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.