Kidd (38th round Philadelphia), OF Brian Adams (45th round, Cincinnati) and most notably RHP Jordan Cooper (17th round, Pittsburgh).

The Bad News:
For the third year in a row, the Big Blue Express went off the rails after that hot start. The Cats finished the ‘09 season by going 13-22 from March 21st onward. That smarts. Cats must hope that whole weird John Paxson vs. UK vs. NCAA thing doesn’t affect his on-field play. There’s a lot of talent on the roster, but a lot of it has yet to be realized. Of the 28 wins last season, only seven of them came on the road as UK had a 7-12 mark away from Lexington. The Bat Cats know that a .297 offensive average in the SEC is general snickered at. And UK also needs to outscore their opponents by more than last year’s 23 runs (372-to-349).

Schedule Note:
When they do leave, it ain’t gonna be easy.
Kentucky doesn’t play a whole lot of road games, but they do take part in a pair of tournaments that should really test their mettle, including a trip to Myrtle Beach to play Coastal Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia Tech and then a trip out West to take on San Diego, San Diego State and Monmouth. That 10-day stretch where they’ll travel to both Vanderbilt and Arkansas will be pretty daunting as well.

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- SOUTH CAROLINA (40-23, 17-13)
2009 RPI: 21
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
OF Jackie Bradley (349-11-46, Freshman All Am.)
OF Whit Merrifield (.340-11-49, 15SBs)
SS Bobby Haney (, 2nd team All SEC)
RHP Blake Cooper (9-4, 4.50)
RHP Sam Dyson (9-4, 5.21, 94Ks)
LHP Adam Westmoreland (4-2, 4.24, .233OBA)

The Good News:
Carolina got hot at the right time last season, going 10-2 in May regular season games, helping the Gamecocks to finish 2nd in the East Division of the SEC. A whole mess of talent comes back from last season’s 40-win outfit, including the three weekend starters in Cooper, Dyson and soph-to-be Nolan Belcher (4-5, 5.33). The pitching/offense versatility of Bangs will come in handy and he’ll flash occasional power. Speaking of, this IS South Carolina, so expect a lot of bent necks from their opposing pitchers as you know the Cocks will bash with the best of them since 70 of the 109 dingers is back in the lineup. (You can almost feel pitchers shaking as they face Ebert). “Steady” is becoming the defensive mantra as SC has fielded .977 and .974 the past two seasons. SS Haney and 2B Scott Wingo (.197-5-17) will keep that habit rolling. The incoming class was ranked No. 30 by Collegiate Baseball and will feature RHP Colby Holmes (draftee of Atlanta) and 3B Christian Walker, a 49th round pick who reportedly would’ve gone as high as 2nd or 3rd round if not for signability issues. Look for Coach Tanner to have his charges ready to get back to better post-season pastures.

The Bad News:
Losing two straight nip-and-tuck games at East Carolina in the Regionals is a painful memory for the Cocks to live with for eight months. Losing names like DeAngelo Mack, Justin Dalles and Andrew Crisp will soften any offensive lineup just a bit. It also appears that 3B Nick Ebert, who came back for his senior year despite getting drafted by the Yankees, will be academically ineligible for the season. Saves leader Alex Farotto, who gained seven of eight saves on the team, also hit the bricks. And just to let you know, Carolina also issued an SEC-high 266 walks last season, so a little clamping down will certainly help.

Schedule Note:
Returning to the scene of the crime.
Somehow, East Carolina convinced the Gamecocks to come visit LeClair Stadium, thus bring SC back to the scene where their 2009 season ended in two straight losses to the Pirates. Oh, and the best news of all is that Carolina and Clemson have finally heard my plea to turn their series into a three-gamer, unlike past seasons where it’s just a home-and-home for two games.

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- TENNESSEE (26-29, 11-19)
2009 RPI: 58
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 3
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Bryan Morgado (4-2, 6.36, 2svs)
1B Cody Hawn (.364-22-81)
C Blake Forsythe (.347-15-46)
OF Josh Liles (.313-8-25)

The Good News:
A very experienced team returns to Rocky Top, including a junior-heavy that should be hungry to make amends for recent shortcomings. At the top of the stat sheet, Hawn and Forsythe are intimidating as it gets, as they live of to typical SEC behemoths. The double-play combo of 2B Cody Grisham (.239) and SS Zach Osborne (.281-4-33) should combine with Forsythe and Hawn to keep the defense (.972) stout once again. Morgado was a 3rd round pick White Sox last June but chose to return to Coach Raleigh’s fold and should be a more dominant force, as long as he doesn’t give into the pressure. A whole host of arms come back to the force, including Sunday starter Stephen McCray (3-2, 5.16) and Adam Adkins (2-1, 5.27), a soph who was a mid-week starter and will be asked to do more. The Vol frosh class is ranked No. 14 in the country by Baseball America and look for hulking 1B/DH Cody Stubbs to make a huge splash.

The Bad News:
Whether it’s under Coach Delmonico or Coach Raleigh, the losing seasons are piling up and it’s got to stop NOW. UT was a terrible 3-12 in road games before the last weekend of the season where they curiously beat Vandy in three straight. The pitching staff had the 2nd-to-last staff ERA in the conference at 6.24, and that was a staff that had a lot of talent. Beyond Hawn and Forsythe, the rest of the offense must pick up their game, since they hit a wilting .286. That won’t fly in SEC country. Maybe creating more energy and nerves on the basepaths will help, considering UT only stole 39 bases last year.

Schedule Note:
RPI-improving mid-majors.
The Vols will play a number of mid-major teams that normally might not be a lot of sweat to. But as it turns out, the season opener vs. Xavier will come against a team that went to the Big Dance last season. Games against teams like Kennessaw State, Binghamton, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Ohio State in the weeks that follow are similar. Also, the return trip to Oregon State in week No. 2 could be a real problem.

Don't shed too many tears for Tim Corbin, his Commodores have stockpiled some great recruiting classes and will be wicked-good.

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- VANDERBILT (37-27, 12-17)
2009 RPI: 27
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
OF Aaron Westlake (.377-10-57)
SS Riley Reynolds (.332, 12SBs)
1B Curt Casali (.336-10-59)
RHP Russell Brewer (1-2, 2.96, 4svs)
RHP Sonny Gray (5-1, 4.30)

The Good News:
Perhaps the best news was the acquisition of assistant coach Josh Holliday, who brought in incredible recruiting classes at Arizona State the last few years. Speaking of, that fantastic freshman class from a year ago is older/wiser/better/ready-to-rip-heads-off, paced by Sonny Gray, who throws absolute bee-bees, the imposing Aaron Westlake and the slick-fielding Riley Reynolds. Curt Casali and C Andrew Giobbi (.289-6-41) are vets who have been through the battles and keep an eye on Jason Esposito (.287-4-42), who stole 23 bases last season. It will be interesting to see what coach Tim Corbin does with the talented arms of Brewer and Drew Hayes (4-3, 5.56) who have shutdown potential. The ‘Dores had the No. 8 ranked recruiting class according to Collegiate Baseball, led by LHP Sam Selman, a 95mph fireballer that Corbin and Co. plucked from Austin, Texas, and top SSs Anthony Gomez and Curt Powell. Oh and there are two solid prospects from the Northeast in OF Mark Yastrzemski (yes, related to Carl) of Andover, Mass. and 1B Regan Flaherty (a 28th round pick of Seattle) a native of Maine.

The Bad News:
Despite having his entire weekend rotation returning, Coach Corbin’s charges still won only 12 SEC games last year, not enough by his standards, as you could imagine. Everything is flipped from last year’s pre-season write-up, because there is very little starting pitching coming back and a plethora of fielders returning. The arms crew lost Mike Minor, Caleb Cotham and Nick Christiani, who combined for 39 starts on the season. A lot of very, very talented bullpen throwers will have to turn into weekend starters. VU went just 12-17 in games away from home.

Schedule Note:
Honoring Jackie Robinson.
One of the better pre-conference tournaments this season will be when Vandy goes out West to take on UCLA, USC and Oklahoma State in week two. And, getting back to that road record from last season, keep in mind that the black and gold will play 12 of 16 games from April 20th to May 16th away from Hawkins Field. That’s a tough chore in the stretch run of the SEC chase.

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Western Division:

- ALABAMA (37-21, 18-11)
2009 RPI: 39
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
OF Taylor Dugas (.352, 14SBs, Frosh All Am.)
SS Jeff Rutledge (.305-5-44)
3B Jake Smith (.359-18-54)
2B Ross Wilson (.353-9-47)

The Good News:
New head honcho Mitch Gaspard is a proven winner in his years as the head coach at Northwestern State. So my guess is that the program will get its feet under itself here soon. That’s just a hunch. The good part is that he will inherit an offense that hit a blistering .330, and welcomes back six sticks that hit .300+. The power firm of Smith and Jones will supply the power (Smith and his 18 dingers and 1B Clay Jones put up .331-8-39 numbers). Oh, and the defense should be incredible as Smith has been named to the SEC All Defensive team the past two seasons at the hot corner and Rutledge and Wilson form one of the best double-play combos in the country. LHP Adam Morgan (4-2, 4.17) had a solid frosh season and is a strikes-only hurler and has Nathan Kilcrease (4-4,4.11) and Tyler White (1-0, 2.28) to back him.

The Bad News:
The steady leadership of Jim Wells is now gone, whether that’s a good or bad thing is how you look at the situation. But the Tide program accomplished a lot under his direction. Kent Matthes and Brandon May are two big sticks (40 combined HRs) that will be missed. Two of the three weekend starters are gone in Austin Hyatt and Del Howell and the arms staff will have to develop some new studs to hope they can match the 5.13 team ERA of 2009. RHP Trey Pilkington , a 46th round draftee of the Mets, and LHP Matt Taylor, a draftee of the Pirates, both came to Tuscaloosa instead of going pro, will have to help the thin arms staff.

Schedule Note:
Doing the Charleston.
It’s not often that an SEC team makes a road trip to a mid-major venue for a three-game weekend, but the Tide’s trip to play at College of Charleston in week three of the season is pretty cool. And it will be a good test too. And not that any of them are easy, but the first two weekends of SEC play is pretty harsh, having to play Vandy and at Arkansas right off the bat.

Hogs 3Bman Zack Cox had a great summer on the Cape.

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- ARKANSAS (41-24, 14-15)
2009 RPI: 7
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (25+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
1B Andy Wilkins (.319-19-58)
LHP Drew Smyly (3-1, 4.66)
OF/RHP Brett Eibner (.231-12-34/5-5, 5.00)
3B/RHP Zack Cox (.266-13-39/5-1, 4.82)
RHP Mike Bolsinger (6-4, 2.99)

The Good News:
Okay, who wants to doubt Dave Van Horn now? Go ahead, raise your hands people… that’s what I thought. The dude had and up and down season, but at the right time, he got his team to reach its apex and play at its best. That led them to the promised land of Omaha, wanting more in 2010. Not bloody bad, eh? So now, we’re lookin’ at three weekend starters returning, a lot of intimidating power at the dish and a deep bastion of arms thanks to a lot of mix-and-match assignments last season. My oh my, things look good in Hogland… as long as they keep playing more like they did in the post-season and not how they did during that 7-11 stint right before the SEC tournament. In Cox, Wilkins and Eibner, you’re lookin’ at three guys that could put up insane numbers if they stay focused. T.J. Forrest (2-6, 5.99) and Sam Murphy (3-1, 6.15) are veterans who should post better numbers and give UofA’s hurling corps more quality depth. If the versatile Bolsinger pitches more consistently, he could be an All American.

The Bad News:
Stay with me on this one here people… but didn’t you get the feeling that, despite the appearance in Omaha, this team underachieved a good portion of the season? I mean a losing record in conference play? And then all the roller-coaster results? On top of that, this team hit just .273 – that for an SEC team. Yikes. They also seemed lean on Friday ace Dallas Keuchel and ace closer Stephen Richards just a tad and both of those guys are gone now. The defense (at .967) finished 9th in the SEC. Beyond Smyly, some more left hand arms must emerge with quality innings to give the pitching some diversity.

Schedule Note:
Not like the football team.
Unlike the Razorback pigskinners, the baseball team doesn’t play in the capitol city of Little Rock very often. In fact, it’s been 23 years since they have. But that will change in May when the UofA hosts Louisiana Tech at Dickey-Stephens Park. On another note, Arkansas will finally lose the SEC’s “toughest schedule” crown they’ve held onto for years, but they do make a west coast trip to Cal, returning the trip the Bears made last season. Otherwise, however, weekends against Ball State, Troy and Wisconsin-Milwaukee are pretty weak.

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- AUBURN (31-25, 11-19)
2009 RPI: 33
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 7

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Austin Hubbard (3-3, 4.20, 12svs)
OF Brian Fletcher (.301-17-54)
1B Hunter Morris (.282- 12-33)
OF Trent Mummey (.289-15-42, 17SBs)

The Good News:
The second edition of coach John Pawlowski’s Plainsmen should have a little bit of a smoother road now that they’re in year two of his regime. One thing that won’t be a question will be the fact that there are some legit dish-bashers returning to the roster for 2010, including Fletcher, Mummey and Morris above, as well as C Tony Caldwell (.281-9-24) and Casey McElroy (.286-7-35), as just about anyone on the 1-thru-9 can go yard. Plenty of pitching is back in the fold as the numbers above attest. All three weekenders are back in Jon Luke Jacobs (3-4, 5.74), Grant Dayton (2-6, 5.29) and Dexter Price (4-3, 6.04), who all should improve their numbers as they reach a better comfort level. Having studs like Hubbard and Bradley Hendrix (7-3, 5.09) in the ‘pen will help immensely. Watch out for incoming newbie Garrett Bush, a RHP with mid-90s heat who is the prize recruit of a decent incoming class.

The Bad News:
There’s been way too much talent come through the plains for ole War Eagle to be down this long. Coach Pawlowski has his work cut out for him. Auburn has now finished last or 2nd-to-last in the SEC West six seasons in a row. Arrrgh! A huge problem was the relief corps as Auburn was badly outscored in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th innings last season. Opponents also hit a generous .321 off the staff as a whole. The 484 strikeouts by the offense was rather offensive, if you catch my bad pun.

Schedule Note:
Lots of warm-ups before the test in the desert.
The Tigers will have a little bit of time to get its feet underneath them before making the mid-March trek out to the great southwest to take on the monster known as Arizona State. Of course, it’s not like games against BC, Mizzou and Florida Atlantic in week two will be walks in the park either… it’s just that the Sun Devils are so bad-ass compared to those teams.

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- LSU (56-17, 20-10)
2009 RPI: 4
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
1B Blake Dean (.328-17-71)
OF Mikie Mahtook (.316-7-38)
RHP Anthony Ranaudo (12-3, 3.04, 159Ks, All American)
RHP Matty Ott (4-2, 2.68, school record 16svs, All American)
OF Leon Landry (.300-12-41)
2B Tyler Hanover (.321-5-47)

The Good News:
Oh c’mon, how predictable will this preview be? LSU is back at the apex of college baseball and heavy favorites to return to Omaha in 2010. And because of that, Tiger fans believe all is right with the universe again. But let’s just say that Paul Mainieri’s a friggin’ stud and there’s so much good news it’s ridiculous. The return of strapping ace Ranaudo and the cool-beyond-his-years pen stud Ott signals that Fridays will be a series of repeat Ws this season. Dean’s return was called “huge” by Mainieri (despite getting drafted in the 10th round by the Twins) as he’ll man the cleanup position and have Mahtook, Leon Landry (.300-12-41) and C Micah Gibbs (.294-6-42) to help carry on the tradition of dish-bashing along Nicholson Drive for another season. The defense could be better with the middle infield of SS Austin Nola (.240) and 2B Tyler Hanover (.321-5-47) being a year more experienced. Also look for better numbers from Austin Ross (6-8, 5.18) and Daniel Bradshaw (4-0, 3.04). And there’s always more talent on the horizon – c’mon, it’s LSU – so look for J.C. All American transfer RHP Mitch Mormann and LHP Forrest Garrett, a 41st round pick of the Rangers last June.

The Bad News:
Okay, calm down people. There are some gaping holes off last year’s championship team, so there’s plenty of work left to do. I mean, you can’t lose names like Jared Mitchell, Ryan Schimpf, D.J. LeMahieu, Sean Ochinko and Louis Coleman and simply expect the Tigers to regain their June form. (insert snap of fingers sound effect here). On top of that, stud frosh Wes Luquette, the catcher of the future, will have to sit out after Tommy John surgery this past fall. Mitchell’s all around power and particularly the speed aspect of his game will be missed big time. The incoming class would’ve been really incredible if not for some last minute defections to the pros, including RHP Brody Colvin (6th round draftee), who was in freshman orientation when he got the call from Philadelphia, got up, walked out and never came back.

Schedule Note:
Okay, I get it, but it still bums me out.
When Coach Mainieri explained to me during our interview last October how Skip Bertman had mandated a home-heavy schedule of 35 (minimum) to 40 home games every year, it made me understand how his hands were being tied. Doesn’t mean, as a college baseball fan, I’m not bummed out about some of the not-so-exciting matchups, but money talks. And that new Alex Box shrine needs to be paid for with home games.

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- MISSISSIPPI (44-20, 20-10)
2009 RPI: 14
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Drew Pomeranz (8-4, 3.40, 124Ks, .237OBA)
2B Tim Ferguson (.358, 18SBs)
3B Zach Miller (.341-5-38)
1B Matt Smith (.336-8-59)

The Good News:
The law of averages have to catch up with Coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels at some point, right? They’ve been so good for so long, that weird post-season curse has got to end some time and the gates to Omaha will open up for this program, you can almost feel it. Maybe this is the year? If anything, having four starters return on the infield will be a huge boon to improving that .970 defense even moreso. Having Pomeranz back on campus is huge as well, especially with the rest of the weekend rotation gone. He’ll have RHP Jake Morgan (4-1, 3.46) and RHP Rory McKean (5-1, 4.53) to replenish the mound cupboard. Interestingly, Ole Miss went an impressive 14-5 in road games last year. That’s pretty stout, especially for an SEC team. Aaron Barrett didn’t put up great numbers (0-1, 8.70), but was drafted in the 27th round by Texas and decided to return to campus to improve his stock. There are some holes to fill (more on that below), but coach Bianco does have the luxury of the last two recruiting classes having been rated No. 11 and 12 by Baseball America, so look for some dividends to be paid off this season.

The Bad News:
It just wasn’t a good end of the season last May/June as the Rebs went 0-2 in the SEC tournament, then got pushed to the brink by Western Kentucky in the Regionals and ultimately lost a 1-0 game edge to Virginia to miss another trip to Omaha. After getting eliminated in Oxford by Virginia, the Rebels lost their fourth Super Regional, three of which were at home. Four .300+ hitters have moved on including legendary names like Jordan Henry and Logan Power, both of whom seemed to have been in Oxford for decades. Worst news of the fall?… Relief ace Jake Morgan (4-1, 9svs) will miss the 2010 season with Tommy John surgery. That’s a huge blow to the confidence of the bullpen.

Schedule Note:
They don’t duck people often.
Like Georgia, the Rebels are one team that routinely doesn’t shy away from solid non-SEC competition. And this year is no exception as they’ll travel to Tulane and then host former Rebel assistant Dan McDonnell and his Louisville Cards in back-to-back weekends in early March. That should built a callus for the rigors of the SEC.

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- MISSISSIPPI STATE (25-29, 9-20)
2009 RPI: 89
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
1B Connor Powers (.301-19-63, .998fielding)
2B Jet Butler (335)
DH/C Ryan Duffy (339-10-33)

The Good News:
Well we said in this forum last year that there is plenty of work for John Cohen to do, and it’s still true. But the good news is that year two should be a lot better. Having Powers back (after getting drafted by the Dodgers in the 11th round) will ease things a bit and energize an already potent offense. Look for the emergence of RHP Devin Jones (0-4, 9.26), who was named the No. 1 prospect in the New England Collegiate summer league by B.A. He’ll be joined in the starting rotation by LHP Nick Routt (5-3, 4.15, 4CGs). Cohen landed the No. 8 recruiting class in the country, so look for immediate input from lefties Luke Bole and C.C. Watson and righties Kendall Graveman and Chris Stratton.

The Bad News:
Okay, okay, we know. The 2009 season was the first back-to-back losing seasons since ‘74-’75. Yes, even with all the experience they had returning last season, the Bulldogs still managed just nine SEC wins for the second year in a row. That smarts. All the youth that this year’s team will feature makes for an exciting future, but a bumpy present, so teams better pile on while they still can. I know youth was served last year but it still seems weird to see MSU rank at No. 212 in the country in team ERA (6.57).

Schedule Note:
Challenge won’t be a challenge, better head to the classic.
Michigan State and Southeast Missouri won’t make for much of a Bank First “Challenge” but you gotta love the Dogs trip to the Whataburger Classic where they’ll face Oklahoma and UCLA and get a better indication of where they stand. Oh, that opening weekend against Rhode Island could be interesting too.

It’s all about discipline in this league, on the mound, in the field and playing within your means here. Have pitching, have fielding, will win. That’s what the PL has going for itself this season. Not a single team in the loop is devoid of quality pitchers, meaning, this will be one of the more improved leagues.

2009 in a Paragraph:
For as great as 2008 was for the Patriot League (only two teams finished with losing records and Bucknell upset Florida State in the Regionals), 2009 was just the opposite. Only Army finished the year with a winning mark – an impressive 36 wins – while everyone else was under the Mendoza Line. The Black Knights made headlines last year with their PL dominance and runner-up finish in the Austin Regional where they played Texas tough and eliminated Boston College and Texas State. Despite all the poor overall marks, it was a tight conference race that saw Bucknell tie Army at 13-7 and Holy Cross finished a game back at 11-7 (damn rainouts!). But the Cadets took the brass ring in the PL playoffs and advanced to the Austin Regional.

2009 Results:
1- Army, 13-7
1- Bucknell, 13-7
3- Holy Cross, 11-7
4- Lafayette, 9-11
5- Navy, 8-12
6- Lehigh, 4-14

2010 in a Paragraph:
Pitch. Pitch. Pitch. That’s all those Patriot Leaguers will do this season. The key will be whoever has the firepower to strike back and the defense to stop them. Army gets every good pitcher coming back and will have the best defense in the conference to counteract any bat-weilders… yes that includes the bevy of bats that Navy has coming back. So will they take the PL again in 2010? Absolutely. But the Black Knights of the Hudson will have a hell of a time coming out on top. Navy, Bucknell and Holy Cross will have more than a quiet opinion on this. But that NCAA tournament experience from last year will keep Army in the catbird seat, and confident it can stay there.

Bucknell head man Gene Depew has Doug Shribman in his arsenal.

Favorite: Army

Contenders: Navy, Bucknell

Darkhorse: Holy Cross

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Army at Navy, April 10-11

Best Non-Conference Series: Army at Wake Forest Tournament, Feb. 19-21
(Wake Forest, Dayton)

Hot Coach: Joe Sottolano, Army

Hot Seat Coach: Sean Leary, Lehigh

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF/RHP Ben Koenigsfeld, Army

Three Non-Conference Series Patriot Opponents Better Take Seriously:
1- Army at Wake Forest Tournament, Feb. 19-21. (Wake Forest, Dayton)
2- Bucknell at Elon Invitational, March 5-7 (Elon, Radford, Princeton)
3- Army at UNC Greensboro, March 5-7

Three Bold Predictions:
1- Army earns a No. 3 seed and makes another Regional title round. Yep, I didn’t blink while typing that either.
2- Like 2008, four teams will end the season with winning records.
3- The Ivy League – with its short-season restrictions – will see how easy and how much more exciting the now-expanded Patriot League playoffs are and will go to four teams next year as well.

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- ARMY (36-21, 13-7)
2009 PRI: 122
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
SS Clint Moore (.395-11-63, 10SBs)
2B Zach Price (.355, 14SBs, Frosh All American)
1B/RHP Kevin McKague (.389-6-44/7svs)
DH/LHP Joey Henshaw (.383-13-75/1-1, 4.79)
OF/RHP Ben Koenigsfeld (.342-7-38, 11SBs/8-4, 4.89, 4CGs)

The Good News:
Coach Joe Sottolano was named Regional coach of the year and could repeat this year with the team he has returning. He’s done some strong work here since we’re talkin’ two straight regular season crowns and an NCAA appearance for the Black Knights of the Hudson. Bloody good show, sport. Went 20-4 down the stretch from Tax Day on last season Knights are loaded for 2010, as the top five pitchers and five of the top six hitters are back, including two of the better two-way players in the Northeast in Koenigsfeld, the Friday starter, and McKague, the saves leader. The double-play combo of Moore and Price are huge reasons why Army was .970 in fielding last season. Watch for 2B Zach Hendrix, a 42nd round pick of the D-backs that is coming to West Point instead.

The Bad News:
Not too many hits to the roster, except for two of the three outfielders and 3Bman J.P. Polchinski. For its great finish, Army did get out to a rather pedestrian 2-7 start last year. But really, that’s nit-picking. Otherwise, this looks like a bonzai year for the Knights.

Schedule Note:
Home cookin’ down the home stretch.
Not sure how Army managed this (maybe they threatened an invasion by land) but the Knights will play their final 12 Patriot League games at home along the Hudson with Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell all coming to West Point in the final three weekends. In fact, from April 13th onward they’ll play only two true road games the rest of the season.

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- BUCKNELL (22-25, 13-7)
2009 RPI: 171
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
SS Ben Allen (.366)
2B Ben Yoder (.323-7-35)
OF Andrew Brouse (.330-10-57)
C B.J. LaRosa (.320, just 2 Es on defense)
1B Doug Shribman (.360-6-42)
RHP Trey Frahler (6-4, 4.34)

The Good News:
Gene Depew begins his 29th season at the helm of the Bison and is probably one or two pitchers away from having his best team of all. BU returns six .300+ hitters, four of which are seniors. The “Two Bens” double play duo of Allen and Yoder is the best in the Patriot League and seems like they’ve been on campus 10 years. Three of the top four most used pitchers return too, led by the weekend rotation of Frahler, Dylan Seeley (4-5, 6.23) and Eric Jarett (1-4, 7.47), who are all juniors. Additionally, Depew Field just got a brand spankin’ new field turf playing surface, assuring they’ll get more games in.

The Bad News:
The pitching, first and foremost, must be addressed. There is a lot of experience coming back, but the .337 OBA and evil 6.66 team ERA must be turned around. BU pitchers must establish more of a presence after only striking out opposing batters 213 times in 2009. BU must be chomping at the bit over playing Army again, after beating the Knights three out of four last March, only to end up tying them for the PL regular season title and then losing out to Lafayette in three games in the PL playoffs.

Schedule Note:
Bookends of hatred.
Speaking of their two nemesis teams Lafayette and Army, the Bison will start PL play at the Leos home field in early April and then end the regular season at West Point to take on Black Knights. That final weekend could decide the Patriot League title. Keep in mind, Bucknell went 2-5 vs. Lafayette and 3-1 vs. Army.

Holy Cross 1B Eric Oxford is also a run-through-a-wall defender as well as a good hitter.

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- HOLY CROSS (22-27, 11-7)
2009 RPI: 176
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
2B/3B Matt Perry (.423-7-37)
1B Eric Oxford (.280-10-45, .991defense)
SS John Sills (.283-6-31)
OF Brendan McCrea (.304)
LHP Matt Shapiro (3-4, 6.40)

The Good News:
The Greg DiCenzo era is kicking in well in Worcester as they’ve improved their win totals each year and have now posted back-to-back winning seasons in Patriot play two straight years (after having seven straight losing marks). Almost all hands on deck from last year, so this will be a wildly experienced team. Perry could be the best under-the-radar player in the country and he teams with Sills and Oxford to make for a solid infield. Some solid power returns as well, with 45HRs last season and good gap power up and down the order. Team improved its hitting from .266 in ‘08 to .291 last season. Keep it up boys.

The Bad News:
The pitching staff returns experience out the ying-yang, but Shapiro’s 6.40 is the best ERA returning from a team that had a 7.07 ERA overall. Clamp it down boys. The defense has some ability – as I saw when I caught their game vs. Lehigh last March – but it needs to be a steadying force this season. Didn’t seem to get the key play made at the right time in the big games.

Schedule Note:
Warmest time of the year, but not a single home game.
According to the HC website, and this is not a misprint, the Crusaders will play only 18 home games all season and not a single one after April 18th. What the hell? Oh, the other thing is, at least HC won’t make another killer west coast trip to start the season like last year when they got drummed by LMU, Arizona and Arizona State to start the season.

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- LAFAYETTE (24-29, 9-11)
2009 RPI: 224
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
CF Rob Froio (.367, 20SBs)
2B A.J. Pisarri (.282, 10SBs)
OF Matt Hall (.307-8-38)
RHP Zach Fritz (2-6, 5.50)
RHP Jeremy Atkins (4-3, 4.82)
RHP Jeff Snell (4-0, 4.75)
RHP Corey Shea (4-3, 4.81)

The Good News:
This year’s Leos will be a junior-senior heavy club, which is enough to make any coach smile. Froio had a hot summer in the wood bat Valley Baseball League and will be one of the better leadoff hitters in the country. Pisarri and 3B Justin Shepherd (.299) will keep the D solid (2nd best in the PL last year at .966). Seven of the top eight pitchers return, so look for more improvement on the 6.21 team ERA. Watch for rising sophs Snell and mid-week starter Ethan Perro (2-3, 5.40) begin to emerge. Also keep an eye on incoming OF Andrew Ruck, a 48th round pick of San Diego that came to campus.

The Bad News:
The Leos had a promising season go south with a 2-10 finish. Dan Bierce and Jeff Butler were the two bash and pop threats at the plate and on the basepaths, but both are gone now. Ryan Hanna had the most wins on the team the last two years and is the lone missing weekend starter on the hill. A more dominating No. 1 starter must step forward, since this is a staff that doesn’t have a go-to guy. Opponents hit .314 last season. Rectify that, and the Leopards could win the Patriot.

Schedule Note:
Tough stretch.
Usually April and May would be a perfect time to play a good number of home games, but Lafayette will take to the road for 16 straight games from April 6th to the 25th, including three straight PL series, at Lehigh, Holy Cross and Army. They’ll finish playing nine of their final 10 games at home to close out the regular season.

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- LEHIGH (11-36, 4-14)
2009 RPI: 282
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
OF Andy Russell (.348-7-38, 11SBs, 1st team All-Patriot)
SS Brendan McGaheran (.287, 15SBs in ‘08)
UTL Kevin Mihalik (.313-4-26/1-6, 5.48)
OF Billy Goldman (.333)
RHP Cory Kent (4-2, 3.76)
RHP Andrew Berger (2-6, 5.31)

The Good News:
Lots of experience comes back for this spring. And look for offensive improvements across the board as six of the top eight hitters return, including Russell, the team leader. Thankfully, he’ll be re-joined by McGaheran, who was the heart and soul of the infield and will be a huge addition after sitting out last season. Top seven pitchers are back with four of them being seniors.

The Bad News:
It was a fretful season in 2009, going from their 23 win team of 2008, especially with all the experience the Mountain Hawks had coming back. Unfortunately, the arm corps posted a poor 7.13 team ERA and the defense fielded at a .945 pace. The offense was curiously punchless too, hitting just 279. OF Logan Marshall (.224 in ‘09) will have to revert to ‘08 form, when he hit .278 and was 2nd team All-Patriot.

Schedule Note:
Early confidence.
The Hawks just need Ws, no matter who it comes against. Looks like there will be some opportunities to do so as well with early multi-game matchups against Morehead State, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Coppin State in the first three weeks.

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- NAVY (20-26, 8-12)
2009 RPI: 259
Starters Returning: 9
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
Mike Guadagnini (.374-3-24, 10SBs)
Kendall Bolt (.328-3-48)
C Steven Soares (.309-7-23)
RHP Luke Roberts (2-0, 1.00, .218OBA)
RHP Jeff Murdza (1-1, 5.54, .255OBA)

The Good News:
To go along with all that usual academy leadership and discipline and commitment, all nine of the field starters return and they are all juniors and seniors. The pitchers aren’t world-beaters, but the relief corps has a pair of really good ones in Roberts and Murdza, plus closer LHP Chris Murray (1-2, 5.03), who led the team in saves. The top four hitters return and all went .309 or better, led Guadagnini, who has steadily improved each year on campus. The offense should jump well past its .286 team average of a year ago, but also took 56 plunks last year.

The Bad News:
After all his success at Maine and the first four years here in Annapolis, it’s weird to see a Paul Kostacopolous-coached team with losing marks. Last year’s staff had an ERA of 5.84 could be improved, but the opponent batting average of .310 needs to be shut down. The Mids went 1-3 in each of their last three Patriot League series with Bucknell, Holy Cross and – gulp! – their rivals at Army. Not acceptable.

Schedule Note:
30?… wow.
Unlike all the other teams in the Patriot, the Midshipmen will play a staggering 30 home games this season. Or, well, they’re scheduled to play that many. We’ll see if Mother Nature cooperates. And because of a heavy dose of neutral site games, they’ll actually play only 15 true road games. Nice scheduling.

Always one of the more chock-full talent cards in the country, the Pac 10 lavishes our baseball palettes with silky pitching, stoic defense and double-barreled offenses. This year, it’s the revenge of the mound stars as the conference makes a quantum leap back into respectability and a serious run – or two – into Rosenblatt’s last glare.

2009 in a Paragraph:
As Stanford coach Mark Marquess pointed out to me last season, with losing so many top flight, MLB-ready pitchers from 2008, the Pac 10 couldn’t help but be down a little bit last year. And it was true. Beyond ASU’s mercurial reloading and march to Omaha, the conference was mostly a bunch of middle-of-the-road teams. Not bad, but nobody else came close to stalking the main stage of Omaha of course. Some bitter disappointments left the impression to the rest of the country that the Pac 10 was like their football brethren, mostly overrated teams falling down the rung. Just three teams made the NCAAs, with Wazzu and Oregon State not making it out of the Regionals. Teams like UCLA, USC, Stanford and Arizona fell short of where people thought they could be. (Hands on hips. Eyes to the ground. Shake head slowly from side to side.)

Conference RPI: 4

2009 Results:
1- Arizona State, 21-6
2- Washington State, 19-8
3- Oregon State, 15-12
3- UCLA, 15-12
5- Arizona, 13-14
5- Stanford, 13-14
5- USC, 13-14
5- Washington, 13-14
9- California, 9-18
10- Oregon, 4-23

2010 in a Paragraph:
Well Coach Marquess, if you’re right, then this should be a resplendent replenishing of the Pac 10 trophy case in 2010. Most teams return stronger and better than they were last year and are ready to infiltrate the Road to Omaha once again. Top flight pitching staffs come back to UCLA and Stanford, both ready to get over the freshman rollercoaster rides of 2009. And the even more experienced flinging staffs of Arizona State and Oregon State will matchup with just about anyone in the country as well.

The Mad Aussie is back. Josh Spence is back to confound opposing bats again.

Favorite: Arizona State

Contenders: UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State.

Darkhorse: Southern California

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Arizona State at Stanford, May 27-29
Close Second: UCLA at Oregon State, April 9-11

Best Non-Conference Series: DeMarini West Coast Challenge, Arizona State at Cal State Fullerton, March 16-17
Close Second: Dodgertown Classic, Feb. 26-28. (USC, UCLA, Vandy, Okie State)
Close Third: Stanford at Texas, Feb. 26-28
Close Fourth: Rice at Stanford, Feb. 19-21

Hot Coach: None (Was going to put Pat Murphy here, but, you know…)

Hot Seat Coach: Chad Krueter, USC

Player You Gotta See: LHP Josh Spence, Arizona State

Three Non-Conference Series The Pac 10 Better Not Overlook:
1- Pepperdine at Stanford, March 19-21
2- UCLA at MLB Urban Invitational, Feb. 19-21 (Southern, BCU, CSUN)
3- San Diego at Arizona State, April 5-6.

Three Bold Predictions:
1- ASU will go to Omaha, win a couple games and Tim Esmay will become the permanent coach. There, I said it.
2- UCLA and USC will finally live up to potential, putting the Bruins in the Omaha and saving Chad Kreuter’s bacon.
3- Oregon will double its win total, winning 28 overall and at least eight in conference.

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- ARIZONA (30-25, 13-1)
2009 RPI: 61
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
SS Bryce Ortega (.324-3-33, 16SBs)
OF Steve Selsky (.318-7-21)
RHP Daniel Workman (3-1, 3.86)
C Jett Bandy (.299, 21doubles)

The Good News:
I think Coach Andy Lopez has been around the block long enough to know that the best part of youth is that it grows up. A 14-6 spur at the end of the season showed that this team was about to outgrow its youthful skin and finally gelled. They still had the 2nd-highest scoring offense in the Pac 10 and hit .314. Five players that hit .295 or better return to the order. The arms staff is really deep, thanks to a Johnny Wholestaff approach to the second half of the season. Beyond Workman, look for RHP Joe Allison (5-1, 4.66), RHP Kyle Simon (3-5, 6.03) and RHP Donn Roach (1-4, 7.84) to compete for weekend spots. The .965 defense wasn’t too shabby but did turn a Pac 10-best 41 double plays, keyed by Ortega and 2B Kyle Stiner (.295).

The Bad News:
Young, young and more young… yeah, I know, it was already mentioned above. That’s what Coach Lopez told me was the main problem last season. When I asked him if he had a time machine for his team to grow up quickly, he asked me how much one would cost. So 2009 was only the second season in the last seven where the Desert Cats didn’t make the NCAA tournament. Six players were drafted including Friday ace Preston Guilmet, ace relievers Cory Burns and Jason Stoffel, top hitter Dillon Baird, C Dwight Childs and slugger Brad Glenn. That’s a lot of talent going out the window.

Schedule Note:
No April Fool’s, you’ve got 26 at home.
The Wildcats will open the season with a 26-game home stand beginning with a three-gamer vs. Utah Valley and end it with the Pac 10 opening weekend vs. Oregon. Their first roadie will be at Cal beginning on April 1st. Tough wrap-up to the Pac 10 season though, with Arizona State (home), Stanford (home) and Oregon State (road) to end things. Let’s hope all that youth catches its stride before then.

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- ARIZONA STATE (49-13, 21-6)
2009 RPI: 6
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Josh Spence (10-1, 2.37, 125Ks, .240OBA, All Am.)
DH Kole Calhoun (.313-12-53, 10SBs, All-CWS)
SS Drew Maggi (.309, 21SBs, Frosh All Am.)
LHP Mitchell Lambson (9-5, 3.01, .199OBA, Frosh All Am.)
OF/LHP Matt Newman (.305-7-54/2-1, 4.59)
RHP Seth Blair (7-2, 3.39, .239OBA)

The Good News:
I was all ready to talk about how Pat Murphy did the best coaching job of his career last season, then, well… you know. Then came that whole Murphy “resigning” thing that we’ll never know the complete truth about. Still, having Spence, the Aussie ace, come back despite being drafted in the 3rd round was incredibly fortuitous. The rest of the pitching staff will be stout enough with Sunday starter Blair and bullpen stud Lambson helping the Devils to a nation’s-best 2.90 team ERA. The offense should be potent again with Calhoun, Maggi, Newman and also the Torrez brothers, Raoul (32nd round pick of the Angels last June) and Riccio (.280-6-37). With all that, you’d think the Devils didn’t need any more talent showing up on campus. Yet, they raked in the No. 3 recruiting class in the country. Here are some of the marquee guys in this embarrassment of riches:
- RHP/OF Jake Barrett (3rd round, Toronto)
- RHP Merrill Kelly (22nd round, Baltimore)
- C Kyle Arnsberg (45th round, Boston)
- LHP/OF Jimmy Patterson (34th round, Boston)
- OF Andrew Aplin (33rd round, Yankees)
- RHP Brady Rodgers (39th round, Milwaukee)
- IF Deven Marrero (17th round, Cincinnati)
- C Xorge Carrillo (29th round, Cleveland)
- IF Tyler Bernard (20th round, Oakland)

The Bad News:
How about THAT rollercoaster off-season? Think anybody else went through more strife? Pat Murphy resigns – suddenly – and then long-time assistant Tim Esmay is named interim coach, followed by whispers of NCAA rule-breaking. At the end of this season, the national search for a new coach is on, allegedly. (My contention is, what if Esmay and Co. win a national title?) On the field, losing All Americans Mike Leake and Jason Kipnis are big losses to the pitching and hitting. And unless some of the greenhorns catch on immediately, the batting order will probably dip in power after the loss of Jason Kipnis and Carlos Ramirez.

Schedule Note:
Still too much home cookin’.
ASU has gone to almost exclusively home games in pre-Pac 10 play now. I’m not big on that trend. But to the Sun Devils’ credit, they’ll play more true road games than last year, 17 compared to 15. The stretch run of May has the potential to be a bruiser too, with roadies at UCLA, at Arizona and the season-ender at Stanford being wrapped around a home weekend vs. Oregon State. That’s your Pac 10 title chase right there.

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- CALIFORNIA (24-29, 9-18)
2009 RPI: 123
Starters Returning: 3
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
OF Mark Canha (.366-12-43)
Brian Guinn (.315, 10SBs)
OF Danny Oh (.303-7-35)
RHP Erik Johnson (3-6, 4.41, 4svs)
RHP Dixon Anderson (1-0, 3.98, 3svs)

The Good News:
It will be all arms on deck for the Bears as they return almost every pitcher of note, including seven of the 10 most-used hurlers on the roster. Johnson was used in a variety of roles (9starts, 4saves), so it reflects his value. But he may be honed into just a weekend starter this season. Johnson and Anderson, both sophomores, were both named top 10 pro prospects in the Northwoods League last summer by Baseball America, so look for their stock to rise. Canha is a great all-around talent and worth the price of admission. Coach David Esquer brought in a sound recruiting class (No. 24 nationally by Collegiate Baseball) that should contribute immediately. Expect to hear from SS/2B Tony Renda (42nd round, Dodgers) who hit .289 in the Northwoods League. Not bad. Also look for INF Mitch Delfino, a MaxPreps 1st team All American, and LHP Joe Kurrasch, a wicked low-90s flinger, to get prime time.

The Bad News:
It’s not like the Bears were expected to challenge for a national seed last year or anything, but with players like Blake Smith, Brett Jackson Dylan Tonneson and Jeff Kobernus, 2009 was supposed to be better than 24 wins. Now all those big talents are gone leaving a big dearth of experience, especially on offense, which only hit .298 to begin with. The pitching needs to lock in a bit better as well, considering they plunked 51 batters and tossed 64 wild pitches last season.

Schedule Note:
Toughest 15-game stretch in the country?
Check out this string of games… Cal will get a return visit from Arkansas on the third weekend of the season and that will be followed by a four-game set at Rice, a single game vs. Houston, then three at the lonely outpost that is Cal Poly, a game at San Francisco and finally a trip to the desert to take on Arizona State. Whew! That’s harshin’ their mellow in Berkeley.

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- OREGON (14-42, 4-23)
2009 RPI: 234
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Drew Gagnier (1-0, 2.70, 7svs)
OF Curtis Raulinaitis (.291, 10SBs)

The Good News:
For the program’s first season since 1981, the 8-7 start they raced out to was something not many people expected to see. Assistant coach Andrew Checketts keeps bringing in some wicked-good recruiting classes, No. 2 in the country last year and this year’s newcomers were ranked No. 26. Look for INF J.J. Altobelli (49th round, Milwaukee), INF Jack Marder (30th round, Arizona) and OF Ryan Hambright (38th round, Colorado) to give immediate help. Also, getting staff ace Gagnier back after he was drafted in the 14th round last June was a huge break for Coach George Horton and their hopes. And the Horton Factor is already coming into play as well since the Ducks stole 60 bases last season (4th in the conference), finished with a respectable 5.07 ERA and also played fairly good defense for a bunch of freshmen at .961 and turning 49 double plays. Keep in mind, that’s relatively speaking.

The Bad News:
This youthful team did what youthful teams tend to do, they ran out of gas. After April Fool’s Day, the Ducks won only three games the rest of the season (although they were against Stanford, Cal and UCLA, not bad). As you might guess, the team batting average of .227 was the lowest in the Pac 10 and must be addressed. There was absolutely zero power in the order as UO hit just 16 home runs. Hell, they hit just as many triples (16) as they did dingers. They will need to exude more patience as well after drawing just 134 walks.

Schedule Note:
Horton goes back to the old stomping grounds.
Game one of the 2010 season will see coach George Horton return to where he was once the longtime skipper as UO opens at Cal State Fullerton. They’ll also play games at Long Beach and at Pepperdine that weekend. Lots of neat quirks to this schedule as well, like the home opener being a pair of mid-week games against conference rival Washington (March 2-3, non-conference), they’ll also host newly revived Seattle U. in mid-March for a weekend set and finally an “out-of-left-field” home series with East Tennessee State way down in the month of May.

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- OREGON STATE (37-19, 15-12)
2009 RPI: 42
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Kevin Rhoderick (3-3, 4.18, 9svs)
RHP Sam Gaviglio (10-1, 2.73)
OF Adalberto Santos (.320-4-43, 15SBs)
OF Jared Norris (.331)
INF Stefen Romero (.291-5-51)
RHP Tyler Waldron (6-4, 4.15)

The Good News:
The best news is that the disappointment of 2008 is far behind them and the Beavs got back to their post-season ways in 2009, and look for more this year. A big reason for the rebound was being ranked in the top 10 nationally in both pitching (3.93) and defense (.977) and have nearly everyone back from that team. RHP Greg Peavey (4-3, 5.74 and a 32nd round pick of Houston) and Santos (35th round, San Diego) both return after flirting with the MLB last summer. The incoming talent infusion was ranked the No. 22 class in the country by Baseball America and features RHP Tony Bryant (25th round, Minnesota), OF Jordan Poyer (42nd round, Florida), RHP Jeff Ames (46th round, Philly) and, the gem of the class, C Andrew Susac (16th round, Philly). Also, watch for the return of stud reliever Taylor Starr (3-1, 1.61 in ‘08), who sat out 2009 after having Tommy John surgery.

The Bad News:
The offense was the biggest crutch, hitting a rail thin .278 and a twiggy 23 home runs. Cultivating more power and more threats in general will be a big chore. The defense will have to rely on some new faces in the field, though talented they will be. Names like Jorge Reyes, Ryan Ortiz, Joey Wong and John Wallace were nearly legendary in Corvallis and have moved on to the pros. Must take on more of a warrior mentality, as 14 of their 19 losses came away from Goss Stadium.

Schedule Note:
If I were a recruit, I’d wanna play this schedule.
Here’s the deal, OSU’s slate has it all this year. Starting off with a Hawaiian venture on the opening weekend, then getting an SEC team to visit (Tennessee) and then spending some time in the desert (vs. UC Riverside, Arizona State and Cal Poly in Arizona), getting a pair of exotic teams to visit (Maine and Long Beach) and then playing its usual tough Pac 10 rigors… there’s not a lot to hate about this one. Nice work coach Casey and crew.

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- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (28-28, 13-14)
2009 RPI: 74
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 1
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

All Conference Candidates:
1B Ricky Oropesa (.314-13-48, Frosh All Am.)
OF Mike O’Neill (.319)
RHP Kevin Couture (3-3, 5.66)

The Good News:
Big time talent still dots the lineup card, particularly the strapping Oropesa and the potentially dangerous Couture on the hill. 2B Joe DePinto (.277, 11SBs) is a block for the infield to build off of and had a great summer in the Northwoods League. Soph righties Andrew Triggs (5-3, 3.96, 10GS) and Chad Smith (3-4, 3.40) have great upside and should star. Speaking of young talent with potential, a good infusion of greenhorns should give the Trojans a chance at a winning season, despite all the losses. Look for breakout performances by a pair of newbies in SS Taylor Wrenn, a 25th round draftee of San Diego, and OF Alex Glenn, a 37th round pick of Florida. Wrenn, a JC transfer, has the skills to replace Grant Green and Glenn’s mercurial speed should put him in center field as a true frosh.

The Bad News:
This program is stuck in a rut, playing .500 ball for two straight years now. Five players were picked in the top 20 rounds of the MLB draft, including all-world SS Grant Green, a 1st round pick, and Robert Stock, a 2nd round pick. Three of the four most-used arms on the staff have hit the bricks, including Brad Boxberger and Anthony Vasquez, who had 164 innings of work between them. The team batting average of .274 and the Pac 10-worst defense of .954 certainly were oddities that still leave one scratching their heads. That just doesn’t sound like the USC of old.

Schedule Note:
For once, logging lots of road miles.
Unlike most years, the Men of Troy will take their act on the road for much of the pre-conference slate. They’ll open at Cal Poly and also spend weekends at Hawaii and Pacific, before traveling to Stanford to open up Pac 10 play. The tournament that sends Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State to Dedeaux Field will certainly be an early indicator of where this team is.

Coach Marquess is obviously glad to have Brett Mooneyham back on the mound this year.

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- STANFORD (30-25, 13-14)
2009 RPI: 76
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

Coach Marquess talks about his team with me from the NorCal Media Day.

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Brett Mooneyham (6-3, 4.14, .204OBA, Freshman All Am.)
RHP Jordan Pries (4-4, 4.62, .228OBA)
2B Colin Walsh (.320)
OF Kellen Kiilsgaard (.313-9-46)
3B Adam Gaylord (.289)

The Good News:
Well I suppose I’ll have to revert to my “Stanford doesn’t stay down long” verbiage once again. Look for this young team to grow into a national contender very soon. Having first-year guys like Mooneyham and Pries play beyond their years was a huge boon. Especially considering their wicked opponents’ batting average. In fact, considering they had just a 30-25 record, the .268OBA was impressive. The infield should be extremely stout again (was .977 in ‘09) with Walsh and Gaylord being joined by incoming hot-shot freshman Kenny Diekroeger, who is the highest drafted fielder in the country (2nd round pick, Tampa Bay) to come to college. Speaking of the incoming class, this year’s haul was ranked No. 2 in the country by Baseball America and also features immediate impact guys like OF Jake Stewart (14th round pick, Philly) and RHP Mark Appel (15th round pick, Detroit), who were part of five drafted players headed to Palo Alto.

The Bad News:
Despite beating Vanderbilt two-of-three in the opening weekend, the Trees still got out to a languid 4-10 start to last season. Losing steady vets like Brent Milleville, Joey August and Heisman finalist Toby Gerhart is pretty big for the offense and defense, especially when you consider that the team batting average was a dregs-level .279. On the mound, the exodus of longtime stud Jeffery Inman and saves leader Drew Storen will also be big chunks of the base to re-plug. Zach Jones, who was a Rockies draftee coming out of high school, is a quality backstop but needs to pick up his offensive numbers.

Schedule Note:
Wow… just freakin’ wow! (again)
Stanford never disappoints in the non-conference department, that’s why they always have an uglier overall record than most teams with equal ability. How about this start… vs. Rice, at Texas, vs. UC-Santa Barbara and vs. Pepperdine. That’s some tough three-gamers right there. They’ll also visit Long Beach State for a weekend in early May. And who knows, maybe that home series to close the season vs. Arizona State could be for the Pac 10 championship.

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- UCLA (27-29, 15-12)
2009 RPI: 71
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Gerrit Cole (4-8, 3.49)
RHP Trevor Bauer (9-3, 2.99)
LHP Rob Rasmussen (4-2, 6.45)
1B/OF Justin Uribe (.318)
OF Blair Dunlap (.301-7-39)

The Good News:
If you notice Bruin coach John Savage grinning like the Cheshire Cat in the weeks to come it’s because he knows he’s got a potential gold mine here. With Bauer and Cole entering year two with their scouts-loving arms and having unlimited upside, his weekend rotation could be of the lock-down variety. He also knows that he’ll return the services of LHP Matt Drummond (2-2, 5.17 in ‘08) and Dan Klein (2-2, 7.64 in ‘08) who both had to sit out the ‘09 season. Also keep tabs on sophomore righty Erik Goeddel, who pitched in the Cape last summer after throwing only eight innings in 2009. His being 100% could be a difference-maker for this bullpen. RHP Garrett Claypool (2-1, 3.67) gets a big welcome back after getting drafted by the A’s in the 32nd round last June. Also, having Uribe and Dunlap returning as seniors is great in the leadership department. This year’s incoming group of newbies is the second solid class in a row for the Bruins (who had the No. 7-ranked group in ‘09). This one comes in as the 19th-best group in the country according to BA and should get immediate input from local talents like OF Jeff Gelalich (41st round pick of Philadelphia) and OF Beau Amaral (45th round pick of Arizona), plus RHP Scott Griggs (34th round, Seattle) should also bolster the arms staff.

The Bad News:
I can’t sit here and say the usual brutality of a schedule was the Bruins undoing again in 2009, can I? Well, put it this way, the 2-10 start to the 2009 season contributed to a season-full of shortcomings. And it never got much easier after that. But the inconsistent offense was a huge culprit too, because the bats need to hit better than .285 (Can Troy Glaus and Eric Byrnes get their eligibility back?). There are some losses to the mound corps, including Charles Brewer and lefties Gavin Brooks and Brendan Lafferty, Rasmussen is the only left handed arm returning from 2009 (though Drummond returns as well), so cultivating some southpaws could be huge, especially when facing the potent Pac 10.

Schedule Note:
A slate that only a grizzly could love.
The Bruins will never, ever, ever duck anyone at any location. Coach Savage has the cojones to take on the world, it’s just a scheduling philosophy he believes in and wears on his sleeve… sort of being like being proud of a wicked bruise. Every single opponent the Bruins play in pre-Pac 10 play have the potential to be NCAA tournament teams. Southern, Bethune-Cookman, Long Beach State, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts and Cal Poly are just a handful of the obstacles they’ll face in February and March. Ooof!

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- WASHINGTON (25-30, 13-14)
2009 RPI: 133
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 3
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Andrew Kittredge (4-5, 4.27, .254OBA)
LHP Geoff Brown (4-4, 5.01, 31apps)
C Pierce Rankin (.299-6-26)

The Good News:
Well let’s see what new coach Lindsay Meggs can do with this program. He matriculates to the great Northwest from Indiana State. But before that coach earned his spurs after winning two D-II national titles at Chico State a few years back. One thing he’ll like about what he inherits is that there is a lot of experience coming back thanks to a rash of injuries and an attempt at numerous combinations throughout last season. Seven of the top nine hitters return to the order, led by Rankin and OFs Caleb Brown (.279) and Brendan Gardner-Young (.275). Power will be supplied by 1B Troy Scott, who blasted 11 yard calls. Two incoming frosh, Jacob Lamb (38th round, Pittsburgh) and Eric Peterson (28th round, Kansas City), two tall, rangy infielders, were both drafted by the pros last June but showed up on campus. Want a hard luck case to cheer for? Look for C/DH Max Kwan, who started 33 games for Tulane in 2006, but after transferring to Udub has been beset by injuries ever since. If he’s healthy, he can be a factor.

The Bad News:
Though he didn’t win any national titles or anything, Ken Knutson did bring a certain amount of stability to the program and now he’s gone to Arizona State as an assistant. Two of the top three most-used pitchers, Jason Erickson and Tyler Chaney, have each moved on, leaving large holes to fill. Speaking of, the same could be said for Jordan Merry, a weekend starter early in the season, and closer Brian Pearl (8svs), both of whom threw 38 innings last season and held opponents to .212 and .229 averages respectively. A new arms corps will be key. And of course, the offense must, must, must hit better than the paltry .265 it did last season.

Schedule Note:
Only thing missing is the East coast swing.
Udub will certainly cash in on a lot of air miles this season, playing just 22 home games and 32 roadies. And its the destinations that are exotic (as far as college baseball locales go, that is). They’ll open the season in Tucson, Arizona playing New Mexico State, Missouri and Gonzaga, then to Long Beach State, to BYU, to Dallas Baptist and to Gonzaga. They’ll also pay their fellow Rain Belters a visit in going to contests at Oregon, Portland and revived Seattle U.

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- WASHINGTON STATE (32-25, 19-8)
2009 RPI: 48
Starters Returning: 7
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
LHP Adam Conley (1-1, 5.97)
RHP Chad Arnold (8-3, 4.39, .259OBA)
OF Derek Jones (.223-12-37)
SS Shea Vucinich (.230-6-25)
OF Garry Kuykendall (.299, 11SBs)

The Good News:
Ah, the power of positive thinking. Coach Donnie Marbut got his charges to bust out of its last place funk in 2008 and push through to a go-round at the Big Dance in 2009. And can you say “second-place in the Pac 10″? Yep, it happened, right there in Pullman. Coach hopes to keep things chuggin’ along with a wicked-good infield featuring returning glove magicians in Vicinich, 3B Matt Argyroploulos (.230) and 2B Cody Bartlett (.239, just 3Es in 36 games). In other words, the already stellar .971 defense should get better. There is some quality depth on the mound with David Stilley (3-3, 4.63) and Seth Harvey (0-1, 2.25, 22apps) also coming back from a unit that sported a 4.34 team ERA.

The Bad News:
Well first of all, the rest of the Pac 10 should be much improved and put a real challenge in their attempt at another 2nd place finish. Some experienced vets took off in Alex Burg, dual-threat Jared Prince and C Greg Lagreid. The pitching could be a problem as well since valuable weekend starters in Prince and Matt Way are both missing and ace saves leader Jeremy Johnson (6 wins, 10 saves) will need to be replaced as well. The offense hit just .273 last year and loses the top three hitters in the order. The 2008 2Bman Travis Coulter was expected to come back after missing the ‘09 season with an injury. Problem is, Coulter has since been ruled academically ineligible and will be on the shelf again this season.

Schedule Note:
Toughest road stretch in the country.
Not sure if there’s a tougher road assignment than the Coogs will face when they play three at Texas A&M (the toughest student section in the country) and then play three at Wichita State (one of the most ravenous fan bases) in back to back weekends. In between, WSU will play two games at Dallas Baptist, one of the most-improved programs nationally. The close of the regular season won’t be a cakewalk either, as they’ll go to Stanford and to UCLA in the last three weekends of Pac 10 play.