Stanford coach Mark Marquess talks about his national champion-contending team.

There was a little bit of good and a little bit of bad to the NorCal Media Day. The six bay area schools were all represented at the podium at Stanford’s Arrillaga Sports Center. The good news is that there were a few heavy hitters of Bay Area media on hand, including reporters for the Associated Press, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle and even Ray Ratto, who is a freelancer for CBS Sports. (Not that I expect CBS to post anything about college baseball… he musta been freelancing for somebody else)

The bad side of things is that there were still very few media members there, once again proving that college baseball is growing, but not by enough leaps and bounds to satisfy my liking. (I mean, REALLY, Kyle Peterson couldn’t fly out for this?)

Still it was a good little hoedown for a college baseball junkie like me. Here are some of the pertinent points that each coach made, along with a few other things hither and yon. It all got started with Santa Clara’s new head honcho, Dan O’Brien, who came to the Bronco program after a highly highly highly successful stint at Division 2 UC San Diego, where he led the Tritons to numerous appearances at the D2 College World Series.

.

DAN O’BRIEN, SANTA CLARA

- On what Santa Clara baseball will be like:

“We will be starting a brand new culture at Santa Clara. We’re going to go to an old school styled uniform for this program. We’re going to emphasize old-school style and old school mentality. We’re gong to play hard and get dirty.”

- On the impression he hopes to make:

“We’re going to take great pride and are thrilled to create a culture where no matter what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, the other team is going to leave the yard saying, ‘Those guys played hard, played with passion. They played the game the right way.’ And that’s where we’re going to start with the program.”

If you had any question about how "old school" Santa Clara's unis would look, here's a glance at their schedule poster with some of the players in their new baggy togs. It even has an old school design to it.

- On his team’s strength:

“Our strength is that we’re balanced. It sounds incredibly cliche but our goal is to be very sound in all four aspects of the game; pitching, hitting, defense and baserunning.”

- On leading player Kyle DeMerritt

“He epitomizes the type of player we want to build our program around. He’s one of those show up early and stay late kind of guys. He’s loves to get dirty. He’s just a ballplayer. He loves to compete.”

- On the returning talent:

“We return a lot of guys off of a club that was decimated by injuries last year and it’s good to have those guys back. Everybody has to deal with injuries, but I believe there were injuries to six starters off last year’s team.”

- On what intrigued him about the Santa Clara job:

“Ultimately our job as coaches is to prepare these guys for life after college and that’s what our coaches are excited about doing. Here, we can get in the trenches and really work with the players to develop them.”

.

JEDD SOTO, ST. MARY’S

- On the progress of the program:

“We’ve got a new stadium on the way after we were able to raise $30million as part of a three-phase project. Our administration spared no expense either, it’s all really nice and when it’s done it will include 1,880 chairback seats, along with a picnic area down the foul line that will hold an additional 500. There will also be a 64,000 square foot rec center as well.”

- On his club for 2012:

“We really like this club. I think they’re ready to be tested. We’ve played a top 40 schedule each the last five seasons and we’ll play another tough schedule this year. We were 41st in the nation in ERA and 3rd in the WCC last year, and we return all three weekend starters and a lot of relievers, so we think we’re ready for this kind of challenge.”

- On star 1B Troy Channing’s off season last year (hit just .264):

“Channing actually had a back injury that he didn’t tell anybody about and it really affected his play. He ended up putting on 20 pounds. He also put a lot of pressure on himself with it being his junior year and concerning the draft. But he’s 22 pounds lighter this year and will be a different player, more like his Freshman year where he was up for the Dick Howser Award.”

- On some of the players expected to make a big jump:

“Outfielder Cole Norton is really a player to watch for this year as he’s made huge strides since last season when he was a part-timer (he hit .290 in 27 starts). We couldn’t get him out in our fall scrimmages. Also, RHP Kurt Jahnke made great improvements from his freshman to sophomore year and made a substantial increase in his velocity from last year. He’s a low-90s pitcher now.”

.

NINO GIARRATANO, SAN FRANCISCO

- On his health after donating a kidney this past summer:

“I’m doing fine. Really. The first six weeks after the operation was tough but since then, no problem. It’s an amazing thing in that there is no difference between having one and two kidneys. You can survive on one kidney.”

San Francisco coach Nino Giarratano looks good, healthy and ready to lead his team to another NCAA tournament bid.

- On his brother combos:

“We have the unique position of having a pair of good brother tandems. We’ve got Nik and Alex Balog, with Nik as our starting 1st baseman and Alex will be our Sunday starter on the mound. And then we also have Kyle and Brad Zimmer, Kyle is our Friday starter who beat (UCLA’s) Gerrit Cole 3-1 in the opening game of the Regionals last year. And Brad Zimmer is a freshman outfielder who we are very excited about.”

- When the question of the “new” bats came up:

“I’ve always been in favor of having a bat standard. I’m all for the game slowing down a little and having to teach kids to hit. It’s great for the game to have to be able to bunt, play defense and move runners over. Now at the same time I don’t like when a guy hits a ball and you think it will go out, but then it ends up 70-to-80 feet short of the fence.”

- About the game vs. San Diego at AT&T Park:

“Here’s the part where I’m going to ask you media members for help. We’re scheduled to play a game against San Diego at AT&T Park as part of a triple-header. We play the first game and there will be two high school games after ours. We think it gives good exposure to college baseball in the bay area and I’m counting on you media members to help us get the word out about the game.”

(Note to self: be sure to mention this in my Thursday Thoughts for March 29th)

.

MARK MARQUESS, STANFORD

- On his team’s biggest question marks:

“Our biggest question will be at catcher and at the closer position. We lost Zach Jones, who was a three-year starter and a leader. And we also lost our closer in Chris Reed, who was a 1st round draft pick. We’ve got a couple of options at catcher with Chris Griffiths, a junior, and freshman Wayne Taylor (a 14th round draft choice and Texas player of the year). For our closer, we may go with either A.J. Venagas or Dean McCardle, one of which will be our Sunday starter and the other may become our closer.”

- On the development of sophomore outfielder Austin Wilson:

“He really should be a tight end on the football team with his size. But he has made a big adjustment because it doesn’t matter how good you are in high school, in this conference you’re going to face guys like Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer and Kurt Heyer, you’re going to struggle, I don’t care who you are.”

- On the strength of the Pac 12:

“There are probably five or six teams that could win the Pac 12 this year, it all comes down to pitching. If you have fresh, young arms that develop quickly, that’s the biggest key to our conference. The Pac 12 is probably the best conference in the country and we’ve got eight teams in the top 20 of strength of schedule.”

- On the state of college baseball:

“College baseball has never been better, never been healthier. You can see that in attendance, the new downtown stadium in Omaha and ESPN has increased the interest in our sport. The Cal alumni stepping up and saving the program also shows how interest has increased around here. Plus the new collective bargaining agreement that the Major League has implemented is good for college baseball AND for pro baseball. For us, it means that we are going to get more high school kids coming to play college baseball than ever before.”

- On the change to the new bats (For some reason this was a very popular subject with two or three of the journalists present):

“Well the bat change is here to stay. But I think anytime you change the offense in baseball it’s risky. Fans like offense. They like scoring. In the pros No 3 and 4 hitters in the order don’t bunt, but in college baseball No. 3 and 4 hitters do. I think the adjustment to the new bats won’t be as drastic once the high schools start using them (the BBCOR bats).”

.

DAVE ESQUER, CALIFORNIA

- On if there is a change in effort or focus of this team compared to last year’s when they had the specter of program elimination hanging over them:

“There is no change at all from last year to this year. It has been a pleasure to coach this team because they know effort is vital. Not having a chip on their shoulder this year, they need to find inner motivation to push themselves, and they have. But I tell them ‘Just try to be the best practice team ever.’ and they’ve responded.”

- On how last seasons’ possible program elimination effected this year’s recruiting:

“The biggest problem I saw was the deficiency of landing a pitcher who is ready to go right from the start. We’re going to have to develop this year’s freshman class of pitchers. None of them are the kind of guys you just take the wrapping off and throw out there and they’re good to go.”

- On getting Tony Renda and Chadd Krist back for another year:

“Nobody impacts our program more than Renda does. It’s what he brings to our team every day in effort and work ethic. He’ll hit leadoff for us this year. And getting Krist back was huge. I tell people all the time he was my biggest recruit this off-season. The pros under-valued him (as a 13th round draft pick) and getting him back was great for us.”

- On the biggest key to this season:

“Our biggest key will be the 2nd line pitching. We’ve got a solid rotation of Justin Jones, Kyle Porter and Matt Flemer, but the key will be how the young pitching in the bullpen and depth improves. Right now we’ve got Mike Theofanopoulos, who didn’t pitch last year but was outstanding during fall drills, and Joey Donofrio, who will take on a bigger role after throwing in just 10 games last year.”

- Best Line of the Day, concerning the 25th anniversary of Stanford’s back-to-back titles:

“I was fortunate to be a part of those teams during my playing days but in the 25 years since that Stanford team I look in the mirror and there is no more dark hair poking out under my hat anymore.”

(Editor’s note: As my bald uncle used to say, “Better they turn grey than to turn loose.”)

.

SAM PIRARO, SAN JOSE STATE

- Commenting on the WAC going from four-game weekends to three:

“There are no more double-headers in WAC play. I used to like double-headers, but 38 years later I find them to be a pain in the butt. Playing in the WAC is tough, especially with the travel. Have you been to Ruston, Louisiana? Great town, but it’s not easy to get in and out of. We’ve got a home-heavy schedule this year. The travel really gets to you, so this will make a difference.”

- On how he’ll used star two-way player Zach Jones:

We’re going to use him in a closer role this season. I know the scouts want me to start him on the mound, but I’d rather have a chance to win three games in a weekend using him rather than one game. We’re not going to play him in the field this year, although he could play shortstop for anybody in the country.”

- On his star pitcher Esteban Guzman coming back despite getting drafted in the 17th round last June:

“We felt like he was gonna sign last summer, but he played summer ball and, including our season and the summer season, he threw over 130 innings last year. So he didn’t throw for us at all in the fall, we shut him down. And we’re going to try to pick his innings early on. We’ll bring him along slowly. But we’ll have him ready by the time conference play is here when we need him the most.”

- On one of the surprise players going into this season:

“One of the strengths of our team will be at catcher. Kyle Gallegos is a JC transfer from Chabot College and I just love watching him play. He’s an exciting player. When a runner gets on 1st he’s a joy to watch. He’s turned one of our question marks going into this season to a strength.”

- On his teams’ experience:

“We’ll be an experience-heavy team this season, for sure. We’ve got 16 guys who will be playing three or more years of college ball this year. That, and not having to travel much this season will really make a difference.”

.

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

-The usually well-attended NorCal Media Day had a few missing pieces this time around. The six immediate Bay Area schools were all on hand, of course. But programs like Sac State, UC Davis, Pacific and Fresno State, who usually show up for this gig, chose not to this time. And it’s not hard to blame them I suppose. It’s a long haul for each of this coaches to come to Palo Alto just to talk for a few minutes in front of media that aren’t really going to cover them much. (Though, yes, I will cover those teams whenever possible, but the Bay Area newspapers aren’t going to be asking those far-flung programs many questions.)

- Just to show how the interest has piqued in Cal baseball, for the 2012 season a commercial radio station has picked up their games and will broadcast them at KALX 90.7fm, 960am. A total of 39 games will be broadcast, both home and away. And that total includes the four-game set against Texas from Round Rock, along with conference weekends at Arizona State, at USC, at Oregon and at Washington State.

- Speaking of Cal radio, I got the chance to meet the student radio announcer from that infamous 9th inning comeback over Baylor, Danny Fry. I told him simply, “You’re my hero.”

- When I told Stanford coach Mark Marquess how happy I was that his team would be taking on so many good non-conference opponents this year (vs. Vanderbilt, vs. Texas, at Fresno and vs. Rice), he shot back with, “Thanks. But in about a month I’ll be able to tell you whether I was happy about that schedule too.”

- In case you’re wondering how the others covered the Media Day, here is how the San Francisco Chronicle covered it.

- The unsung hero of the day is Niall Adler. As a whole, a lot of college baseball’s bloodline goes through each school’s sports information director and there are an awful lot of good ones out there. But Niall Adler of Stanford is still at the top of his game, having put this NorCal Media Day together and getting it to run smoothly and all. With the end of any kind of SoCal Media Day and the annual coaches cook-off they used to have, it makes me appreciate Niall’s efforts at getting this Media Day done and to be the success it is.

- Also, the night before the Media Day at Stanford, I snuck up to San Francisco to go see the New Orleans-based Indy band MuteMath at the Regency Ballroom. Not a bad gig. Lots of energy to it. And they played nearly every song from their new album “Odd Soul” including the song “Blood Pressure” which ESPN used as bumper music between commercials during some of their college football games this past fall (better than anything Nelly got paid millions for). They also played a few of the tasty older ditties like “Typical” and “Control”. If you haven’t seen them live, do a YouTube search for some of their live videos. You’ll prolly dig it… unless you hate good tunes or something.

MuteMath, standing around amongst a whole lot of blue lights.

This is where it starts people. Go to the “2012 Preview” tab over to the left there and click on your favorite conference.

After spending a few months in-and-out of The Cave I’m finally starting to post some college baseball conference previews here. So feel free to skip your Monday morning meeting at work, it’s a waste of time anyway. Immerse yourself in the wonder of college baseball through my 1.2million words of exhilarating and nauseating copy. Laugh a little. Get angry a lot. Write me back and tell me how brilliant I am or how full of shit I am. I don’t care either way. Just let me know.

It’s what I do every winter when there is no more college football and college baseball is still a couple of snowbanks away. It’s my raison d’être.

Nine things to know about these previews.

1- First off, don’t worry. There’s more. I’m posting the first 18 conferences here now. The remaining 14 conference previews are coming soon. I promise. So don’t be pissed if your favorite conference isn’t listed below. Just a matter of time, I’m tellin’ ya’.

2- Secondly, this year’s previews are about two weeks behind in getting posted. I had planned on doing it much earlier than this, but there were many unforeseen factors that got in the way. Put the blame on my ESPN college football work I had to do in November, December and during the bowl games as part of the blame. I also had the ESPN.com college baseball power rankings and All American team to put together (You’ll see them posted soon) and also having the responsibility of putting together Athlon’s Magazine’s preseason Top 25 and team write-ups took away about five or six days out of my schedule as well. So for being 10 to 14 days later than planned, here’s my official “mea culpa.” Hopefully, you’ll still dig it.

3- Oh, and because of that, you’ll probably notice two more things that are different than most years: 1- You’ll catch more typos than normal in my copy I’ve typed since one of the casualties of having to whip my way through the final few weeks is that I haven’t had much chance to go back and re-read what I wrote. So please excuse the blunders. And 2- You won’t find a lot of pretty pictures in this year’s previews. Sorry, going back to beautify things is usually my final chore before I post them, but I didn’t have that luxury this time around.

4- I’ve decided to use Boyd Nation’s ISR ranking from BoydsWorld.com in each team and conferences write up for this season, mainly because I know it gives a more honest assessment of relative ranking instead of the horrible RPI formula. So you’ll note the number for each write-up you read.

5- I feel weird given some conferences a “hot seat coach” designation. I mean really, does any coach in conferences like the NEC or CAA or Patriot League?

6- You have no idea how much more of a pain in the ass it is when a school’s website doesn’t have an alphabetical roster or when players change numbers. Just that little extra digging for information adds up during my months in the cave.

7- Speaking of, it is now February 5th and I can’t believe there are still schools whose websites don’t have updated 2012 rosters and – pause to let this sink in – there are still some who don’t even have their schedules posted either. Those schools need to go ahead and drop to Division II at least.

8- Along with these previews here on CBT, I wanted to give you guys a head’s up about other things I’ve got going on before first pitch. ESPN is having me do a Top 20 “Power Ranking” in the same manner they do for other sports like basketball, hockey and softball, etc. And yes, I know, I know, it’s yet another ranking service for college baseball. You know I’m mostly against doing it, but it’s the mother ship and I have to do as they say. They’ve also had me put together an All American team as well. Look for those features to be up on the ESPN site sometime next week. I’ll be sure to give you a head’s up when it gets posted.

9- By the way, one last thing I wanted to point out. If you don’t see a favorite player or an all-conference candidate listed below your team’s name that you think SHOULD be there, don’t blame me. Most of the time the truth is I got the information from the baseball program’s SID or had to dig it up myself. So blame the school for not giving out enough information, not the messenger.

The ACC has been a proving ground for Omaha and this year should be no different. Will they break that bizarre 57-year drought of not wearing a title crown? Not sure. But with their high-level of competition, it’s never out of the realm of possibility.

.

2011in a Paragraph:

Nope, nothing wrong with the ACC. Still as strong as ever and still putting teams in the field of eight in Omaha. In 2011, the North Carolina turned a “rebuilding” year into a trip to Omaha to make it a ridiculous five trips in the last six years. Virginia returned to the big stage again after a one year hiatus, giving more credence to the fact that, if not for UNC’s Mike Fox, you could argue that Brian O’Connor could be the best coach in the ACC over the last five to six years. Another thing that seems typical of the ACC is having high ranked teams that get caught up in their youth and caught up in a buzzsaw in the Regionals, that’s where we find Georgia Tech. The youthful Bees were in the top 10 most of the season but couldn’t get out of their own way in losing another home post-season weekend. Florida State rode the arms of Sean Gilmartin and Mike McGee as far as it could but came up short of Omaha with a Super Regional loss to Texas A&M. Clemson had a pretty good thing going last season as well finishing the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country. But the Tigers couldn’t make it to the Palmetto Throw-down in the Supers after being upset by UConn in the Regional round.

.

2011 Conference ISR: 3

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- Atlantic Division:

1- Clemson

2- Florida State

3- North Carolina State

4- Wake Forest

5- Maryland

6- Boston College

.

- Coastal Division:

1- Miami

2- North Carolina

3- Georgia Tech

4- Virginia

5- Virginia Tech

6- Duke

.

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

There was a lot of big time losses for just about every team going into this year, which will make for a wide-open battle in the chase for the ACC’s brass ring. As usual, everyone can be beaten on any given day, but the good money is on the fact that somewhere between Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, a champion will rise. Does that mean we should expect a couple of ACC teams will garner National Seed status? Hard to say. But you can probably bet on four teams to get home Regionals. It’ll be a dogfight for sure. Just know that nobody is immune from cold streaks and everybody is capable of putting together a hot streak and earning their way to a post-season bid. As for Omaha? I’d say don’t bet against a team or two joining the fray, with a nod toward the division title-holders. Look for Maryland, Wake Forest and North Carolina State to plant the seeds for a good future with solid seasons. Lots of new talent comes in for each of them. We’ll see if they reach the promised land a year early or not.

.

Favorite: None.

.

Contenders: Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Georgia Tech

.

Darkhorse: Virginia

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Miami at Clemson, March 30-April 1.

Close Second: North Carolina at Clemson, March 9-11.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: Clemson vs./at South Carolina, March 2-4

Close Second: Florida at Miami, March 2-4.

.

Hot Coach: Mike Fox, North Carolina

.

Hot Seat Coach: Sean McNally, Duke (but only slightly hot)

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Branden Kline, Virginia

The “You Gotta See” Player: Marcus Stroman, Duke

.

Three Non-Conference Series The ACC Better Not Overlook:

1- Maine at Clemson, February 24-26.

2- USC at North Carolina, March 2-4.

3- Maine at Florida State, March 2-4.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- One of the predicted bottom feeders – Wake, UMd, BC, VaTech or Duke – is going to really put it in my face this season. I’m just waiting to see which one it is.

2- Marcus Stroman will increase his batting average .100 points this season and pull ACC Player of the Year honors.

3- Those Monday night ACC games on ESPNU?… they’ll be freakin’ brilliant. (Guess that’s not a “bold” prediction, but you get my drift)

.

.

Atlantic Division

- BOSTON COLLEGE (17-33, 7-22)

2011 ISR: 157

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 3

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Matt McGovern (.371)

OF/RHP Andrew Lawrence (.271-5-24/2-3, 4.26, .250OBA)

RHP Kyle Prohovich (3-1, 3.46, .243OBA)

RHP Hunter Gordon (1-4, 4.09, .233OBA)

RHP Eric Stevens (2-1, 4.38, .254OBA)

.

The Good News:

This will be year two of the Mike Gambino era in Chestnut Hill, so the rebuilding progress should be better in 2012, especially since there were glimmers of hope as the Eagles started ACC play at 6-8, including a pair of one-run losses to FSU and Miami. The hopes are buoyed by a lot of returning arms, including relievers Kyle Prohovich (24apps), Hunter Gordon (26apps) and Eric Stevens (27apps), who were heavily leaned upon and should have increased roles to build around this year. If LHP Nate Bayuk (4-4, 5.82, 23apps) can revert to his freshman season where he was 0-0, 3.14 in 32 appearances, it’ll be another huge boon to the arms corps. Another big addition will be dual threat Andrew Lawrence, who made 12 starts on the hill and 40 in the outfield. Speaking of the outfield, it will certainly be a strength beyond Lawrence, with Matt McGovern, Tom Bourdon (.290) and Marc Perdios (.267), who all saw significant time. The new incoming class includes some studs, including a huge find in LHP Andrew Chin, who was a 5th round draft pick of Toronto, but chose to come to BC instead. Also, RHP John Gorman (50th round, Red Sox) and Louisiana-import infielder Blake Butera (whose brother Barry played at BC in 2009) will make immediate impacts.

.

The Bad News:

Coach Gambino and his staff had way too many speed bumps in last year’s campaign, including the teams’ confidence getting shot to pieces after going from 30 wins in 2010 to just 17 wins last year. A 4-16 slump from Tax Day onward will have to be erased from the players’ minds as they enter 2012. The biggest chore for the BC coaches will be totally overhauling the infield, as 3B Anthony Mechionda (.304) is the only returning starter of the dirtbaggers. And keep in mind that last year’s infield was an integral part in posting a school-record .977 defense. Two big losses on the pitching staff will need to be replaced in staff ace John Leonard (who made 13 starts) and saves leader Garret Smith (who made six saves in 17 appearances). Keep in mind, the pitch staff needs to step up in a major way after finishing last in the ACC at 5.63.

.

Schedule Note:

Plenty of tests… maybe too many.

This re-worked Eagles squad will be a pretty good team, but the won-loss record could be pretty harsh with a horribly tough pre-conference schedule. As part of their 17 road game road swing to start the season, the Eagles will play Virginia, James Madison and Coastal Carolina in the opening weekend and then go to UCF, Florida Gulf Coast, FIU and FAU. Then, as if they haven’t suffered enough, they’ll also have to start the ACC slate off with trips to Miami and Clemson. Dang.

.

.

- CLEMSON (43-20, 17-13)

2011 ISR: 9

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B/SS Richie Shaffer (.315-13-55)

RHP Dominic Leone (6-2, 3.70, .215OBA)

RHP David Haselden (6-1, 2.23, .230OBA)

1B/DH Phil Pohl (.333-4-33)

RHP Kevin Brady (2-0, 3.86)

.

The Good News:

This is easy. The good news is that coach Jack Leggett’s charges never really change. It’s the same deal going into each season; there are some holes to fill, there are some talented newcomers coming to campus, they’ll gel together in a few weeks and the Tigers will be a monster once again. It’s a good formula and one that CU used last year to become one of the hotter teams in the country by the month of May. Despite the deadened bats, the offense actually got better, improving from .306 in 2010 to .318 last year. Must be that awesome Easton technology. I digress. There’s a whole mess of good pitching coming back to the roster for 2012, including starting righties Jonathan Meyer (5-2, 3.31) and Dominic Leone, plus versatile arms like David Haselden (who made four starts and 25apps) and Scott Firth (5-1, 3.06 in 7starts and 17apps), who had a great summer in the Cape Cod League. Also, the Tigers get a pair of wildly-talented flingers returning despite heavy overtures from the pros as RHP Kevin Brady (17th round pick, Indians) comes back (By the by, if he gets back to the Kevin Brady of old and stays healthy, that’s huge.) and LHP Joseph Moorefield (2-1, 5.28, 26th round, Royals) also returns. The mound staff doesn’t have a lot of power-pitcher types, but they walked very few batters and still managed 486Ks last year, so it’s a disciplined and accurate staff that pitching coach Dan Pepicelli will work with in his third year on the staff. Richie Shaffer is a slender swinger with lots of pop and will team with 2B Jason Stolz (.285) and C Spencer Kieboom (.282) to make for another solid defense. And of course, if you’re looking for the next round of stud newcomers, you’ll find them in talents like RHP Daniel Gossett (a surprise pick-up after being drafted in the 16th round by the Red Sox), C Garrett Boulware (44th round pick, Padres) and INF Jay Baum, who is a waterbug-type that should deepen the middle infield and pick up spot duty this year. The incoming class was ranked No. 31 in the country.

.

The Bad News:

Despite being one of the hottest teams in the country – going 27-6 before Regionals – the Tigers lost two straight to UConn to end their season at home. That made for a painful off-season for sure. (As did watching their sworn enemies the Gamecocks win another national title. Arrrrgh!). As mentioned above, there will be some readjustment period to this team, but the Tigers have to avoid repeating last years’ 4-8 start in ACC play, which was tough for them to overcome in the standings. While the pitching will be deep and talented this year, finding some additional offense could be a problem, since four of the top five hitters from last year are gone, including longtime mainstays like Brad Miller, Will Lamb, John Hinson and Jeff Schaus. Those are near-legendary names around these parts. An all-new outfield could be an adventure at times while some newbies adjust to things there. There is lots of pitching back, but very little of it will be of the left-handed variety. In fact, incoming Texas talent Kyle Bailey, a low-90s downhill hurler, and Joseph Moorefield may be the only lefties to see much time on the bump.

.

Schedule Note:

The Palmetto State Championship.

I am happy to report that the Tigers will once again play rival South Carolina in a three-game weekend set, once at Kingsmore Stadium, once at South Carolina and once in neutral Charleston. That’s ALWAYS great news. But CU will also have a late-season three-gamer with College of Charleston and will take on teams like Winthrop, Furman, Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina in mid-week games (though there’s only one game vs. CCU, I was hoping for at least two), so there will be a ton of in-state games to measure themselves by. The ACC home slate is amazingly favorable as contenders North Carolina, Miami, North Carolina State and Florida State all play in IPTAY-land.

.

.

- FLORIDA STATE (46-19, 19-11)

2011 ISR: 7

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF James Ramsey (.364-10-67, 11SBs)

1B Jayce Boyd (.343-8-60, 10SBs)

2B Devon Travis (.329-6-33)

3B Sherman Johnson (.256, 10SBs)

SS Justin Gonzalez (.264-8-40)

.

The Good News:

You know the Seminoles. They’ve been the same for nearly 30 years now. The deal is, Mike Martin isn’t going to let his team go anywhere but near the top of the conference and the national rankings, no matter how many star players have flown the coop. Five of the top seven hitters come back to the batters box in 2012, led by all-world OF James Ramsey, who had a bang-em-up summer in the Cape Cod League and will probably switch from right field to center field. Oh, Ramsey was also drafted in the 22nd round by the Twins last June, but chose to return to Tallytown. After years of curiously mediocre defenses, last year’s unit played at a .972 clip (Yes!!) and could be really stout again in 2012 with all four infield starters returning in Jayce Boyd, Devon Travis, Justin Gonzalez and Sherman Johnson. And as you see from the numbers above, all four of them provide plenty of pop at the dish as well, so look for the team average to jump up from last year’s .293. The pitch staff has some familiar names still around, particularly in the two weekend starters of Hunter Scantling (3-3, 4.54, 12starts) and Scott Sitz (4-2, 5.92 in 9starts), pair of experienced righties. Look for an increased role for RHP Robert Benincasa (2-2, 3.58) who has the best ERA of the returnees and looks to impress in this, his junior/draft eligible season (he’s a former 33rd round pick out of high school). Part time starters/relievers Gary Merians (6-2, 4.03) and Brian Busch (6-2, 4.29 and the only returning lefty) should excel as they will be leaned upon a tid bit more their senior seasons. Two greenhorns who could make an immediate impression are C Mario Amarol (a 17th round draft pick of the Brewhas) and the next great two-way player in Garnet & Gold could be Jose Brizuela (46th round, Reds), part of the 16th ranked recruiting class in the country.

.

The Bad News:

This was a tough off-season for the Seminoles, having to say goodbye to names like All Americans Mike McGee and Sean Gilmartin. They also lost the services of saves leader Daniel Bennett and familiar names like three-year starting catcher Rafael Lopez and mainstays Taiwan Easterling and Stuart Tapley. Cue the slow, sad music, right? Well there are a lot of returnees on the mound, but beyond Gilmartin and McGee nobody seemed to strike fear into opposing batters. Pitchers like Hunter Scantling, Scott Sitz and Brian Busch need to grind it out and put the clams on people this year as they are all capable of flashes of dominance. Finding a new catcher and corner outfielders is a priority before the season opener. Since there are only six pitchers back from last year, an all-new bullpen and a dominant closer will need to be found. Much-ballyhooed 2010 draftee RHP Peter Miller (3.1 innings pitched) barely played in 2011 and will need to make his presence felt to help out the depleted bullpen.

.

Schedule Note:

The schedule will keep them relevant.

Though the Noles might not be up to the lofty heights of the last few FSU teams, a relatively easy-breezy schedule will keep the win total high and have them in the thick of the national rankings. Though there are weekends against FIU, Maine and Rhode Island, my guess is those teams won’t be as formidable early on in the season, so look for FSU to go unscathed. Even the ACC slate is on the light side, particularly early on as they’ll face Duke, rebuilding Virginia, Wake and Virginia Tech in the first four weeks. Mid-week is where the meat of the non-ACC schedule is with games against Florida (3), Jacksonville (1) and Stetson (2) posing the biggest threats. Road trips to Georgia Tech and Clemson will be big tests, as will the home rivalry with Miami. FSU will avoid North Carolina in the ACC rotation this year.

.

.

- MARYLAND (21-35, 5-25)

2011 ISR: 151

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Tim Kiene (.280-3-18)

OF Charlie White (.304, 17SBs)

SS Alfredo Rodriguez (.234, 20SBs)

RHP Brady Kirkpatrick (2-5, 5.71)

RHP Brett Harman (5-8, 4.50)

.

The Good News:

Year two of the Erik Backich regime should go quite well. In fact, bump that up to very well. Known as a master recruiter, Bakich is formulating a team that could be ready to bust out bigger than those UMd football uniforms. It all starts on the mound for the Terps as the pitching staff showed vast improvement going from 7.39 in 2010 to last year’s 5.24. And opponents only hit .260 off of them, and this came from a *mostly* new staff that took the field last year too. A couple of factors will make this year’s arms brigade even better. First, ace Sander Beck decided to come back to campus despite getting drafted by the nearby Orioles last June. Secondly, senior RHP Brett Harman is back and at 100% after missing last year with Tommy John surgery. Harman was the Friday guy starting 13 games in 2010 and is 10-14, 5.28 for his career. In all, he’s got 44 appearances under his belt and the coaches were giddy over his fall performance. Also, RHP David Carroll (5-5, 4.70) is coming back to build on last year’s 14 weekend starts. And all three flingers are seniors, so you can see why there is so much optimism on the mound for 2012. In addition, relievers LHP Korey Wacker (2-4, 2.73, 3svs .211OBA) and RHP Charlie Haslup (0-1, 3.66, .209OBA) were very effective and are a good backup to the starters. There are five listed returning starters in the field, but to be fair there are nine players with 30 or more starts coming back to the fold, so this team is mega-stocked and ready to go. The infield should be a certain strength as well, with 1B Tim Kiene, 2B Ryan Holland (.282-3-30, 10SBs), SS Alfredo Rodriguez (who was drafted in the 32nd round by the Brewers last June) and 3B Jake Stinnett (.174-5-24) all coming back. Speaking of well-heeled infielders, incoming talents K.J. Hockaday (14th round, Orioles) and Andrew Amaro (47th round, Phillies) could both bust into the starting lineup in the infield at some point this season.

.

The Bad News:

The piss-poor 5-25 ACC record has now been around for two straight seasons and these guys must show some improvement. Despite all the experience you see coming back this year, keep in mind that this was still a pitching staff that finished 11th in the ACC with a 5.24 team ERA and the staggering league-high 337 walks and the defense wasn’t bad, fielding at .966, but that was still just 9th in the ultra-competitive ACC ranks. Sadly, only one pitcher from last season comes back with a winning record, LHP Jimmy Reed, with 2-1, 4.86 numbers. Also, Eric Potter and Chuck Ghysels combined for 20 starts and held opponents to .208 and .260 averages respectively. And the biggest eyesore was, of course, the offense that hit just .247 last season and hit only 20 home runs. Crank it up guys.

.

Schedule Note:

Here’s why you’ve gotta play up.

The reason the Terrapins need to reach their potential this season is because of the slate. They’ll start right in the frying pan with a trip out West to UCLA and follow that up with a weekend hoe-down vs. Western Carolina, Purdue and East Carolina in the first two weeks. MAAC champion Manhattan comes to College Park the week before ACC play kicks in. They’ll get North Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson and Virginia all to come to Shipley Field as well. By contrast, roadies at Miami and Florida State will be their usual arduous assignments.

.

.

- NORTH CAROLINA STATE (35-27, 15-15)

2011 ISR: 42

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Brett Williams (.286-6-25, 10SBs)

SS Chris Diaz (.306, just 6Es)

2B Matt Bergquist (.289-4-46)

RHP/RP Chris Overman (6-3, 2.39, 7svs .218OBA)

.

The Good News:

You Wolfpack fans ready? Are ya’? ‘Coz things are about to blow up for you guys. Almost all the signs coming out of Raleigh are pointing upward for the Wolfpack as Eliot Avent has turned his own program around in recent seasons. State had one of the most improved defensive units in the country, going from .958 fielding in 2010 to an exemplary .975 last season. And one of the biggest reasons was the sweeping double-play combo of SS Chris Diaz and 2B Matt Bergquist, who not only manned the middle-infield but both also got better with the sticks as last season went on. Speaking of solid bats, look for good power from a trio of lumberjacks in Brett Williams, DH Danny Canela (.260-5-25 in 36starts) and 3B Andrew Ciencin (.257-5-35), who all have potential for much better numbers. Reliever Chris Overman was “nearly unhittable” at the end of last season and could pull some All American mention. And getting back to that pointing upward theme, NC State has the No. 14th-ranked recruiting class on campus with a ton of potential. The bellcow from the class is catcher Brett Austin, who was a supplemental 1st round pick of the Padres and has an unlimited ceiling. With great blocking skills, incredible catch-and-throw ability and a lethal bat, look for Austin to be a stratospheric star in the coming seasons. He’ll be a battery-mate of a slew of great mound prospects, led by lefty Carlos Rodon (16th round pick of the Brewers) and righties Logan Jernigan (who is likely a midweek starter) and Dillon Frye. They may take some lumps here and there – as first year guys tend to do – but if they get up to speed quickly enough, the rewards could be reaped soon.

.

The Bad News:

The Pack did not escape the middle of the pack in the ACC, going 15-15 for the second straight season. Coach Avent knows that getting that ACC ledger improved by four or five games is what will get the Lobos playing at home in the post-season. Well, that and getting above the 40-win plateau, which the Pack hasn’t done since 2008. Some big time losses to the arms corps could be problematic as pitchers Josh Easley and Grant Sasser, who combined for almost 100 innings of work last season, both befell the Tommy John surgery in the off-season and won’t be available until next year. So pitching depth should be the biggest sticking point to this team – depending on how quickly the greenhorns come around. The sweet sticks of All American Pratt Maynard and Harold Riggins, who were the top two batters in average, both moved on, leaving Chris Diaz as the only returnee to hit .300+ last year. Remember fans, all that young talent will take some time.

.

Schedule Notes:

The Easy Way In.

For the first three weeks of the season the Wolfpack, the only tough challenge they’ll face will come in a single game at Coastal Carolina. Other than that, there are three mildly tough games with UNC-Wilmington and a bunch of Northern snowbirds. ACC play won’t be a day at the county fair though as NCSU will have traveling weekends at North Carolina, at Clemson and finishing the regular season at Florida State.

.

.

- WAKE FOREST (25-31, 15-15)

2011 ISR: 92

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Mac Williamson (.273-12-49, 11SBs)

LHP Tim Cooney (7-3, 3.01, 91Ks, .265OBA)

LHP Brian Holmes (3-4, 3.00, .233OBA)

RHP Michael Dimock (5-1, 1.87, 4svs, .224OBA)

3B Carlos Lopez (.270-11-34)

1B Matt Conway (.256-6-38)

.

The Good News:

If the end of 2011 is any indication, that magic wand I talked about coach Tom Walter having is about to bear its fruit. The Deacons went 12-6 down the stretch of the regular season and really began to gel. The pitching staff looks pretty formidable, with two weekend starters back in lefties Brian Holmes and Tim Cooney, who combined for 157 strikeouts in 167 innings of work. They’ll also have mid-week starter Zach White (2-5, 5.84), another lefty, and relieve ace RHP Michael Dimock, who had 28 appearances with five wins and four saves. The other arm that’s back with a sub-5.00 ERA was RHP Justin Van Grouw (4-3, 4.57, .239OBA) who did make four starts in his 22 appearances. The arms are ready for 2012 as last year’s 4.70 team ERA was the best in years and a vast improvement from 2010’s 6.29. The infield is set with plenty of experience. Joining 3B Carlos Lopez and 1B Matt Conway will be the middle-infield of SS Pat Blair (.258-3-18) and 2B Conor Keniry (.197), who ware the returning speed merchants, accounting for 28 combined stolen bases last season. Big things are expected of incoming RHP Matt Pirro (look, they gave the dude the “#1″ jersey, he BETTER produce), who could end up being the Sunday starter. Also look for big things from RHP Connor Kaden and OFs Joe Napolitano and Kevin Conway. Finally, OF Kevin Jordan, the lad who received the kidney from coach Walter last year and was a former 19th round draft pick, looks like he’s ready to play ball again after making it through the fall practices in fine form. Get after big guy. The entire Stitch Head Nation is cheering for you.

.

The Bad News:

While there’s still a lot of positives to look at as this program moves forward, unfortunately there’s still plenty of bad news for the Black & Gold. And yes, that’s despite all the returnees the Deacons have coming back to campus. First off, with the weakest hitting team in the conference (an embarrassingly-low .225 team average. Not a typo, by the by), these guys need major retooling at the plate. The Deacons also struck out an amazingly high 522 times last season too. Patience guys, patience.  The biggest firestarter in the batting order, Steven Brooks and his 30SBs, has hit the bricks, as has 14-game starter Austin Stadler. And to add insult to injury, their opponents out-hit the Demon Deacons .281 to .225 last season. And yes, that means the pitching staff and its 4.71 team ERA was still just 10th in the ACC in pitching. Gotta ramp it up in this league. RHP Chris Willson, who is slated to be the closer, must come back 100% after throwing just five innings last season.

.

Schedule Note:

Returning the favor.

Back when Coach Walter was the head man at the University of New Orleans, he had his team train and study at New Mexico State after the campus was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2006 and the school was shut down for massive renovations. Now, Aggies head coach Rocky Ward welcomes coach Walter’s Deacons to open the 2012 season with four games in Las Cruces. The next 15 games will be played in Winston-Salem against mostly northern teams that will be getting their cleats underneath them. So look for a lot of wins prior to ACC play kicking in with a trip to North Carolina State in mid-March. The Deacons could be featured players in how the ACC title chase ends up with series at Miami and vs. Clemson in their final two weekends.

.

.

Coastal Division

- DUKE (26-30, 7-23)

2010 RPI: 136

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

C Jeff Kremer (.347)

1B Chris Marconcini (.291-4-39, 10SBs, Freshman All American)

RHP/OF/2B Marcus Stroman (3-4, 2.80, 4svs, .241OBA/.250, 12SBs)

RHP Robert Huber (4-1, 4.37)

.

The Good News:

The Blue Devils would love to rehash last year’s 15-4 start and would like to see it keep going from there too. Last year’s youth will grow up more this year and it should reflect in the won-loss mark. The Dookies started five freshmen in the field last season and had four of their most prominent pitchers toe the rubber as first-year guys as well. But all conversations about DU start and end with the wildly talented Marcus Stroman, who played for Team USA this past summer. As he goes, so go the Blue Devils. Look for a bounce-back year for CFer Will Piwnica-Worms, who hit just .264 but is lethal on the basepaths, having stolen 21-of-23 bases last year. Catcher Jeff Kremer is a decent backstop and will catch Stroman and weekend starter LHP Dillon Haviland (2-3, 5.05). Also, Robert Huber and fellow spot-starter RHP Chase Bebout (2-4, 3.38, .228OBA) should be leaned upon more this season. The recruiting class was a good haul again as RHP Nick Piscotty was a 32nd round draft pick of the Royals and diminutive, but power-packed, LHP Trent Swart was a Louisville Slugger 1st team All American last year.

.

The Bad News:

Four straight winning campaigns came to an end last season, including that pretty awful 7-23 conference mark, which was second-to-worst (thank you Maryland). In fact, last year was the second straight season in which the Devils failed to win 30 or more games. The Devs were 9th in the ACC in both hitting (.268) and pitching (4.70) last season and need to make some strides this year if they’re going to get a serious push for any post-season play. Like Stroman, Dennis O’Grady was a valuable two-way threat, hitting .275 and standing as the team ace with 14 starts on the mound, going 6-3, 3.65, but he has now gone on to the Padres organization. RHP Ben Grisz joins him in the pro ranks after tossing 43 innings out of the bullpen last year.

.

Schedule Note:

Tough starts all the way around.

Look for some early bruises for the Devils as they’ll start the 2012 campaign getting thrown to the Longhorns, also known as a three-game weekend at Texas. The slate eases up from there with games against the likes of Campbell, N.C. Central, Canisius, George Washington and Appalachian State. But ACC play begins with back-to-back visits from Florida State and Miami. Oof! At the end of April, they’ll also have back-to-back weekends against Research Triangle rivals North Carolina State and North Carolina.

.

.

- GEORGIA TECH (42-21, 22-8)

2011 ISR: 16

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Jake Davies (.347-5-35)

OF Kyle Wren (.340, 16SBs)

OF Brandon Thomas (.307-3-29, 20SBs)

OF Daniel Palka (.297-12-52)

RHP Buck Farmer (11-3, 2.91)

RHP Luke Bard (2-2, 2.72, 8svs)

.

The Good News:

Man, talk about a team that had almost nothing returning last season. Wow. For all the newbies who suited up for Tech in 2011, 42 wins is pretty stout stuff, don’tcha think? Last year’s “rebuilding” season will turn into a much more successful 2012 season, especially if the Jackets exceed expectations as they did last year. Coach Danny Hall enters the 2012 season just 13 wins shy of 1,000 for his career and he’ll deal with a squad that featured 17 freshman last year yet still won the ACC regular season title. Lots of gap power and speed to burn returns to what is a very experienced batting order. Kyle Wren and Brandon Thomas are gap-robbers in the outfield with swift feet and look for the continued emergence of SS/2B Mott Hyde (.276-4-47) who was thrown to the wolves as a frosh last year but was one of the best defensive infielders in the country coming out of high school. Catcher Zane Evans (.270-5-46) was named a Frosh All American last year and is developing into a solid backstop. Buck Farmer (16starts) and RHP Matt Grimes (7-4, 4.15, .245OBA in 12 starts) will be the anchors of this year’s staff, with Luke Bard (a former 16th round draftee) providing one of the better relief arms in the country. In between those golden arms, look for the continued rise of Sophs DeAndre Smelter (2-1, 0.52 in 14apps) and RHP Dusty Isaacs (1-1, 2.72, .213OBA). Isaacs made 25 appearances out of the ‘pen last year and could be ready to blossom even more after posting 44Ks in 37.1inns with a 2.88ERA in the Great Lakes League last summer. The frosh class was ranked the 37th best group in D1 by Collegiate Baseball and will get immediate contributions from C/DH A.J. Murray (the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year), burly RHP Cole Pitts (32nd round pick, Indians) and swift OF Cameron Gibson.

.

The Bad News:

Unfortunately, it’s become a notorious black mark: Tech lost at home in the post-season for the third straight year last June and were sent packing before even reaching their steppingstone goal of a Regional title. That’s eight months of pain to live with there (or big time motivation, right?). The Wreck will have to venture on without key contributors like leading hitter and powerbats Matt Skole and Jacob Esch, who were two pillars of that defensive infield, and also the mega-talented arms of staff horse Mark Pope (11-4 with 5CGs last year), weekender Jed Bradley and reliever Kevin Jacob, who made 70 appearances in his Tech career. The infield will have to be re-situated with a couple of new faces for the 2012 season and will have to gel quickly. Unlike most years, this season’s non-conference schedule won’t allow for easing the new blood into the lineup, they’ll have to hit the ground running.

.

Schedule Note:

Northern Invasion. Well, a better Northern Invasion.

Tech will face a trio of snowbirds in the first three weekends who should provide plenty of resistance this time around as NCAA participant Kent State will join Winthrop in Atlanta for opening weekend. Then Ohio State and Rutgers come calling the following two weekends and both of those teams are expected to be vastly improved this season (provided the injury bug stays away). The opening of ACC play, on the other hand, will be less vigorous as the Bees will take on rebidding Virginia Tech, Boston College and Duke in three of the first four weekends. But beware the tough ending as at North Carolina, vs. Clemson, at Virginia and vs. Miami represent the final four weekends of ACC play.

.

.

- MIAMI (38-23, 19-10)

2011 ISR: 25

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Rony Rodriguez (.308-13-44)

OF Dale Carey (.272)

SS Stephen Perez (.263, 14SBs)

LHP Bryan Radziewski (9-2, 3.35, .252OBA)

LHP Steven Ewing (8-2, 2.06, .202OBA)

RHP Eric Whaley (7-5, 2.70, .233OBA)

RHP EJ Encinosa (5-6, 3.45, .197OBA)

LHP Eric Erickson (injured in 2011)

.

The Good News

If you’d like, go ahead and define an “off-year” for the Hurricane program… No trip to Omaha? Not winning 45 games? Losing double digit games in ACC play? Okay, then 2011 was an off-year by their standards. But don’t worry, you know the Canes won’t be down for long, it’s just not in their DNA. The thing that is going to lead them back in a big time way is the entire brigade of starting pitching they’ll have rolling back to uniform this year. Look for a return to their dominant ways of yore as the Canes will return all 61 starting assignments from last year, including the top four pitchers from the 2011 season in Bryan Radziewski (Freshman All American by Collegiate Baseball), Eric Whaley, E.J. Encinosa and Steven Ewing. Additionally, the Canes will also get back Eric Erickson, who has a career record of 23-6 but has missed all of 2009 and 2011 with a pair of Tommy John surgeries. Despite that, the coaching staff expects him to be “near 100%” for this season and is excited to get his experience and drive on the mound again. The bullpen will feature a heavy dose of sophomores who should acquit themselves well in their second year of ACC competition. Watch for Adam Sargent (2-2, 4.40), AJ Salcines (1-0, 5.27) and Javi Salas (0-2, 5.59), who combined for 68 appearances out of the ‘pen as freshman last year. A couple of sophs come back in the field as well with Brad Fieger (.280-2-29), who took over at 3rd base when Harold Martinez struggled late last season, and dynamic OF Dale Carey (.271), who was one of the most exciting players in the country by season’s end. As of press time, it still looks like the Canes will get the immediate infusion of the wildly talented All American catcher Peter O’Brien, who transferred in from Bethune-Cookman, despite getting drafted in the 3rd round of last June’s draft. If he is cleared and good to go behind the dish, that could help raise the Hurricane’s profile in the pre-season polls and on individual All American teams by himself. And of course, you can’t go far without acknowledging another top flight UofM recruiting class. Yep, Jim Morris and recruiting coordinator J.D. Arteaga got another good haul from South Florida that will keep The U viable for another three or four years. The class is headed by a pair of LHPs in Chris Diaz and Andrew Suarez (9th round, Blue Jays), who both throw in the upper 80s. And get this, Alex Fernandez Jr., who was picked in the 46th round by the Tigers, comes to campus as a highly-skilled OF with great speed and quick hands.

.

The Bad News:

Well first off, there’s that whole weird stat of Miami having five of its last six seasons finishing with 20+ losses. Doesn’t seem right, does it? Neither does dropping 10 games in conference play and finishing 4th in their own division. But, here we are. The Hurricanes have a lot to work on since they finished way down at 8th in the conference in hitting (at .275) and will have to venture forward without three of their most important cogs in the engine as blazing fast leadoff hitters Zeke DeVoss and Nathan Melendres take their .320+ averages and 56 combined stolen bases to the bigs. Joining them will be All American lumberjack Harold Martinez, whose menacing presence will be missed. Although there are endless combinations that coach Morris could use in his starting rotation, the bullpen will have to be reconfigured a bit after losing the three best arms in Daniel Miranda (15svs), Sam Robinson (6svs) and Travis Miller (.212OBA), all of whom were taken high in the draft. Finally, the defense MUST improve. Last season the Canes were a shaky .962 percentage-wise while committing the most errors (92) in the conference. And that was with what you would normally call “A+ defenders” like SS Stephen Perez, 2B Zeke DeVoss and 3B Harold Martinez in the lineup too. Yikes. Lots to work on here, but there is still plenty of talent to get it all fixed.

.

Schedule Note:

Revenge.

All those tricked-out arms that the Hurricanes will be throwing at people will come in handy when that mean, nasty, remorseless machine known at the Florida Gators come to visit in the third weekend of the season, March 2-3-4. After opening with snowbirds like Rutgers and Albany in the first two weeks, this Gator squad will be the ultimate test of whether this team is back or if we could be looking at another lackluster season… by their standards, of course. The ACC schedule is as easy as it could be to start off as The U will host Boston College, go to Duke and then host resurgent Maryland in the first three weeks. But road trips to the three toughest venues in the ACC await as the green and orange will go to Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech. Oof!

.

.

- NORTH CAROLINA (51-16, 20-10)

2011 ISR: 5

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B Colin Moran (.335-9-71)

2B Tommy Coyle (.311-2-36, 18SBs)

C Jacob Stallings (.292-4-33)

LHP Kent Emanuel (9-1, 2.33, .246OBA)

RHP Chris Munnelly (6-5, 4.09)

RHP Michael Morin (4-2, 4.64, 10svs)

.

The Good News:

In this day and age of erecting statues of coaches while they’re still around, let’s go ahead and have a full-body sculpture of Mike Fox somewhere on the Carolina campus. I mean five of six seasons ending in Omaha? Do you know how tough it is to get there just ONCE?! The entire coaching community knows and is giving this dude props for an incredible run. Making it six out of seven? It certainly ain’t out of the realm of possibility. In fact, considering all the experience coming back (I mean, just take a gander at the number of returning pitchers above. Good night Irene!), this could be another in a growing line of quality teams for coach Fox… again. The top three hitters coming back are all All American candidates in their own right with Colin Moran, who is becoming the next difference-maker in the Dustin Ackley/Tim Federowicz mold, Tommy Coyle, who led the team with 18 steals and struck out a team-low 26 times in 270 at-bats, and Jacob Stallings, who comes back despite getting drafted by the Reds last June. Also keep up with OF Chaz Frank (.278, 10SBs), who should post better numbers this year as returning starters. Thirty-eight of last year’s 67 starts comes back led by weekend pillars Kent Emanuel (a frosh All American) and Chris Munnelly (6-5, 4.09). But it’s the depth that will lead this team to overcome any losses, particularly developing sophs Andrew Smith (3-1, 2.77) and Shane Taylor (2-3, 3.00), a pair of righties who combined for 51 appearances and 62 innings. But the big returnee to the ‘pen is Michael Morin, the saves leader who made 32 appearances last season and will be leaned upon heavily this year. Assistant Scott Jackson, the recruiting coordinator, has helped to bring in another banner class of Heels as they’ll have RHP Adam Griffin (a 44th round draft pick of the Indians), SS Zack LaNeve (44th round, Marlins), SS Josh Ake (29th round, Mets) and RHP Chris McCue (35th round, Yankees) were all highly coveted by the pros but chose to come extend coach Fox’s stellar reputation for successful seasons. Ho hum… it’s becoming a habit in Chapel Hill.

.

The Bad News:

Well the first “bad” news is that unlike most of the recent Tar Heel visits to Omaha, this one ended rather quickly for their standards as they went 1-2 and barely let Roy Williams settle into his seat at the new stadium in downtown Omaha. And even though the sky-blue boys don’t lose a lot off last year’s squad, the talents they do lose ARE significant. Patrick Johnson was the staff ace and the hardest throwing, most intimidating hurler from last year, but he has gone to the MLB ranks. Seven-game winner Greg Holt, who made a team-high 33 appearances, is also being paid to play now as well. Offensively, lead-by-example types Levi Michael, Ben Bunting and strapping Jesse Werzbicki have all moved on, leaving big holes to fill at the dish and in the field. Unfortunately, multi-talented RHP Cody Stiles, the mid-week starter who was groomed to move into the weekend rotation, was kicked off the team after a fall discrepancy, and he’s an arm the Heels could’ve used. The defense was tops in the ACC last year (at a .979 percentage) but will need to fill holes at two infield positions for that steady play to continue.

.

Schedule Note:

Another “easy” non-conference schedule?

The reason I put easy in quotations is because, once again it seems as if the Heels will be playing a pretty soft non-ACC slate, but games with Xavier, Wright State and Southern Cal could become hairy since all three of these teams could be much better than most people expect, especially with the all-new upheaval at USC. Either way, the ACC slate will be a toughie and should improve the Strength of Schedule as they’ll open with a road weekend at Clemson and will later have trips to Miami and Virginia to build up a strong callus for their RPI ranking. The back end of the ACC schedule eases up considerably with BC, Duke and VPI being the last three weekends. So just like most years with Mike Fox-coached teams, look for a strong finish.

.

.

- VIRGINIA (56-12, 22-8)

2011 ISR: 2

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Branden Kline (4-1, 1.86, .207OBA)

LHP Kyle Crockett (3-0, 1.97, .233OBA)

RHP Whit Mayberry (5-0, 3.00)

INF Chris Taylor (.305-2-49, 15SBs)

INF Keith Werman (.223)

.

The Good News:

The Cavs were the nation’s No. 1 team for a good portion of 2011, proving that this program is officially a certified “giant” now, not a “sleeping giant.” This has been a program chock full of All American talent. Not a lot will change in that capacity for this year, but it will be very raw talent that will need some time to marinate. There are still some well-known names on the roster. Dominating reliever Branden Kline will probably take on a bigger role this year, having the most lively arm and a burgeoning mound presence. Same goes for Kyle Crockett, Whit Mayberry and LHP Justin Thompson (3-1, 3.46), who threw 32, 33 and 39 innings respectively last season. The infield will do some shifting around, but look for the very-experienced talents of Chris Taylor, Keith Werman and Jared King (.321-2-29 in 46 starts) to take on the important roles. The coaching staff is also excited to return the services of infielder Steven Bruno, who hit. .365 in 2010 in 36 games, but played in only seven games last year due to injury. Also, the Wahoos welcome in one of the better recruiting classes in the country (ranked No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball). The big hose of the class could be power-hitting 1B/OF Derek Fisher, who was a 6th round draft pick of the Texas Rangers but chose to come to UVa instead. Also watch for OF Mike Papi (30th round, Angels) and INF/RHP Nick Howard (Maryland player of the year), both amazingly gifted athletic ballplayers who should patch some holes in the lineup right away. RHP Joel Effertz, who was a 43rd round draftee of the White Sox, will also be the next big time arm to put his stamp on the program.

.

The Bad News:

Okay, yes indeed we have seen Brian O’Connor groom this program into a modern-day giant. But this is the season where we’ll see him have his biggest mountain to ever climb. This team will be losing a lot of really talented dudes. How they can overcome playing the 2012 season without players like Danny Hultzen, Stephen Proscia, John Hicks, John Barr, Will Roberts, Tyler Wilson, and on, and on. In all, the Hoos will have to replace over 70% of its innings pitched from last season and will have only four starts out of 68 games from last season coming back to the roster. Hultzen, Wilson, Roberts and Cody Winiarski combined for the other 64 starts on the mound last year and all of them are in the play-for-pay leagues. And of course, five of the top six hitters have also moved on, all of whom hit .295 or better. So obviously, this will be an extremely young team that will have to take a while to get its wobbly legs under it. Despite the losses, the talent is there, but look for lots of peaks and valleys for 2012. And the grey hairs keep popping up on that coaching staff.

.

Schedule Note:

The kind of schedule to ween the newbies.

Most years, I might criticize Virginia for having a relatively weak non-conference schedule, but this year you can almost give them a pass… almost. The first three weeks will have teams like Monmouth, Wright State, Seton Hall, Boston College and Marist come to Davenport Stadium. There will be single games with in-state teams that can’t wait to jump on an inexperienced squad. William and Mary, Liberty and James Madison will all get their shot early in the season. The only tough game will be vs. Coastal Carolina as part of the Caravelle Resort Tournament in the opening weekend. Clemson, North Carolina and Georgia Tech will come to Charlottesville, but there are still rigorous ACC road trips to N.C. State, Miami and Florida State.

.

.

- VIRGINIA TECH (30-25, 11-19)

2011 ISR: 69

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Andrew Rash (.335-18-53)

INF/RHP Ronnie Shaban (.292-5-52/0-1, 4.66, 3svs)

OF Taylor Horan (.396-3-12)

.

The Good News:

The best news is that the Hokies made it through the 2011 rebuilding season and will be back to wreak havoc again this year. Even still, the cold/impressive fact is that the Hokies won 30 or more for the third straight season. There were a lot of holes to fill going into last season, but those newbies are ready to break through in 2012. And Coach Pete Hughes isn’t exactly one to back down from a challenge. He’ll have the luxury of hang one of the best power-hitters in the country in Andrew Rash to build his batting order around. Fellow OF Tyler Horan hopes to fulfill his sizable promise and should add another power-stroke to the lineup. Tech hit 60 yard calls last year, pretty good considering the deadened bats. But the team strength should be the pitching staff, which last year had the lowest ERA since 2003 (4.57). Weekenders LHP Joe Mantiply (5-8, 4.36) and RHP Marc Zecchino (6-5, 4.66, 97Ks) are great control pitchers and will have Ronnie Shaban (3svs, 17apps), RHP Jake Joyce (2-3, 6.03, 3svs, 23apps) and LHP Jake Atwell (0-0, 3.48, 18apps) to provide a pretty solid bullpen-by-committee. The third weekend spot could go to mid-weeker Patrick Scoggin, who was 4-1, 3.66 and made five starts. All those arms are junior-senior, so look for their experience to be a big factor when things get hairy in big games. As for the fresh faces, keep an eye on a pair of newcomers, INF Alex Perez, who at 5′6, 148 is one of those spark-plug types with amazing glovework, and RHP/1B Brendon Hayden, a 6′5 dual-threat from Wisconsin who was drafted in the 36th round by the Phillies last summer.

.

The Bad News:

Hokie fans have to hope that taking the dip in victories last year/not making the ACC tournament is not going to start a new trend or that 2010’s 40 wins/NCAAs appearance was the aberration. There are still a lot of negatives that will have to be overcome for this team to even begin to think about a 40-win season. Most notably, nearly the entire infield will need to be replaced, particularly middle-infield wizards like Tim Smalling, who has been a team leader the last few years, and Michael Seaborn, who were big reasons the Gobblers set school record with a .969 fielding percentage. Also, centerfielder Tony Ballsteri’s speed was the only real threat on the basepaths for this team last year, and he’s moved on as well. Of Tech’s 11 ACC wins last season, the now-departed Joe Parsons accounted for five of them, including a big Sunday win over Clemson last May.

.

Schedule Note:

Bringing the youngin’s along slowly.

Tech won’t have to worry about throwing their new infield to the wolves since the pre-ACC slate is newbie-friendly. The only big challenge for the first three weekends will be a single game at Coastal Carolina. Look for some early success for VPI. But the first two weekends of ACC play will be downright hellish, sending the Hokies to Virginia and Georgia Tech back-to-back. As if that’s not painful enough, the ACC emersion plan gets even crueler with a trip to Florida State two weeks after that. That’ll put hair on your chest.

Big changes are whipping across the plains as the Big 12 morphs into a whole new animal in the years ahead. But don’t let that sway you into thinking they’ve gone soft. High heat will still be thrown. Scream liners will still be hit. And they’ll still suffocate you with pitching, defense and intimidation.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

Last year saw a lot of highs and a handful of lows for the Big 12. Texas and Texas A&M struggled with each other at the top of the conference and ended up tying for the crown and eventually both won their way to Omaha. The conference sent half its teams to the NCAAs, which is about normal. The down side is that both the Longhorns and the Aggies went 0-fer at the CWS, and OU, OklaState and K-State all went kerplunk in the Regionals, finishing 0-2 as well. And the one other team that went to the Regional finals was Baylor, who had the infamous blown 9th inning vs. Cal to end its season. So there were a lot of bitter endings for this proud conference. Only Kansas and Missouri ended the season with losing marks. Texas Tech came close to at-large land, but couldn’t quite pull enough wins to get to the promised land.

.

Conference ISR: 4

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Big 12.

1- Texas A&M

2- Texas

3- Texas Tech

4- Baylor

5- Oklahoma State

6- Oklahoma

7- Missouri

8- Kansas State

9- Kansas

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

Looks like it’ll be a Southwest Conference domination in the Big 12 this year. Yep, you’ve got the CWS vets back at the top again with Texas A&M and Texas riding their sizable talent level on the mound to the top of the conference for 2012. Expect a big uprising from Texas Tech, who has experience in droves coming back and are starting to make moves under Dan Spencer’s leadership. Baylor has a lot of upside and will finish in the top half, making this a Lone Star State hoe-down at the top of the standings and into the NCAA tournament. So I’m sure I’ve pissed off all those Bedlam fans with what I just wrote, but don’t fret people, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma certainly won’t fall far off the pace in this rebuilding season. In fact, don’t be shocked if those two hardscrabble teams end up putting it in my face with mad dashes to the top. Mizzou will show a lot of improvement before it heads off to the SEC. The Kansas schools bring up the rear but stand as trap-door weekends for anyone who thinks they can roll in and get some Ws without much sweat.

.

Favorites: Texas A&M, Texas

.

Contenders: None

.

Darkhorse: Oklahoma

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Texas A&M vs./at Texas, April 27-29.

Close Second: Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, May 4-6.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: Texas at Stanford, Feb. 24-26.

Close Second: The Houston College Classic, March 2-4.

.

Hot Coach: Rob Childress, Texas A&M

.

Hot Seat Coach: Tim Jamieson, Missouri

.

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Krey Bratsen, Texas A&M

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: RHP Ross Stripling, Texas A&M

.

Three Non-Conference Series The Big 12 Better Not Overlook:

1- Michigan State at Texas A&M, March 2-4.

2- Oral Roberts at Baylor, Feb. 17-19.

3- Oklahoma State at Cal Poly, Feb. 17-19.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- Texas will hit .240 as a team through February and March before finally coming around and finishing near .290.

2- Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Kansas State will all finish in the top 10 nationally in stolen bases.

3- At the beginning of April, the Big 12 will have the second-toughest strength of schedule in Boyd Nation’s ISR conference rankings.

.

.

- BAYLOR (31-28, 13-14)

2011 ISR: 44

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Max Muncy (.322-9-44, just 3Es)

SS Jake Miller (.299-3-27)

C Josh Ludy (.278-3-34)

OF Logan Vick (.213)

LHP Josh Turley (4-5, 3.39)

RHP Max Garner (2-4, 3.12, 8svs)

.

The Good News:

The Bears had their struggles last season, never quite getting a stretch of consistency going, but all in all you have to like that even on an “off” year they still won 30+ games and went to the NCAA Tournament. Hell, if not for that Cal BearMiracle, these Green Bears would’ve gone to the Super Regionals and maybe Omaha. Lots of programs would kill for that level of success. This time around coach Steve Smith has a very experienced team coming back to him in the spring, including eight field starters, two of the three weekend starters on the mound and their ace reliever. Look for Jake Miller to make the transition from 3rd base to Shortstop, where he’ll be joined by returning 2B Steve DalPorto (.222), who will make a really good double-play combo with 1B Max Muncy, a stellar fielder in his own right. Having weekenders Josh Turley and RHP Trent Blank (5-2, 4.88) will help ease the sting of losing All Big 12er Logan Verratt. A lot of young arms grew up quick last season but will be difference-makers as sophomores. So look for the continued upswing of RHP Dillon Newman (1-1, 3.29), Brad Kuntz (0-1, 4.12 and RHP Trae Davis (3-1, 6.75), all of whom threw more than 20 innings last year. Also keep an eye on Illinois-Chicago transfer C Nathan Orf, who was a Freshman All American in 2009, hitting .429, as well as LHP/OF Michael Howard, who was a 21st round draftee of Minnesota last June.

.

The Bad News:

Even though the Bears made the NCAAs again in 2011, it still feels like they are on a bit of a cold streak. Since that 2005 CWS squad, the Bears have won 37, 35, 32, 30, 36 and 31 games each successive season. Not bad. But not exactly what the patient Bears fans wanna see. (In case you’re wondering, yes, this is almost the same beginning I had to last year’s “Bad News” write-up.). Additionally, losing staff ace Logan Verrett and the versatile Brooks Pinckard means the two most-effective pitchers need to be replaced. And that’s because of how much the team leaned on those two talents. The Bears hit just .265 as a team, which was 2nd-to-worst in the Big 12 and the main indicator of where the Green and Gold need to improve. The Bears’ 437 strikeouts last year were also 2nd most in the Big 12 behind Texas A&M, who played 10 more games than the Bears did.

.

Schedule Note:

The schedule is no friend either.

Coach Smith always likes to challenge his squads, but this year’s non-conference slate could be a big barrier in their pulling away from the near-.500 mark of last year. They’ll take on Oral Roberts (opening weekend), TCU (twice), Texas State, UCLA (second weekend), UC Irvine/Lamar (for the QTI Baylor Classic) and even games with Michigan State and Memphis won’t be a breeze. Later on in the season, the scorching bats of New Mexico State will visit Baylor Ballpark as well. Last year’s schedule was the 13th toughest in the country, but I’m thinking it could be even higher this time around.

.

.

- KANSAS (26-30, 9-18)

2011 ISR: 112

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Zac Elgie (.297-7-37)

2B Ka’lana Eldredge (.270)

RHP Tanner Poppe (3-6, 3.66)

.

The Good News:

For all their low points last season, the Jayhawks still managed to win games vs. TCU, Texas, Wichita State and took weekend series from Oklahoma State, Baylor and Missouri. So what’s the problem, right? There will be a lot of senior starters for the Jayhawks this season as five of the seven field starters are four years guys, led by leading hitters/catchers/DHs James Stanfield (.325) and Alex DeLeon (.320-6-23), who will be leaned upon more this year. Overall, the new bats like OFs Michael Suiter (37th round pick of the Reds) and Connor McKay (24th round pick, Rockies) will need to make immediate impacts. The defense should be a strength with Ka’lana Eldredge and Zac Elgie manning the right side of the infield, helping them improve last year’s .964 fielding percentage. A huge key to this year’s success will be RHP Taylor Thomas (5-3, 4.74), who has been solid in mid-week starts. If he handles his transition to Big 12 starter it could make for a great 1-2 punch on the arms staff. Coach Ritch Pryce was able to entice his son, RP Jr., to come back as an assistant coach after winning 75 games in his last two seasons as head coach at South Dakota State. (Let that sink in for a minute… 75 wins in two years… at South Dakota State.)

.

The Bad News:

That late-season swoon I warned about last pre-season came back to bite the Jayhawks in the butt as they went 1-10 down the stretch in Big 12 play, with nine of those losses seeing their opponents score nine runs or more. Ugh! This led to just the second season in the last eight where KU didn’t win 30+. There were a few big time losses, including a gaggle of seniors who held this team together like leading hitter Casey Lytle, Jimmy Waters and Brandon Macias. Finding solid gloves to man the left side of the infield and some frosh pitchers to be Big 12-ready will be the biggest keys to digging out of that conference basement.  Lots of work ahead here… not that coach Price and Co. aren’t ready for that.

.

Schedule Note:

The Ritch Price 500.

Coach Price is one win away from his 500th head coaching victory and should get it in the opening weekend at Middle Tennessee, at Belmont or at Lipscomb. The following weekend the Jayhawks will play a pair of games at Mississippi State, which should tell us a lot about where this team is. The Big 12 road slate will be a big pain, considering their trips to Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas and at rival Kansas State. Lots of tough environments for the newbies that will be thrown to the wolves. Luckily, that’s where the numerous vets will come in handy.

.

.

- KANSAS STATE (36-25, 12-14

2011 ISR: 49

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Jared King (.307-8-40, 15SBs, Frosh All American)

2B Ross Kivett (.314)

C Dan Klein (.302)

LHP Shane Conlon (4-1, 4.42)

.

The Good News:

At this point, I’m pretty sure that Brad Hill was a good coaching hire for the Cats a few years ago. I mean we’re talking about a program that has now gone to the NCAA tournament three straight years and has won 116 games in that span. Okay, not exactly Bill Snyder-like in the miracle department, but give coach Hill and his staff a helluva lot of respect for coming over from Central Missouri and making this program a consistent winner in the Little Apple. For 2012, the offense will have to overcome losing Jason King and Nick Martini, but there are still four .300+ hitters returning, including Jared King, Ross Kivett, Dan Klein and 1B Wade Hinkel (.308), who are all very aggressive at the dish (maybe even to a fault?). Add in the fact that four players who stole 15 or more bases last year are back, which means these guys will keep pressuring the bejesus out of people after stealing 123 bases as a team in 2011. Also watch for the return of C/DH Blair DeBord, who hit .340 in 40 starts in 2010, but had to sit out last season. On the bump, a lot of young arms got thrown to the wolves last year, but will be mound vets this year, including the soph brigade of Shane Conlon, who has an easy delivery, mixes his pitches well and should move to the weekend rotation, along with part-time starter LHP Blake Freeman (3-2, 5.07) and relievers RHP Gerardo Esquivel (1-2, 2.55, .227OBA) and LHP Jared Moore (1-0, 3.44, .250OBA).

.

The Bad News:

First off, the Cats will have to deal with a handful of big time losses, including the aforementioned Jason King and Nick Martini at the dish, who were the two best hitters on the squad. But it’s the arms corps that will really feel the affects of the off-season attrition. Kyle Hunter was a Friday phenom and Justin Lindsey added nine starts to the list last season. In the ‘pen, the holes to fill are even bigger, where All-Big 12 set-up man Evan Marshall is gone, as is All American saves-man James Allen, who both had microscopic ERAs of 1.61 and 1.35. Needless to say, these are the two arms who kept the Cats in games from the 5th inning onward. I know it’s an inexact science, but it was weird to see Kansas State being the only Big 12 team not to get mentioned by Collegiate Baseball’s recruiting rankings, even with RHP Nate Williams (38th round, Braves) and OF Robert Youngdahl (37th round, Red Sox) both turning down the pros and coming to campus.

.

Schedule Note:

California winter camp.

The Cats will have to gel their new blood in with the returnees starting with their first seven games coming from the Golden State against Cal State Bakersfield, San Diego State, San Diego and Oregon State. Considering how some of the winters can be in Manhattan, it could be the first taste of outdoor play for the Purple Gang. The Big 12 slate is pretty murderous as well since the first three weekends will come against Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma. Yikes, man.

.

.

- MISSOURI (27-32, 11-15)

2011 ISR: 96

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B Connor Mach (.285-4-32, 11SBs)

OF Blake Brown (.267-7-34, 20SBs)

RHP Eric Anderson (3-0, 4.93)

2B Eric Garcia (.276, 15SBs)

.

The Good News:

This program is SEC-bound. That gives off an air of confidence right there, doesn’t it? Despite the losing mark last year, the Tigers have to be given credit for winning four of their last five Big 12 weekends, including upsets of NCAA-bound Baylor, Texas A&M and K-State. They also pushed their way to the title game of the Big 12 tournament, before falling just short of an NCAA bid. Coach Tim Jamieson has to hope that end-of-year spur will carry over this season. Four of the top five hitters from last year’s squad return, including 1B Scott Sommerfield, who hit .304 and OF Brannon Champagne, who popped the cork at a .295 pace, while throwing in 15SBs on the basepaths. 3B Connor Mach, who seems like he’s been there 10 years, comes back despite getting drafted by the Yankees last summer. But the biggest key to the 2012 season could be RHP Eric Anderson, who returned to the rotation in last year’s Baylor series and sparked a run where the Tigers had a hot month of May, including the aforementioned Big 12 tourney run. He’ll be joined in the weekend rotation by LHP Rob Zastrysny (2-5, 4.33) who was anything but intimidated in his frosh campaign last year. That’s good stuff. Speaking of stoic new blood, the recruiting class was top-notch and should lead the Tigers into SEC pastures with confidence, especially RHPs Brandon Platts (13th round pick, Pirates) and Brett Graves (26th round, Cards). They’ll be joined by a pair of future stars in 2B/SS Michael McGraw and 1B/3B Gavin Stark, who should both have an immediate impact this spring. Most of the infield returns, so look for an improvement in the .965 fielding percentage. If the new arms live up to potential, this team could go places. Otherwise, it could be yet another rebuilding project.

.

The Bad News:

Arrrgh! A losing record is NOT what Tiger fans had in mind after this program has seen its profile raised so high the last few years. But now we’re looking at 29 and 27-win seasons the last two years… that’s not exactly SEC-ready now, is it? Lots of pressure for Tim Jamieson & Crew to turn things around for their final Big 12 go-round. Last year’s team had very little power in the lineup and will have to move on without All Big 12 slugger Jonah Schmidt. I mean, hitting .261 as a unit isn’t going to get the job done against Big 12 pitching staffs, so keep an eye on the offense as the season goes on. They also must do without staff ace Matt Stitles, who made 15 starts, and reliever Phil McCormick, who was 8-2 and also had 8saves. Those two were joined by spot-duty flinger Kelly Fick as the three best ERA-based pitchers on the staff.

.

Schedule Note:

Getting SEC ready.

Mizzou will get indoctrinated to some future SEC homes this season. In one of the more interesting season opening weekend matchups, the Tigers will start the season going to play three games at Auburn. Later on in the season they’ll also play a pair of games at Arkansas as well. They’ll end the season with a couple of local rivals as they’ll play a non-conference series vs. Mississippi River rival Memphis for three games, followed by their Big 12 farewell series at Kansas. The Tigers will also play an April 11th game vs. Illinois at Busch Stadium.

.

.

- OKLAHOMA (41-19, 14-11)

2011 ISR: 23

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

SS Caleb Bushyhead (.288)

OF Max White (.286-3-20)

LHP Dillon Overton (8-4, 2.30, Freshman All American)

LHP Jordan John (4-2, 2.35, .233OBA, Freshman All Big12)

UTL Jack Mayfield (.260/0-1, 3.68, 3svs)

.

The Good News:

Okay, hear me out on this one. I know OU doesn’t have a boatload of returning starters. I get that. But I guess the best news of all is that on the years that the Sooners have big expectations (like 2011) they tend to fall off the radar and lumped in with the rest of the pack. But on the years where the Sooners are a little more nondescript, guess what? That’s when they tend to make huge waves on the national scene (like in 2010). So if form follows, look out for the Big Red this year. Player-position wise there are still a lot of grizzled vets that will make for good leadership, particularly in CWS vets like Caleb Bushyhead, Max White and senior OF Cody Reine (.256-4-27, but hit .340-10-42 in 2010), who is a huge key to this year’s team. If Reine comes close to potential, it’s nothing but good things that can happen for this team. Pitching-wise, it’s all about potential. Though there is plenty of returnees with experience, keep an eye on the performances of Dillon Overton (a slender flinger with great location) and Jordan John (more the stocky, power-arm type), who will get first dibs into the Friday and Saturday starting roles. But what Sooner fans should be most excited about is the new blood that coach Sunny Golloway has brought to campus for the next few years. Seven of the incoming talents were picked in last June’s MLB draft and chose to turn them down. (Yessss!). You know two or three guys are going to emerge into superstar-like status. My money is on incoming frosh RHP Damian Magnifico, who could live up to his name after registering pitches occasionally hitting triple digits in the fall. Yep, not a typo. 100+. Also, look for RHP Jonathan Gray, a transfer from Eastern Oklahoma JC who was a 10th round pick of the Yankees. With a rocket arm and dead-on blocking abilities, Hunter Lockwood (a 17th round pick of the Angels) could come in and inherit the duties behind the dish. The infield positions around Bushyhead will have plenty of talents to pluck from, including Matt Oberste, Garrett Carey and Dustin Dishman, all of whom were JC All Americans a year ago. But Drake Roberts, a slick-fielding middle-infielder who ESPN had rated among the Top 10 high school shortstops, could be the one who emerges if he can add some meat to that 144-pound frame of his.

.

The Bad News:

After a blistering 16-0 start, the Sooners just seemed to be running in syrup all last season, never quite finding that magic traction that they had in 2010’s run to the CWS. And OU had a lot of Omaha experience on last year’s team but never quite lived up to their magical season of a year before. Gotta shake the dullards out of your system there Sooners. Now Coach Galloway and Co. will have to overcome large amounts of attrition for 2012. Losing names like All Americans Garrett Beuchele and Cameron Seitzer from the infield and weekend mainstays like Michael Rocha, Burch Smith and Bobby Shore will be tough to overcome. In fact, the Sooners will have to replace their five top hitters (all .317 or better), three of their five most-used pitchers and ace reliever Ryan Duke from last year’s squad. Dems some big losses… but I think you guys are up for overcoming them. Just speaking from the heart here.

.

Schedule Note:

Occidentally yours.

As they’ve done the last few years, the Sooners will hitch their wagons and head West to challenge themselves early with the opening weekend on the shores of Malibu, California to play at Pepperdine, then going to the mountains of New Mexico and finally heading the the Cascade forests of Eugene, Oregon to take on UConn, Oregon and Oregon State. That’s all in the first four weeks. And get this, the Big 12 opener the following weekend will be at home vs. Texas. The newbies will have to acclimate quickly here. But beware, late-season weekenders vs. Alabama State and Samford could be RPI anchors.

.

.

- OKLAHOMA STATE (35-25, 14-12)

2011 ISR: 46

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B Mark Ginther (.292-10-33)

C Jared Womack (.282-8-46)

LHP Andrew Heaney (7-4, 4.03)

.

The Good News:

After a last place finish in Big 12 play for 2010, it was good to see this traditional power avoid the basement and make the NCAA tournament last season, restoring some amount of order. The four starter returnees are all seniors and provide strength up the middle in C Jared Womack (just 4Es), SS Hunter Bailey (.265) and CF Gabe Weidenaar (.280-2-22). Weidenaar is also a valuable arm in the bullpen having made 15 appearances last season and posting 0-0/0.42 numbers and three saves. Joining him in the bullpen will be a trio of righties in Jason Hursh (1-1, 2.73), Randy McCurry (2-4, 2.91, 1sv) and Blake Barnes (3-1, 3.38, .241OBA) who give different looks and pound the strikes zone. Also, one of the best knuckle-ballers in the country is transferring in from Arizona State in LHP Kyle Ottoson (3-1, 3.38 in 2011) who will make an immediate impact. The Pokes had a stellar defense to say the least, fielding at a .974 pace and turning 73 double-plays. The left side of the D will be the strength with SS Bailey and 3B Mark Ginther (who turned down the White Sox after being drafted in the 14th round last June) coming back to their posts. Coach Frank Anderson and his staff brought in 20 new players (which i believe is the 10th straight 20+ deep incoming classes) and was ranked the 27th-best recruiting class in the country according to Collegiate Baseball. Ten new JC transfers are headed by LHP Tyler Nurdin (28th round, Indians), who could fill in a weekend role and the top player among the eight freshmen coming in was another talented catcher in Zach Fish (24th round, Rangers).

.

The Bad News:

OSU will be coming into the ‘12 season hoping to prove last year’s 7-16 tailspin at the end of the year was just a mirage. But they’ll have to rebuild the arms corps after they lost the two most-used pitchers on the staff, weekend starters Mike Strong and longtime mainstay Brad Propst, as they combined for 29 starts and 140 Ks last season. They also lost good quality mid-week starters Hunter Herrera and Andrew Heck and saves leader Chris Marlowe. On top of all that, the only three batters who went .300+ have moved on in top bats Zach Johnson (who led the team with a .356 average and 13 home runs and 63RBI), Dane Phillips (who transferred) and Louis Uribe off the 2nd-best hitting team in the Big 12 (.292 team average). Also there was almost no pressure put on opposing pitchers as the Cowboys only stole 29 bases last season, dead last in the pitching-rich Big 12.

.

Schedule Note:

Road Warrior mentality wanted.

The Cowboys will be riding the range far and wide this year as they’ll not only play non-conference weekends at Cal Poly and TCU, but they’ll also play three of the first four weekends of the Big 12 season going to Missouri, Baylor and Texas. Needless to say, the newbies will have to hit the ground running for them not to get caught under their own wagon wheels this season. The good part is that most of May will be spent home on the range as they’ll have games with Ohio State, Alcorn State and the home finale vs. Texas A&M all at Allie P. The first weekend of May brings the Bedlam Series vs. Oklahoma which will be played in Tulsa and OKC. And finally, the Big 12 tournament is once again at Bricktown Ballpark.

.

.

- TEXAS (49-19, 19-8)

2011 ISR: 12

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B/OF Erich Weiss (.348-4-45, 11SBs)

LHP Sam Stafford (6-2, 1.77, .189OBA)

LHP Hoby Milner (7-4, 2.45, .201OBA)

RHP Corey Knebel (3-2, 1.13, 19svs, .151OBA)

.

The Good News:

The world was put back on its axis last summer when the Longhorns returned to their old Omaha stomping grounds once again. Life seemed back in order for Augie the Zen Master and his boys. The biggest news of the off-season was finding out that 2nd-round draftee Sam Stafford decided to turn down the big money of the Yankees and return to Austin for one more season. That left a Friday night uber-stud in place for this year’s pitching staff to rebuild itself around. He’ll team with 9-game starter Hoby Milner, a fellow southpaw, to form another formidable one-two punch at the front of the rotation. I mean, really now, if you have ANY doubts about these guys just take a look at their opponents’ batting averages. .189 and .201? That’s you-gotta-be-kiddin-me good there. The Burnt Orange will also get back the services of RHP Austin Dicharry, who was drafted by the Phillies last June and sat out most of 2011 after just one start. Coach Garrido would really dig it if Dicharry reverted to his freshman form of 2008 where he was 8-2/2.28 in 26 appearances and earned Frosh All American honors. Speaking of Frosh All Americans, saves ace Corey Knebel acclimated to D1 baseball incredibly seamlessly and could be set for another All American season. The mid-week duties could fall to either RHP Nathan Thornhill (3-0, 1.89, .211OBA) or RHP Josh Urban (0-0, 2.65, .200OBA), who had 38 appearances on the hill between them. Defensively, the Longhorns were their usual lock-down selves, finishing 3rd in the country in defense at .982 and they will return sweepers like Erich Weiss (who was a Freshman All American after leading the Horns in hitting), 2B Jordan Etier (.263) and catcher Jacob Felts (.215), who will reach a comfort zone in his second year. Also, 3B/SS-type Kevin Lusson (.198) returns for his senior year as well after getting drafted by the Rays in the 45th round last June. Speaking of the draft – and at least TRY to act shocked here – Texas picked up another shining class of recruits, finishing at No. 2 in the country according to Baseball America. The pros really wanted marquee guys like LHP Dillon Peters (20th round, Indians), RHP John Curtiss (30th round, Rockies) and RHP Ricky Jacquez (39th round, Cubs), but all of them were smart enough to enjoy three years of pretty Austin co-eds instead of rickety-ass busses in the minors.

.

The Bad News:

Though it could be more of a motivating factor, the Longhorns went 0-and-2 in Omaha, leaving them aching for more. And besides, isn’t it against coach Garrido’s religion to go 0-and-2 in anything? Well, getting to Omaha is tough enough, especially having to do so with some of the exodus of talent. Losing all-world hurlers like Taylor Jungmann and Cole Green out of the starting rotation will be huge obstacles to overcome, despite the longtime pitching talent pipeline that goes through Austin every year. As mentioned above, Dicharry returns to the roster again, but he must pitch with some proficiency, or else the quality and depth of this year’s staff will suffer huge. Three of the top four hitters in what was a pretty weak batting order (.269 team average) have moved on as well, including longtime mainstays like Brandon Loy (who hit 342) and Tant Shepherd (.303). It was also announced in the fall that incoming high school wunderkind (and expected 1st round draftee) CJ Hinojosa, a whiz-bang shortstop, wasn’t able to enroll early after all.

.

Schedule Note:

Leaving a Burnt Orange trail.

It turns out that we’ll know a lot about these guys in a quick amount of time as UT will rehash its wonderful rivalry with Stanford in the second week of the season out in Palo Alto. But the Longhorns won’t stop there as they’ll play in the Houston College Classic vs. Rice (their only scheduled matchup with the Owls all year), Tennessee and Arkansas. A visit from LMU the following week will wrap up pre-Big 12 play as the Horns will travel to Oklahoma in mid-March. But at the end of the month they’ll also host College World Series alum California in a three-game weekend set to be played at the home of the Round Rock Express. The Brazos Valley grudge matches will be at/vs. Texas A&M in the last weekend of April and at/vs. Baylor to close the regular season.

.

.

- TEXAS A&M (47-22, 19-8)

2011 ISR: 13

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Michael Wacha (9-4, 2.29, .243OBA)

RHP Ross Stripling (14-2, 2.29, .202OBA)

OF Tyler Naquin (.381, 7triples)

OF Krey Bratsen (.332, 31SBs)

3B Matt Juengel (.308-7-50, 15SBs)

.

The Good News:

Was 2011 a kick in the butt or what? Okay, maybe not for their opponents, since that probably seemed more like a kick in the teeth. But the Aggies woke up some old ghosts last season, tying for the Big 12 regular season crown, winning the Big 12 tournament and then returning to the promised land of Omaha for the first time since 1999. Now THAT’s something for Reveille to howl about. Got an encore guys? Maybe so, because 2012 all starts on the mound for A&M. Namely Michael Wacha, who has a fall-off-the-table curve ball and a knee-buckling change-up and fellow weekend dominator Ross Stripling, who turned down the Rockies after being picked in the 9th round last June. They will be Ace No. 1 and Ace No. 1A for this season. The best part about Wacha was his ability to step up in the clutch, going 3-0, 0.95 in the Regionals and Supers. And Stripling is an Aggie through and through, so it wasn’t a big shock to see him turn down big money for another season in an A&M uni. The offense will be much more formidable as all four .300+ hitters from last year return in top bat Tyler Naquin, stolen base-leader Krey Bratsen, home run leader Matt Juengel and 1B Jacob House (.301-3-52). The Maroons will keep marching on into SEC play with plenty of talent as coach Rob Childress brought in the 37th best class in the country according to Collegiate Baseball, led by a pair of strapping RHPs in 14th round draft pick Gandy Stubblefield (doesn’t that sound like an A&M name to begin with? Yes) and Corey Ray, both of whom hit the mid-90s with their heaters. Also keep tabs on a great two-way threat in Daniel Mengden, a catcher/RHP type that could man both positions eventually. All American JC transfer Mikey Reynolds could step into the vacant shortstop position as well.

.

The Bad News:

It was great to get the A&M logo back on College World Series paraphernalia and everything, but for the second straight time, the Maroons saw their hopes go 0-and-2 on the big stage, leading to a quick exit. This year, they’ll have to make due without John Stilson and Nick Fleece, who sported the two best ERAs on last year’s squad, and also will have to find a new saves leader after Joaquin Hinojosa took off his cleats and trotted off for pro ball too. Depth beyond the starters will be a concern early on as mid-week starters/relievers Dylan Mendoza and Brandon Parrent (who combined for 11 starts and 40 appearances) have also moved on. Though not as egregious as their anemic 2nd-half blunder of a football team, these Aggie baseballers need to develop a little bit better luck (or more toughness, depending on which way you wanna look at it) in close games since 16 of their losses were by one or two runs, or in extra inning games.

.

Schedule Note:

The Big Nine

The Aggies will have their heads on their own pillows an awful lot this year. A grand total of nine games will be played outside of the Brazos Valley area. The only times they’ll be farther than a bus ride away will be when they play three games at Pepperdine in late March and then in Big 12 play when they go to Kansas in mid-April and wrap up the regular season at Oklahoma State. There’s no truth to the rumor they are petitioning the Big 12 in order to move the conference tournament to nearby Bryan High School so they can be closer to home.

.

.

- TEXAS TECH (33-25, 12-15)

2011 ISR: 52

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Barrett Barnes (.290-10-38, 20SBs)

2B Jamodrick McGruder (.293, 28SBs)

C Bo Altobelli (.333)

3B Reid Redman (.320)

UTL David Paiz (3-5, 6.93/.284-2-27)

RHP Duke von Schamann (5-0, 3.92)

RHP Trey Masek (5-4, 4.70)

RHP John Neely (9-1, 2.97, 7svs)

.

The Good News:

Coach Dan Spencer got things turned around in Lubbock, not a major turnaround, but we are talking about pulling out a winning record and getting the Red Raiders to the Big 12 Tournament. For 2012, things could get even better with all they have coming back to the dugout. It all starts with the ball of electricity at the top of the lineup in juniors Barrett Barnes, who is a two-time All Big 12 selection, and mercurial Jamodrick McGruder, who has led the Raiders in triples and stolen bases in back-to-back seasons. They’ll have top bat Reid Redman (who was drafted in the 37th round by the Dodgers) and steady power-swinger Stephen Hagen, a career .285 hitter, to help them wreak havoc. The arms corps brings back 83 percent of the innings thrown last year, led by the rotation of Duke von Schamann (who’s old man used to kick game-winning field goals for Oklahoma), Trey Masek and David Paiz. To back them up, the Raiders have a deep and talented bullpen, featuring saves leader John Neely, who also had the most wins, most saves, most appearances and lowest ERA on the team. The Techsters also get back 1B Scott LeJeune (2nd team All Big 12 in 2010), LHP Daniel Coulombe (who was the Friday night starter in 2011 until Tommy John surgery intervened), OF Jordan Lopez (played in first 11 games) and LHP Rusty Shellhorn (transfer from Washington State). All of them are expected to be front-line contributors this season, particularly LeJeune, who if healthy could post another All Big 12 season. Speaking of, wanna hear an odd fact? Eight of this season’s Raiders players have been named All Big 12 at some point in their careers. Time to throw it all in a pot and cook up something special guys. Lets go.

.

The Bad News:

Talk about ruts, the Red Raiders still haven’t been back to the Big Dance since… pause for effect… 2004. Wow. And even though they won 33 games overall last season, the Raiders won fewer Big 12 games than they did in 2010 when they went 13-14. And sure, there is a modicum of pitching back to the roster for this coming spring, but improvement across the board will be needed as Tech finished dead last in pitching in the Big 12 with a team ERA of 4.92, while also getting the fewest strikeouts, 364. Two of the top three hitters are gone in Kelby Tomlinson (.307) and Nick Popescu (.299). and yes, Reid Redmon was the sole Red Raider to hit over .300 last season. The late innings of games last year was a real problem as well as the Double-Ts were outscored in the 6th, 8th and 9th innings by a combined 38 runs.

.

Schedule Note:

More Classics than Coca-Cola.

Tech will host Missouri State and Tennessee Tech in their opening weekender called the Red Raider Classic, then will host St. John’s and Northern Illinois in their Brooks Wallace Classic in the second weekend. It’s the third weekend where things start to get really serious as the Raiders head to the home of the Getto Boys for the Houston College Classic, where they’ll take on Arkansas, Rice and Houston in Minute Maid Park. Just for good measure, they’ll also make a trek to Fort Worth in the fourth weekend to take on TCU. Houston will return the trip in mid-April as the Raiders will take a break from Big 12 play by hosting the Coogs for three games. Not an easy slate, obviously. But if they get to 33 wins again, it could mean a close shave for at-large consideration.

The Big West is angry my friends. They know when they’ve underperformed. The 2013-adjusted RPI will help everyone out in this conference, but its not like anyone here needs any handouts. It’s just time to go out there, rip some heads off and make amends.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

The Big West lost a lot of clout last season, finishing behind conferences like the Sun Belt, the MVC, the Southland and the A-Sun in the conference RPI rankings, dipping all the way down to No. 10. Now, you and I both know that’s big-time bullshit and the BWC is better than that horrible rating system. (The ISR had the BWC at No. 6, as noted below). For the third straight season, conference warfare saw only three teams finish above .500 in Big West play and for the second year in a row got only Fullerton and Irvine into the Big Dance. The Titans have put together a 40-8 mark in conference play the last two seasons, which included last year’s three-game padding to take the regular season crown. But it was the Anteaters of Irvine who got hottest in June, coming within a strike of beating Virginia on the road and returning to Omaha, until cruel fate twisted its knife (more about that in a bit). No other teams in the Big West finished with more than 30 wins last year, and two of them (UC Davis and Pacific) didn’t even win 20. The term “down year” is an understatement.

.

Conference ISR: 6

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Big West.

1- UC Irvine

2- Cal State Fullerton

3- Long Beach State

4- UC Riverside

5- Cal Poly

6- Cal State Northridge

7- UC Santa Barbara

8- UC Davis

9- Pacific

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

With five new head coaches in the last two years and a large exodus of star power from just about every team, this is a conference that is in the midst of having a makeover. For the first time in quite a while, it appears as if Fullerton might not be the team to beat. Yes, wait for that to sink in. But Irvine returns the most mound experience and judging by their finish last season, the Anteaters will be breathing fire to make amends for how it all ended. But don’t freak out people, the difference between Irvine and Fullerton is pretty nominal at best. And the emergence of one or two players can make a wholesale of difference. So don’t expect this to be anything but a donnybrook between these two Orange County rivals once again as they seem as even as ever. Long Beach State is slowly getting back up to speed and could be a major player once again with almost the entire pitching staff back and a real star in the making in middle-infielder Matt Duffy. Riverside and Cal Poly both have the potential to make a lot of noise, especially if some new talents exceed expectations. Northridge will make a sizable jump this season, so don’t let last year’s last place finish fool you. Improvement is imminent across the conference – it can’t get much worse than last season – and a return to the Big Six should take place in 2012.

.

Favorites: UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton

.

Contender: Long Beach State

.

Darkhorse: Cal Poly

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: As usual, Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine, Apr. 13-15.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: Cal State Fullerton at Florida, Feb. 17-19.

Close Second: Cal State Fullerton at Texas A&M, Mar. 9-11

.

Hot Coach: Mike Gillespie, UCI

.

Hot Seat Coach: None

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Matt Whitehouse, UC Irvine

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Michael Lorenzen, Cal State Fullerton

.

Three Non-Conference Series The Big West Better Not Overlook:

1- Oral Roberts at Cal State Fullerton, March 22-24.

2- Washington at UC Irvine, Feb. 24-26.

3- UC Riverside at Sam Houston State, Mar. 2-4.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- I’ve got UC Irvine in my national Top 10, bold enough for ya’?

2- Long Beach State makes a return to the NCAA tournament.

3- J.D. Davis earns Freshman All American honors and some regular All American honors as well.

.

.

- CAL POLY (27-26, 15-9)

2011 ISR: 63

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

.

All Conference Candidates:

SS Mike Miller (.306, just 4Es, HM All Big West)

RHP Joey Wagman (4-3, 3.62, .228OBA)

RHP Chase Johnson (2-5, 3.67, .265OBA)

OF Mitch Haniger (.275-6-27)

.

The Good News:

Coach Larry Lee can never be underestimated, just when you think things are hitting rock-bottom (like 2010’s 23-33 record), the old cowpoke rallies the troops and puts together a winning campaign. In fact, 2011 saw his charges rebound to a 3rd place finish in the Big West and on the cusp of at-large land. On April 29th, the Mustangs were in 2nd place in the conference and had just seen its RPI jump from 107 up to No. 62. If THAT kind of effort can be maintained, the ‘Stangs could make hay this season. Nothing makes coach Lee smile more than having a senior leader at SS in Mike Miller, who led the Alaska Baseball League last summer with a .359 average. And yes, you read that right above, just four errors in the field all last season. He’ll be joined in the infield by 2B Denver Chavez (.277) and 3B Evan Busby (.223, just 7Es in 41 games), who helped the defense become a strength (.970 fielding percentage). The pitching improved from a league-worst 6.75 in 2010 to 3.60 last season, which was the best mark in school history, as was the fewest walks (152), opponents batting average (.254) and earned runs (184). Only three pitchers of note return, but they combined for 24 starts and they’re stout, especially the two you see above in Joey Wagman and Chase Johnson (just look at the opponents batting averages). But they’ll also get back lefty Kyle Anderson, who was 3-5, 4.26 in his frosh year. The incoming class wasn’t as highly lauded as Fullerton, Irvine or Long Beach’s classes, but watch for some newbie arms to emerge, especially RHP Nick Grim (who was a 14th round pick of the Marlins last June) and lefty Matt Imhoff, a robust 6′5″, 230-pound power arm who should be a weekend guy. In the meadow, the fleet feet of Alex Michaels and Nick Torres should help kill some gap shots.

.

The Bad News:

Closing out games became a real problem for the ‘Stangs last season as they lost 10 games by a single run or in extra innings. A tougher mentality must be implemented right away, especially since the bullpen has been decimated by defections from last season’s squad including saves leader Jeff Johnson and fellow closer Frankie Reed. Coach Lee admits, “We have a lot of work to do” to repair the pitching staff, especially with the losses of Friday starter Mason Radeke (2nd in Big West in Ks) and Saturday starter Steven Fischback. The other big problem last season was a punchless offense that didn’t make many late-inning comebacks, hitting just .264 as a team. In a conference full of speed, the Mustangs didn’t pose much threat on the basepaths, stealing a Big West-low 34 bases last year. That may need to change.

.

Schedule Note:

Hit the ground running, though painful it may be.

The youthful Mustang pitching staff will have plenty of early tests this season, especially with Oklahoma State coming to San Luis Obispo in week one and trips to Minnesota, LMU and San Diego before Big West play kicks in. The conference slate won’t be as favorable as last year either. After hosting Long Beach and Irvine in the first two weekends, four of the final six Big West weekends will come on the road as they’ll go to Northridge, Fullerton, Davis and Riverside down the stretch.

.

.

- CAL STATE FULLERTON (41-17, 19-5)

2011 ISR: 8

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Michael Lorenzen (.342-3-31, 20SBs)

OF Ivory Thomas (.294)

2B Anthony Trajano (.313)

RHP Dylan Floro (4-2, 4.23)

DH/OF Carlos Lopez (.342-2-34)

.

The Good News:

I suppose we’ll eventually see if this is a “good news” or a “bad news” item, but a coaching change was made in Tuffyland and a true Titan returns to the program as Rick Vanderhook, another in a long line of Augie disciples, will take his significant experience and nearly unmatched passion to the head honcho position in one of the best programs in America. Welcome back where you belong Hooky. (On a personal note, I can’t wait to see how he does here. But I digress.). And before I get into things too far, I have to admit, there was a lot of concern on my part after all the losses from last year’s team. But when Fullerton went to Vanderbilt in the fall and started lacing the Commodore pitching and won both games of the weekend (yes, I realize these were scrimmages, but still), it got my mindset turned around a bit on these guys. There is a lot of star power back to the Titan dugout this year, especially in All American candidate Michael Lorenzen, possibly the top outfielder in the country this side of Tony Kemp. Also, coach Hook thinks that Ivory Thomas could be a Big West Player of the Year type of performer as he heads toward his draft-eligible year. Dylan Floro will go from the mid-week to the Friday night spot in the rotation and should be another stellar Titan arm. The infield has an overflow of gloves who could come in and play typical Titan defense, led by mighty-mites at SS in Richy Pedroza (.331, 10SBs) and at 2B in Anthony Trajano (.313), a great double-play combo. But also keep an eye on part-timers like Matt Orloff (.160) and Keegan Dale (.264) to make some noise in the field. Longtime mainstay Carlos Lopez, who always seemed to come up with the clutch hit at the right time last year, looks to take over at 1st base and will join along with C Jared Deacon (.298) and fleet-footed Austin Kingsolver (.241, 10SBs) to take on big roles this season. Again, a lot of these guys could be interchangeable and may end up in multiple positions. Another high-quality class of recruits comes to Fullerton, ranked at No. 15 by Collegiate Baseball. The biggest stud is J.D. Davis (5th round pick, Rays), a player who Coach Vanderhook says reminds him of Mark Kotsay as a viable prospect to start at 3rd base and possibly even in the weekend rotation on the mound. (Is THAT heady stuff or what?). Another two-way threat comes to campus in LHP Kenny Matthews (12th round, Mets) who could also figure into the weekend rotation, or another major role in the ‘pen. The outfield could be further bolstered by another burner in OF Austin Diemer (25th round, Indians).

.

The Bad News:

Oh mercy. THIS is the news you knew was coming 500 miles away; the Titans will lose gobs and gobs of talent from last season, including Noe & Nick, the Ramirez boys, Tyler Pill, Collin O’Connell and Jake Floethe all off the mound. I mean, the Titans always have a turnstyle-like job to do in replacing talent, but this time it’s 91 percent of their pitching staff from last season. Oy vey. That leaves a large crater-sized dearth in the weekend rotation, in middle-relief and in the closer position. Also, 3rd baseman Joe Terry oozed potential, but is now in pro ball. And, stating the obvious here, for the second year in a row there was a lot of coaching changes in the program, this one involving the head man in Dave Serrano leaving, as pointed out above. Although chances are it’ll be fine, you never know how a new staff will adjust, particularly at this level of college baseball. The schedule is a Jack-the-Ripper type that could keep CSUF from hosting a Super Regional, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Finally, and I hate to get out the disciplinarian stick here, the Titans can’t allow the same rudder-less mentality to take over the team like last season. How the ultra-experienced 2011 team ended up with a lack of junior-senior leadership was total bullshit. Without players stepping up and setting examples, a lot of bonehead off-field incidents took place, causing a real rift in this program. You know, like the kind of dumb things this program has never been known for. Clean it up guys and you just might find yourselves back in the Omaha discussion again.

.

Schedule Note:

Couldn’t love these guys any more.

God Bless the Titans. Just… God Bless ‘em. Nobody has bigger balls and more guts than these guys, traveling to places like Florida, Texas A&M and Arizona State. And then taking on teams like TCU, ORU and Washington State at home. Who the hell does that in this day and age? No one. (Dear college football, take note of a schedule like this). Sure, the down side is that sometimes their sanity comes into question, but you know with this slate that even if they finish a game above .500, they’ll get a bid to the Big Dance. Of course, as mentioned above, the other down side is this is a rebuilding/reloading team and a lot of early Ls could translate to going on the road in the post-season, regardless of how they finish. Let’s see how the Titans nut-up when it counts. It could play some big benefits in the end.

.

.

- CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (23-33, 6-18)

2011 ISR: 172

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Adam Barry (.288)

C Marty Bowen (.320)

RHP Vince Roberts (3-6, 3.44, .232OBA)

.

The Good News:

Well, best of all, the first year jitters for head coach Matt Curtis and his staff should be out of their system this coming spring. So expect a little smoother sailing ahead.  In the very least, he’ll have a host of familiar faces coming back to the diamond as the returnee numbers above show. The Mats are going to be a mostly junior-senior outfit this season. Seniors Vince Roberts and Justen Gorski (3-5, 6.10) combined for 20 starts and 129 innings of work last season. Watch closely for a pair of juniors who could become leaning posts this season in RHPs Alex Muren (2-1, 4.69, .270OBA) and Josh Goossen-Brown (4-3, 4.73, a 43-8 K-to-BB ratio). The infield was the main impetus for the .968 defense and returns Tommy Simis (.251-4-29) and Kyle Attl (.241, just 7Es), who mostly played the left side of the infield. Of course, having a backstop like Marty Bowen (just 2Es) doesn’t hurt either. Most of all, focus on OF Adam Berry, who hit an unconscious .414 in the Cal Ripken League last summer and should be primed for big things in ‘12. Once again, the recruiting class is pretty solid. The staff is excited about OF Cal Vogelsang and INF Brett Balkan, plus a pair of draftees in RHP Jordan Johnson (a 42nd round, Rockies) and C Alex Mercado (40th round, Mets)

.

The Bad News:

Stuck in a rut. Since winning the BWC and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in 2002, CSUN has won just 54 Big West games in nine seasons. Obviously, there were a lot of growing pains for coach Curtis and his Matadors last season, his first at the helm. Despite having all three weekend starters and seven of eight field starters coming back, the Red & Black still finished 2011 in last place in the Big West. They finished the season going 6-16 from Tax Day onward. Got to keep better focus and hope for good health in 2012. Of course, losing Drew Muren and Ridge Carpenter from the batting order and two versatile arms like Paul Tremlin (who had 10 starts and 3saves) and Ryan Jaurez (who went 4-6 with 2saves) will all leave big holes to be filled.

.

Schedule Note:

Look for a big kick in the end.

The Matadors could have a chance to make a big push at the end of the season with three of the final four weekends coming against UC Riverside, UC Davis and Pacific. On top of that, the pre-conference slate also features a load of winnable games with visits from teams like Rhode Island, Indiana and Northwestern coupled with visits to Portland, St. Mary’s and the opening weekend against Sacramento State. Okay Matadors, time to say “Ole’” to some old bugaboos.

.

.

- LONG BEACH STATE (29-27, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 47

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 7

.

All Conference Candidates:

2B/SS Matt Duffy (.266, 2nd team All Big West)

1B/DH Ino Patron (.277-3-24)

OF Brennan Metzger (.267, 12SBs, 39career HBPs)

OF/2B Jeff McNeil (.271)

RHP Shawn Stuart (4-4, 3.16)

.

The Good News:

The T-Buck Effect didn’t take long to be enacted as the first-year head coach (Troy Buckley being his full moniker) led the Beach out of the basement of the Big West to a 4th place finish in 2011, going from 7-17 in Big West play in 2010 to 12-12 last year. Nice work. As mentioned in this space last year, the Beach is never down for long. This year could be even more of a breakthrough as the Dirtbags return eight of the nine starters in the batting order and a wealth of pitching – always a good sign considering Buckley is so renown for his maestro-like work with pitching staffs. Speaking of the arms corps, its going to be crazy-deep this season. As you see above, there are seven returning relievers who logged at least 10 appearances last season. Some of them will take on bigger roles this season. Sophomores like RHP Jon Maciel (0-1, 1.25, .211OBA), LHP Jake Stassi (0-1, 3.50, .246OBA) and RHP Kyle Friedrichs (4-2, 3.99, .254OBA) should step up in their second season at the Beach. Weekend starters RHP Shawn Stuart (4-4, 3.16) and LHP Ryan Strufing (3-2, 4.70) are solid, but with all that talent around them, are they still going to be starters in mid-season? (That’s a GOOD problem for coach Buck to have.). This is a big shout out to watch for infielder Matt Duffy, who had a spriteful summer up in the prestigious Cape Cod League, finishing 3rd in batting average. He’ll move to the shortstop position for 2012 and should be a Big West stud. Lots of interchangeable pieces in the infield as the search is on for the next Evan Longoria/Troy Tulowitzki/Bobby Crosby type of sweeper. A handful of new talents have the coaches excited, led by freshman OF Richard Prigatano (16th round pick, Blue Jays) and JC All American RHP Matt Anderson (41st round pick, Marlins). Also watch for glove whiz Chaz Meadows, who had a strong fall and could take over the 2nd baseman spot as a frosh.

.

The Bad News:

Don’t wear your arms out patting the Dirtbags on the back for all the improvement they made in 2011. A 29-27 record will never win you a lot of smiles in the proud ports of Beachland. So let’s get crackin’ for more in 2012. Saying goodbye to staff ace Andrew Gagnon and top hitters Matt Hibbert and Mike Mariama will be tough. And it’s just weird to see the Dirtbags having the worst defense in the Big West (.965 fielding) and suffering the second-most strikeout totals at the plate (LB batters K’d 289 times). And of course, the offense has been a struggle for the last few years now, last season’s order hit just .258, including just 10 home runs. (Yeah, I know, the Beach is never known for power numbers – especially not in cavernous Blair Field – but still…). It’s been since 2008 that LB has posted a 30+ win season and since 2004 for a 40+ win season. As usual, the schedule is tougher than a Venzuelian prison and will play a huge factor in their win total again. More about that below.

.

Schedule Note:

Two words: Brew-tall

Yep, Long Beach will live up to its reputation for brutal slates (last year’s ranked 6th-toughest in the country). The non-conference will come close to rivaling Stanford’s ridiculous slate as the Dirtbags will host Cal and Arizona State and also travel for weekends at Oregon, Wichita State, and, oddly, at Big West rival Fullerton for a non-conference series in mid-March. The good news is that the Beach will spend most of the stretch run in May in their own cozy confines, including 16 of their final 25 games at home. The last two weekends of Big West play will take place at Blair Field vs. Pacific and Fullerton again.

.

.

- PACIFIC (17-37, 9-15)

2011 ISR: 175

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B Dustin Torchio (.369)

OF Riley Allen (.290-4-38)

RHP Chris Larsen (1-3, 4.58, 5svs)

.

The Good News:

I’m still not so sure the Tigers are all that far off the grid, especially considering they owned wins over teams like USC, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Fullerton and even CWS alums Cal. Dang. Of all the returnees, most of them are seniors, which is good news for coach Ed Sprague. The infield should be a real strong point as Dustin Torchio returns to the hot corner and was the top hitter in the Big West at .369. He’ll have some reliable cohorts back with him in SS Josh Simms (.237) and 2B in Tyger Pederson (.285), who was also a leadoff hitter. The defense played at a .966 level last year and with those guys around it could be much more stable in 2012. Jason Taasaas (.205) was a part-timer at catcher last year, and should have the position all to himself this season. Also watch for the emergence of DH/OF Daniel Johnston (.264-4-27) and OF Brett Christopher (.211) who both stole 15 bases last season. The coaching staff is really high on a pair of incoming frosh in 3B Taylor Murphy (40th round pick, Padres) and 6′4″ RHP Michael Benson, a product of Sauguro High in Arizona.

.

The Bad News:

Going from 31 wins in 2010 to just 17 last season wasn’t the kind of backsteps coach Sprague and Co. were hoping to see, especially with an experienced arms staff that last year’s squad had returning going into the season. And this year, things could get even hairier for the Black and Orange since there is quite a dearth of pitching coming back to the roster. UOP lost their two biggest mound studs, Jake Hummel and Marcus Pointer, who combined for 32 starts and 203 innings of work last season, almost exclusively on Fridays and Saturdays. In fact, only 11 starts from last year’s 54 games come back for 2012 as the Tigers went through an entire brigade of Sunday starters, never quite finding the answer. Seniors Chris Larsen and Jared Wagner (0-4, 6.03) are the only returning pitchers with ERAs you’d want to tell your friends about. Although Pacific was 4th in the Big West in hitting (at .277), they also struck out 377 times and drew the second-lowest walk total at 145 for the season.

.

Schedule Note:

Arrested Development.

Last year’s schedule was crazy-tough. This year’s slate is even more of a bitch. The Tigers will play teams like Cal, Stanford, Oregon State, San Diego, San Diego State, Kansas State, San Francisco, Creighton and Gonzaga before Big West play kicks in. And the beginning of Big West play, you ask? Just a trip down to UC Irvine, that’s all. Yikes, right?! Three of the last four weekends of the season are going to be home weekends, vs. Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge, with the lone roadie being at Long Beach State.

.

.

- UC DAVIS (18-36, 10-14)

2011 ISR: 169

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF David Popkins (.321-4-23)

LHP Anthony Kupbens (5-8, 2.36, .250OBA)

RHP Tom Briner (3-1, 2.57, 6svs, .197OBA)

.

The Good News:

New blood. That’s plain and simple, yet still the best news of all. Maybe a giant change is just what this program needed. Matt Vaughn, who has been around the Aggie program for going on two decades, takes over the reigns of the UCD fortunes. So he’s a familiar face and has been awaiting this experience. The good part is that he’ll have a lot of returnees to work with coming back and most of them are seniors too. David Popkins leads the hitters and will have fellow four-year guys like OF Brett Morgan (.271, team-high 10 doubles, 10SBs) and C Eric Johnson (.258-3-22, 10SBs). On the mound, weekend starters Anthony Kupbens and LHP Dayne Quist (2-7, 5.14) could be joined by mid-week stud RHP Harry Stanwyck (1-3, 5.64, 9starts). Senior relievers RHP Tom Briner, Ryan Lucas (0-3, 3.90) and RHP David Popkins (0-0, 1.37, 13apps) will help build the bullpen. The coaching staff is hoping JC transfers Ben Burke (Santa Ana Col), Patrick Hennessey (Cabrillo Col) and Chris Levy (Cabrillo Col) can come in and pay dividends right away.

.

The Bad News:

The Aggies had a lot of experience and hope going into 2011, but just never got going on that uphill ice track they seemed to be on all season long. Now, 2012 comes around and they’ll have to adjust to no longer having coach Rex Peters around to help out as he took off for an assistant gig down at UCLA. Even though most of the fielders/hitters return, keep in mind this was off a team that hit a Big West-low .252 and drew just 146 walks all last season. And also, David Popkins is the only hitter that was better than .271 coming back. Not to state the obvious, but lots of improvement is needed at the dish. And in a weird twist, the running game must improve dramatically as Davis runners got thrown out 33 times and were successful just 37 times on steal attempts. Despite the 36 losses, the Aggies were plenty competitive but lost too many close games: 16 Ls came by a run or two.

.

Schedule Note:

Staying down in the Valley.

The Aggies won’t have to stray far in pre-Big West play as they’ll play 15 home games and roadies at San Jose State, Cal State Bakersfield, Stanford and San Jose State in the first month of the season. But they will travel widely to play a pair of games at Arizona and then a big time travel trip to Hawaii right before conference play kicks in. The Big West slate has them playing at home in three of the final four weekends of the season with Cal Poly, Long Beach and UCI coming to the Farm.

.

.

- UC IRVINE (43-18, 16-8)

2011 ISR: 14

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

SS D.J. Crumlich (.300)

1B Jordan Fox (.323, 10SBs)

RHP Phillip Ferragamo (2-0, 2.03, .237OBA)

2B Tommy Reyes (.290)

LHP Matt Whitehouse (4-0, 2.12)

RHP Crosby Slaught (7-2, 3.80)

.

The Good News:

Here’s how you KNOW Mike Gillespie can coach his ass off. The ‘Eaters had zero returning starters on the mound going into last season. Yet, as the stat sheet will show, starting pitching was one of the strengths of this team. John Savage told me in the off-season that “nobody gets more out of less than Gillespie does.” His Irvine teams haven’t been chock-full of 1st round draftees, yet there he is with his teams playing at incredibly high levels year-in, year-out. Just to think this team came within a strike of going to Omaha last year is pretty freakin’ incredible. Can’t wait for the encore here Skip. And history shows that if you give him experience and strength up the middle, its going to be another banner year for his charges; which is what the ‘Eaters have this season. C Ronnie Shaeffer (.264, just 3Es) will team with SS D.J. Crumlich, 2B Tommy Reyes and CF Christian Ramirez (.282) to form a solid core of what should be another standout defense. And yes, all four are seniors. As is 1B Jordan Fox, a very athletic fielder with a steady stroke at the dish. It’s almost strange to see the usually pitching-heavy Anteaters to lead the Big West in hitting, like they did in 201 at .296 as a team. And most of the components of another good offense return. But if we’re talking UCI, we’ve gotta talk pitching. There were a few losses, but last years’ mound brigade was deep and disciplined, issuing just 161 free passes and holding opponents to a miserly .239 average. Only one ERA on the entire team was above 4.00 (sorry to bring it up Kyle Hooper – 3-0, 4.06 in 44.1inns). LHP Matt Whitehouse and RHP Crosby Slaught form a good one-two punch on weekends again and the hulking presence of 6′8″ Phillip Ferragamo (2-0, 2.03, .207OBA) and crafty lefties Andy Lines (5-2, 2.57) and Jimmy Litchfield (2-1, 2.68), who combined to issue just 14 walks in 75 innings of work. The Anteaters don’t usually get top notch mention for recruiting classes (mostly because coach Gillespie is such a good developer of talent), but this year’s frosh could be the best unit this staff has brought in, featuring uber-athletic infielder Taylor Sparks, who could’ve been drafted higher if not for signability concerns and may take over at third immediately. Also watch for OFs Kris Paulino and Jeff Stevens to make big splashes.

.

The Bad News:

Arrrrrgh! Nobody has had more painful endings to their seasons than the Anteaters the last few years. And I mean, nobody in the history of college baseball. Cruel but fair to say. One stinkin’ strike. That’s all they needed. Just one. And they would’ve gone to the CWS and been crowd favorites in Omaha again. But the baseball Gods are not spun with sugar to these poor souls. Personnel-wise, I know there’s a lot of pitching left over,  but losing Friday starter Matt Summers (11-4) and relief ace Brian Hernandez (12svs) are big roles to fill. Hernandez was also a lock-down 3rd baseman when he wasn’t on the mound late in games. UCI will also have to venture on without top two hitters Hernandez and Drew Hillman, along with mainstays like Jordan Leyland (who transferred) and Sean Madigan.

.

Schedule Note:

A little bit better.

The non-conference schedules have been an albatross to these guys the last few years, dragging down their RPIs and undervaluing their real worth. This year’s non-conference slate – though not top flight – could help out a little bit more. The Anteaters will take on Baylor, Cal State Bakersfield, Washington and Washington State, all of whom figure to have much better seasons. The back end of the Big West schedule coasts to an end with weekends against UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and UC Davis.

.

.

- UC RIVERSIDE (29-23, 11-13)

2011 ISR: 51

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF David Andriese (.307-4-30)

RHP Eddie Orozco (5-2, 2.29, .241OBA)

RHP Trevor Frank (2-3, 3.35)

.

The Good News:

One thing coach Doug Smith can smile about is the quality pitching he’ll have back from the third-best arms staff in the Big West (team ERA of 3.40, down from 5.85 in 2010), headed by returning weekend starters Trevor Frank and Eddie Orozco, who can go pitch-to-pitch with just about anyone in the Big West. Those two should give the Highlanders a chance at pulling a W anytime they’re on the hill. LHP Dylan Stuart (1-1, 1.72) threw bee-bees as a Freshman and will see his role increase this season. Also, juniors like LHP Mark Garcia (1-2, 4.68) and RHP Mitch Papito (1-3, 5.75, 6svs) will help steady what should be an improved bullpen. The offense will rally around OF David Andriese, who pulled in some freshman All American honors last season. Phil Hollingsworth will join him in the meadow and should have a better year at the dish (.279) and 2B Eddie Young (.241, 10SBs) committed just five errors all last season. And I don’t know how he does it (nor do I know how he always gets ignored by the recruiting rankings) but coach Smith and his crew have put together another good incoming class which should provide instant help, particularly hard-flinging RHP Cody Dill and fleet-footed OF Cody Stewart who both come to school after getting drafted by the Red Sox and Yankees respectively last June.

.

The Bad News:

Maybe I put too much pressure on Coach Smith and his blue crew last season, making them my pre-season No. 25 team and all. The Highlanders fell a little flat, finishing with a non-descript 29-23 mark and middle-of-the-road in the Big West rigors. Sorry guys. I mean, I don’t believe in curses, hexes or jinxes, but maybe I shouldn’t have given you guys that albatross. The good news about the bad news (if that makes sense) is that the Highlanders won’t have any high expectations to live with this year. There was a lot of attrition from last year’s team, particularly in the offense, which will lose three of the top four bats, which went .293 or better. Also, staff ace Matt Andriese has high-tailed it from campus, along with 7-game winner Dustin Emmons. The bullpen needs to be re-worked and will need some new blood to step in right away and contribute. Also, RHP Mitch Patito needs to revert to his Frosh All American form where he was 3-0, 1.33 and threw with more confidence. Oh and the defense will need a near-total makeover with infield spots at SS, 3B and 1B needing to be filled by capable hands.

.

Schedule Note:

Highlanders taking the high road.

Coach Smith always likes to challenge his team in the non-conference, and this year is certainly not going to stray from that mind-set. UCR will go to snakepits like Arizona State, Sam Houston State and Fresno State in the first month of the season, hoping to build up a good callus for the rest of the season. The yearlings will certainly have to grow up quick, especially since the roadies in the Big West will be tough as well with trips to UC Irvine and Fullerton on deck.

.

.

- UC SANTA BARBARA (26-26, 10-14)

2011 ISR: 89

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Joe Wallace (.222, 15SBs)

SS Steve Moon (.256)

RHP Matt Vedo (6-6, 4.32, .240OBA)

.

The Good News:

Youthful enthusiasm. That’s what new head coach Andrew Checketts brings to this program. In fact, the dude is so youthful looking, he makes me look ancient (Damn him). But Checketts also has a big pedigree behind him, having worked under head coaches like George Horton and Doug Smith in recent years. Getting a pitcher like Matt Vedo back will help, after he started 16 games and returned to campus despite getting drafted by the Angels last June. Lefty relievers Cameron Cuneo (1-1, 3.95, .220OBA) and Zak Edgington (0-0, 3.10, .252OBA) will help rebuild the bullpen. The Gauchos can also count on a strong left side with SS Steve Moon and 3B Ryan Palermo (.278) coming back from a defense that fielded at a .971 clip. If you’re looking for a player to cheer for, RHP Kevin Galinas has been drafted twice by the MLB, but has had the last two seasons erased by injuries. Revamped facilities and numerous upgrades will be forthcoming at Gaucho Park/Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, which should invigorate the program and make recruiting a little bit easier. Not that the beach-side location and impressive female student body aren’t a big enough draw as is.

.

The Bad News:

Okay, first things first people. Things are going to get a little worse before it gets a lot better. That’s just the nature of turning a new program all the way around with a new staff. Longtime coach Bob Brontsema stepped down, meaning a Gaucho-at-heart is gone from the dugout. Of course, the biggest downside that you could point out about the incoming staff is that coach Checketts has never been a head coach before which is part of the reason he brought in former head men Jason Hawkins (Occidental) and Eddie Cornejo (Riverside C.C.) to be his assistants. That usually means there will be plenty of rough patches ahead before a winning habit can be formed. The losses to the roster were numerous, including Mark Haddow and Sean Williams, the top two hitters and just about every pitcher this side of Matt Vedo.

.

Schedule Note:

Your hometown comes to town.

New coach Andrew Checketts is a former Oregon State pitcher, and now welcomes his old team to town for his opening weekend as a head coach. The Gauchos will host the Beavers for four games to begin 2012 in what could be a harsh slap of reality right off the bat. UCSB will also head up to the Bay Area for weekends at San Jose State and USF. The slate won’t get much easier either as the Gauchos will also hit the road for 17 of their final 24 games of the season from April 13th onward. Not a good way to usher in a lot of young guns, is it?

The CUSA ego is starting to get a little bruised, having not had a team in Omaha the last two seasons. But these guys are never far off the radar and its only a matter of time before their muscles get flexed again. Don’t be shocked if the stars, sun and moon alight just right and that time is nigh.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

It was another odd year in the CUSA circles last season. Consider that seven of the nine teams had winning overall records and four teams made it to the NCAAs, in Southern Miss, Rice, East Carolina and Central Florida. But the bad part is that none of them saw the light of day of the second weekend in June, all losing out in the Regional round. If fact, only the Pirates were able to play their way to the title round of the Regionals, losing to homestanding Virginia. USM and Rice tied for the regular season crown, with Rice being the No. 1 seed in the CUSA tournament after taking down the Eagles in two-of-three in the final weekend of the regular season. UCF made the rocket-ride from last place in 2010 to the NCAA tournament in 2011, showing that this is a program that means business. Houston and Memphis made some strides, but Tulane was riddled with injuries which ruined a promising season. UAB and Marshall have to work out some issues after disappointing seasons that saw them finish as bottomfeeders.

.

Conference ISR: 5

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- Conference USA.

1- Rice

2- UCF

3- East Carolina

4- Southern Miss

5- Tulane

6- UAB

7- Marshall

8- Houston

9- Memphis

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

Could we be back to the days of Rice and the Little 8? Hmmm… I may get jumped in the parking lot if I say “yes” but then again, I’m bigger than most of you, so I’ll say it’s true. At least for this season. Lots of losses across the board at most of the contenders and a return of a lot of injured Owls means that Rice will be the overwhelming favorite this season. But look out for fast-rising UCF to make a lot of noise this year as second-year head coach Terry Rooney starts to settle in as a yearly contender for the Knights. ECU and USM are proud programs that may not be Omaha contenders this season, but aren’t going to turtle up and hide from any challenges. In fact, if they get some of their key recruits to out-perform expectations, they could be right in the mix as usual. Tulane was nearly as injury-riddled as the Owls and should make big strides this season. UAB and Marshall are both going to make a sizable jump this spring which could plant the seed for future success. Houston and Memphis are merely re-coiling this season and aren’t typical bottom-feeders as they could both be dangerous as well.

.

Favorite: Rice

.

Contenders: UCF, East Carolina, Southern Miss

.

Darkhorse: Tulane

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Rice at UCF, May 17-19. Final weekend of regular season.

Close Second: East Carolina at UCF, March 23-25. First weekend of regular season.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: Rice at Stanford, March 9-11.

Close Second: East Carolina at Alabama Tournament (Bama, ORU, L’ville), Mar. 9-11.

.

Hot Coach: Terry Rooney, UCF

.

Hot Seat Coach: Rick Jones, Tulane

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Austin Kubitza, Rice

The “You Gotta See” Player: 1B/RHP D.J. Hicks, UCF

.

Three Non-Conference Series The C-USA Better Not Overlook:

1- Stony Brook at East Carolina, March 2-4

2- Troy at Southern Miss, Feb. 24-26

3- Indiana at Tulane, Feb. 24-26.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- If Rice suffers any significant injuries to two or more of its key players, UCF will win CUSA.

2- Southern Miss will leave Tax Day with a losing record in conference play, before rebounding to contention.

3- CUSA gets five teams to the NCAAs, three to the Supers and one to Omaha.

.

.

- ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM (29-28, 9-15)

2011 ISR: 91

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Dillon Napoleon (5-3, 2.87, 2nd Team All-CUSA)

RHP Ben Bullard (5-1, 3.42)

2B Patrick Palmeiro (.287-8-43)

OF Ryan Ussery (.301-3-26)

.

The Good News:

UAB got out to another good start last season, which included a 20-13 mark, series wins over ECU and Houston, then a three-hit win over Mississippi State (I’m smiling for coach Polk here). Another stretch like that and the Blazers could be going places. The Blazers were third in CUSA circles defensively, sweeping at a .975 pace and held opponents to just 26 stolen bases all last season. Coming back from that D will be catcher Harry Clark (.256) and 2B Patrick Palmeiro, along with fellow infielders Keth DePew (.276) and John Frost (.246-3-40), so look for that lockdown defense to continue. The pitching staff returns Dillon Napolean (the CUSA Newcomer of the Year) and RHP Michael Busby (1-2, 5.85, 9starts) and LHP David Hayes (1-2, 6.75, 8starts), who are three arms that combined for 31 of the 57 starts last season. Behind them, ace reliever RHP Ryan Nance (2-5, 6.68, 8svs) is also coming back and should post better numbers in this, his senior year.

.

The Bad News:

Playing in a conference that is so well-versed in post-season success it’s weird to see that the Blazers haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1991. Wow. Also think about this… for the second year in a row the Blazers limped down the stretch, going just 9-15 after that win over MSU on April 13th. That’s a bad rut to get into boys. This year they’ll have to make do without difference-makers like OF Jamal Austin, an All-CUSA pick, and a pair of 2nd teamers in INF Nick Crawford, who had 18SBs, and RHP Ryan Woolley, who was the staff horse and was picked up in the 13th round by the Tigers last June. The offense was pretty punchless last year and needs lots of improvement after hitting just .271 and will lose the top two leading hitters in Jamal Austin and Nick Crawford, who also combined for 44 stolen bases. Losing Ryan Woolley and Blake Huddleston means a lot of quality will be missing from the rotation. as they were two of only three pitchers with an ERA below 5.00.

.

Schedule Note:

Tough start, tough end.

The Conference USA portion of the schedule won’t be kind to the Dragons as they’ll have to go to East Carolina and Central Florida in the first three weeks and then they’ll also have to deal with a trip to Rice and a homestand vs. Southern Miss to end the slate for their Conference USA hopes. Not easy. On top of all that, the Big Green will also open the 2012 season with three games at Clemson, a three-gamer vs. Ball State, a weekend vs. Utah and a weekend hosting Penn State. After all that, the Coastal Carolina Classic in mid-March will have UAB squaring off with the likes of UConn, Michigan and host Coastal Carolina. Ugh!

.

.

- CENTRAL FLORIDA (39-23, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 33

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

DH/RHP D.J. Hicks (.351-14-66/2-1, 8.03)

OF Ronnie Richardson (.312-2-34, 15SBs)

2B Travis Shreve (.309, 22SBs)

OF Erik Hempe (.307-7-29)

RHP Ray Hanson (4-2, 3.47, .255OBA)

LHP Joe Rogers (4-2, 4.79, 9svs)

.

The Good News:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Terry Rooney stamp of approval has officially been applied like a tattoo on a punk rocker. Coach Roons has made the big time turnaround in his three years as the big kahuna in Orlando, culminating in last season’s at-large bid to the NCAAs and a trip to the Tallahassee Regional. More good news is ahead as most of the batting order returns from last year, led by All American D.J. Hicks, who also doubles as an occasional reliever (12 appearances last season). A couple of awesome movers and shakers return as well in the ball of energy known as OF Ronnie Richardson and 2B Travis Shreve, who combined for 37SBs and flash great gloves too. The offense hit .307 last season (2nd in CUSA) and all the returnees hit .280 or better. Defensively, the Knights were outstanding (a CUSA-best .978 fielding percentage) and return the middle infield of Shreve and SS Darnell Sweeney (.288, 12SBs). The pitching staff has ace LHP Brian Adkins (6-5, 4.40) back, who began last season as the mid-week starter before evolving into the Friday man. RHPs Ray Hanson (4-2, 3.47) and Ben Lively (5-1, 5-30) started 21 combined games and both held their opponents to .257 batting averages. Former LSU LHP Chris Matulis (a 6′6″ low-90s flamethrower) is eligible and should make a huge impact. Also, LHP Joe Rogers has been named to the Stopper of the Year Award watch list for the second straight season. Coach Rooney and his staff also brought in another bling-filled class of recruits for this season, ranked at No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball. The highlighted stars-to-be are former MLB draftees LHP Eric Skoglund (16th round, Pirates), RHP Garrett Nuss (32nd round Yankees) and INF Tommy Williams (20th round, Dbacks), who all turned down the play-for-pay guys to be part of this resurgent Black Knight program.

.

The Bad News:

Well, if you’re being picky, despite all the positive news above, the Knights still had a middle-of-the-road mark in conference play and had more losses than in 2010 overall (which was 22). So there is still plenty of improvement needed. Between Jonathan Griffin, Beau Taylor and Derek Luciano, the Knights will lose a lot of power at the dish as they combined for 30 of the 58 HRs last year. Reliever Nick Cicio and Johnny Sedlock are huge losses for this staff as they combined for 44 appearances and also were the only two pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA. Though they will have saves leader LHP Joe Rogers (4-2, 4.79, 9svs) and Bryan Brown (2-1, 4.80) back, the rest of the relief corps will need to be developed with newbies. The only other problem might be the non-conference schedule, which has a tad too many lightweights on it, potentially dragging down the RPI.

.

Schedule Note:

The anchor effect.

The Knights will play Long Island, Boston College, Siena, UMass and Harvard in the weekends leading up to Conference USA play that starts in late-March. They’ll have to hope that the numerous mid-week games with teams like Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic and Stetson will help boost their Strength of Schedule come NCAA at-large time. In conference play, ECU and Rice visit Orlando, but UCF will have to go to Houston, Southern Miss and Tulane.

.

.

- EAST CAROLINA (41-21, 14-10)

2011 ISR: 35

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

C Zach Wright (.272-13-39)

UTL John Wooten (.298)

DH Chase McDonald (.314-4-31)

LHP Kevin Brandt (7-3, 2.26, .239OBA)

OF Ben Fultz (.303-4-26)

3B Corey Thompson (.328-6-47)

SS Jack Reinheimer (.311)

OF Philip Clark (.310-3-28, 15SBs)

.

The Good News:

Last year’s season preview said that the Pirate ship was stocked with everything necessary for a bounce-back year. And sure enough, it was much smoother sailing for the Jolly Rogers as they got back to the post-season and pulled another 40-win season after coming up short of both goals in 2010. There are a lot of familiar hands to swab the deck of the ship this year, especially with the return of eight field starters. When I saw coach Godwin out in L.A. back in August, he was giddy over the fact that his block-of-granite catcher Zach Wright was ready to turn down the Phillies after being their 6th round draft pick. He got his very important wish to go along with a round-the-horn defense of 1B John Wooten, 2B Mike Ussery (.265), SS Jack Reinheimer and 3B Corey Thompson. Last year they fielded at a .970 pace, so once again the D should be a strength. Six sticks that went .298 or better return to a still-powerful lineup, new bats be damned. Wright could also be one of the most powerful hitters in the country, giving the order a hell of an anchor to build around as well. Pitching-wise there were a few hits, but three of the four returnees had ERAs of under 2.27. LHP Jake Harris (0-1, 1.15) only threw 15.1 innings last season but should take on a big role this season, same goes for Soph RHP Austin Chrismon (1-0, 1.93, .203OBA in 10.1inns). LHP Kevin Brandt (the Sunday starter for most of last year) should be ready for the Friday spot. The incoming class of newbies was a huge sigh of relief for coach Godwin, who will welcome in the 40th ranked recruiting class, according to Collegiate Baseball. DeShorn Lake (a 12th round pick of the Red Sox) and JC transfer Jharel Cotton (28th round, Mets) both hit near mid-90s mph in the fall and should take on big roles in 2012. Also look for infielder/outfield Nick Thompson, who was the Virginia state player of the year in 2011 and should help out the order immediately. Lots of young fillies are around to make sure this operation keeps hitting the high seas.

.

The Bad News:

A 40+ win season and return to the Big Dance were nice, but you know those rabid Pirate fans, it’s Omaha or bust for them. And that goal is still the dangling carrot in front of the purple crew. But this year they’ll have to accomplish that with difference-making mound starters like Brad Mincey and Seth Maness no longer around. And those are two names that have long been recognized by Pirate fans. Seth Simmons added six saves to the staff last year, along with lots of leadership skills and will also be sorely missed, especially when it came to chewing up middle-innings. Despite a positive prognosis, it’s reported that mound stud Jake Harris could be out until mid-April after having arm surgery on his throwing wing in the off-season. So with all the losses/new arms coming in, don’t expect that super-low 2.67 ERA from last year to maintain for long. Though it could if the yearlings grow up quick.

.

Schedule Note:

They are the Road Kings

It just doesn’t seem fair to the poor, rabid ECU fans out there, but the Pirates will hit the high seas for the most-important CUSA road trips to UCF, Rice and Southern Miss. Most of the weak-sister teams come to Greenville, so the good side of it is the ECU fans will get to see a lot of wins. Speaking of a lot of wins, the pre-conference sked isn’t too daunting for the Purple Gang either, with three gamers coming against Milwaukee, Stony Brook, Penn State and the Keith LeClair Classic featuring teams like Purdue, Western Carolina and Maryland (all on the uptick, but not quite to ECU’s level yet) before the CUSA slate commences. The Alabama tournament vs. the homesteading Tide, Oral Roberts and Louisville will be the biggest non-conference hoedown as all three will be pretty good tests for this pitching staff and will be key indicators to tell if this team is ready to reach the Top 25 again.

.

.

- HOUSTON (27-32, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 85

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

SS Chase Jensen (.320-3-45)

RHP Jared Ray (1-1, 3.28, .236OBA in 5 starts)

LHP Jordan Lewis (5-3, 3.75)

.

The Good News:

Though there was only a two-win improvement in Todd Whitting’s first season over 2010, there were plenty of signs this was a good improvement. The 2011 Coogs led the Conference USA crowd in triples (24), HBP (78) and was 4th in stolen bases (65). The team ERA jumped from a languid 6.54 in 2010 all the way down to 4.56, which is one of the biggest reasons for optimism. Especially since this appears to be a squad that will be led by its arms staff. Jared Ray is looking to play at a high level for the entire season this time around and will join Jordan Lewis and RHP Mo Wiley (4-4, 4.63) to form an all-senior rotation (insert coach Whitting’s smile here). The relief corps has a good bit coming back as well with leading bullpenner RHP Jordan Mannisto (4-4, 3.28, 4svs) and sophomores RHP Dustin Fuerst (1-0, 2.25, .205OBA) and RHP Chase Wellbrock (1-1, 5.52). Mid-week starter Codey Morehouse was 3-5, 5.26 in 10 starts and also hit .208 in 33 starts as an infielder. Add a pair of big time studs to this pitching staff as 10th round draftee Aaron Garza turned down the bigs to play in H-town and will join RHP Austin Pruitt, who led the JC ranks in ERA last year (0.81) pitching for the NJCAA national champions at Navarro JC.

.

The Bad News:

2011 proved to be a long season and the Coogs can’t let that 5-10 finish have any carry-over effect (although a lot of that had to do with games against RIce, USM and ECU). But even though there are a lot of returnees on the hill, the Coogs also had some probes in the pitch staff, particularly giving opponents a .289 average and getting just 313 Ks as a team, both of which were at the bottom of CUSA. Lots of retooling will need to be done in the order and on the field around C John Cannon (.284-2-26), SS Chase Jensen and CF Landon Appling (.265, 22SBs), the only three returning starters. There will be over 20 new players in the program this year as the personnel turnover has gone full circle under the new staff.

.

Schedule Note:

Tougher than a 2-dollar steak.

The Coogs will ramp up quickly in quality of competition this season. They’ll open with Delaware, then host Texas State and then head to the Houston College Classic to play Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas Tech. But it doesn’t start there. The first road trip of the season has them going Ole Miss and then to Oklahoma State in consecutive weekends. Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, they’ll open CUSA play with Southern Miss, UCF and East Carolina on consecutive weekends. Ouch, man! Look for a bit of a bruise of an overall record early on. From April 20th onward, UofH will play 11 home games, three others in town (at Rice) and three in Birmingham at UAB.

.

.

- MARSHALL (20-31, 7-17)

2011 ISR: 187

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Isaac Ballou (.285, 20SBs)

RHP Mike Mason (3-3, 4.83)

RHP Joe Church (2-2, 8.31)

RHP Aaron Blair (2-3, 2.72)

C/DH Thor Meeks (.257-5-23)

.

The Good News:

This can be taken as bad news, sure, but in the grand scheme of things, seeing Marshall have eight players drafted last June and to have two others sign with pro clubs as free agents shows that this is a program raising its profile in the tough-to-prosper surroundings of Conference USA. But a few of those draftees decided to come back to campus. Staff ace Mike Mason (23rd round, Rangers) is back, along with blazing OF Isaac Ballou (36th round, Pirates) and also RHP Joe Church, a mid-90s hurler who has been be-set by injuries. If he’s back 100%, it’s Katie-bar-the-door. Thor Meeks and Gray Stafford (.277-5-20) are two of the better power-hitters in the CUSA loop. If they get into a groove this spring it will free up the batting order around them, giving hopes to improving that .284 team average. On top of all this, for the second straight season, the Herd did have a really good recruiting class, led by middle-infielders Sergio Leon and Andrew Dundon, who both had great fall camps. Also look for LHP Wayland Moore, who went 9-0 at Seminole State last season, to give immediate help to the mound staff.

.

The Bad News:

In last year’s preview I made the statement that the Herd was a big mystery team, capable of being a darkhorse contender or finishing in last place. Well guess which team they ended up becoming? Yep, the one stuck in the basement of the CUSA standings, despite having most of the team returning to the roster last spring. Unless the new crop of frosh and transfers comes up huge, this year may be even more of an uphill struggle.The top four hitters – who were the only ones to go .300+ – all hit the bricks to pro ball and won’t be there to lean on. The arms staff took lots of hits as well, including 13 game starter Arik Sikula and saves leader Ian Kadish. So with all this youth the Herd will have to depend on, its dicey to project a top-half finish in conference play.

.

Schedule Note:

The Carolinas on their minds.

In the formative weeks of this season as the Herd is trying to gel the new with the old, one thing is for certain; they’ll do so in Carolina. A full 14 of the first 15 games of the season will come in either North or South Carolina, including the opening game with N.C. State. But most of them are winnable games too, since teams like Canisius, Bryant, Charleston Southern, Eastern Michigan and Gardner-Webb are some of the teams they’ll face. They’ll also have the fortune of “easing” into conference play as the first two weekends of CUSA play will come against UAB and Memphis.

.

.

- MEMPHIS (30-27, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 102

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B T.J. Rich (.299-6-52)

RHP Dan Langfield (3-3, 4.32)

RHP Clayton Gant (4-3, 4.99)

LHP Sam Moll (3-1, 2.68, 1sv)

.

The Good News:

There were a few shining moments in the 2011 season that makes us think there is a glimmer of big things to come. I mean, how many teams can say they pulled wins over Rice, Southern Miss, East Carolina and UCF, who all went on to the NCAA tournament. A little more consistency and this program will be ready for that quantum leap, right? Well first off, look to the offense for marked improvement from last year as the Tigers had the most ferocious bats in CUSA circles, leading the conference with a .309 team average. From the order they’ll get back a handful of power hitters like T.J. Rich (6HRs, 52RBI), 3B Jacob Wilson (.286-6-52) and DH Eli Hynes (.246-7-30). Also three-fourths of the infield that had the second-best defense in the CUSA at .977 percentage comes back with Rich, Wilson and SS Ethan Gross (.281). Two weekend starters return on the hill for the Tigers as Dan Langfield and Clayton Gant return to their posts. Backing them will be LHP Sam Moll (held opponents to a .223 average) and Erik Schoenrock (2-4, 6.28), as both were part-time starters and could figure into the weekend rotation as well. Be sure to watch for the return of RHP Charlie Joiner, who was the top reliever on the team in 2010 (2-0, 4.64, 22apps) but had to sit out 2011 with Tommy John surgery. He should be the go-to guy out of the ‘pen this season and back at 100%.

.

The Bad News:

The Tigers need to get a little tougher from the eyes up, which showed big in a weekend loss to Eastern Illinois in mid-March that led to the 20-23 finish. Ultimately a cold month of May killed any post-season hopes, so don’t let that carry-over here guys. But it will be hard to deal with reality after the top four hitters, who all went .321 or better, have all moved on. The biggest loss of those was top hitter Chad Zurcher, who takes his national-best .443 average/12SBs to pro baseball, and his partner in crime in Drew Martinez, who was a 10th round draft pick after hitting .331 with 20SBs. Also, the pitching staff was dead last in the conference with a 5.20 team ERA and also suffered some big losses that will make for big concerns for the Tigers. Especially painful will be losing staff horse Ryan Holland and ace reliever Ben Paullus, who tied for the team lead with five wins. Paullus also had the team lead with four saves, while holding opposing batters to a minuscule .170 average. New blood on the mound, at catcher and in the outfield will be shaky for sure.

.

Schedule Note:

The big litmus test.

Keep an eye on the Tigers and their three-game set at Baylor on March 9-11. Before that weekend, most of their schedule will be very winnable, including weekend sets against SIU-Edwardsville (the opener), Kennesaw State (who shouldn’t be too bad) and a homestead vs. Bradley. That tell-tale Baylor series will be followed by a home weekend vs. Rice to open CUSA play, followed by a visit from Tulane on consecutive weeks. We’ll know a lot about these guys by that time. Four of the final five series will be road tests at Southern Miss, at UCF, vs. UAB, at Missouri (out of conference… unless Mizzou is now a CUSA member, I can’t remember with all that conference realignment nonsense) and at Houston to end the regular season.

.

.

- RICE (42-21, 16-8)

2011 ISR: 18

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Austin Kubitza (6-5, 2.34, 102Ks, .250OBA)

2B/OF Michael Ratterree (.327-6-53)

C Craig Manuel (.309)

RHP Matthew Reckling (4-1, 3.10, 96Ks, .214OBA)

RHP Tyler Duffey (8-2, 2.52, 2svs, .230OBA)

OF Michael Fuda (.255)

.

The Good News:

We’ve been down this road before and it’s one that we like, seeing the Owls at the top of the CUSA standings, getting over 40 wins and being tabbed a national seed. The Old General never ceases to amaze us. And if you’re like me, you’re asking for more too. Well there’s a good chance this will be another typical Rice-like season with lots of impressive arms and a very capable defense. All eight fielders return to their posts which should make the defense a certain strength in 2012 and will improve the .963 fielding percentage. As you’d expect, the offense should be very capable as well with Michael Ratterree acting as the spark plug at the top of the order. Michael Fuda, Shane Hoelscher (.281-3-37) and former Rice football QB Ryan Lewis (.269) could help the offense become a special unit with improved numbers. Keep an eye on the big bat of 1B JT Chargois (.299-2-31), who could be a huge key to the ascendence of the offense in 2012 after spending all last season as the No. 2 hitter in the order. The pitching staff gets a big boost with RHP Matthew Reckling (22nd round, Cleveland) and LHP Taylor Wall (1-0, 3.60 and a change up specialist) returning for their senior seasons. Reckling led CUSA in opponents’ batting average giving up a minuscule .215 last year and Wall threw 29 innings vs. Top 25 teams last season and held them to a .214 average. They’ll join the wildly talented Austin Kubitza, who was named the CUSA Freshman of the Year, and RHP John Simms (3-2, 3.32), who is a highly-regarded former Washington Nationals draftee. Having a senior backstop like Craig Manuel to throw to will be comforting as he got better down the stretch last season. Another good influx of new talent has made its way to campus again this season from a group that was rated No. 28 in the country by Collegiate Baseball. JC All American infielder Christian Stringer is expected to come in and start at 2nd base, prompting the move for Ratterree to OF. And this may be shocking to read, but there are a few more wicked-good pitchers coming to Rice again, led by RHP Jordan Stephens, a low-90s flinger who coach Graham says could start on the mound immediately, and RHPs Ryan McCarthy and Evan Rutter, who should both make big inroads from the ‘pen. I got a good feelin’ about these guys this year. I’m tellin’ ya’.

.

The Bad News:

Okay Owl Nation, so Anthony Rendon is done here. That’s the first hurdle you have to get over. He can’t be replaced, but you already knew that. There were other losses though, including weekend starter Abe Gonzales and master closer Tony Cingrani, who coach Graham told me last season that his emergence was huge to the success of the Owls. I have to admit, that kerplunk-of-a-post-season wasn’t a huge shock, since I wasn’t certain the Owls were truly worthy of a national seed, so they can’t let that bummer run in the Regionals get caught in their heads. A couple of key players need to ratchet things up a bit, especially OF Michael Fuda, who hit .346 in 2010 but dipped to just .255 last year. Also, Jeremy Rathjen (who was .317-13-69 as a frosh) needs to be back at 100% after playing just 16 games last season and a player who Wayne Graham calls “one of the better outfielders in the country.” Chase McDowell is another player to watch after going 2-1, 5.14, 1sv on the mound and only having 16 at-bats due to injury last year. The Owls need to take on a tougher mentality, sure they won 12 games by one run, but they also lost 11 games by a run or two last season. If my math is right (always questionable), you turn a couple of those outcomes around and you’ve got a 50-win team.

.

Schedule Note:

In a word, YES.

I love these guys. There’s nothing boring about the Owls’ 2012 slate, no-siree-bob. Fringe teams like FIU, New Mexico State, Dallas Baptist, Texas State and Sam Houston State will get their RPI-boost from taking on the Owls in pre-conference and mid-week play. But there is also plenty of big game to bag too as Rice will travel to Stanford and host Arizona in mid-March, and they’ll take on Texas, Texas Tech and Tennessee at the Houston College Clastic in the third week of the season. The conference schedule is a red carpet rolled out as they’ll have contenders Southern Miss and East Carolina coming to Reckling this year. The Silver Glove series vs. Houston will also be a three-game home weekend in early May. Go get ‘em boys.

.

.

- SOUTHERN MISS (39-19, 16-8)

2011 ISR: 26

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Kameron Brunty (.301-5-34)

INF Isaac Rodriguez (.288-2-34)

RHP Boomer Scarborough (1-1, 2.89, .247OBA)

.

The Good News:

Dare I say, Todd Berry is not just maintaining this program at a high level, he’s actually ramping things up even more. Last year’s CUSA co-title was big. Bringing in a recruiting class chock-full o’ studs is even better. The Eagles have their talons extended and aren’t going to fly the coop anytime soon. Just deal with it people. The core of this year’s team will be built around the consistent play of CF Kameron Brunty, SS/2B Isaac Rodriguez and C Chase Fowler (.233), who will assume full time duties behind the dish. Despite some losses, the arms corps still has some potential stars coming back in RHP Boomer Scarborough, who will move from mid-week to the weekend, RHP Josh Thompson (2-3, 3.83) and LHP Dillon Day (1-2, 5.35), who also had 31 starts in centerfield as a freshman before concentrating more on pitching last year. The best news is the freshman class that coach Berry and his staff have put together. Rated No. 13 by Collegiate Baseball, they picked up an immediate replacement for B.A. Vollmuth at short with 3rd round draftee (yes, 3rd round!) Connor Barron and also got a fill-in for leading hitter Tyler Koening in the stoutly-built, 20th round draftee Mason Robbins. Also look for big impact guys like 3B Brad Roney (18th round, Orioles) and lanky RHP Taylor Nunez (20th round, Pirates) to leave their mark right away. Better days are ahead for this program.

.

The Bad News:

Like a couple other teams in the conference here, the post-season was not kind to the Golden Eagles, as they went a combined 1-4 in the CUSA and NCAA tournaments. In fact, USM just ran out of gas last year, going 2-8 in their last 10 games, so let’s hope there is no carry-over effect into 2012. This could be as close as it gets to a “rebuilding” season in Hattiesburg for the Eagles, having lost four of their top five hitters (all of which hit .300+), all three weekend starters and their ace All American Collin Cargill, who had eight saves last year. it’s the loss of stalwarts like do-it-all SS B.A. Vollmuth, Adam Doleac and staff ace Todd McInnis (a former CUSA Pitcher of the Year) that will hurt the most since they were not only team leaders, but also holdovers from that outstanding 2009 College World Series team.

.

Schedule Note:

More mid-majors than normal?

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the Eagles are going to play a lot more “gimme” type games in the pre-conference portion of this year’s schedule. Mid-majors are everywhere, including the season-opening weekend vs. Nicholls State, a good week two matchup with Troy, another return engagement vs. Louisiana (played in Lafayette this time) and hosting Murray State the week before CUSA play kicks in. The only big-time measuring sticks will be at the Auburn Tournament the first weekend of March (against the host Tigers, Purdue and Charleston Southern) and a  pair of single games played at Alabama and at Ole Miss in mid-week action. The Eagles will also play in-state SWAC champions Alcorn State for their off-weekend from conference play. And FYI, this year’s series with Rice is in Houston, March 30-April 1st.

.

.

- TULANE (31-26, 10-14)

2011 ISR: 90

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

C Jeremy Schaffer (.338-6-37)

1B Nick Schneeberger (.301-2-35)

RHP Alex Byo (3-2, 3.32, .252OBA)

RHP Alex Facundus (8-2, 3.43, .225OBA)

.

The Good News:

If the Waves can pull off a similar start to last year, where they jumped out to a 17-4 mark which included series wins over Ole Miss and Wichita State, it would do a lot for the psyche of this youthful team. I think they’re ready to handle that kind of success in 2012. Ten-game starter Alex Byo is back as the only weekender (who played the whole season) back for 2012. He’ll have Freshman All American Alex Facundus, along with relievers like LHP David Napoli (1-3, 3.86) and RHP DJ Ponder (3-1, 4.18), who combined for 35 appearances. The defense was pretty stout with a .971 percentage and returns All-CUSA catcher Jeremy Schaffer and all four infielders in 1B Nick Schneeberger, 2B Bowen Woodson (.272-3-28), SS Garrett Cannizaro (.240) and 3B Brennan Middleton (.254). A trio of well-lauded incoming pitchers have the coaches peaked for this coming season in frosh RHP Alex Massey (27th round pick, Red Sox) and LHP Jordan Gross (40th round, Red Sox) and incoming JC transfer RHP Tyler Mapes (49th round, Yankees), who helped lead Navarro College to the JC national title. Again if we’re talking about an injury-free season (or something relatively close to that), this team could shock, stun and surprise.

.

The Bad News:

When I saw the Green Wave beat Wichita State at Turchin Stadium last spring, I would’ve never guessed they would end the season with even more losses than in 2010 and even end conference play sub-.500. Injuries, weak sticks and lethargy took their toll on the Greenies, ruining what looked like a promising season. From the start of CUSA play, the Wave went 14-22 the rest of the way. Of course, the Greenies MUST stay away from the injury bug too. I mean, they lost uber-talented pitchers Randy LeBlanc (a 16th round draft pick out of high school) and Kyle McKenzie (2-2, 4.63 at the time) in the month of March, thinning their arms corps in the early going. The Wave will need those two to come back 100% since they’ve lost two weekend starters in Conrad Flynn and Drew Zizinia and also said goodbye to 14-game save specialist Nick Pepitone.

.

Schedule Note:

Is this the perfect schedule?

The Green Wave will play what I call very nearly the perfect schedule, a good mix of tough, easy, home and road. They’ll start easy with a home series vs. Siena – who may be playing their first games/practices outdoors – and then host a decent Indiana team. Week three will find SEC monster-in-training Alabama coming to Turchin Stadium. Nice. In week four, they’ll return the trip to Wichita State, one of the toughest places to play in the country. In conference play, they’ll have the luxury of playing at home against Rice and Southern Miss. Trips to East Carolina and Houston will be a challenge, but by that time, these guys will be road warriors. They’ll also have home-and-home mid-weekers vs. LSU, Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana.

Last year, the Pac crumbled under high expectations, having sparse success by their standards. Look for redemption this year as the conference grows by another member and reloads with plenty of star-power all over the diamond. Seat belts should be required by law here.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

It was a rollercoaster season for the Pac 10, but you have to say that it was overshadowed by plenty of downslides, especially early in the season as teams like Oregon, Washington State and UCLA were slow out of the gate and set a bad precedent for the conference. But big time kudos to the Bruins, who regrouped enough and got on a hot streak, eventually winning the conference crown and pulling a slightly-surprising No. 1 seed and home Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Arizona State and Oregon State each had some high points, including both reaching into the top five of the rankings at one point. Stanford and Arizona had rigorous schedules to navigate, but still got in the upper 30s win totals. But the success story above all success stories was, of course, the Cal Bears. As was famously told and re-told time and again, the Bears came from the brink of getting the program dumped in the rubbish bin and instead, playing inspired ball and making it to Omaha. I probably over-use this phrase, but Wow… just, Wow. The conference did manage to get all six of their post-season teams to the title rounds of the Regionals and had four advance to the Supers. I think the Pac 12 would take that just about every year. But the 6th place team making it to Omaha… and the top five sitting at home? That’s below par for this conference.

.

Conference ISR: 2

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Pac 12.

1- Stanford

2- Arizona

3- California

4- UCLA

5- Arizona State

6- Oregon State

7- Oregon

8- USC

9- Utah

10- Washington State

11- Washington

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

This conference is still stacked with potential national title winners. I mean, how can Oregon State be placed way down at No. 6? Really, people? That’s a solid indicator of how strong the top of the Pac 12 will be this season. It starts at the No. 1 slot where Stanford is getting a lot of pub in the preseason polls and for good reason. That pitching staff could be the best group since that 2003 title club, especially if Brett Mooneyham makes it all the way back to form. Arizona has quietly built up an impressive amount of talent with their last few years of raging youth. Don’t feel too sorry for Cal and UCLA and their collective losses on the mound. Both teams will feature outstanding new arms to go along with some scrappy defense and opportunistic offense. ASU is an absolute wild cards this season since who knows which way they’ll go with this NCAA probation-laden season on their hands. OSU may be placed down at No. 6, but I don’t think anyone really expects them NOT to play a part in who will win this conference title. Both the Beavers and their rival Oregon Ducks had outstanding recruiting classes and will have great upside. And while we’re on the subject, USC under new permanent coach Frank Cruz also put together a solid class and has plenty of returning talent to make some noise. Utah, Wazzu and Washington bring up the rear in this predicted finish, but on the bright side, they’ll probably be the highest-rated bottom-feeders in the country.

.

Favorite: Stanford

.

Contenders: Arizona, Cal, UCLA

.

Darkhorse: Arizona State

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Stanford at Arizona, March 30-April 1.

Close Second: Cal at Stanford, May 25-27. Final weekend of regular season

.

Best Non-Conference Series: Every Stanford series (Vandy, Texas, Fresno State, Rice)

Close Second: UCLA at Georgia, March 9-11.

Close Third: Cal at Texas, March 30-April 1.

Close Fourth: Oregon at Vanderbilt, Feb. 24-26.

Close Fifth: Oregon State at Nike College Showcase (Oklahoma, Illinois, UConn, West Virginia).

.

Hot Coach: Dave Esquer, Cal

.

Hot Seat Coach: None

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Mark Appel, Stanford

The “You Gotta See” Player: SS Devon Marrero, Arizona State

.

Three Non-Conference Series The Pac 12 Better Not Overlook:

1- Cal at Nebraska, March 9-12.

2- Baylor at UCLA, Feb. 24-26.

3- Stanford at Fresno State, March 2-4.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- Arizona State gives college baseball and the NCAA a giant “FU” and goes out and wins the Pac 12 despite all the probation and lack of post-season.

2- Adjusting to the BBCOR bats better, both UCLA and Oregon State increase their weak team averages 40+ points into the .300+ range.

3- Facing temperatures in the upper 30s in Lincoln, Cal loses the weekend set at Nebraska in early March, then vows never to go back, despite the new Pac 10-Big 10 scheduling alliance.

.

.

- ARIZONA (39-21, 15-12)

2011 ISR: 21

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Kurt Heyer (8-5, 2.41, .235OBA)

RHP Konner Wade (3-0, 3.23, .250OBA)

RHP Tyler Hale (3-4, 5.01)

OF Joey Rickard (.347-4-37, 16SBs)

SS Alex Mejia (.335)

OF Robert Refsnyder (.320-6-55, 10SBs)

3B Seth Mejias-Breen (. 313)

.

The Good News:

Things are changing in Tucson. This is still a team that always seems on the cusp of busting into the national title chase. Talking to Andy Lopez in the off-season he couldn’t be more excited about the prospect of moving the home games to Hi Corbett Field. He thinks it will give this program a needed shot in the arm in post-season possibilities. On the field, that outstanding freshman class of 2009 is now a brigade of solid juniors that should lead the Wildcats to the next step in the post-season process. Unlike the swooning end to 2010 (went 6-13), you have to like how last year’s squad went 12-3 down the stretch of the regular season to finish strong. There is going to be a lot of star power on the team this year, led by Friday ace RHP Kurt Heyer and OF Joey Rickard, who should both be big time after spending last summer excelling in the high-level Cape Cod League. But there is certainly All American potential in infielders like Alex Mejia and Seth Mejias-Breen, who will make one of the best left sides of the infield in the country. Five of the top seven hitters from last year return to the roster and all of them have considerable power potential. And now that they’re moving out of over-spacious Sancet Stadium (with its 360ft fences down each baseline), look for the slugging percentage to climb considerably. Now, on to that new crop of Cats. Yep, don’t forget about the new batch of frosh, as coach Lopez and Co. brought in another sparkling class-full-of-bling. Six of them were MLB draftees and Lopez thinks RHP Matthew Troupe (17th round, Yankees) could become the Sunday starter. Also watch for C David Schuknecht (12th round, Rockies) and C Riley Moore (21st round, Phillies) to possibly platoon at C/DH/1B. Finally, keep an eye on 5′11″ RHP Lucas Long, who has a lively 92 to 94mph arm, but went undrafted last June.

.

The Bad News:

Some personnel losses took place from last year’s squad as talents like Friday starter Kyle Simon (11-3), saves leader Matt Chaffee (6-3 with 7svs), top hitter Bryce Ortega (.353) and No. 3 in the order Cole Frenzel (.346) will all be solely missed. On top of that, fireplug catcher Jett Bandy (.266) and valuable middle reliever Bryce Bandilla (5-3, 32apps) have also headed off to pro ball. The truth of the matter is that Coach Lopez’s troops have been riddled with youth the last few years and have never had big expectations placed on them. We’ll have to see how they react when the spotlight is heavy on their shoulders. Finding replacements at catcher and the right side of the infield will be huge undertakings. Some of the high-profile frosh will have to live up to billing. You never know how that will manifest itself.

.

Schedule Note:

Not sure if this’ll be an RPI builder.

The UofA schedule of non-conference opponents won’t knock you out like an Ali punch or anything. The Desert Cats will start with North Dakota State, then host SEC member Auburn (who is not expected to be a national title contender or anything), then host Harvard, followed by UC Davis and Eastern Michigan. Dammit! They will have two mid-week games at Rice in mid-March right before their Pac 10 opener vs. Washington State. For the record, the Wildcats got a great hand dealt to them in Pac 10 scheduling, having contenders like Stanford, UCLA, Arizona State and Oregon all coming to Hi Corbett Field. The road trips are at not-so-intimidating environs like Utah, Washington, Cal and USC.

.

.

- ARIZONA STATE (43-18, 17-10)

2011 ISR: 6

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

SS Deven Marrero (.315, 10SBs)

OF Andrew Aplin (.284)

DH Joey DeMichele (.368-9-51)

RHP Brady Rodgers (9-4, 2.75)

RHP Jake Barrett (7-4, 4.14)

.

The Good News:

Despite all the distractions (hello NCAA) and the usual high-expectations, Tim Esmay and his staff did another wicked-good job with this program last year, finishing within a wind-blow foul ball of winning the regular season in the Pac 10 and then nearly making it back to Omaha (damn you, Baseball Gods of bad calls). And keep in mind, the Devils accomplished all that without having a single returning weekend starter on the mound going into the 2011 season. This time coach Esmay and pitching coach Ken Knutson will welcome back weekend starters Brady Rodgers and Jake Barrett (who could both easily ascend to the “special” or “difference-maker” category), along with relievers Alex Blackford (4-1, 2.66, .229OBA), Trevor Williams (1-0, 2.50, .200OBA) and Mark Lambson (2-0, 1.90, .214OBA). The offense and defense will re-build around SS Deven Marrero, the 2012 Pac 10 Defensive Player of the Year, and centerfielder Andrew Aplin, who didn’t commit a single error while also throwing out seven baserunners from the meadow. DH-wise, Joey DiMichele is as good as it gets. After hitting a team-best .358-9-51 last spring, he participated in the Home Run Derby at TD Ameritrade Park last summer and could be one of the better power hitters in the country. The incoming freshmen were ranked the 22nd-best in the nation and feature a lot of familiar names in baseball circles. INF Drew Stankiewicz (a 40th round pick, Rockies) is the son of former ASU assistant Andy and LHP Brandon Bonilla (37th round pick, Rockies) is the son of former MLBer Bobby. But the prize horse of the new group is 6′8″ LHP Adam McCreery (14th round, Twins), who can run his fastball up to the low-90s. Also look for immediate contributions from linebacker-sized catcher Nathaniel Causey (46th round, Rockies) and OF Jake Peevyhouse, who can flat fly. And I’m not sure how big of a “Good News” thing this will be, but Baseball America named ASU’s 2012 recruiting class as the tops in the nation. Now we’ll see how many of those 22 signees (yes, it’s THAT big of a class) actually make it to campus after this June’s draft.

.

The Bad News:

The specter of NCAA probation finally cashed in on this program as it was determined that the Devils won’t be allowed to play in the 2012 post-season, having its appeal denied in the fall. So obviously, one of the biggest concerns for this year’s squad is if they lose focus or lack motivation. It’s not as if losing seven field starters was concern enough for coach Esmay and his staff already, right? .300+ hitters like Johnny Ruettiger, Austin Barnes and Riccio Torrez were big losses, but so were multi-year mainstays like Zack MacPhee (the heart and soul of the program the last few seasons), Matt Newman and Zach Wilson, all of whom excelled at the dish and even moreso with the gloves. Also joining them in the exodus were pitchers like Kramer Champlin, the Sunday starter, Kyle Ottoson (who started 9games in 2011) and one of the best relievers in school history in the doggedly-tough Mitchell Lambson. Say “ouch” three times fast here. A whole new offensive and defensive mindset will need to be cultivated, especially on the basepaths as the Devils lost 80 of last season’s 99 stolen bases to the pros and graduation.

.

Schedule Note:

Easing the new blood into the veins.

ASU has gone south in its non-conference scheduling the last few years. Long gone are the days when Pat Murphy used to take a “anywhere, anytime” kind of mentality to his schedules. But this year might be a good year to finally ease up on things as a lot of new faces will have to acclimate to the college game. The Devils will play Western Michigan, UC Riverside, St. Louis, Northern Illinois, Winthrop and St. Mary’s in the first three weekends of the season. It won’t be until back to back trips to the LA area at Long Beach State and at UCLA that the Maroon and Gold will face some adversity. One of my favorite matchups of the last few years has been the Best in the West Challenge with Cal State Fullerton, which will take place in Tempe at the end of March this time around. They’ll also take on New Mexico and rival Arizona more mid-week tilts. A three-game trip to Gonzaga in mid-May will constitute ASU’s bye week in Pac 12 play and a trip down to Arizona will conclude the conference schedule two weeks later.

.

.

- CALIFORNIA (38-23, 13-13)

2011 ISR: 15

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

LHP Justin Jones (9-6, 2.93, 102Ks)

RHP Matt Flemer (4-2, 1.93)

2B Tony Renda (.332-3-44, Pac 10 Player of the Year)

C Chadd Krist (.297-2-43)

OF Vince Bruno (.299)

LHP Kyle Porter (6-0, 1.89, 2svs)

1B Devon Rodriguez (.280-5-39)

.

The Good News:

There’s no way possibly to explain how much “Good News” there is with this program. I mean, where do you start? It may be getting a bit on the repetitive side, but Dave Equer did Yoeman’s work by pulling his team together as the 2011 season went on and had them playing at the apex of their game at the end of the season. They pulled one of the most stunning come-from-behind wins you’ll ever see, taking down Baylor in the championship game of the Regional with four runs in the bottom of the 9th inning. They then took down Dallas Baptist in two games and rolled into Omaha as one of the best success stories in the history of college baseball. The best part about this team, going into 2012, is the fact that they’ll get some players back they weren’t expecting to return as catcher and team leader Chadd Krist turned down the White Sox in the 13th round, RHP Kevin Miller spurned the White Sox in the 18th round and RHP Matt Flemer comes back despite being a 19th round draftee of the Royals. That’s huge. They’ll also get those dirt-under-the-nails players every team needs in 2B Tony Renda (the Pac 10 Player of the Year last season), 1B Devon Rodriguez and OFs Chad Bunting (.278-7-25) and Darrel Matthews (.275), who both have big playmaking abilities. The pitching staff could be very formidable with the return of Friday ace Justin Jones, whose injury in the Super Regionals last year really put a damper on their chances in Omaha. If he’s back to 100% this season, that could mean the difference between winning and losing weekends. LHP Kyle Porter could have an even bigger season as he steps his game up after being named a Freshman All American last year. If the Bears get players like 1B Jacob Wark (a former 38th round pick of the Braves), Catcher/DH Andrew Knapp (led the Northwoods League in hitting in 2010) and Michael Theofanopoulos (hit .286 in just 21ABs) to make some big time steps into the limelight this year, a 40-win season isn’t out of the question.

.

The Bad News:

Despite that remarkable 2011 season, there is a lot of work for Coach Esquer and his crew to do. On the down side of things, it looks like the fans and administrators might have much higher expectations going forward from here. (Really, a Cal sports program with high expectations? Okay.). There were also a lot of big time losses to the pitching corps in particular. Erik Johnson was a high-round draft pick and big-time flingers like Dixon Anderson and Kevin Miller also fled to pro ball. Between the three of them they had 41 starts and 258 innings of work last season. And yes, I realize the Bears played a high-brow schedule last year (rated as the 8th-toughest in the country), but the offense wasn’t exactly a high octane outfit, hitting just .284. They’ll lose bats like Austin Booker (.308), Louie Lechich (.286) and Marcus Semien (.275). The other bad news is based on historical factors in how the Pac 10/12 has shown that there are many flashes in the pan where a team is banzai one year and gonzo to the bottom of the standings the next. Beware of those traps Bears.

.

Schedule Note:

“I want to be another Georgia”

Coach Esquer told me back at last summer’s Area Code Games that his goal every year is to be like the Bulldogs; play the toughest schedule humanly possible so that getting a winning record is enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Well coach, you’ve certainly got another back-breaker on your hands, though it may not be as daunting as last year’s slate. The Bears will have weekend showdowns at Long Beach State, at Nebraska and at Texas in the non-conference portion of things and they’ll also play mid-week games vs. Fresno State, San Francisco and Creighton, plus an additional mid-weeker vs. Stanford and Washington State at home. In Pac 12 weekend series, they’ll travel to both Wazzu and Andrew Luck U., along with roadies at Arizona State, USC, and Oregon.

.

.

- OREGON (33-26, 11-16)

2011 ISR: 29

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 3

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Alex Keudell (7-3, 2.89)

LHP Christian Jones (7-2, 3.24)

SS J.J. Altobelli (.236)

C/OF Aaron Jones (.270-2-36)

INF Ryon Healy (.320-4-20)

.

The Good News:

Coach George Horton is still trying to find some stability in this program, but the good news is that he’s a perfect helmsman for getting a team out of its funk. Of course, having a vet like 3B J.J. Altobelli (.236) is a luxury for coach Horton as he has been around the program for three years now and he’ll be joined by talented sophomore returnees in Aaron Jones (.270), who had a great summer in the Northwoods League, and OF Brett Thomas, who hit .291, to lead the offense. The Green Gang will need to get part-timers like 1B/DH Ryon Healy (.320 in 31starts), OF Kyle Garlick (.250-2-21 in 24starts), DH/1B Ryan Hambright (.189 in 18starts) and his brother, C, Brett Hambright (.261 in 21starts) to step up their game to solidify the batting order and some key defensive positions. Be sure to watch for the emergence of OF Nick Wagner, a former draft pick of Toronto who sat out last season with a knee injury and could become a huge cog in the machine. One thing that Coach Horton has always proven is an ability to recruit and to hire assistants that can pull in talent. This year’s influx of newbies is the fourth straight class that was ranked in the top 25 nationally. In fact, Baseball America ranked these guys at No. 9 in the country and features future studs like RHP Jake Reed, who is a smooth, lower-90s hurler with good feel, outfielder Billy Flamion, a 25th round draft pick of the Astros, and INF Scott Heineman, who may get a shot at a starting gig right away.

.

The Bad News:

In direct contrast to most George Horton-coached teams, this team flew south under the high expectations last season, dipping to an 8th place finish in the conference. (Maybe some of the blame falls on me for putting them at No. 2 nationally in the pre-season). They’ll lose a lot of experience from last season, including All Pac 10ers like Friday ace Tyler Anderson, weekender Madison Boer, relievers Scott McGough and Kellen Moen and leading hitter Danny Pulfer. That’s a lot of talent going out the door. The offense was a major problem last season as the Ducks hit just .259 and has only one returnee who hit better than .291 back in the fold. There will be plenty of holes to fill, including the need to find a new shortstop, a new lockdown 3rd baseman and a couple of corner outfielders. Those are some key positions that, if they don’t filled with quality play, could make for a long season. A pair of highly-anticipated talents will be put on the shelf for 2012 in frosh RHP Cole Wiper, a 14th round draftee of the Blue Jays, and RHP Sam Johnson, who both fell to injury.

.

Schedule Note:

From the Islands to Music City to Nike-town

The early season slate for the Ducks will have them going far and wide with the opening weekend at Hawaii, weekend No. 2 going to play at Vanderbilt, a home weekend vs. Long Beach State and then hosting the Nike College Showcase with UConn, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Illinois coming to Eugene. They’ll also play games at Texas State and at Gonzaga and vs. San Francisco in interesting midweek matchups. There will be a tough three week spell in late-March/early-April where UO will host Arizona State, then go to Stanford and go to UCLA and Stanford.

.

.

- OREGON STATE (41-19, 17-10)

2011 ISR: 11

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

INF/DH Kavin Keyes (.302, Frosh All American)

2B Jake Rodriguez (.320)

LHP Ben Wetzler (6-3, 4.66)

RHP Tony Bryant (3-2, 1.52, 12svs, .224OBA)

LHP Matt Boyd (0-0, 1.57, 4svs, .250OBA)

SS Matt Dunn (.280-4-26)

DH/1B Danny Hayes (.280-4-32)

.

The Good News:

First off, Pat Casey, the maestro of the Beaver Nation, is just 36 wins away from the school record for coaching victories, which currently stands at 613. And Casey did one of his better jobs of coaching last year by inspiring his team to come from out of nowhere to stay high in the rankings the entire 2011 season. Making it to the Super Regional round of the post-season was a great accomplishment for a team that wasn’t expected to do much last year (yes, I admit I had the Beavs pegged to finish 8th in the Pac 10… for shame on me. I just can’t get these Oregon schools right). If that kind of inspiration carries over to 2012, look for the Beavs to make a lot of noise again because the talent level is still there for the Black and Orange. Three of what was a stellar infield return for ‘12 in part-time 2Bman Jake Rodriguez (.320 in 33 games), SS Ryan Dunn (.280-4-26) and DH/1B Danny Hayes (.280-4-32). So don’t expect the Beavs to have much drop-off in their .972 fielding percentage from last year. The pitch staff should still be one of the tops in the Pac 12, with LHP Matt Boyd looking for big things in 2012 after clamping down some bats in the Cape Cod League last summer. He’ll be joined in the rotation by weekend returnee LHP Ben Wetzler to form a solid one-two punch for the Pac 12 rigors. Also watch for RHP Adam Duke, who barely pitched last spring due to injury, but was a 16th round draftee out of high school and holds a lot of promise. A total of five of the incoming newbies were drafted last June but decided to come to Corvallis, including potentially dominant LHP Jace Fry (9th round pick, A’s), LHP Carlos Rodriguez (20th round, Braves), RHP Cole Brocker (39th round, Tigers) and INF Nate Esposito (46th round, A’s). Also look for immediate contributions from OFs Michael Conforto and Dylan Davis, who were both high school All Americans from the state of Washington. It goes without saying that this is the kind of incoming class a head coach will stick around for… just to see what happens.

.

The Bad News:

The Beavers seemed to run out of gas last season, going 3-7 in their final 10 games and losing their long-held lead in the Pac 10 in the last weekend of conference play. In fact, after Josh Osich’s no-hitter he threw at UCLA on the last day of April, the Beavs went just 9-11 to end the season. That slide kept OSU from being a national seed, which seemed a lock up until the calendar turned to May. Osich has hit the high road to professional money and is joined by Sam Gaviglio and James Nygren. They were part of a Beaver rotation of arms that was only seven players deep. Beyond that, coach Casey barely relied on the staff’s deep number of capable arms. That should change this year as they fight to find an identity and to get some depth to the squad. Another huge project to fall on Coach Casey’s lap is finding a catcher, after both Anthony Susac and Parker Berberet moved on. As you might imagine with a team batting average of .267, the offense could use a jump start, particularly from that outstanding incoming class of players. It was also unlike OSU’s habit to steal just 56 bases all last year, which was 6th in the conference. Gotta get the running game going again to get back to the familiar Beaver style of play.

.

Schedule Note:

53 of 56 on Pacific Time.

Unlike recent years where they would venture East for more stout competition early on in the pre-conference play, it doesn’t look like this year’s slate will give OSU too much to worry about as the Orange & Black will take on UC Santa Barbara in the opening weekend, then travel down to play San Diego State, San Diego and Kansas State in week two. All three of those teams are in rebuilding mode as we kick off the 2012 season. The final weekend of the regular season – just in time to fight for their post-season lives – OSU will host Oregon for three games in the stitched-ball version of the Civil War. Lights out, man.

.

.

- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (25-31, 13-14)

2011 ISR: 57

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 3

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Andrew Triggs (5-4, 3.67)

RHP/DH Brandon Garcia (.309/2-5, 8.73)

OF Alex Sherrod (.318-6-34)

C Kevin Roundtree (.309)

.

The Good News:

It may not look like it on the surface, but the Trojans did make some strides last season, especially in going from seven Pac 10 wins in 2010 to 13 wins in 2011, finishing just five games out of first in the standings. There were other signs too, like wins over UCLA (2), a Friday win over Cal and get this, series wins over Stanford, Arizona State and Oregon State. Wow. Frank Cruz, a longtime assistant at SC, was given the keys to the Buick and is now fully in charge of the Trojan fortunes. He brings a good track record as a head coach from his days in the early 2000s at LMU. He’ll be getting Friday starter Andrew Triggs back after he turned down the Giants, who selected him in the 21st round last summer, is a huge coo since he started Pac 10 Fridays for the Men of Troy last year. A couple more arms to watch are senior-to-be RHP Ben Mount (1-2, 5.15), who was named the top pitcher in the New England Collegiate League last summer, going 6-1, 1.14 with 56Ks in 51.1 innings, and Kyle Richter, who made 23 appearances and went 2-3, 4.01. The left side of the infield will be solid with SS James Roberts (.274) and 3B Adam Landecker (.280) both coming back. Also, coach Cruz was able to entice Cal pitching coach Dan Hubbs down to be his new pitching coach and Trojan alum Eric Munson, a star on the ‘98 CWS title team, has been added as a volunteer assistant. The incoming class was stunningly top-shelf, ranked as the 4th best in the country by Collegiate Baseball, and headed by LHP Stephen Tarpley, the No. 2 ranked high school player in Arizona who was drafted in the 14th round by the Indians last summer. Also joining the Trojan ranks this year will be infielders Trent Boras (30th round, Brewers) and Dante Flores (41st round, Padres).

.

The Bad News:

Well coach Cruz certainly has his work cut out for him. The Men of Troy haven’t had a winning season since 2005, which was also the last time they’d been to the NCAA tournament. Whoa!… right? For a program of THIS stature? Gah. They’ll have to venture on without a number of future MLBers like All American Ricky Oropesa, Friday starter Alex Wood and fellow weekender Logan Odom (who combined for 28 starts and 161 innings). Also hitting the high road will be ace reliever Chad Smith and infielder extraordinaire Joe De Pinto. The offense returns six of the top eight hitters from last season but that’s from a team that hit just .274 to begin with. Time to step things up or be left behind in the new Pac 10 that is constantly improving. Three part-timers will have to step up and reach potential in J.R. Aguirre (.232 in 17starts), Jake Hernandez (.200 in 12 starts) and Alex Glenn (.188 in 25starts). One player who WON’T be making it to Troy will be Ryan Garvey, who was a 14th round draftee out of high school and has apparently decided to transfer to Riverside CC after just one semester in South Central.

.

Schedule Note:

Plenty of tough stuff.

USC does its usual job of taking on a whole host of toughies, including a weekend opener vs. Jacksonville, who expected to be one of the top mid-major teams in the country. They’ll also have a rugged stretch where they’ll be going to North Carolina in the third weekend of the season and hosting Cal State Bakersfield a week later. Feel free to call those some major litmus tests. The Pac 12 slate will be its usual arduous self as the Trojans will go to Stanford, to Arizona State and to UCLA this time around.

.

.

- STANFORD (35-22, 14-12)

2011 ISR: 10

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Mark Appel (6-7, 3.02)

3B Stephen Piscotty (.365-3-39)

SS Kenny Diekroeger (.294-2-31)

2B Lonnie Kauppila (.298, 2Es)

1B Brian Ragira (.329-4-46, 4Es)

OF Tyler Gaffney (.327-3-35)

.

The Good News:

Ahhhh, things at Kyle Peterson U. are starting to look awfully familiar again. And I’m not talking in those beauty pullover uniforms that recall the togs of the 70s and 80s. I mean in the sense that these guys are back to their usual spot of making a run to Omaha and stalking a title. But by all means, I think we all know by now that you can’t let the black-and-blue overall record fool you. Last year was a perfect example. The Trees played a ridiculous non-conference schedule, finished in 5th place in the Pac 10 and were a little low-profile, but then played good, solid, smart baseball in the Fullerton Regional and ended up advancing to the Supers in Chapel Hill. The base for a national title run in 2012 will certainly be the rotation of All American candidates in Mark Appel, RHP Dean McCardle (7-4, 4.21) and strapping lefty Brett Mooneyham, who pitched for Team USA in 2010 but had to sit out last season with an injury. If big Mooney can come back as effective as he was before, the Cardinal could have the best rotation in the country… or at least this side of Gainesville. And yeah, I probably shouldn’t have short-shifted the infield in this base-building scenario ‘coz SU could also have one of the best set of dirtbaggers in the nation with a pair of highly-regarded, high-round draftees-to-be in Stephan Piscotty and Kenny Diekroeger, who will form a remarkable left side. Also try to find a better second baseman than soph Lonnie Kauppila, who should’ve received much more of a shout across the rooftops for committing just two errors all last season – yes, as a freshman starting in 54 games at 2B. Adding to their defensive steadiness is 1B Brian Ragira, who only had four errors of his own. Pretty remarkable. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you to watch for another 2nd year intimidator in power-hitting former 2nd round draft pick Austin Wilson (.311-5-30), who has a potential of sending any pitch across San Francisco Bay. Things aren’t likely to regress after what we saw in this past June’s draft either as Mark Marquess brought in a killer recruiting class which included six draftees from the 2011 MLB draft but all of them told the play-for-pay boys that getting a Stanford education is more important. I mean, really, who can blame them? Look for immediate impacts from C Wayne Taylor (14th round, Angels), OF Dominic Jose (15th round, Angels), LHP John Hochstatter (47th round, Twins), LHP Spenser Linney (46th round, Padres) and RHP David Schmidt (46th round, Cardinals).

.

The Bad News:

It’s been a while since Stanford put together a consistent string of seasons where they are true Omaha contenders, so we’ll see if there’s any consistency problems from last year’s Super Regional team to this year’s national title contender. I mean, the last thing these guys want to hear is the word “underachievers” slapped on them. They’ll have to do some patchworkk on the pitching staff including in the bullpen. Saves leader Chris Reed  had the best ERA on the team (2.69 and had 9svs) and is now gone, leaving a big role to fill. All of those arms are gone now. Oh, and mid-week/spot-starter Danny Sandbrink will also leave a big hole to fill. The offense was a little hit-and-miss from time-to-time last season and needs to be more consistent and maybe a wee more patient, especially when you consider they pulled only 159 walks all last year. Finally, if the injury bug hits again like last season, it could hogtie the potential of the Cardinal.

.

Schedule Note:

Simply… The Freakin’ KINGS!

My Gawd these guys rule. Once again the Cardinal will play the death-march trio of Vanderbilt, Texas and Rice in the first few weeks of the campaign, but this time they will take them on in Palo Alto, so they’ll save a lot of time from cruising the Travelocity website. But they won’t totally be immune from the road as they’ll play some non-conference games at Fresno State (a three-game weekend), St. Mary’s, Pacific, UC Davis and a non-conference game at Cal as well. With another ball-buster like this, just laboring themselves to a winning mark will certainly pull serious at-large points and shouldn’t have any problem of getting a Big Dance bid. But of course, the Cardinal are shooting for more this year… as if that wasn’t the most obvious stinkin’ statement in the world.

.

.

- UCLA (35-24, 18-9)

2011 ISR: 19

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Adam Plutko (7-4, 2.01, 92Ks, All Pac10)

OF Beau Amaral (.299-2-29)

3B Cody Regis (.284-6-45)

OF Cody Keefer (.303)

OF Jeff Gelalich (.270-2-13, 10SBs)

.

The Good News:

Even though there was a lot of ups and downs to last season, the Bruins still finished with the same exact record in Pac 10 play as they did in the 2010 season where they were the national runner-ups. There are still numerous familiar faces that were on that runner-up team coming back to the roster for this season, led by that Gold Glove-like outfield of Jeff Gelalich, Cody Keefer and do-it-all centerfielder Beau Amaral. If they can get more consistent offense from each of them, this could be the best group in the country. And don’t sell the infield short either as SS Pat Valaika (.238), who committed just 9Es as a frosh in 53 games, will be joined by 3B Cody Regis and double-play combo-mate 2B Trevor Brown (.217 in 43apps). Again, if the offense comes around (which coach John Savage thinks they will) these guys could lead them back to 2010-level baseball in the field and at the dish. Now be sure to read this next line carefully: This year’s weekend rotation could be one of the best in the country. Yes, even without Cole and Bauer. Adam Plutko has All American-type stuff and should assimilate to the Friday role with no problems. I think Dickie V. would call him a “PTPer”. (That’s “Prime Time Performer”). The Saturday and Sunday guys should be Zach Weiss (5-3, 2.86, .191OBA), who started nine games, and Nick Vander Tuig (3-4, 2.90, .249OBA), who earned nine saves out of the ‘pen last year. That will give the Bruins an all-righty, all-sophomore and all-wildly talented rotation. Two unique stories to this year’s team will be catcher candidate Richard Brehaut, who was once the starting quarterback on the Bruin football team, and RHP Eric Jaffe, who was a 19th round draftee of the Red Sox out of high school, went to Cal for a semester, then transferred to UCLA and redshirted last season. Speaking of new talents, the Bruins did their usual job of bringing in a very good recruiting class (ranked No. 39 in the country by Collegiate Baseball), which features sweet-sweeping infielder Kevin Kramer (a 25th round draftee of the Indians), 1B Chris Keck (a Bunyanesque swing, could take over 1st baseman post) and OF Eric Filia-Snyder (who could be the DH this season).

.

The Bad News:

So lemme ask you this… What program in the country can lose two of the top five picks in the draft – both being pitchers – and expect to not have some amount of backpedaling? Coach Savage and his staff are saying the right things as far as how they will move on without Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, but there’s still no replacing those astronomical talents. Those two guys went so deep into games, the bullpen didn’t have to do too much. In fact, on the down side of things, only six pitchers on the staff had more than 18 innings of duty last year. Three of the bullpen arms have moved on, as Mitchell Beacom signed after getting drafted and Weiss and Vander Tuig will morph into starter roles. So developing some depth in the bullpen will be job one for the Bruin coaching staff. On top of that, incoming frosh flinger Grant Watson will be the only southpaw on the staff for 2012, so the righties must be effective all season long. And of course, as was hammered on above, we can’t leave the “Bad News” section without mentioning once again that the offense must hit better than the .263 team average of 2011. Coach Savage told me at the Area Code Games last summer that he knew his team would be affected more than most by the new bat restrictions. But he feels this year’s team is mature enough to handle that aspect now.

.

Schedule Note:

Thankfully, not the usual minefield.

Okay, I won’t take ALL of the credit for UCLA’s more sensible schedules the last two years (that’s tongue in cheek people, ‘coz really I can’t take any credit) but ever since I asked coach Savage about easing up on the non-conference schedules, the Bruins seemed to have done so. This year, the Blue and Gold will play Maryland, Baylor, Sac State and Purdue at home and will travel to Georgia. Still pretty stout, considering the expected improvement of most of those teams, but sensible. In the Pac 12, Arizona State, Oregon and Stanford all come to newly expanded Jackie Robinson Stadium (they put seats in where the grass berms were). But there will be no sleepwalking this year with roadies at Arizona, Oregon State and Cal on the docket.

.

.

- UTAH (29-21, 16-7)

2011 ISR: 61

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Shaun Cooper (.332-8-43)

RHP Tyler Wagner (4-3, 2.04, 12svs, .204OBA)

3B Trey Nielsen (.318-9-41)

SS James Brooks (.372-3-32, 12SBs)

.

The Good News:

They may have been expected to have a better season than just 29 wins, but you had to love how the Utes went on a 15-6 spree down the stretch of the regular season last year. If they can reach that comfort zone a little quicker this year, UU is in business. There’s a whole mess of pitching coming back to the fore here as just about every hand on deck is back, headed by the weekend pair of RHP Joe Pond (4-4, 4.36, .246OBA) and RHP Brock Duke (6-3, 6.00). Also, RHP Zach Adams returns to the bump after starting five games last year – going 2-0, 2.40, .180OBA in them – and then shutting the season down due to injury. Behind them the Ute starters will have one of the better closers in the country in Tyler Wagner, who gave up just eight earned runs in 25 appearances last year. Also keep an eye on sophs Luke West (1-0, 2.51, .212OBA), Ben Mordini (1-2, 5.34, .233OBA) and Josh Chapman (0-2, 6.92, 2svs), who should all figure heavily in their second year of play. And sure, C.J. Cron is gone from the order but Shawn Cooper and Trey Nielsen provide pretty good pop in their swings and James Brooks is the slash and dash at the top of the order. A couple of newbies who could give an immediate infusion to the cause are a pair of JC transfers in INF Ryan Cooperstone and C Parker Morin, a pair of athletic talents. The staff is also high on upper-80s flinger Tanner Tripp, a RHP who comes over from South Mountain CC in Arizona and could figure into the rotation or set-up roles.

.

The Bad News:

Well, I guess you could say that the worst news is that the Utes are taking a serious ramp up in competition by going to the Pac 12 and will need to upgrade the program in every way possible. And yes, you could almost hear the tears hit the dirt as the Utes saw C.J. Cron grab the cash and leave campus for pro ball this past summer, taking his .396 career average and 46 dingers with him. But he’s not the only hefty loss for the Utes as they’ll also be without staff ace Rick Anton, who made 30 starts in his two-year Ute career and was 16-4/3.74. The all-or-nothing offense was a little too gorilla ball-like in their swings since the Utes earned just 167 walks at the plate last season. And the defense will need to field it better than .964 if they’re going to live up to Pac 12 standards. Adding to their sorrow is the fact that the Utes have had to live with losing 10 games by a single run last season. Had they won just half of those, they would’ve been 34-16 and who knows where their RPI would’ve stood after that.

.

Schedule Note:

Tough back end. Like, nearly unfair kind of tough.

I don’t s’pose there really IS an “off-week” in Pac 12 play, but the Utes are really going to be up against it in the final weeks of the season as they’ll go to Arizona State and then host Oregon State and Stanford to finish the last bit of the Pac 12 part of the slate. The final week of the season is an interesting three-team hoedown with the Utes and UC Santa Barbara going to Cal State Bakersfield for a weekend where each team will play the others twice. Oh, and before I forget, UU will have a fairly nice ramp-up in competition to start the season a they’ll play at rebuilding UC Davis, go to Texas A&M CC to play the Islanders, UNLV and Nebraska, then travel to UAB, all in the first three weekends.

.

.

- WASHINGTON (17-37, 6-21)

2011 ISR: 149

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Joe Meggs (.317)

SS Jacob Lamb (.311-3-26)

RHP Adam Cimber (4-5, 3.16, 2svs)

.

The Good News:

There’s nowhere to go but up for the Husky program, after last year’s bottoming out. but considering three of their last four wins of last season came against Oregon State, Arizona State and Washington State, you can see this team has a high-ceiling potential. And the good news is there is a lot to point to a resurgence. A solid core returns in catcher B.K. Santy (.288), SS Jacob Lamb (who committed just 10 errors while going between SS and 2B) and OF Joe Meggs (led UW in hitting). 2B Ty Afenir (.236) will make a good double-play combo with Lamb in the middle-infield. Coach Lindsay Meggs used primarily eight pitchers all last season and six of those return, including Adam Cimber, who has pitched in 54 games in his first two years as a Husky. Joining him will be a trio of sophomores in RHP Zach Wright (0-0, 2.43, 17apps), RHP Jeff Brigham (4-1, 4.73, 23apps) and RHP Tyler Kane (1-2, 5.05, 25apps). Also, starters Aaron West (1-8, 5.18) and Austin Voth (2-5, 5.19) combined for 25 starts and even though they don’t have glitzy numbers, keep in mind they were weekend starters going up against the Pac 10 monsters each week and always seemed to keep the Purple Reign in the game. Another good sign for the program is the number of incoming players that were chosen in the 2011 MLB Draft and decided to say no to the money and will be on the Udub roster for 2012. Look for potential difference-makers like power-hitting 1B Trevor Matsui (a 12th rounder of Tampa Bay), INF Erik Forgione (33rd round, Angels) and power-throwing 6′4 RHP Jared Fisher (26th round, Astros) to make an immediate impact. The best part is, all three of them are natives of the Evergreen State. Also, J.C. All American RHP George ASmus (24th round, Cubs) rounds out a recruiting class that was ranked No. 33 in the country by Collegiate Baseball. Finally, work on the $4million baseball stadium/clubouse renovations is in full swing, showing that this is a program that is starting to care about baseball. Freakin’ sweet.

.

The Bad News:

Obviously, winning just six conference games and losing 37 games overall are prime indicators that there is a lot of bad news to the Huskies. On top of that, the offense was the worst in the Pac 10 (hitting just .258) and returns only two hitters that went .300+ last year in Meggs and Lamb. And as you might expect of a last place team, the pitching staff was pretty woeful by Pac 10/12 standards as well, having the lowest ERA at 4.93. Jacob Clem and Geoff Brown combined to start 20 games last season and 40 appearances as both moved from rotation to the bullpen with aplomb. The defense was definitely a plus, fielding at a .974 level, but will need to find key replacements at 1B (lost Eric Peterson), 3B (lost Troy Scott) and CF (lost Brendan Gardner-Young). Once again, the Dogs really need to amp things up with the returnees as the purple gang had almost no power (11HRs) and applied no pressure on the basepaths (20SBs) last season.

.

Schedule Note:

Yep, California dreaming right from the get-go.

The Huskies will play three of their first four weekends of the season down in the Golden state as they’ll open at San Diego State, then go to UC Irvine (a stern test, of course) and after a home weekend vs. St. Joseph’s, they’ll return to the golden coast with a three-game weekend at Cal Poly. In late March, Udub will also host Cal State Bakersfield in their off-week of Pac 12 play. They’ll play Pac 12 contenders Oregon, Stanford, Arizona and UCLA all at home in conference play. The final weekend of the season will be the Apple Cup series, also being played in Seattle, though last I heard they were trying to get one or more of the games at Safeco Field, where the Mariners play.

.

.

- WASHINGTON STATE (26-28, 10-17)

2011 ISR: 54

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Taylor Ard (.337-10-55)

OF Derek Jones (.275-8-33)

OF Jason Monda (.292-2-20)

.

The Good News:

Well, the best news of all for the Coogs is that in the years they’re expected to do well, they seem to trip and tumble and in the year’s where they’re not expected to do well, they come out of the woodwork and stun the masses. And 2012 appears to be one of those seasons where not a lot is expected of them, so it’ll be a Guns to Gonzo season, right? Coach Donnie Marbut hopes so. He isn’t afraid of a roll-up-your-sleeves, do-it-yourself season, that’s for sure. The outfield will be outstanding, led by Derek Jones, a four-year guy who has seen it all, Brett Jacobs (.244-2-20) and Jason Monda, although there is a chance Monda could return to the infield. If that happens, look for part-time starter Patrick Clausen (.261) to increase his duties. Watch for soph catcher Collin Slaybaugh (.308 in 34 starts) to emerge this spring after he had a great fall and could make a big impact in 2012. Coach Marbut really enjoyed seeing two talented players spurn the draft last June and return to Pullman for the 2012 season in team leaders like the aforementioned Derek Jones (13th round, Orioles) and 1B Taylor Ard (25th round pick, Red Sox), who will be great building blocks to re-energize the offense. As for new blood, look for immediate contributions from 24th round draft pick RHP Tanner Chleborad who will bring his low-90s heater to the mound and fellow righty Kyle Swannack, a JC transfer who could claim a weekend spot in the rotation.

.

The Bad News:

Oof! A lot went wrong in 2011 for the Cougars, who I had placed at a very ambitious No. 11 pre-season ranking last February. So yes, finishing in second-to-last place in the Pac 10 standings was a real bummer to what was supposed to be a promising season. This time around, the deficiencies are obvious as all three weekend starters are gone in Adam Conley, James Wise and Chad Arnold, who all had tremendous upside, but subpar 2011 seasons. In addition to that, ace closer Paris Shewey has shewed-on to pro ball and the left side of the infield, SS Cody Bartlett and 3B Matt Argyropoulos, who were also gap-power .294 hitters, have also flown the coop. Lots of newbies on the mound must come through as RHP J.D. Leckenby (0-0, 2.28 in 28inns) and LHP Richie Ochoa (5-2, 3.11, 3svs) are the only returning arms to post sub-5.00 ERAs for last year’s team.

.

Schedule Note:

Immediate Immersion.

Coach Marbut likes to take his team and throw them to the Lions – so to speak – with tough early road tests. Well he couldn’t get more arduous of a task for his young charges than starting the season dipped in barbecue sauce at Mississippi State (warn the outfielders about the Left Field Lounge now coach). Even with the Bulldogs expecting a little bit of a rebuilding season themselves there won’t be anything easy about this. At least the Cougars will be able to regroup with Division 1 newbie Nebraska-Omaha in weekend two and Northern Colorado for week three. A trip to improved UNLV won’t be much of a respite before single games at Fullerton and UC Irvine precede the Pac 12 opener, at Arizona. Major league ouch man. The Apple Cup will wrap up a difficult month of May as they’ll go cross-state to take on Washington on Memorial Day weekend.

Looks like the SEC is trying its damnedest to emulate its football brethren by monopolizing the national championship trophy in our sport too. Three straight seasons of winning the brass ring is starting to turn late June into an SEC hoedown. Looks like 2012 may not stray far from that script either.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

Everything came up roses again for the southern monster conference as the top three of South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt dominated the top of the polls all season long and then again in Omaha, as the final best-of-three came down to SC and the Gators. Carolina looked good all season long, sure, but the Cocks really amped up their gloves in Omaha, suffocating their opponents and crushing their souls with another amazing run that put a heavy emphasis on defense. Impressive, of course. The big three dominated the East Division, ending up in a three-way tie and all holding a national seed for the post-season. In the west, it was a true dogfight as only two games separated all six teams in the standings, with Arkansas finally edging out the field by a single game. But LSU got that notorious snubbing from the selection committee and joined Auburn and Ole Miss on the sidelines in June. Seven teams ended up getting bids to the NCAAs and all seven made it to the title round of the Regionals. Not bloody bad, right?

.

Conference ISR: 1

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Eastern Division:

1- Florida

2- South Carolina

3- Georgia

4- Vanderbilt

5- Kentucky

6- Tennessee

.

- The Western Division:

1- LSU

2- Arkansas

3- Mississippi State

4- Alabama

5- Mississippi

6- Auburn

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

Can anything top last year’s Big Three? Not sure. I mean, with the insane talent that goes through this conference, you never want to say that its not possible for another repeat. Florida certainly looks like a bunch of Greek Gods in baseball uniforms and will be the obvious favorite in the SEC and in the national scope. Looks like there’s no reason to ever doubt the ability and inspiration that Ray Tanner provides to his South Carolina Gamecocks, especially after what we’ve seen the last two Junes. Georgia will make a serious jump and Vandy may be picked fourth in the East, but the margin between the Commodores and the top of the standings is pretty negligible, especially if some dormant arms emerge big. So yes, Florida is the favorite here, but don’t put to fine a point on it, they’ll have plenty of opportunities for a pratfall here and there. The West will trail the East once again as those teams re-tool for future success. LSU’s sophomore brigade will bring the Tigers back near the summit and having potential to make it back to Omaha after an off-year. Arkansas brought in a great recruiting class and has some senior leaders who could help them make a national title push. MSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and Auburn are all in a little bit of a re-loading cycle. All have the ability to get into June baseball and make a run, but the better years could be ahead for them.

.

Favorites: Florida, South Carolina

.

Contenders: Georgia, Vanderbilt, LSU, Arkansas

.

Darkhorse: Mississippi State

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Florida at South Carolina, March 22-24.

Close Second: LSU at Florida, April 5-7.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: Cal State Fullerton at Florida, Feb 17-19.

Close Second: Vanderbilt at Stanford, Feb. 17-19.

Close Third: South Carolina vs./at Clemson, March 2-4.

Close Fourth: UCLA at Georgia, March 9-11.

.

Hot Coach: Ray Tanner, South Carolina, but Kevin O’Sullivan could easily slide in here as well.

.

Hot Seat Coach: None, but that may change by May.

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Michael Roth, South Carolina

The “You Gotta See” Player: Mike Zunino, Florida

.

Three Non-Conference Series The SEC Better Not Overlook:

1- UNC Wilmington at Ole Miss, Feb. 24-26.

2- San Diego at Vanderbilt, March 9-11.

3- Alabama at Tulane, March 2-4.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- One of the “rebuilding” teams in the West (MSU, Bama, UM or AU) will bust through a year early and push LSU and Arkansas for the division pennant.

2- One of the Eastern monsters (UofF, SoCar, UGa, Vandy) will have expectation problems and fall well short of contention after all.

3- Just our luck, of the eight Thursday night SEC games set to be televised on ESPNU, four of them will be pushed-back due to rain.

.

.

Eastern Division:

- FLORIDA (53-19, 22-8)

2011 ISR: 4

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

The entire starting lineup.

The entire pitching rotation.

.

The Good News:

Didn’t I start last year’s write up on the Gators start by talking about how much of a freakin’ monster Kevin O’Sullivan is building in Gainesville?… Well, make that he HAS built in Gainesville. This team is a teenage Frankenstein preying on the week and feeble. I know people like to throw around the “best of all time” moniker on teams – especially in college football. But these guys could be as talented of a team as we’ve seen in college baseball history. Okay,  if that’s going a little bit far in describing this team then let’s say at LEAST since the 1995 Cal State Fullerton squad. The talent level is uber-high, the coaching has been mad-scientist-like and now, the Gators have proven they know how to win once they get to Omaha. That was a big step, of course, making it to the best-of-three series in the College World Series, which shows that they became a seasoned team compared to their 2010 two-and-out showing. For 2012, it’s an embarrassment of riches for these guys. Like, they could move up to Double-A baseball and nobody would bat an eye. The entire weekend rotation comes back in RHP Hudson Randall (11-3, 2.17, .227OBA), LHP Brian Johnson (8-3, 3.62, .252OBA) and RHP Karsten Whitson (8-1,  2.40), who are experts at avoiding walks (for example, Hudson had a total of 13 in 124inns of work). How do you know these guys are talented as all hell? Consider this was a starting rotation that relegated former weekend starters Anthony DeSclafani, Nick Maronde and Tommy Toledo to mid-week and bullpen duty last year. Wow. Speaking of the ‘pen, the Gators will return RHP Austin Maddox (3-0, 0.67, 5svs), RHP Greg Larson (1-1, 2.09, 33apps) and LHP Steven Rodriguez (4-2, 1.91, 2svs). Getting back to the “disciplined” issue, possibly the most amazing stat was seeing how the arms corps allowed just 130 walks all last year, tops in the country in walks-per-9-innings. Couple that with the lockdown defense of .974 behind them and you quickly see that this is a team that doesn’t beat itself. The staff will throw to one of the best catchers to come around in SEC circles in a long time in Mike Zunino (.371-19-67), a born team leader and “coach-on-the-field” type. Super SS Nolan Fontana (.289-5-49) returns to his post and leads a defense that will have a lot of movable parts. Austin Maddox (.280-6-35), Cody Dent (.207) and Zack Powers (.250) all took their turns at 3rd base last year and Maddox also platooned with Brian Johnson (.307-5-29) at 1st Base. The outfield will return stud CF Daniel Pigott (.331-5-40) and RF Preston Tucker (.308-15-74), who returns despite getting drafted by the Rockies in the 16th round… you can just hear other SEC coaches saying, “Really? He NEEDED to come back to a stocked team like this?!” The incoming recruiting class was ranked at No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball and features INF Casey Turgeon (22nd round, Mets), who could get a look at 2nd base right away, RHP Ryan Harris (37th round, Yankees) and INF Josh Tobias (31st round, Nats).

.

The Bad News:

Once again the Gators can point to their shortcomings in Omaha as a motivational tool for the 2012 season (albeit this time it was for losing their title series and not just going 2-and-out). And yes, despite the ridiculous amount of talent returning, there will be a few holes to fill. The duo of Josh Adams and Bryson Smith will be missed, both for their gloves and their .323 and .328 bats respectively. There will also be a small project to re-work the middle relief corps since there was the departure of guys like Nick Maronde, Anthony DeSclafani and Tommy Toledo. At some point early on, coach O’Sullivan and the staff will have to settle on a steady infield starting four. And sure, let’s just say that the 1-4 record vs. South Carolina might be the only other blight on this team. Other than that, let ‘er rip guys. Just show mercy once in a while.

.

Schedule Note:

Best opening in the country?

How about THIS for a season lidlifter?… Florida hosting Cal State Fullerton. Talk about some tradition and talent there. Sure, the Titans may be in reloading mode so it probably won’t be your father’s Fullerton team, but it will still be fun. (Now I’m praying for a return trip too… C’mon guys. Please.) The Gators go to Miami in week three to play a trio against their rivals from Coral Gables. The SEC portion gets off to a rollicking start with the first two weekends being vs. Vanderbilt and then going to South Carolina. Game one of the Gamecock road trip will be the first Thursday night telecast for ESPNU this season. Not a bad choice, huh? They’ll also have contests vs. LSU (April 5th) and at Kentucky (May 3rd) that will be on the mothership network. There are the usual mid-week face-offs with rival Florida State to keep the home fires burning (at home vs. FSU on March 13th, vs. FSU in Jacksonville on March 27th and at FSU on April 10th).

.

.

- GEORGIA (33-32, 16-14)

2011 iSR: 30

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

2B Levi Hyams (.332-5-38)

SS Kyle Farmer (.308-8-58)

3B Curt Powell (.290)

RHP Michael Palazzone (10-5, 3.14, 4CGs, .255OBA)

LHP Alex Wood (6-7, 4.44)

RHP Tyler Maloof (2-2, 7.16, 18svs)

.

The Good News:

It was a great day in college baseball when the Bulldogs were able to win an SEC tournament game or two and then get an at-large bid to the Big Dance and officially put a couple of horrible seasons to bed. With the schedule they played last year, they deserved a bid. No doubt. Dave Perno’s Bulldogs made massive improvement all across the board, most notably improving their RPI from 2010’s 118 up to last season’s No. 16  and also going from six SEC wins in 2010 up to 16 last season. Most notably, you have to love the Dogs’ mental toughness as they went 1-10 in one-run games in 2010 to a record of 12-7 in those games last season. Ole UGa should be loaded for bear in 2012 with nearly the entire pitching staff coming back – it was especially nice that ace Michael Palazzone (24th round, Brewers) and closer Tyler Maloof (34th round, Indians) both turned down professional overtures – and the slick-fielding infield of 3B Curt Powell, SS Kyle Farmer (.960%) and 2B Levi Hyams (.983%) will be back to make for one of the more unsung defenses in the country after they fielded at a school-record .974 rate last year. Holy freaking’ smokes, man. The Silver Britches also brought in the 17th best recruiting class in the country according to Collegiate Baseball. LHP Jarrett Brown (23rd round, Red Sox),   RHP Mike Mancuso (46th round, White Sox) and RHP David Sosabee (48th round, Red Sox) all should be names of the future to watch for the mound corps. Oh, before I forget, also keep a close watch for a big year from INF Colby May, who only hit .224 in 14 starts last year, but coach Perno says is ready for big things this year after he had such a solid fall season in Athens.

.

The Bad News:

Tough schedule or not, you still have to look at Georgia’s 33-32 overall record and note that this program still isn’t actually back to its title-contending ways. Especially not in this hyper-rugged East Division. I’ll tell you this much, hitting just .273 as a team ain’t gonna get you very far in SEC play, and that’s what the ‘Dogs batted last season, leading to a lot of early deficits. The Bulldogs also struck out an SEC-high 456 times. Yowzah! The pitching staff may return nearly every important arm of note this season, but this was still a staff that was just 10th in the conference at 4.90 and struck out only 390 batters – which is great for a lot of teams but well below-average by SEC standards. It appears as if the middle innings were the big problem for the Dogs last year, having been outscored by 33 runs in innings 3-thru-5, when batters got a second look at the starters. Finding a consistent Sunday starter was a huge problem last year, as Craig Gullickson had an 8.23 ERA and moved to the bullpen in his last four appearances. Closer Tyler Maloof may have saved 18 games last year, but did you check out that 7.16 ERA? That’s not only a “WTF?” Stat of the Year, but also another reason why late game situations were so hairy for the ‘Dogs.

.

Schedule Note:

April showers of pain.

While the early portion of the schedule should allow for many wins – a visit from UCLA being the only arduous test – the month of April will be quite the death march. That’s when they’ll befall SEC weekends at Arkansas, at Florida and at LSU in three of four weekends. Single games at Clemson and at Georgia Tech are also thrown in for good effect, or rather for the RPI effect. But in a word… Ouch.

.

.

- KENTUCKY (25-30, 8-22)

2011 ISR: 101

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Thomas McCarthy (.371-7-39)

.

The Good News:

Last year left a bad taste in the mouths of the Wildcats and their fans, so the fact that the 2011 season is far in the rear-view mirror is probably the best news of all. UK comes back with a men-on-a-mission mentality for this season. Top bat and team leader Thomas McCarthy returns to his post and should be a mover-and-shaker for the offense. Luke Maile (.282-9-36) and J.T. Riddle (.288-3-25) are both former Mr. Baseballs in the state of Kentucky and should be ready for even bigger seasons in 2012, as should cat-quick OF Brian Adams, who hit .288 in 39 starts last season. Look for him to really get his cleats under him in this, his junior season. The pitching staff has a pair of lefties to build around as Taylor Rogers (3-7, 5.14) and Corey Littrell (6-6, 6.95) combined for 26 starts and 146 innings of work. Also watch for the emergence of RHP Trevor Gott (2-4, 3.62) who led the Cape Cod League last summer with 11 saves and is ready for a breakout year. The hope is that he emerges as the lock-down closer this team lacked last season. The recruiting class got some mad props from the boys at Collegiate Baseball (#25 in the country), particularly J.C. transfers in RHP Chris Garrison, who could step into the weekend rotation right away, and LHP Jerad Grundy, should make immediate impacts for the rebuilding job on the mound. In-state RHPs Chandler Shepherd, a draftee of the White Sox, and Taylor Martin, a draftee of the Rockies, could factor in as well. But the best talents of the class might be LHP A.J. Reed (25th round, Mets) and INF Max Kuhn (24th round, A’s).

.

The Bad News:

Ugh! It was another losing SEC campaign in Lexington last season that saw the Wildcats get buried in the standings by a barrage of behemoths in their own side of the standings. After taking two of three from Tennessee in mid-March, the Bat Cats went 0-and-3 in their next four SEC weekends, putting them in a 2-13 hole right away. Can’t repeat that kind of bad streak again. The Big Blue lost 1st round draftee Alex Meyer and draft-eligible sophomore Jordan Cooper from the starting rotation, after they accounted for 27 starts and 2.94 and 4.61 ERAs. Saves leader Mike Kaczmarek (4svs) has also moved on, so there are a lot of holes to fill in the pitching brigade this year. Here’s a bad news/good news scenario for ya’: UK had the worst defense in the SEC last year at .966, but they’ll have a totally re-worked infield for 2012 after graduation and the draft decimated last year’s dirtbaggers. So we’ll see how the newbies do. Oh, but that also means three of the top four hitters off last year’s team are also gone, so the .299 team average could be hard to duplicate.

.

Schedule Note:

Lots of wins, but will it mean they’re better?

The big question for 2012 is ‘Will this team be better than 2011?’. Well, one thing is for sure, look for the win total to increase from last year’s 25. February and March will be chock-full of lots and lots of wins. With the exception of a three-game homestand vs. South Carolina (March 16-18), the Bat Cats will play a host of winnable games against the likes of Wofford, Eastern Michigan, USC Upstate, Buffalo, Morehead State, Xavier, Illinois-Chicago, Tennessee Tech, Marshall, Canisius, Wright State, Murray State, Cincinnati, Western Kentucky and Tennessee. So will an early winning record translate to more confidence and a better ending? Should be interesting.

.

.

- SOUTH CAROLINA (55-14, 22-8)

2011 ISR: 3

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

LHP Michael Roth (14-3, 1.06)

RHP Matt Price (7-3, 1.83, 20svs)

RHP Forrest Koumas (6-1, 2.96)

LHP Tyler Webb (3-1, 2.99)

1B Christian Walker (.358-10-62)

OF Evan Marzilli (.291-3-31)

.

The Good News:

The worst thing that could happen is that the University of South Carolina could find itself sued for Trademark Infringement. I mean, wasn’t it just a few years ago when NBA coach Pat Riley copyrighted the phrase “Three-Peat”? Well that phrase is certainly going to be thrown around a lot this spring in Columbia with the talent the Gamecocks have coming back. Okay, it has to be said, this program is starting to take on that look of LSU circa 1990s, where anytime they made it to the Big Dance, they amped up their game, they played at home and it seemed like they were totally unbeatable regardless of the circumstance. Ray Tanner has built a program that just KNOWS it isn’t going to lose when the big money is on the line. They’re like Terminators. Remorseless, errorless, exterminating machines. Welcome to Cyborg baseball 101, take the field, think you’re going to win, and then end up losing, tucking your tail between your legs and going home. You’ve been Game-Cocked! The hope-killers begin on the mound where Michael Roth and Matt Price both return after getting drafted last June (Roth in the 31st round by Cleveland and Price in the 6th round by Arizona), so unless aliens come and do some weird out-of-body experiments on them and they are never the same again, you can pretty much chalk up an instant win on any Friday night this coming season. So the weekend is also set with Forest Koumas and Colby Holmes (7-3, 3.69) returning as well. While Price leads the bullpen, he’ll have a few familiar faces returning to support him in middle relievers like Tyler Webb (who also started five games) and RHP Patrick Sullivan (2-0, 1.35, 1sv). Mid-week starter LHP Adam Westmoreland (1-1, 5.77) should improve after making nine spot starts last season. Beyond regulars like Mr. Lead-by-example Christian Walker and OFs Evan Marzilli and Jake Williams (.268-2-38), the Gamecocks will also get back OF Adam Matthews, who was drafted in the 23rd round by the Orioles, but returns for 2012. He only hit .264 last season but was .307-7-31 in 2010. As if all this wasn’t enough to put the Gamecocks in a prime position to do some serious damage to any teams’ ego, they also brought in the nation’s No. 1 ranked recruiting class according to Collegiate Baseball. (Opponents, feel free to let out a little “Good Gawd!” under your breath right now). The class is led by seven players who were drafted by the big leaguers last June but turned them down to come to Columbia. The stud of the class should be RHP Evan Beals, the Royals’ 6th round pick who will be daring anyone to wave a bat his mid-90s heat the next three years. Also look out for OF Tanner English (13th round, Rays) who is a special talent with quick hands and should’ve been drafted much higher, SS candidates T.J. Costen (22nd round, Rangers) and Joey Pankake (42nd round, Rangers), either of whom could land an immediate role as a starting infielder, and RHP Joel Sedden (24th round, Rays), who will have a shot at some major role this year. And get this one, coach Tanner says incoming frosh catcher Grayson Greiner is “the best first-year catcher I’ve seen since Landon Powell.” Thems some big words.

.

The Bad News:

Okay, despite all the grin-inducing talent that comes back to Cock-ville, there IS some bad news to report. First and foremost there’s the fact that they’ll lose the MVPs of the last two College World Series in Jackie Bradley Jr. and Scott Wingo, who played key roles at CF and 2B. Their clutch play and do-it-all nature will be impossible to replace. They exemplified moxie through and through for these guys the last two years. But the left side of the infield will need newbies to step in as well since Peter Mooney and Adrian Morales have hit the bricks to pro ball too. And yes, before we gloss too long on Roth, Price, Koumas and Holmes, etc., lets remember that the Cocks will have to forge on without clutch arms like John Taylor (who was 8-1 last season), Jose Mata (1.76ERA) and Steven Neff, who made seven starts at key times last season. A couple more things to keep in mind, though I’m sure the Carolina fans are going to be enraged at the mere suggestion that these guys are anything BUT superhuman, but Roth and Price were both beaten three times last season, so they can be had. Okay SoCar fans… lemme have it. (standing tall, blindfolded, cigarette dangling). I’m ready for your wrath.

.

Schedule Note:

Who made this series so early?

You’d figure someone in the SEC offices could’ve had more wits about them when scheduling the Gamecocks and Florida Gators for the second weekend of play in the SEC season. I know their first game will be the first SEC telecast of the season on ESPNU, but I’d still rather have that game come on May 22nd, not on March 22nd. Oh, and SoCar goes against Clemson in three games again this season on the first weekend of March. And May will be a grind with roadies at Arkansas and Georgia before closing things out with LSU before the SEC tournament.

.

.

- TENNESSEE  (25-29, 7-23)

2010 RPI: 117

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

SS Zach Osborne (.330)

.

The Good News:

Two words: Dave. Serrano. That’s the best news of all, obviously. Serrano is a maestro of taking teams to Omaha, no matter where he has been in his assistant or head coaching career. Though it may take some patience, the Big Orange turnaround is imminent, you just know that. And he brought with him assistant coach Greg Bergeron, who is a deft recruiter and will actually get some paychecks with some extra zeroes on them now that he’s not in California’s money-strapped school system. Look for Serrano and Bergy to do a lot of good real soon. A couple of key positions return for this year as Zach Osborne is joined by fellow senior 1B Davis Morgan (.280) and emerging catcher Ethan Bennett (.262), who will both be leaned on for more this season. Six pitchers with 17 or more appearances last season come back to form building blocks for the mound corps. Look for LHP T.J. Thomas (1-1, 3.25, 1sv) and RHP Zack Godley (1-1, 3.38, 2svs) to take on bigger roles this season since they are the most effective returning hurlers on the staff. Righties like Nick Blount (1-5, 6.04, 1sv), Carter Watson (5-3, 5.29) and Nick Williams (2-1, 6.48, 4svs) all are serviceable guys. Also watch for two-way threat Drew Streckenrider (2-0, 6.12/.192, 14starts), an impressive physical specimen at 6′5, 215-pounds who can wing it into the mid-90s, to help out as a RHP and OF.

.

The Bad News:

I said in this space last year that the UT ship is taking on more leaks than the Volunteer Navy on football Saturdays. Sure enough, the 7-23 finish in SEC play and sub-.500 overall record was too much for Vol Nation to take and coach Todd Raleigh had to go. Not that he’s a bad coach, these things just happen. So we all move on. That cloud of no trips to the NCAAs since 2005 is still hanging low like Smoky Mountain fog on this program. The cupboard was left pretty bare for coach Serrano and Crew, so look for plenty of bumps and missteps this season as everyone gets acclimated. Five of the top seven hitters in the order have flown the coop and all three weekend starters are gone as well. Of the returning pitchers only T.J. Thornton and Zack Godley had ERAs below 5.00. On top of all this bad news, mega-talented CF Andrew Toles, a former 4th round pick, was dismissed from the team in the fall and won’t be part of the new enthusiasm movement. So before things get better, look for things to get a little worse. But these things happen.

.

Schedule Note:

Some winnable situations.

Though there will be a lot of smoothing out to be done, the good news is that the Big Orange will start the season with a couple of northern teams that will probably not have much outdoor work under their belts as they’ll open with Northern Illinois and Seton Hall on back-to-back weekends. (Though the Pirates are going to be a huge darkhorse, so don’t look for that to be any kind of cakewalk… unless Mother Nature is a bitch and the Hall never gets outside before first pitch). Weekend three will be a different story as the Vols will go to the Houston College Classic to play Houston, Texas and Rice. Ouch. But again, after that they’ll play host to UL-Monroe, then go to Georgia, then host Kentucky and rebuilding Alabama. So as you see, plenty of chances for some Ws, though it will be a grind.

.

.

- VANDERBILT (55-12, 22-8)

2011 ISR: 1

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Tony Kemp (.331, 17SBs, 7triples, Freshman All American)

SS Anthony Gomez (.342)

2B Riley Reynolds (.333)

RHP T.J. Pecoraro (7-0, 1.59)

LHP Kevin Ziomek (3-0, 1.60)

DH/1B Conrad Gregor (.353-3-31)

.

The Good News:

In the grand scheme of things, there’s not a lot to complain about here for Commodore fans. Oh sure, you can nit-pick and say that not winning the national title was a real drag. But for coach Tim Corbin and the Black & Gold crew, 2011 put a verified stamp of excellence on this program. It didn’t just snub the noses of the traditional SEC powers, it mashed their noses in the crushed-brick warning track. And though there are some losses, there is certainly much more success still to come. I mean, just look at the top of the lineup. Tony Kemp is probably the most exciting player in the country, slapping singles, laying down bunts, climbing outfield walls and diving all over terra firma to break the hearts of hopeful batters and their sweet little girlfriends. He’ll be joined in the meadow once again by fleet-footed Mike Yastrzemski (.292-3-42, 23SBs) and sweet-swinging Connor Harrell (.289-9-35), who will become the most potent big-hit threat on the squad. The defense fielded at a .973 pace and could be up there again with the return of core gloves like Anthony Gomez and Riley Reynolds. On the bump, LHP Kevin Ziomek (5starts, .205OBA) and RHP T.J. Pecoraro (6starts, .183OBA) were the mid-week starters last season – along with a good bit of bullpen duties – and should be in the weekend rotation this year, which they are both clearly ready for. RHP Will Clinard was 2-2, 2.77 and 3svs in a team-high 34 appearances, so he’s been in the fires more times than anyone. Recruiting coordinator Josh Holliday brought in a bonanza group of greenhorns, ranked No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball. The gem of the joint was certainly RHP Tyler Beede, who continued the recent college baseball trend of being a 1st round draft pick (of Toronto) but decided to come to the D1 ranks and be a star. VU also got highly-regarded catcher Chris Harvey, another anticipated 1st rounder-to-be to skip his senior year of high school and become a Commodore. Also look for some flares to be shot skyward from RHP Adam Ravenelle (44th round, Yankees), LHP Nevin Wilson (44th round, Phillies) and RHP Phillip Pfeifer (44th round, Rangers) to all contribute to the thinned-out mound corps for this year. OF John Norwood (14th round, Blue Jays) could be a big factor with the bat and his speed in the meadow too.

.

The Bad News:

You know Tim Corbin is never satisfied. Never. That’s part of his unimpeachable inner fire, bred from his tough Boston upbringing. He’s got bloody knuckles from pounding the walls over not making it to championship series. (Too bad the ‘Dores have the bad luck of having their best team in the same year that South Carolina and Florida had their best teams ever. Curses!). There were some big time defections from last year’s roster, starting with mound studs like Sonny Gray, Grayson Garvin, Taylor HIll and Jack Armstrong, who are all now very rich as professional players. They take with them 53 starts from last year and 117 career starts on the hill. Yowza! A trio of big bats will need to be replaced as well with the departure of fence-busters like Aaron Westlake, Jason Esposito and Curt Casali. Despite all the talent coming in along with the studs back in the lineup, some dim stars are going to have to ignite for this team in 2012, like LHP Sam Selman, who has only 11 appearances despite coming to campus as a 14th round draft pick out of high school, and OF Jack Lupo, who hit just .195 in 26 at-bats last year but led Air Force as a freshman with a .292 average with 6HRs before transferring to VU.

.

Schedule Note:

What, you expect Tim Corbin to shy away from ANYONE?

To hell with the personnel losses and lowered expectations. You know coach Corbin, he’ll just gnash his teeth and take on any challenges full force and not even flinch. That’s why he’s got the black & gold going to Stanford once again, this time to open the season. And in case you didn’t see it, I’ve got the Cardinal as my pre-season No. 2 team. Also, the ‘Dores will host fellow Pac 10er Oregon, A-10 contender Rhode Island and mid-major pest San Diego coming into Nashville as well. All that in anticipation of another rigorous SEC schedule that will start with a trip to Florida in the middle of March. Good gosh-ah mighty!

.

.

Western Division:

- ALABAMA (35-28, 14-16)

2011 ISR: 38

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Taylor Dugas (.349-8-33)

SS Jared Reaves (.340-4-27)

1B Austen Smith (.297-5-44)

RHP Tucker Hawley (6-2, 3.65, .247OBA)

.

The Good News:

It wasn’t a “great” 2011 season, but when you consider the Crimson Tide still made the NCAA tournament and went all the way to the Regional title round, that’s pretty damn stout for a down season. Right? If that’s any indication of how down seasons are going to be measured in the Mitch Gaspard regime, I think Tide fans can live with that. Big things are ahead here, especially in getting a cornerstone player like Taylor Dugas to return for his senior season was huge. That kind of team leadership cannot be measured. He currently sits third in school history in triples (11) and walks (127) and is sixth in batting average (.365). He’ll be joined by a nearly-intact infield from last season as SS Jared Reaves with be joined by full-time returnees like 1B Austen Smith and 3B Brett Booth (.257) and part-time 2B James Tullidge (.158). Though there are no returnees from weekend duty, multi-used flingers like Tucker Hawley and 8-game starter Taylor Wolfe (1-2, 4.15, 19apps) will become huge contributors to weekend duties. Also look for RHP Charley Sullivan (2-2, 3.03, 16apps) and LHP Adam Windsor (3-3, 5.73, 16apps, 33inns) to be big contributors as well. Though the incoming recruiting class was highly lauded, the coaches are chomping at the bit to see what bulldog-tough lefty Justin Kamplain (22nd round pick of the Cardinals) and lanky lefty flinger Taylor Guilbeau (39th round, Yankees) can do, as they should be immediate contributors.

.

The Bad News:

Things weren’t all rosy on the Caprock last year, as the Tide saw its win total drop from 42 to 35 and its loss total rise from 25 to 28 from 2010 to 2011. Two big time contributors on the mound have hit the road in Jonathan Smart (5-3/2.50/11svs) and Nathan Kilcrease (8-4/3.12), who were gutty battlers. The Sunday starter position was also in flux a lot last year, especially after Tucker Hawley came down with a case of arm fatigue in mid-April. As it turns out, 16-game starter Adam Morgan also said sayonara, leaving Hawley as the only pitcher with more than three wins coming back to the roster for 2012. The offense certainly had its warts too as Taylor Dugas and Jared Reaves were the only hitters over the Mendoza Line and the Tide had the fewest HRs (23) and the 9th-best stolen bases (just 50 on the season). So lots of work at the dish and on the basepaths will be necessary going into this season. Last I checked, Trent Richardson still had yet to be coaxed into putting on the baseball togs.

.

Schedule Note:

An even better SOS?

The Tide will have plenty of chances to boost up the RPI as they’ll take on a much better non-conference schedule this year. They’ll start the season hosting Florida Atlantic, a contender in the Sun Belt, though that will be followed up by a weekend against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. But after that, things get serious as they’ll have roadies at Southern Mississippi, a three-gamer at Tulane, a non-conference game vs. Auburn in Montgomery and then will host their own four-team tournament with East Carolina, Louisville and Oral Roberts. Not bad. But get this, Alabama apparently won the sweepstakes in the SEC for this year because they will be the only team to avoid Florida in the SEC rotation. Awesome.

.

.

- ARKANSAS (40-22, 15-15)

2011 ISR: 20

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Dominic Ficociello (.335-4-50)

2B Bo Bigham (.291-2-20, 17SBs)

SS Tim Carver (.232, 24SBs)

3B Matt Reynolds (.243-3-24, 16SBs)

RHP D.J. Baxendale (10-2, 1.58, .228OBA)

RHP Ryne Stanek (4-2, 3.94, .213)

RHP Barrett Astin (5-2, 2.72, 3svs)

LHP Trent Daniel (2-0, 2.91, 4svs, .187OBA)

RHP Nolan Sanburn (2-4, 3.62, 8svs, .239OBA)

.

The Good News:

Dave Van Horn is one wicked wizard. At this point last season he came into the 2011 campaign with no returning starters on the mound and just four returners in the field, and yet there they went, winning 40 games anyway. Very heavy stuff man. And guess what? All those new starters? Almost all of them return for 2012. The Razorbacks primarily used 10 pitchers last season and nine of them are back including the versatile DJ Baxendale (started 12 games and also earned three saves) and LHP Cade Lynch (4-4, 3.11, 10starts), RHP Brandon Moore (4-1, 3.45,11starts) and Ryne Stanek (12starts). And by the way, in case you don’t recall, Baxendale was good enough to get wins over Georgia, Florida and South Carolina in consecutive weeks. My goodness. The bullpen is fully stocked and very diverse as they tended to use all hands on deck for getting saves last year. But the straw that stirs the whiskey is Nolan Sanburn, who got 8svs in 24apps. But don’t sleep on LHP Trent Daniel (26apps), a middle reliever who came back to school despite getting drafted in the 23rd round by the Tigers. The entire infield returns and they are difference-makers in the field and at the dish with Dominic Ficociello, a Freshman All American, Bo Bigham, a team captain, SS Tim Carver, who committed just 10Es last year, and Matt Reynolds, who is up for certified “stud” status after having split last summer between the Cape Cod League and Team USA. The incoming class is chock-full of studs with SS Joe Serrano (12th round, Reds), OF Conor Costello (16th round, Reds), SS/2B Brian Anderson (20th round, Twins) and C Dane Phillips, a high-profile transfer from Oklahoma State who is used to bright lights and big pressure situations after starring in the Big 12.

.

The Bad News:

Inconsistency was a bugger to this team last season. For example, the Hogs pulled off Friday wins over teams like Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi State, but lost lidlifters with Kentucky, Ole Miss and Alabama. That’s just a sample. The biggest problem was obviously a mostly punchless offense that was the worst in the SEC, hitting at an Olive Oyl-like .270, with an astonishing 441 strikeouts suffered on the year. The defense is a big concern as the entire infield returns intact, but the D wasn’t very clutch either, finishing with an SEC-high 76 errors last year. Both areas are fixable and have great ability, but just a bearing down on things will be what makes or breaks this 2012 squad. The outfield must be replaced as well as the vital catcher position. Four of the top six hitters in the batting order have hit the bricks, leaving the offense with mostly weak sticks that need to improve.

.

Schedule Note:

The “out-of-character” is becoming the character for them.

Last year in this space I talked about how the Hogs were playing an uncharacteristically easy schedule in pre-conference play. Well, this year’s edition indicates that maybe it’s becoming the new norm here, sadly. The Razorbacks will play host to teams like Villanova, Valparaiso and Binghamton in the three-gamers department, and will also play Northwestern State and BYU in a pair of mid-week two-gamers. To their credit, there will be a good roadie at the Houston College Classic in Minute Maid Park where they’ll take on Texas Tech, Houston and Texas. Also, the perennially underrated Gonzaga Bulldogs visit Baum Stadium for a unique two-game set right before SEC play kicks in. From there, the schedule toughens, not just because of the usual SEC rigors, but the Hogs will also play mid-week games with Oklahoma, Oral Roberts and a cool two-game set with Missouri in May. So let’s not be TOO harsh on the guys for the wimpy home slate of February and March.

.

.

- AUBURN (29-29, 14-16)

2011 ISR: 53

Starters Returning: 2

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Derek Varnadore (6-3, 3.68, .254OBA)

RHP Dillon Ortman (2-1, 4.65)

.

The Good News:

The Tigers should have a renewed vigor for baseball after suffering some shortcomings on the diamond last season. A .500 record is the kind of prime mover that will get the motivation machine cranking for 2012. The one thing that will have Auburn fans bellowing out “War Eagle” more than anything else is the fact that the entire weekend rotation returns in the form of Derek Varnadore, who came back to school despite getting drafted in the 17th round by the Marlins, and fellow righties John Luke Jacobs (1-5, 4.01, .248OBA) and Slade Smith (2-2, 5.83), who has a pretty cool, old-school heavy metal name. LHP Cory Luckie (1-2, 5.83) still has as much potential as anyone on this Tiger staff and hopes to kick some of the blahs he’s had the last two seasons. Joining him will be RHP Ethan Wallen (5-5, 4.84), who made 24 appearances last year and added five saves in the closer role. There are a few more arms joining them in what should be a pretty deep pitching staff that sported a 412-226 strikeout to walk ratio. There should be plenty of new talents dotting the lineup this year as coach John Pawlowski brought in a representative group of first-year players. A pair of newbies to watch will be SS Addison Russell and OF David Dahl, who teamed together on the Team USA 18U squad which won the AAU Pan Am Championship in Cartagena, Columbia last summer. Also watch for OF Colton Davis (50th round, Astros) and RHP Rocky McCord (39th round, Twins).

.

The Bad News:

You knew there was something that wasn’t quite right when the Tigers got pummeled by Virginia and then struggled with Radford in their first two weeks of the 2011 season. Sure enough, those raised eyebrows became knowing nods when Cam Newton U. suffered a 9-15 finish, which sunk any hope for a post-season appearance. If it wasn’t youth then pitching and defense certainly were the main bugaboos last year with the staff ERA finishing 11th in the SEC at 5.09 and the fielding checking in at 10th in the conference at .968. And while we’re at it, yes, everybody struggled to adjust to the new bats, but the Plainsmen went from .348 as a team in 2010 to .295 in 2011. Crud. And as noted by the returnees above, there will be a heavy reliance on the incoming youth with the need to fill seven starting spots. Look for a lot of rough edges to this team as it tries to acclimate to the speed of play at Division 1, much less the pressure-cooker of the SEC wares.

.

Schedule Note:

It’s a feline frenzy.

Unlike the last few years, we’ll find out a lot about this year’s Tiger team right away as they’ll have a pair of arduous tests right off the bat. The opening weekend will see them face off with future SEC rival Missouri in a three gamer at home. After two mid-week games against SWAC champion Alcorn State, the Orange & Navy will hit the road to the desert of doom, going to Arizona for a three-game set. That’s a pair of pretty tough feline acts they’ll have to tame with a lot of new faces. The next weekend sees an interesting mix at the Auburn Tournament as Big 10 sleeper Purdue is joined by Charleston Southern and Conference USA toughie Southern Miss. The SEC side of things sees South Carolina, LSU and Florida all coming to the Plains. So if home field advantage is any significant measure, at least they’ll have that going for them.

.

.

- LOUISIANA STATE (36-20, 13-17)

2011 ISR: 24

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Raph Rhymes (.360-3-42)

2B JaCoby Jones (.338-4-32)

3B Tyler Hanover (.311)

SS Austin Nola (.298-2-42)

RHP Kevin Gausman (5-6, 3.51)

RHP Kurt McCune (7-3, 3.31)

RHP Ryan Eades (4-1, 4.51)

.

The Good News:

The amount of “good news” for these traditional monsters is quite voluminous. I mean, how can a program of such pride with three outstanding sophomore weekend starters, a much-improved infield returning intact and a recruiting class rated at No. 7 by Collegiate Baseball be nothing but geeked going into 2012? Not that there isn’t enough optimism going into just about every season in Red Stick anyway, right? Well again, the constantly-smiling Paul Maineiri still has plenty of reason to be beaming along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi and the impassioned purple and gold fans will soon follow suit. First off, that top-ranked recruiting class from 2010 will be sophomores now, which means that rotation that includes Kurt McCune and Kevin Gausman, and could have RHP Ryan Eades (4-1, 4.81) as the Sunday guy should grow into a massive clampdown rotation on weekends. Also watch for the return of RHP Joey Bourgeois (4-1, 6.68, 60.2inns in 2010), who comes back from Tommy John surgery that kept him out of 2011 and should be back to 100%. When it was announced that both Austin Nola (31st round, Blue Jays), Tyler Hanover (40th round, Yankees) and Raph Rhymes (40th round, Pirates) had all turned down the bigs despite getting drafted, it was game-on for that infield. They’ll join 2B JaCoby Jones, 1B Alex Edward (.280-2-27) and C Ty Ross (.223) to give the Purple and Gold a glitzy defense, which was .969 as a team last year to begin with. And don’t look now, but yes indeed, the Tigers pulled in another stoic recruiting class that will keep this program at a high level. The bellows for this class could very well be Austin’s brother RHP Aaron Nola (22nd round, Blue Jays), who was the top high school player in Louisiana and is in a battle for the closer’s role, or it could be OF Arby Fields (27th round, Padres), who is a high-profile JC transfer. They also pulled in slender LHP Cody Glenn (15th round, Blue Jays), RHP Carson Baranik (41st round, Reds) and RHP Braden Strickland, who threw back-to-back no hitters last season in high school. Oh, one more thing to keep in mind, Coach Mainieri admitted when his team got off to a great start and had a great finish last year, a lot of had to do with the fact that he let his guys swing away and took a lot of chances. So look for Coach M to let-em-rip this year. Devil may care.

.

The Bad News:

If 2010’s 5th place finish in the SEC West was an anomaly, then 2011’s last place finish and NCAA snubbing was an iceberg hiding out in the fog of the North Sea. Not even a 12-3 finish could get these guys into the Big Dance? Really? Wow. That was a tough pill to swallow, even Paul Mainieri admitted to such a profound pain last June. But heading into this year there are some losses they’ll have to overcome, especially OF Mikie Mahtook, who has been the heart and soul of this program ever since he was a CWS MVP in helping LSU win the 2009 national title as a freshman. Also leaving Nicholson Drive for 2012 is 12-game starter Ben Alsup on the mound, all-time school saves leader Matty Ott and speedy outfielder/leadoff hitter Trey Watkins, leaving some concerns. And of course, the biggest of all the “bad news” is that the Tigers’ non-conference slate is still mighty home heavy and almost exclusively coming against a gaggle of tomato cans. And we all know how the NCAA Selection Committee explained LSU’s snubbing because they didn’t play enough road games in non-conference play. We’ll see how much it hurts them again.

.

Schedule Note:

Remember, 2013 is coming.

Yes, I’ve been expounding the fact that I look forward to more LSU road trips (especially out West… please!). So keep in mind that last year’s slate was a problem for the committee, so this year’s could be even more of a red flag. LSU will host teams like Air Force, Alcorn State, McNeese State, Appalachian State, Grambling, Dartmouth, Michigan and Notre Dame before SEC play kicks in around the middle of March. The Tigers also have the bad luck of taking on both Florida and South Carolina on the road in the SEC rotation this time around.

.

.

- MISSISSIPPI (30-25, 13-17)

2011 ISR: 45

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Brett Huber (2-1, 3.60, 4svs)

RHP Bobby Wahl (0-2, 4.80, 4svs)

2B Alex Yarbrough (.350-7-38)

OF Tanner Mathis (.336)

DH Matt Snyder (.301-9-39)

SS Blake Newalu (.292, 12SBs)

.

The Good News:

Things are going to get a whole lot better for the Rebels with a little more patience. There will be a lot of familiar faces throughout the infield as All SEC performer Alex Yarbrough is going to be surrounded by his double-play mate at SS Blake Newalu, along with Matt Snyder (.301-9-39), one of the best returning power hitters in the conference, and Will Allen (.227) who split their time at 1st base and DH. The offense could be in pretty good shape as four of the top five hitters coming back to the order. As it stands right now, we could be looking at Bobby Wahl the likely Friday night guy, with his quality array of pitches he throws for strikes that can be dominant at times, including hitting the mid-90s on his heater. Look for fellow reliever Brett Huber to possibly move to a weekend spot as well and should excel. Look for a lot of newbies to come to campus and make an immediate impact as coach Mike Bianco has pulled together another quality class that points to a great future. Nine of the incoming players were drafted last June and came to campus anyway. Look for mercurial OF Senquez Golson, an 8th round pick of the Red Sox, to be a difference-maker in the field and at the plate. The Red Sox also missed out on INF Sikes Orvis, who was picked in the 19th round. Coach Bianco is also mighty excited about incoming pitchers like strapping RHP Hawtin Buchanan (19th round, Nationals), bulldog-like RHP Josh Laxer (20th round, Nationals) and RHP Chris Ellis (50th round, Dodgers), who he feels could be SEC ready right away.

.

The Bad News:

For the second season in a row the Rebels ran out of gas and had a really poor month of May, going 7-11 at the end of last season. But this time it cost the Rebs a shot at the NCAA tournament. Yuck! But for the second season in a row Coach Bianco admits it will be another youthful team in Oxford, this time with most of the youth coming on the mound and especially in the bullpen. But it’s the starting rotation that will need the most re-working as Matt Crouse, Austin Wright and David Goforth all hit the bricks and go to the play-for-pay guys. There are a lot of returnees in the batting order/field as noted above, but losing Matt Smith, Matt Tracy and Miles Hamblin is pretty big as they’ve been familiar faces for a number of seasons.

.

Schedule Note:

Texas Two-Step.

The Rebels will have a quick inauguration into deep didjeridoo in the 2012 season, opening the season with as tough an assignment as anyone will have to take, going to TCU for three games. After playing UNC-Wilmington for three in weekend No. 2, then host Miami Ohio in week three, they’ll have a return trip from Houston, who they had a good knock-down, drag-out against in Astrotown last year. Former assistant Dan McDonnell and his Louisville Cardinals will then play host to the Rebs for two mid-week games right before SEC play kicks in. Ole Miss will also make two appearances on ESPNU as they’ll play lidlifter tilts at Georgia and at Vanderbilt for the TV cameras.

.

.

- MISSISSIPPI STATE (38-25, 14-16)

2011 ISR: 27

Starters Returning: 2

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF C.T. Bradford (.303, 12SBs, Freshman All American)

RHP Caleb Reed (1-2, 1.55, 12svs)

LHP Nick Routt (3-3, 4.02)

RHP Kendall Graveman (5-0, 3.65)

.

The Good News:

Everything fell into place for John Cohen and the Bulldogs in 2011 and saw them back in their rightful place, the NCAA tournament. Their win total jumped from 23 up to 38 in the span of 365 days, but that wasn’t the whole story. The big tale to tell was this team changed just about everything, in mindset, in confidence and in – dare I use this phrase – swagger. The Cohen effect took a little while to kick in, but it’s now rolling after putting a stop to three straight losing seasons. The Bulldogs hope to re-capture that late-season magic that saw them fight, scratch, claw and bite their way to nearly eliminating Florida in the Super Regionals. What a remarkable performance they pulled in Gainesville, nearly doing the impossible and eliminating the national runner-ups. This year, there won’t be a lot returning in the field, but the pitch staff is stoked. Ace reliever Caleb Reed is back, along with starters Chris Stratton (5-7, 5.21) and Nick Routt, as these will be the base for the Maroons to pin their hopes around this season. But that’s not all, weekend starter Kendall Graveman will join RHP Devin Jones (2-5, 4.37), RHP Evan Mitchell (6-2, 4.62) and LHP Luis Pollorena (7-5, 4.45) to give MSU a lot of options on bump. go with the hot hand guys. Go with the hot hand. C.T. Bradford is back to lead the offense and will have OF Daryl Norris (.277 in 27starts) and Adam Frazier (.274 in 18starts) to step into bigger roles this season. Keep an eye on heavily-regarded catcher Mitch Slauter, a JC transfer from Barton County CC as he leads a really top-notch recruiting class, which also features LHP Jacob Lindgren (12th round, Cubs), a crafty plate-pounder with deceptive speed and SS Nick Flair (26th round, Pirates).

.

The Bad News:

The Bulldogs are very similar to their in-state rivals in that their best years are still a season or two away. Youth will certainly be a big bugaboo as the Maroons said goodbye to seven senior starters from last year’s squad and must configure some of their newly minted talents into some important everyday roles. Catching up with Division 1 pitching will be the biggest challenge, so look for some low-scoring scrub matches as the offense tries to get up to speed. The pitch staff has most of its personnel back, but needs to improve the overall performance as they were 8th in the conference at 4.40 and also had the highest walks-per-game in the conference, issuing 227 free passes as a team. State needs to play better away from Dudy-Noble Field as they went 2-9 in SEC road games other than those played at last place division bottom-feeders Tennessee and Ole Miss.

.

Schedule Note:

Setting a record.

The Bulldogs will have the luxury of playing a program-high 37 home games in the 2012 season (read: $$$$$$$). They’ll take on some decent competition with the likes of Washington State (opening weekend), Kansas, UConn, Mercer and South Alabama. They’ll also play in-state rivals Southern Miss and Ole Miss in Pearl, Mississippi. The SEC slate will get off to a tough start, going to LSU and hosting Arkansas starting in mid-March.

A change is a-comin’ and there are brighter times are ahead for the Monsters of the Midwest. A long-dormant sport is rising like Godzilla from the sea. But will that manifest itself a year or two early? Will we be talking about the Big 10 in glowing terms this June? I’m not saying it’s impossible.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

For the second year in a row the Big 10ers didn’t come close to getting a second team into the Big Dance and pulled few noticeable wins. Just like Minnesota in 2010, Illinois waited to get hot when the weather did and wreaked all kinds of havoc in the Regionals at Cal State Fullerton, including eliminating the Titans and pushing Stanford in the championship round. Other than this late-season spike by the Illini, this was still another drag-me-through-the-weeds season in the Big 10 that need to be forgotten as soon as possible. It all started back in January when the roof at the Metrodome collapsed, forcing Minnesota to completely change its schedule and prevented the Big 10 favorites from picking up valuable early-season games and practices. Michigan State got out to another rollicking start and rode that to the first Big 10 title for the Big Green since 1979. Purdue was right there giving chase as well and entered May at 30-13 overall. The problem was both the Spartans and the Boilers played blah baseball in May, including falling short of the Big 10 tournament championship round, so they sat home in June. The bottom six of the Big 10 gave us just two more winning records (30+ win seasons for Iowa and Penn State) and no serious challengers.

.

Conference ISR: 17

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Big Ten

1- Michigan State

2- Nebraska

3- Purdue

4- Minnesota

5- Indiana

6- Iowa

7- Illinois

8- Ohio State

9- Penn State

10- Michigan

11- Northwestern

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

It’s not necessarily a “now or never” kind of thing, but the Big 10 better start to show up on the national scope. Too many programs have built (or are building) the necessary facilities and the time for excuses is coming to an end. The one thing that seems to doom the conference more than anything is that the teams that are expected to do well the last few years have fallen flat on those expectations. So who does the “curse” of preseason favorite go to this time? We’re looking your direction Michigan State. With high-round guys like 3B Torston Boss and RHP Tony Bucciferro leading the way, the Big Green could make it two years in a row as regular season champs. Purdue should be right up there once again as the Boilermakers return nearly every field position from a school-record 37-win season. Everybody else in the conference returns a handful of starting pitchers and a lot of key fielders, so it really is just about anybody’s ball game out there. Oh, and before I forget, you DO know that Nebraska is the new bully on the block now, right? They’re here to show the Big 10 how to have a national program in a “mid-major” conference as the Big Red has experienced more than a decade of post-season play, sellout crowds and all their games broadcast on radio – which is a novel concept to Big 10 programs. Let me leave it with this… If this “mild” winter we’re having sticks around and most of these teams are able to get in some outside practices before mid-February, this could be a high-water season for the Big 10.

.

Favorites: Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue

.

Contenders: If healthy, nearly everyone else

.

Darkhorse: Iowa (again, if healthy)

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Michigan State at Purdue, April 27-29.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: The Big 10/Big East Challenge, Feb. 17-19.

Close Second: Cal at Nebraska, March 9-12

.

Hot Coach: Jake Boss, Michigan State

.

Hot Seat Coach: Jack Dahm, Iowa

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Tony Bucciferro, Michigan State

The “You Gotta See” Player: 1B/RHP Josh Desze, Ohio State

.

Three Non-Conference Series Big Ten Opponents Better Take Seriously:

1- Cal at Nebraska, March 9-12

2- Michigan State at Texas A&M, March 2-4

3- Purdue at the Auburn Tournament (AU, SoMiss & Charleston Southern), March 2-4.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- Iowa actually goes a complete season without rampant injuries and contends for the Big 10 title down to the final weekend.

2- After getting just 10 wins before April, Illinois will heat up (and Willie Argo will lead the Big 10 in hitting) and will challenge for the regular season crown.

3- The Big 10 conference kicks itself in the ass for not scheduling a Michigan State-Nebraska weekend this year.

.

.

- ILLINOIS (30-27, 15-9)

2011 ISR: 120

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B Brandon Hohl (.311-5-39)

CF Willie Argo (.270-4-27, 25SBs)

OF Davis Hendrickson (.311, 10SBs)

OF Justin Parr (.317)

RHP Kevin Johnson (2-7, 4.54)

.

The Good News:

By early June last year, Dan Hartleb’s charges were playing as good as anyone in the country, eliminating Cal State Fullerton and playing Stanford in the title round of the Regionals. There is still some star power remaining for the Illini, who welcome back three of their top four hitters including CF Willie Argo (who hopes to revert to his frosh form when he hit .355) and DH/OF Justin Parr (.317). Pitchers Kevin Johnson and Will Strack (3-0, 4.03) should be the bellows of the staff in ‘12. The Illini also had the second-best defense in the Big 10 and the most aggressive baserunners offense in Big 10 with 98 stolen bases. Even with some new faces in tow, don’t look for coach Dan Hartleb to change philosophies. Some immediate plugs will be filled with OF/1B Jordan Parr (Justin’s twin who transfers in from Parkland College), RHP Josh Ferry (who could be the No. 2 starter on weekends) and RHP John Kravetz (who could be a mid-week starter). The Illini will get the benefit of two drafted talents on the field this year with South Dakota native infielder David Kerian, a 42nd round draftee of the Nats coming in and  former catcher Reid Roper, who was a 29th round pick of the Braves but sat out the ‘11 season with injury, will move into the 2B position.

.

The Bad News:

Now that I’ve glossed on the Illini above, I have to admit that they also underachieved for most of last season, including a shameful loss to NAIA member Benedictine. Which was probably the biggest WTF? moment of the Big 10 season. This year there will be a host of holes to fill, especially in the infield, at catcher and on the mound. The arms corps loses weekenders John Anderson and Corey Kines, who combined for 32 starts and 184 innings of work. Both saves leaders, Chris Pack (4svs) and Wes Braun (6svs) have also flown the coop. RHPs Nick Chmielewski (the closer in 2009) and Bryan Roberts (the team closer in 2010) both return after missing last season with Tommy John surgery, but will need to acclimate back to big time pitching right away.

.

Schedule Note:

Jamboree junkies.

Illinois will participate in a handful of invitationals and tournaments, of sorts. Each of the first four weeks of the season – all the way up until league play – they’ll travel to St. Petersburg (for the Big 10-Big East Challenge), Beaumont, Texas (to play Gonzaga and Lamar, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (to play Coastal Carolina, Pitt and St. John’s) and to Eugene, Oregon (to play Oregon, UConn and West Virginia. They’ll also be the conference guinea pig by being the first Big 10 opponent to play at Nebraska. And by the way, for a team that is going to be a bit on the rebuilding side, this is a murderous non-conference schedule. It could be a rough start after facing teams like Louisville, St. John’s, Gonzaga, Coastal Carolina, Pitt, Oregon, Oregon State and UConn. I dig your guts coach Hartleb, but Gah!

.

.

- INDIANA (30-25, 11-13)

2011 ISR: 139

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

LHP Joey DeNato (7-3, 2.80)

3B Dustin DeMuth (.360, Freshman All American)

2B Micah Johnson (.335-3-34, 19SBs)

RHP Chad Martin (2-5, 3.41, 3svs)

RHP Ryan Halstead (3-2, 3.16, 9svs)

.

The Good News:

Though there will still be some youth to this year’s team, coach Tracy Smith will have some top performers on the mound and in the batting order coming back to the roster, which should pay dividends in 2012. A full 42 of last year’s 55 starts return on the mound, including weekenders Joey DeNato and Chad Martin, plus former Sunday starter Walker Stadler (3-4, 6.27 in ‘10) returns after sitting out last season with shoulder problems. Supporting them will be a chock-full ‘pen that features Ryan Halstead, who tied the IU record with 9saves last year, and RHP Chad Martin (2-5, 3.41), who started eight games and also saved three. Dustin DeMuth, Micah Johnson and Justin Cureton were three of the top four hitters off last year’s squad and will lead by example. A bully-of-a-recruiting class comes in with 40th round pick Sam Travis, the Illinois High School Player of the Year, and Chris Sujka, the Illinois Male Athlete of the Year, coming on board. (I wonder if those Land of Lincoln schools are pissed at Tracy Smith for carpetbagging their state?). Travis could end up being the starter at 3rd and Sujka should find a spot in the outfield. Also look for C/DH Kyle Schwarber, a former linebacker on the gridiron, to get a starting role behind the dish. There is also an increased emphasis on speed this season, so look for more station-to-station baseball from the Hoosiers. Also, a brand new $19.8million baseball/softball complex is being built, making this the final season at old Sembower Field.

.

The Bad News:

Okay, I admit, I’m a bad luck charm for these guys. After seeing them win the Sunday game at Iowa on April 17th to improve to 23-12, the Hoosiers went 7-13 the rest of the season, crushing any post-season hopes. Sorry coach. Mea culpa. Last year’s offensive woes must be straightened out after a lack of clutch hitting cost the Big Red on numerous occasions (team hit just .287). There were some longtime mainstays that have moved on from the Bloomington campus, like school hitting champion Alex Dickerson, Jerrud Sabourin and pitchers Blake Monar and Matt Carr. The Hoosiers need to have RHP Drew Leininger (4-3, 5.65) return to 2010 form where he was 9-3, 4.04 in 13 starts.

.

Schedule Note:

Cal State Bloomington.

With nine Golden State natives on the IU roster, the Hoosiers’ eight-game trip to Southern California will be a tell-tale sign of whether this year’s edition will be a contender or pretender. They’ll take on Cal State Northridge, San Diego and LMU in a nine-day trip West. But there will also be plenty of RPI building pre-conference games with UConn, Tulane and Louisville. Also, eight of their final 11 games will be home contests, so look for a big push at the end of the season.

.

.

- IOWA (20-32, 9-15)

2011 ISR: 191

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Jarred Hippen (4-6, 3.16)

RHP Matt Dermody (4-6, 4.15)

2B Mike McQuillan (.330)

OF Taylor Zuetenhorst (.261)

RHP Nick Brown (3-2, 2.85)

.

The Good News:

On the surface, it may not appear as if the Hawkeyes had much to cheer about last season. But don’t jump to conclusions, they may have been derailed from some injuries, but there was improved pitching and defense to make for some encouragement. UI went from a team ERA of 5.96 in 2010 to 4.22 last year and the defense was .956 in 2010 and improved to last year’s .965. Small signs, sure. But there’s definitely something brewing here. For 2012, the pitching staff returns nearly intact with 380 of last yers’ 466 innings pitched returning, including 49 of 52 starts. All things considered, this could be the best arms corps in the Big 10 with LHPs Jarred Hippen, Matt Dermody (who came back after being a 29th round draftee of the Rockies last June) and RHP Ricky Sanquist (1-4, 7.45 in 8starts) returning to their weekend posts. But also look for big seasons from RHP Patrick Lala (2-6, 4.30, .240OBA) who was a draftee of the Phillies last season and RHP Tim Fangman (2-1, 2.94, 3svs), who held opposing batters to a .245 average. Speaking of MLB targets, former Phillies draftee Taylor Zeutenhorst, a 6′4″ UTL strapper who was named to the Big 10’s All-Frosh team, should find a comfort zone in his soph season. Coach Jack Dahm and recruiting coordinator Ryan Brownlee brought another bonanza of a recruiting class to campus, headed by LHP Sasha Keubel (31st round pick, A’s) and 6′5″ righty Nick Hibbing (42nd round pick, Pirates), both of whom can zing it into the low 90s. Also watch for uber-athletic OF Eric Toole, who will swipe bases and steal gap liners from opposing hitters for the next few years. Can’t wait to see how coach Dahm uses him.

.

The Bad News:

Oy vey. The Hawks looked ready to sink some talons into people last year (I had them at No. 51 in the preseason Top 300), but were sunk again by injuries and plain bad luck. Hell, coach Dahm’s gonna wanna kick my ass for putting him down as the “hot seat” coach up above. And did you see how I just wrote in the Indiana preview about how I was a bad omen for the Hoosiers after seeing them play in April? Well after I saw the Black & Gold play last April 17th, they went 7-12 down the stretch. Crapola! While the pitching was good enough, it was the offense that handcuffed the potential of this team, hitting a boney-armed .262 with just eight home runs and striking out 390 times. On top of that, studs like Tyson Blaser, Trevor Willis and Kurt Lee, three of the top five hitters, have gone the way of the buffalo. If this year’s offense doesn’t improve greatly, this teams’ optimistic hopes will too.

.

Schedule Note:

Going Coastal.

After taking on Pitt, West Virginia and Notre Dame at the Big 10-Big East Challenge, the Hawkeyes will head to Myrtle Beach to take on perennial mid-major power Coastal Carolina, along with interesting matchups with George Mason and Virginia Tech, who should both be improved. Unfortunately, the Hawkeyes have the distinction of having the toughest Big 10 slate, going on roadies at Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan State. Still, it’s the post-season or bust for UI. All the elements are there for the Black & Gold.

.

.

- MICHIGAN (17-37, 7-16)

2011 ISR: 237

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Michael O’Neill (.307-2-29, 30SBs)

OF Patrick Biondi (.287, 27SBs)

C Coley Crank (.270-7-33)

RHP Brandon Sinnery (2-5, 2.91, .239OBA)

RHP Kyle Clark (2-4, 3.59, .260OBA)

.

The Good News:

Best news of all is that 2011 is over. Done. Finis. Good riddance. But also on the plus side is this will be a very experienced been-there, done-that type of team for the big blue. Lots of familiar faces back, including the offensive leaders and true firestarters in OFs Michael O’Neill and Patrick Biondi, who combined to steal 57 bases last season. There may not be a better catcher in the Big 10 (much less the country) in apply-named Coley Crank, who has solid power at the dish and committed just two errors all last season defensively. Former 10th round draft pick Derek Dennis (.216) has off-the-charts potential at SS, but was hampered by injury and inconsistency last season. Watch out for the emergence of Brett Winger (.289), who was a part-timer as a freshman in 2011, but should play a big role this year. The two big guns who started the most games and threw the most innings both return in Brandon Sinnery and LHP Bobby Brosnahan (1-9, 7.82). They’ll be supported by a slew of arms since Rich Maloney and the staff pretty much went pitcher-by-committee on mid-week starters, set-up men and closers. Beyond Kyle Clark mentioned above, also keep a keen eye on LHP Logan McAnallen (0-3, 5.33) who didn’t have sparkling numbers but held opponents to a .245 average. Righties Jake Engels (1-3, 5.25, 3svs) and Alex Lakatos (2-2, 6.60, 2svs) will step up big time this season as well.

.

The Bad News:

Ouchie-mama! The Maize & Blue broke a string of eight straight 30+ win seasons by getting just 17 wins. Yuck. That nasty 2-11 start to last season put them behind the eight-ball from the get-go and they never recovered. I mean when was the last time you saw the winged-helmeted team in last place of the conference? Last. Obviously, there’s a lot of bad news to go along with that last place finish, like hoping the team can bust out of its .245 batting average (yes, not a typo), hitting just 12 HRs, having an ERA of 5.09, walking 233 opposing batters and allowing for 21 passed balls. All of those numbers were the worst in the Big 10 last season. Any carry-over effect could be a rally killer for this program. Again, there is a LOT of potential for the Big Blue here, but guys like Derek Dennis, Coley Crank and Alex Lakatos (.258/2-2, 6.69) need to step up their numbers or this team will never accomplish its goals.

.

Schedule Note:

Gotta get some RPI-building Ws.

Last year, the Wolverines were scheduled to take on teams like Louisville, St. John’s, UConn, Rutgers, Florida Gulf Coast and Sam Houston State in non-conference play. And the winged ones lost each and every game against those teams. This year, UMich is slated to play teams like LSU, Coastal Carolina, Pitt, Seton Hall, UConn and Notre Dame. Not a bad slate of teams. But the Wolverines can ill-afford to go winless against these guys or else their confidence will be shot to pieces again. Their last three home opponents will be Indiana, Coastal Carolina and Nebraska. If they can keep the win total at a high level, these matchups could become crucial for any post-season hopes, be it Big Dance or Columbus.

.

.

- MICHIGAN STATE (36-21, 15-9)

2011 ISR: 79

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B Torsten Boss (.370-7-59)

2B Ryan Jones (.344)

DH Jared Hook (.341)

SS Justin Scanlon (.302)

RHP Tony Bucciferro (8-3, 3.38, .257OBA)

RHP Tony Wieber (5-0, 3.64, 8svs, .256OBA)

.

The Good News:

Man, second straight year of 30+ wins, this time adding the Big Green’s first Big 10 regular season crown since 1979 to their resume. Strong work coach Boss. I likey-likey. Just like in 2010, the Spartans raced out to a quick start, going 21-7 through April 12th and on the cusp of the Top 25 again. The top-hitting team in the Big 10 (.318 team average) will return four .300+ hitters in the order and a lot of potential. On the other glove, the defense was remarkable, fielding at a .976 pace and being a key ingredient in their reaching the 36-win plateau. That Big 10-leading infield will return three-fourths of its lineup with Torsten Boss at 3rd, Justin Scanlon at short and Ryan Jones at 2nd. Behind the dish, sophomore Joel Fisher (.245) had just one error in 42 starts. He’ll catch a junior-senior heavy mound corps led by returning weekend starters Tony Bucciferro (who is getting some mad love from scouts) and RHP Andrew Waszak (4-3, 4.79). Also coming back will be key relievers like Tony Wieber (38Ks in 42inns), fellow saves man Bryce Jenney (0-1, 4.58, 5svs) and RHP Joe Zwierzynski (1-0, 2.12 in 15apps). Midweek starting RHP David Garner (5-4, 4.62) lived up to his billing (32nd round pick out of high school) as a frosh and should have an even bigger sophomore year, possibly moving into the weekend rotation. Add in some fill-ins off the incoming frosh class and this pitching staff is stoked. Speaking of the newbies, recruiting coordinator Mark Van Ameyde brought in a stellar batch, headed by trio of Detroit Tiger draftees who decided to come to East Lansing instead in 6′5″ block-o-granite catcher Blaise Salter (38th round pick), 6′4″ lumberjack 1B Ryan Krill (40th round) and athletic OF/C Jimmy Pickens (41st round). Also keep an eye on RHP Mick Van Vossen, who was a 49th round draftee of the Rangers and could provide a valuable arm for this year’s bullpen depth. This is a go-get-em type of season for Sparty and Crew.

.

The Bad News:

After that great start the Big Green’s promising 2011 season turned a little bit sour. The 14-13 ending included a runner-up finish in the Big 10 tournament and no at-large bid to the Big Dance. This year’s team will have to move on without staff ace and Big 10 Pitcher of the Year Kurt Wunderlich and his 10 wins and also without the top two hitters in Brandon Eckerle and Big 10 Player of the Year in 1B Jeff Holm, who both hit in the upper .370s and also had over 20 stolen bases on the season. There will be a little bit of a power outage as Torsten Boss is the only home run threat remaining in the order. One thing MSU will have to do this season is take care of co-champion Illinois, who was a big nemesis, as the Big Green was just 1-4 vs. the Illini. That included both losses in the Big 10 tournament which ended Sparty’s 2011 season.

.

Schedule Note:

Sharpen that case for an at-large bid.

The Spartans will certainly be given the chance to make its case for an at-large bid if a Big 10 title slips through the wickets again. Their pre-conference slate will feature a rugged three-game set at Texas A&M the first weekend of March and also has them facing off with teams like St. John’s, South Florida and Louisville in the opening weekend, along with games vs. Baylor, Seton Hall and Pitt as well.

.

.

- MINNESOTA (25-24, 13-11)

2011 ISR: 119

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP TJ Oakes (5-5, 3.26)

RHP Austin Lubinsky (5-6, 4.35)

LHP Tom Windle (6-2, 1.52, 2svs)

.

The Good News:

Usually when you give coach John Anderson a solid defense and some experienced front line pitching, it bodes well for another 30+ win season. Well that’s what he’s got on his hands for 2012 as seven field starters return from a defense that was 3rd in the Big 10 with a .969 fielding percentage and features 2B Matt Puhl (.252-2-18), 3B Kyle Geason (.243) and catcher Kurt Schlangen (.213). Two familiar weekend starters come back to the rotation in TJ Oakes and Austin Lubinsky, who have 280 combined innings of work in their Gopher careers. Both of them also return to The U despite getting drafted by the bigs last June, Oakes was a 41st round pick of the hometown Twins and Lubinsky was a 36th round pick of the Giants. They’ll be backed by sophomore southpaw Tom Windle, who could be the next great pitcher for the Maroon & Gold and may take over the closer role. Also keep an eye on incoming JC transfer Drew Ghelfi, a RHP who pitched in the Northwoods League last summer and should transition to D1 play just fine. Two under-the-radar players to watch for Gophers this year will be fellow strapping soph LHP D.J. Snelton (1-3, 5.22) who only threw 29 innings last season but was a former draftee of the Padres and INF Dan Olinger, who was a part-timer last year, hitting .265. But he was also named the MVP of last summer’s Northwoods All Star Game, so his adjustment in year two on campus should be huge.

.

The Bad News:

From the collapse of the Metrodome roof to the middle-of-the-road baseball they played, 2011 was one freakin’ disaster after another as the Gophers never could get any traction. The roof collapse forced them to play away from “home” almost all season long and cancelled many important early-season games, hindering their development. Just not a good season in the Twin Cities for the Maroon & Gold. The 2012 season sees them forge ahead without three huge key players in career starters AJ Pettersen, who was a heart-and-soul type of shortstop, Justin Gominsky, a cannon-armed right fielder, and Nick O’Shea, the lone power threat in the lineup last season. Also, Phil Isaksson, a 14-game weekend starter, and saves ace Scott Matyas both hit the road to the pros and will be big holes to fill. One of the bigger problems last season was obviously the offense, which hit a spindly .257 and must improve.

.

Schedule Note:

Just like a Southern national power

With the Metrodome ceiling now repaired, the Gophers are back to their greedy ways where they’ll play 39 home games. While Seibert Field is still undergoing a massive facelift, the Metrodome will serve as the home field for the Golden Gophers once again. But they’ll have to hope that teams like West Virginia, New Mexico State, Kansas, Stony Brook, Kansas State, Cal Poly and The Citadel have better-than-expected seasons for their RPI help comes through, should they need it come June.

.

.

- NEBRASKA (30-25, 9-17 in Big 12)

2011 ISR: 72

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF/1B Kash Kalkowski (.299-5-42, 11SBs)

OF Chad Christensen (.292)

RHP Tom Lemke (2-0, 5.29)

RHP Jon Keller (.3-6, 3.62)

.

The Good News:

So here we go. A new conference. A new attitude. And most importantly, a new head coach in charge of directing this big-money program: the inimitable Darin Erstad. The former Husker hitting machine is still a name all baseball fanatics are well-aware of after having a highly-lauded career in the Bigs recently come to an end. That name recognition will curry a lot of favor on the recruiting trail too. Can’t wait to see what corners this program turns. For this year, they’ll be loaded for bear, returning eight starters, a couple others who were part timers (including hyper-talented OF Khiry Cooper, who hit .260 and was 6-for-7 in stolen bases) and all three weekend starters on the mound in RHP Jon Keller, RHP Tyler Niederklein (8-3, 34.17) and RHP Tom Lemke (though I admit, he started 14 games as a frosh, but only five last season). Biggest news of all?… Pitching guru Ted Silva comes in to join the staff. Believe me, that’s huge. The Huskers will be soph heavy on the mound with Keller, RHP Brandon Pierce (0-1, 4.02, 2svs, 20apps) and lefties Thyler King (0-1, 2.21, .149OBA) and Zach Hirsch (0-0, 2.04, .238OBA), who should both be leaned upon more this season. The defense, which was an outstanding .975 last season (would’ve led the Big 10) will have 1B Kurt Farmer (.275-2-32), who could make the move to 3rd base, 2B Bryan Peters (.273-2-30, 12SBs) and incoming 1B Austin Christensen (who was the Iowa Player of the Year). But Kash Kalkowski (who returns after being drafted last June) could make the move to 1st base if early indications are correct. The Big Red stole just 50 bases last year… ummmm, with coach Erstad in charge, look for that number to possibly double. The recruiting class that ended up coming to campus despite the coaching change is pretty sweet, led by LHP Aaron Bummer (31st round pick, Yankess), C Richard Stock (a transfer from USC, former 45th round pick of the Brewers) and JC transfer RHP Travis Huber (who has been drafted twice, including 39th round pick by the Marlins last June). But the real find was Minnesota shortstop Pat Kelly, who looks likely to take over the shortstop duties after a bang-em-up fall campaign.

.

The Bad News:

Well, I guess it’s easy to say that the bad news with a youthful, inexperienced head coach like Darin Erstad is that you know it’ll take a while for him to get used to the gig. Beyond that, the horrible 3-8 finish to last year’s month of May was a big eyesore to the Big Red post-season hopes and, ultimately, the straw that broke the back of outgoing coach Mike Anderson, who was a long-time blood-red Husker from back in the John Sanders days. Too bad too, ‘coz despite the poor finish it looked like the Cornhuskers were making strides last season. There are only five seniors on this year’s squad. Most of the offense is back, obviously, but the Cornhuskers can’t hit just .270 again this year. There are certainly a number of players that need to reach their potential in 2012.

.

Schedule Note:

Hoping for a cold front.

For the second year in a row, the Huskers have managed to get two California teams to come to Lincoln as College World Series alums California plays a three-gamer in early March and will host Cal State Bakersfield comes to town in April. You KNOW they’d love to have snow flurries in the forecast to welcome their Golden State opponents. The Big 10 lidlifter will be when they host Illinois in late-March. Unfortunately, NU will play most of the month of May away from home with seven of their final 11 games on the road.

.

.

- NORTHWESTERN (20-29, 10-13)

2011 ISR: 206

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B/RHP Paul Snieder (.347-6-42/2-2, 2.88, 5svs)

OF Trevor Stevens (.305, 10SBs)

RHP Luke Farrell (6-3, 3.33)

SS Trevor Stevens (.305, 10SBs)

OF/1B Jack Livingston (.340)

.

The Good News:

Longtime head coach Paul Stevens could be sitting on something big this season as the Wildcats will have just about everyone coming back from last year’s roster. The pitching became a bright spot, sporting a 4.59 team ERA (good compared to what we’ve seen of NU in the last decade or so) and issuing just 172 walks all season. Nine of the 10 pitchers used last year come back including the weekend starting duo of Luke Farrell and LHP Dan Tyson (2-5, 6.02), along with mid-week starters Michael Jahns (2-5, 4.30) and Francis Brooke (1-2, 5.15) who are both right-handed seniors and could be All Big 10 types if they shake the inure bug. But the big boss with the hot sauce will be senior Paul Snieder, who is one of the best two-way players in the nation and should get big time consideration for the John Olerud Award. He and fellow senior Trevor Stevens get the offense cookin’ as both hit .300+ and finished tied for the team lead with 26 walks last season. Also watch for rising sophomores in RHP Ethan Bramschreiber (1-2, 3.30, .236OBA) and RHP Kyle Ruchim (0-0, 3.38, 4svs, .206OBA), who should conform better in their second season as Wildcats.

.

The Bad News:

Stuck in a rut. NU hasn’t had an overall winning mark since 2000. Dude, that’s 12 long years to suffer. One big problem was the notorious slow starts NU got out to as they were outscored by 40 runs in the 1st-through-4th innings of games last year. And though nearly the entire team returns, a big time jump in all areas of the stat sheet will be needed, considering they hit just .273, had just 25 stolen bases (lowest in the Big 10) and the defense was pretty poor, fielding at a Big 10-low .957 pace. The Cats will have to deal without having the leadership of 3B Chris Lashmet, who hit .353 last season.

.

Schedule Note:

Heading to Florida for the winter.

The Bat Cats will be familiar denizens of the Sunshine State as they’ll open the season with three trips to Florida in the first five weekends. They’ll grapple with West Virginia, Pitt and Seton Hall in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in the Tampa Bay area. After a trip out to Cal State Northridge, trip No. 2 to Florida will be to face Western Michigan, Xavier, Villanova and Chicago State in the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte. After going up against Chi-town rivals UI-C, the fifth weekend will have the Purple Gang going back to Winter Haven to take on some more snow-bound programs like Eastern Illinois, Bucknell, Navy, LIU and Nebraska-Omaha. Look for a lot of early wins to be culled from this slate before Big 10 play kicks in with weekends of Nebraska and Purdue coming to Evanston.

.

.

- OHIO STATE (26-27, 13-11)

2011 ISR: 154

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B/RHP Josh Dezse (.332-4-42/4-2, 5.53, 6svs, Frosh All American)

OF Tim Wetzel (.278)

2B Ryan Cypret (.323-3-35)

RHP Brett McKinney (3-3, 4.48)

.

The Good News:

There were some small steps made last year, the first under new skipper Greg Beals. The Bucks turned a moribund 2010 season into a winning campaign in Big 10 play and earned themselves a bid to the conference tournament after missing out the year before. Year two of the Beals era should go much smoother, as it usually goes for second year coaches. Of course, having some of the yearlings back for their second season are a big topic in C-bus for this season. Two-way talent RHP/1B Josh Dezse is one of the biggest bright spots in a long time for this program as he looks like a sure-fire All American for the foreseeable future. What a great prospect. Fellow soph Greg Greve (3-3, 5.00) has similar upside that should manifest itself in 2012, after spending his frosh campaign in the weekend rotation. CF Tim Wetzel has good speed and should blossom more as his comfort level rises in his second season. A pair of D1 transfers will make a big time impact this season in RHP Brad Goldberg, who was 1-1, 2.45 as a frosh at Coastal Carolina and could forge into the weekend rotation here, and also OF Mike Carroll, who started 27 games and hit .260 at Duke in 2010. Another transfer who could dent the starting lineup will be SS Kirby Pellant, a JC transfer from Gilbert CC (Ariz) who hit .283 with 12SBs at Marshall as a freshman. Pellant is also a former 38th round draft pick of the Dodgers.

.

The Bad News:

A losing season is a losing season. Those kind of things just don’t happen in Columbus very often, regardless of the sport. There’s too much money flowing around for the University to have one of its teams with a sub-.500 mark. So even though it happened, don’t expect it to stay that way for the Buckeye Nine. The Bucks don’t lose much on the mound, but what they DO lose is significant. The top two ERA pitchers are gone in Drew Rucinski (the most-used hurler last season) and Jared Strayer (who had the 2nd best opponent batting average). Plus, Rucinski and fellow longtime mainstay Dean Wolosiansky have combined for 75 starts, 149 appearances and 568 career innings over the last four seasons. The other bad part of the pitching staff is that Andrew Armstrong (2-0, 3.68 in 33apps) and Brett McKinney are the only flingers coming back who had sub-5.00 ERAs. JC transfers LHP Brian King (a top 100 JC prospect from Paradise Valley CC) and RHP Tyler Giannonatti (from Gilbert CC, but was 2-0/5.27 in 11apps at K-State in 2010) must deliver for the Buckeye bullpen to be an effective force this season.

.

Schedule Note:

REALLY?!… No Big 10 weekend matchup with Michigan?

I’ve checked the Buckeye schedule. I’ve double-checked it too. “That team from up North” doesn’t show up in the Big 10 rotation this year… another reason why all this conference expansion B.S. is bad. They will face each other down in Port Charlotte, Florida on March 2nd in a single game as part of the Snowbird Classic. The Bucks get a good break out of the gate in Big 10 play as they will be at home for three of the first four weekends of conference play, hosting Purdue, Minnesota and Nebraska. There will be some interesting matchups out of conference as the Buckeyes have ramped up the schedule a bit, playing at Georgia Tech (2nd weekend), going to Coastal Carolina and hosting Ohio Valley champion Austin Peay in the weekend before Big 10 play. A return mid-week trip to Stillwater to play two games vs. Oklahoma State in early May is interesting as well.

.

.

- PENN STATE (32-22, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 104

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Sean Deegan (.333-12-40, 15SBs)

1B Joey DeBernardis (.329, 24doubles)

3B Jordan Steranka (.323-8-57

RHP Steven Hill (6-5, 2.57, 4CGs)

RHP John Walter (6-4, 3.19, .234OBA)

RHP Ryan Ignas (2-3, 3.04, 5svs)

.

The Good News:

A 32-win season and a .500 mark in Big 10 play in 2011 shows that the Lions are on the cusp of something big in Happy Valley. The pitching staff improved from 2010’s 6.34 ERA to 3.44 last season, which was the tops in the Big 10. Buoying the hopes for even better aspirations in 2012 will be the return of the solid one-two weekend duo of hard-throwing Steven Hill and John Walter, who both started 15 games last season and are both fierce competitors who set a great tone on the hill. Look for part-timers like RHP Dave Walkling (5-0, 1.71, .176OBA) and LHP Geoff Boylston (2-1, 1.99, .213OBA), who threw for 21 and 22 innings respectively last season, to have big seasons this time around. Closers like Ryan Ignas (16apps, .223OBA) and LHP Greg Welsh (2-3, 4.42, 2svs) will help slam some doors closed. Keep an eye on T.J. Jann, a highly-lauded pitcher who was injured in the first week of the season last year and was shut down. If he lives up to potential, the Lions have yet another real arm to roar about. The top three hitters in the order return in the forms of Sean Deegan, Joey DeBernardis and Jordan Steranka, who are all multi-base machines at the dish. The middle infield combo of 2B Luis Montesinos (.246) and SS Elliot Searer (.214) should go a long way in improving the defense. If at all possible, keep the good vibes of the early innings going as the Nittany Lions outscored their opponents by a resounding 41 runs in the first two innings of games last season. Wow.

.

The Bad News:

The Lions saw their encouraging 20-10 start to last season quickly wilt to a 12-12 finish, including an 0-2 Big 10 Tournament. Yick. There are plenty of improvements needed here in (Somewhat) Happy Valley, particularly to that porous defense, which was the second-worst in the Big 10 at .958, committing a conference-high 70 errors. And even with the new bats, the boney-armed .264 team batting average would even be considered a blight by the most scrupulous of critics. Between the offense and the defense, it’s hard to say what must be the biggest turnaround for the 2012 squad. In Big 10 rigors, things were even worse, as they hit just .243 and their opponents hit .281. The Lions must also find a reliable backstop after Bobby Jacobs, a three-year starter at catcher, has moved on.

.

Schedule Note:

Toughest finish in the Big 10.

The 2012 season will be a grind for sure. But perhaps no one has it harder than the Lions do with their final three Big 10 weekends coming against possibly the three best teams, and two of those coming on the road. PSU will wrap up at Minnesota, vs. Illinois and at Michigan State in the May portion of their conference slate. Keep in mind, this comes after pre-conference road trips to UNC Greensboro, Samford, Mississippi State and East Carolina, all of whom won 34 or more games last season. With all the returning players they’ve got, the schedule could be tough for another 30+ win season.

.

.

- PURDUE (37-21, 14-10)

2011 ISR: 93

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

.

All Conference Candidates:

1B Cameron Perkins (.349-8-53, 15SBs)

2B Eric Charles (.351-3-39, 12SBs)

C Kevin Plawecki (.341-2-39)

RHP Nick Wittgren (2-3, 3.18, 12svs, 2nd team All Big 10)

OF Tyler Spillner (.328-4-33, 12SBs)

3B/OF Barrett Serrato (.313-2-42)

OF Stephen Talbot (.301-2-32, 18SBs)

.

The Good News:

37 man. Thirty-freakin-seven. Last year’s win total equalled the school’s high-water mark for a single season. Niiiiiice. But the Boilers are looking for even more in 2012. I had this PU squad picked 8th in the 2011 Big 10 pre-season rankings, just imagine what they can do this year after being selected in the 4-slot going into the season? Nearly every piece of the puzzle is back in the field and batting order with a heavy junior-senior team. The Boilermakers hit .309 last year (and .402OB% as a team) and six of the returnees went .300+. Also, the infield of 1B Cameron Perkins, 2B Eric Charles, SS David Miller (.281, 41BBs, 10SBs) and 3B Barrett Serrato (though he switched between 3B and OF last year) could be as good as there is in the Big 10, sure to improve its .967 defense. And catcher Kevin Plawecki  is solid, committing just 3Es last season and had a big time summer in the Cape Cod League too. RHP Joe Haase (6-5, 3.39) will assume the ace role on the staff and will have RHP Robert Ramer (5-0, 4.91) and Calvin Gunter (5-3, 6.75) behind him. In the ‘pen, Nick Wittgren led the Big 10 in saves in his first year on campus. Look for more from the big righty in 2012, which would be a huge boon to the Boilermaker arms staff. One returner not listed above that will play a big role will be two-way threat Angelo Cianfrocco, who hit .308 in 26 starts, but also began pitching last May and became the first reliever out of the pen by the Big 10 Tournament. And on top of all this, the Boilers are also slated to move into their new home in April of 2012, the Northwest Complex, a state-of-the-art stadium that should raise the profile of the program. Can’t wait to see where this goes.

.

The Bad News:

If there is any room for concern on the personnel side, it’s probably the quandary of who the starters will be on the mound beyond Joe Haase on Fridays. Heart and soul Friday starter Matt Morgan finished his PU career with 16 wins and 218 Ks, but is now in pro ball. Also, big horse RHP Brad Schreiber (4-0, 3.80 in 8starts) had Tommy John surgery and may not be available until April or May. There are lots of candidates of course, but there will need to be solid Saturday and Sunday flingers who can get used to starting duties and go deep into games. Some new arms will need to step up as well, but watch for J.C. transfer RHP Brett Andrzejewski (yes, I just double-checked the spelling there),  who is one of those freaky side-armers with lots of movement. Other than that, there’s not a lot of bad news for this team, though keep an eye on the schedule, which will be tougher, so surpassing last year’s 37 wins is a dicey proposition.

.

Schedule Note:

Now, about that “dicey proposition”

Here’s what I mean with the non-conference schedule. After their three games in the Big 10/Big East Challenge (vs. Cincinnati, UConn and Notre Dame), the Boilers will play in back-to-back tournaments at East Carolina (vs. ECU, Maryland and Western Carolina) and at Auburn (vs. AU, Southern Miss and Charleston Southern). They’ll also make weekend trips to Wichita State (four games, March 15-17) and to UCLA (May 5-6). So obviously, this will be a season of stern tests beyond the Big 10. But I think this team could be up for it too. We’ll see.

It’s been a while since the WCC was in the habit of giving national powers a series of black eyes and getting multiple bids to the post-season. But don’t let that catch you off-guard if it happens again soon. After all, the one thing that hasn’t changed is that these guys still tend to supply the MLB with a whole lot of draftable talent.

.

2011 in a Paragraph:

Ever heard of the indy movie “A Slipping Down Life”? That reminds me of the WCC. I know, I know, shame on me for even suggesting it. I’m a bastard. But it’s true. The conference was a one-bid league for the third straight season and the conference RPI was way down at No. 17. Even though we all know the RPI is a piece of crap (take note of the WCC’s ISR ranking below), still No. 17? Wow. The San Francisco Dons went neck and neck with Gonzaga all season long, before finally beating the Zags in two of three games on the final weekend of the regular season to win the NCAA bid. The Dons even took down UCLA ace Gerrit Cole in game one of the Los Angeles Regional. The southern portion of the West Coast was conspicuously quiet in 2011, with perennial contenders like LMU, USD and Pepperdine finishing way down the rung. In fact, the Lions were the only other team in the conference with a winning record at 30-25. Just a shitty season all the way around… oh crap, I forgot, this is a faith-based conference. Sorry.

But I can’t help it. It makes me angry that these teams are underachieving so badly.

.

Conference ISR: 8

.

HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The West Coast Conference.

1- San Diego

2- St. Mary’s

3- San Francisco

4- Gonzaga

5- BYU

6- Loyola Marymount

7- Pepperdine

8- Portland

9- Santa Clara

.

2012 in a Paragraph:

There will be a lot of new looks to the West Coast Conference in 2012, starting with the addition of BYU to the round robin schedule, a new coach at Santa Clara and a large influx of high-profile talents coming into the conference again. The other “new look” to the conference will be the new faces at the top of the standings. Looks like San Diego is primed to finally put it all together in 2012 and take back its rightful place on the throne. But place a huge asterisk next to that statement ‘coz there are at least seven teams that could come around and were the golden crown into the NCAA tournament field. The Gaels of St. Mary’s also look like they’re going to have their best team in a decade. But again, that’s only if everything falls into place and the injury bug doesn’t bite them. USF has enough coming back (and a gutty coach that gets his kids to believe) to keep the crown near Alcatraz. And to be honest, Gonzaga, BYU LMU and Pepperdine are all fully capable of jumping up and making a title run if everything falls into place as well. So in essence, what I’m saying is, take the above standings with a sizable grain of salt. This 2012 WCC race is pretty wide open.

.

Favorite: San Diego

.

Contenders: Nearly everyone else

.

Darkhorse: BYU

.

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: St. Mary’s at San Diego, April 20-22.

.

Best Non-Conference Series: USD at San Diego Tournament (Kansas State, Oregon State, Pacific)

.

Hot Coach: Nino Giarratano, San Francisco

.

Hot Seat Coach: Steve Rodriguez, Pepperdine

.

The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: LHP, Marco Gonzales, Gonzaga

The “You Gotta See” Player: 3B/1B Kris Bryant, San Diego

.

Three Non-Conference Series WCC Opponents Better Take Seriously:

1- Texas A&M at Pepperdine, March 23-25.

2- San Diego at Vanderbilt, March 9-11.

3- St. Mary’s at the Coca-Cola Classic (Arizona State, Oregon State, St. Louis), Mar.1-4.

.

Three Bold Predictions:

1- Dylan Covey comes around in his sophomore year, beats Vanderbilt in early March and goes on to WCC Pitcher of the Year.

2- Dan O’Brien proves his D2 success was no fluke and stuns everyone with a 30+ win season at SCU. (I’ll be the first to take a bite of that Crow Pie, BTW)

3- In its first year of WCC play BYU finally puts everything together and makes it to the NCAA tournament.

.

.

- BRIGHAM YOUNG (31-27, 11-12)

2011 ISR: 78

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Chris Capper (3-6, 4.91)

OF Jaycob Brugman (.317-9-49, 13SBs)

CF Stephen Wells (.274-3-33)

C Alex Wolfe (.275-11-47)

RHP Desmond Poulson (6-0, 4.15, .231OBA)

.

The Good News:

The Cougars got back on the winning track last year, flipping that 2010 mark of 27-31 and have enough returning for 30+ wins again. The biggest improvement on the team was the overall ERA going from an astronomical 6.89 in 2010 to 3.98 in 2011. Four big-time arms return for 2012 in the the two RHPs above in Chris Capper (14starts) and Desmond Poulson (8starts, 15apps), and also mid-week starter Mark Anderson (4-2, 5.03), a lefty, and reliever Chunner Nyberg (0-1, 3.76, 2sv), a former draft pick of the Angels who has 48 career appearances. The infield will return 1B Austin Hall (.296-2-28, 20SBs), who has been with the BYU program since the fall of 2006 (think about THAT for a second), and also 3B Dillon Robinson (.216-5-22), who flashes bits of power and could be an emerging star for this coming season. The OF will feature Jaycob Brugman, a Collegiate Baseball freshman All American with great speed and actually threw out four baserunners from right field, and Stephen Wells, who possesses 6.6 speed in the 60. BYU always gets its share of Mormon Missionaries back after missing the previous two seasons going abroad to spread the word. This time, two big righties return to the mound in Mark Oslund, who was a Freshman All America in 2009 with a 7-1 record, and Adam Miller, who was 3-3 in 10 starts in that same ‘09 season.

.

The Bad News:

Despite some of the positives, 27 losses in a season is still 27 losses in a season. And now, the Cougars will venture into new territory in the WCC, a league they don’t play against too often to begin with. The pitch staff was second in the Mountain West last season, but will miss a lot of key flingers from that team, including ERA-leaders Matt Neil (who was 6-4, 2.42 in 10starts and 20apps) and Taylor Cole (5-5, 2.99 in 15starts). They’ll also say goodbye to relief aces like Kolton Mahoney and Jared Miller, who combined for 38 appearances and six saves. The defense was still a sticking point, sweeping at a sordid .957 percentage, which was the worst in the conference, something that has never happened in their years in the Mountain West. Getting consistency  was a problem as the Cougars swept only one opponent all last season, vs. Seattle.

.

Schedule Note:

The two best places to watch a baseball game.

The Cougars’ Miller Park and Pepperdine’s Eddy D. Field Stadium are THE two most picturesque places to watch a college baseball game, and now the two are in the same conference. Their showdown will take place in Malibu this year, May 10-12. Oh, but the Cougars have already played four games that count toward their 2012 limit since they played four games in the Dominican Republic in November, helping to gel this team a little bit before the start of the season. The first three weeks of the spring season will be plenty rigorous as BYU will play UC Riverside, St. Mary’s, Arkansas and UC Irvine, all on the road of course.

.

.

- GONZAGA (32-19, 15-6)

2011 ISR: 31

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

.

All Conference Candidates:

LHP/1B Marco Gonzales (11-2, 2.57/.291-5-14)

OF Billy Moon (.337-3-41)

OF Royce Bolinger (.283-3-25)

INF Eric Lane (.314)

.

The Good News:

Great rebound season for the Zags after 2010’s losing ledger, getting 30+ wins, challenging for the conference title and getting within sniffing distance of an at-large bid (though some of their opposing coaches thought they deserved one). The biggest key to their 2012 season will be how well returning starters Marco Gonzales (who some are touting as an All American as one of the best two-way threats in the country) and Tyler Olson, who will need to be even bigger innings-eaters this year. They’ll have a big time talent backing them up in RHP Andy Hunter (2-3, 3.43), who also made 22 starts in the field, hitting .195. Three-fourths of the infield returns from the 2nd-best defense in the WCC, spearheaded by Eric Lane and Steven Halcomb (.211). The outfield will be outstanding with Bollinger and Moon returning to their posts and are both polished talents and are heavy on experience. GU was second in the WCC in hitting at .280, but the good news is that they could improve a lot

.

The Bad News:

Let’s hope there’s no hangover effect from that painful ending to 2011 which saw the homesteading Bulldogs drop two of three to USF, leading to them losing a chance at going to the NCAAs. The Zags don’t lose a lot, but the players they did lose are pretty significant. Catcher Cameron Edman was the teams’ top hitter and also a great backstop. He and OF Tyler Chism were the two biggest power-threats in the lineup and both have moved on. Pitchers Ryan Carpenter (team-high 107Ks) and All American reliever Cody Martin (12svs) were leaned on big time the last few years. Aaron Brooks and Mark Phillips also leave their posts in the bullpen, leaving big holes in the later innings for this year. The Dogs will need highly touted pitching prospects like RHP Kevin Moriarty, a draftee of the Rangers last summer, and RHP Sean-Luke Brija, who coach Machtolf believes could be a starter or key reliever immediately.

.

Schedule Note:

Painful shades of red.

The Bulldogs will certainly give themselves plenty of challenges in pre-WCC play and hopefully won’t come back red-faced from them. They’ll take on red-laden teams like Nebraska (3games), Lamar (2), Louisiana (1), New Mexico (3) and at Arkansas (2). The Zags will also host Pacific and Hawaii on pre-WCC weekends and later in the season, they’ll also host national powers Oregon (2) and Arizona State (3). So needless to say, the strength of schedule factor won’t be a problem for this team.

.

.

- LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (30-25, 11-10)

2011 ISR: 55

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Matt Lowenstein (.349, 10SBs)

LHP Ryan Hawthorne (0-3, 2.31, 10svs)

3B Alex Guthrie (.240-3-30)

.

The Good News:

Year three of the Jason Gill regime saw huge strides, including reaching the 30-win plateau and pulling wins over teams like UC Riverside, Hawaii, UC Irvine, Long Beach State and then swept San Diego to end the season. The arms corps made an immediate about-face for the Lions as the team ERA went from 7.21 in 2010 down to 3.25 last season. Astounding stuff, man. They’ll have the junior-senior combo of Aaron Griffith (7-3, 2.99, .260OBA) and John Lally (2-4, 3.83) who combined for 19 starts last year. They’ll have Ryan Hawthorne to back them, who was drafted in the 32nd round by the Mariners in June and also held opposing batters to .190 last season, and will team with fellow lefty Matt Florer (3-1, 2.41 in 26apps). Defensively, the Leos had a pretty stout unit, fielding at .969 and will have three-fourths of the infield back in Alex Guthrie, SS Shon Roe (.279, 10SBs) and 1B Bret Dahlson (.246). C Colton Plaia was only able to play in 17 games last season, hitting .313, but he hit .295 as a frosh in 2010, so if he can play a full season it’ll be bully for the Lions.

.

The Bad News:

Despite the spike up in wins last season, there was a lot of attrition to the Lion roster in the off-season. The pitching staff will need some newbies to amp up their game after losing 320 of the 490 innings thrown last year. Also, and this is pretty significant, the coaching staff lost pitching guru Ted Silva, who took the gig in Nebraska over the summer. OF Matt Lowenstein is a standout fielder and hitter, but is also the only bat to return to the order who hit better than .280 last year. And I hate to put an oversized umbrella on this, but the Lions have had a problem keeping themselves consistently in the win column from year to year. Are we due for a downslide?

.

Schedule Note:

Road weary ending.

The Lions will be away from Page Stadium for most of the end of the season as they’ll play at Gonzaga, at San Diego, vs. Pepperdine and at Santa Clara in WCC play from April 27th onward. In all, 13 of their final 17 games will be away from home. An interesting early test will be when LMU takes to playing at Texas in the second weekend of March. Tough as it will be, we will certainly see where this team is by that time.

.

.

- PEPPERDINE (22-34, 7-14)

2011 ISR: 144

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 6

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Jon Moscot (2-2, 4.27, 1sv)

LHP Matt Maurer (3-6, 4.63)

.

The Good News:

History has shown that when the Waves are crashing, that low tide doesn’t last long. So don’t look for Pepperdine to lay low and finish in 2nd-to-last place in the WCC again this season, especially with all the experience they’ve got coming back to the diamond. The Waves have all the ingredients to have another wicked-stellar defense and a chance at another stoic arms crew. If we go around the horn, we can see 1B (and part-time DH) Sam Meyer (.289), 2B Joe Sever (.280-6-32), SS Zach Vincej (.194) and 3B Miles Silverstein (.238-3-20) all returning to the posts and should improve that un-P’dine-like .968 defense (yes, the Waves are usually in the .970s+ range). It was great to see that PU also had 71 double-plays in 2011, just like old times there. RHP Jon Moscot and LHP Matt Maurer return for weekend duty and will have 10-game starter Alex Najera (1-4, 4.79) to step up and join them. But look for a lot of young arms to grow up as well, since RHP Scott Frazier (2-1, 1.00), RHP Eric Karch (4-4, 3.38) and RHP Michael Swanner (0-0, 3.95) all pitched rock-solid well in the freshmen seasons. But the best news of all for 2012 is the heavy influx of new talent that comes ashore, ranked as high as No. 16 in the country by Baseball America. Two-way talent Aaron Brown (17th round pick of the Pirates… but was projected to be a top-5 rounder) could be as close as it gets to a sure-fire future All American. Also, INF Austin Davidson (21st round, Red Sox) is a sweet-sweeping glove for the years to come, OF Matt Gelalich is a big time gap-hitter and brother of UCLA’s Jeff, and another two-way threat to watch comes to Malibu in Mat Snider.

.

The Bad News:

Okay Waves, knock it off! The 2011 season marked the second straight campaign that finished with a win total in the 20s and a loss total in the 30s. Ayyyyye! They’ll have to make their way without longtime mainstays like OF Brian Humphries and catcher Trent Diedrich in the field and at the dish and also staff ace Aaron Gates and saves leader Ricky Villarreal. Those are some valuable talents that were key members of the past few years. The stat sheet doesn’t lie, and it shows that the Waves were dead last in hitting (.248 as a team), 5th in pitching (4.11 team ERA) and most shocking of all, 2nd-to-last in defense (.968). Even with nine of the 11 pitchers Pepperdine used last season coming back, they must keep in mind that the stunning total of 270 walks last season (the most in the WCC) must be brought down. Otherwise, we might be talking about “the downward ride the Waves are on” again in this space in 2013.

.

Schedule Note:

Welcome to our beautiful shores.

Once again, Pepperdine is going to do a real good job of bringing a bunch of new people into their cozy little seaside baseball complex and show them the best place in the country to watch a college baseball game. They’ll open with Oklahoma for three games, then also bring in teams like Virginia Commonwealth, Rhode Island, Columbia, Kent State and Texas A&M. You fans of those teams will find out how great it is. In the WCC portion of the slate, the Waves will also stay at home for three of the last four weekends of the season, hosting San Francisco, BYU and San Diego in the month of May.

.

.

- PORTLAND (24-30, 11-10)

2011 ISR: 141

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Turner Gill (.332-3-33)

RHP Chris Johnson (3-5, 3.56, .256OBA)

RHP Kyle Kraus (6-5, 4.12, 2CGs)

RHP Owen Jones (5-6, 4.60)

.

The Good News:

There’s certainly a lot to look forward to for the Pilots with a lot of exuberant youth and a whiz-bang recruiting class. I’ll get to that in a minute. The best news is the entire rotation of Chris Johnson, Kyle Kraus and Owen Jones returns to the bump, and let’s face it, if the offense can’t score five or six runs and get these guys a win, it’s not the starting pitching’s fault. These guys are all capable of putting their team into winning situations. The Pilots had an outstanding defense behind the mound corps, fielding at a .975 pace and will have some key performers back, especially in SS Kris Kauppila, a long-time mainstay who committed just five errors in 34 starts last season. There will also a lot of experience in outfielders Turner Gill, Kramer Scott (.299) and Kevin Armijo (.294-3-26), who were also the top three hitters coming back for this season. The biggest news of the off-season was the star-shined recruiting class coach Chris Sperry and his crew brought in. Make no mistake, 15th round draftee (of the Pirates) RHP Kody Watts is a can’t-miss kid who can bring it in the mid-90s. Also look for quality talents like LHP Travis Radke (45th round, Reds) and SS Caleb Whalen (42nd round, Brewers) to become big time in a fast fashion.

.

The Bad News:

The Pilots had a whole mess of experience coming into last season, and even opened the campaign with a sweep at Middle Tennessee, a win over Oregon and a series win at Seattle. Problem was, the Purple Crew went downhill from there. And fast. At one point the Pilots lost 11 straight road games, souring their season. This year’s team won’t have quite as much experience going in as the infield will certainly miss the services of 2B Riley Hendricks and 3B Matt Mardesich. Although the entire weekend rotation returns intact, the bullpen lost All American reliever Chris Dennis (10svs, 28apps), along with set-up man Brent Miller (4-3, 27apps). The best ERA of all the returning relievers was just 6.88, so those new arms will have to live up to billing and contribute right away.

.

Schedule Note:

We’ll find out if they’re road tough.

As pointed out above, UP had some troubles away from home last season, so be sure to keep an eye on how they react when out of their comfort zone. The WCC schedule won’t do them a lot of favors as they’ll have back-to-back trips down to the LA area to play Pepperdine and LMU in mid-April and they’ll also close the season with a tough road trip to Spokane to play WCC contender Gonzaga. Toughen up boys.

.

.

- ST. MARY’s (27-28, 9-12)

2011 ISR: 106

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Martin Agosta (7-6, 2.81, .245OBA)

RHP Kyle Barraclough (6-5, 3.60, .243OBA)

RHP Mark Anderson (8-6, 3.50, 5CGs, .230OBA)

OF Brenden Kalfus (.292-3-25)

3B Patrick Wisdom (.351-8-46)

C Toby DeMello (.282)

1B Troy Channing (.264-8-27)

.

The Good News:

Last year’s team was experienced going into the season, but this year’s team is even more experienced. Very junior-senior heavy, the returning fielders should improve the .970 defense as four-year guys like Troy Channing at first, Chris Murphy (.225) at second and Toby DeMello (.282) at catcher will be leaned upon. Channing will team with fellow power-bat Patrick Wisdom to give the offense some umph. Wisdom has been rated as the 2nd-best 3rd basemen for this year’s upcoming draft by the MLB Draft Guide. The entire weekend starting rotation comes back with All-WCC candidates Martin Agosta, Mark Anderson and Kyle Barraclough are inning-eaters who hold opposing batters to a combined .237 average. Nice. In fact, all 56 of last year’s starting assignments on the hill from last year come back to this year’s team. Top reliever Patrick Keane (3-0, 2.64, 4svs, .219OBA) leads the bullpen, but needs more steady arms around him. The MLB draft was kind to the Gaels this past summer as Kyle Barraclough returned despite getting picked by Twins in the 40th round and incoming frosh RHP Tanner Kichler (45th round, Cubs) and SS Bryce Greager (37th round, Rangers) both turned down riding rickety busses in the minors for life in Moraga.

.

The Bad News:

This was a team that just didn’t live up to expectations last season, despite coming into the 2011 season with lots of experience. But after a month of the season, the Gaels found themselves at 5-11. A better start is a must, or this team could find itself near the bottom of the WCC again. While the pitching staff held up its end of the bargain (team ERA of 3.77), the offense was pretty dreadful, never adjusting really well to the new bats and going from .289 in 2010 to just .266 last year. Potentially dangerous Troy Channing needs to shake last year’s off-season. If you recall, he was up for the Dick Howser national Player of the Year trophy as a freshman in 2009, but has seen his offensive numbers dip from .379 to .310 to last year’s .264. Eat some carrots guys, ‘coz those 400 strikeouts at the dish was pretty ugly.

.

Schedule Note:

Get used to dealing with White Line Fever

From April 10th to the end of the season, St. Mary’s will have to get used to sleeping in strange beds as they’ll play 17 of their final 24 games on the road, including trips to down to San Diego, a cross-bay trek to Santa Clara and a flight up to Portland. And during that stretch the home schedule will be no picnic at all as they’ll host WCC contenders Gonzaga and the rivalry weekend vs. USF to close the regular season out. A big early test will be when the Gaels to go the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, Arizona to take on Arizona State and Oregon State.

.

.

- SAN DIEGO (22-31, 11-10)

2011 ISR: 123

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 3

.

All Conference Candidates:

3B/1B Kris Bryant (.365-9-36, 18SBs)

OF Corey LeVier (.363)

UTL Bryan Haar (.330-2-29, 15SBs)

RHP Calvin Drummond (3-4, 3.29, .260OBA)

RHP Paul Sewald (2-4, 3.63, 2svs, .260OBA)

LHP Jordan Pazos (3-5, 3.40, 3svs)

.

The Good News:

USD always seems to have a lot to look forward as the season approaches, and this is certainly one of those seasons. To begin with, the Toreros had the top two hitters in the WCC last season, led by Kris Bryant’s .365, followed by Corey LeVier’s .363. Bryant is a returning Freshman All American who had no adjustment time to D1 baseball last year and is certainly a special talent. He’s part of an infield that returns a lot of experience at all four positions with LeVier splitting time at 1B with Bryan Haar, Dillon Checkal (.316) making most of his 41 starts at 2nd base and Julian Duran (.234) at short. But this wouldn’t be a San Diego write-up without mentioning the pitching. Unless he’s arguing a bad call, coach Rich Hill is always smiling. This year he’ll be beaming with Calvin Drummond returning, despite getting drafted by the Nationals in the 34th round last June, giving USD a real horse on the weekends. Former 1st round draftee Dylan Covey (1-3, 7.60) had some expected struggles as a freshman, but coach Hill says he’s got his Diabetes in check and is much more acclimated this season, so look for a breakout year from this wildly talented hurler. Also, mid-weekers/relievers Jordan Pazos and Paul Sewald should have even steadier seasons as they’ll be a pair of experienced junior-senior arms. Speaking of steadying influences, coach Hill says there’s a chance that sophomore-to-be RHP Michael Wagner, a mid-90s flinger who was a Red Sox draftee out of high school, could become the Friday starter this season after making 15 appearances last season. The incoming class of recruits could be particularly special with athletic catcher Dillon Haupt, a JC transfer from Mesa College, expected to be behind the dish for opening day. Also look for a high-octane two-way talent to make in impact in LHP/1B Max Homick and power-throwing RHP Ryan Keller, both of whom turned down programs like Arizona State, USC, UCLA and UC Irvine to be Toreros. Also, the $13million stadium project is finally starting to become a reality in the natural bowl that Cunningham Stadium sits in, so this program will be getting a significant shot in the arm facilities-wise.

.

The Bad News:

Just like rival Pepperdine above, it was weird to see the Toreros finish the 2011 season with a win total in the 20s, which was the second time in three years that we saw that from USD. So cut it out, guys! The Blue Boys will have to go on without the aforementioned Kometani, who led the team with 77 hits and 54RBI. RHP Chris Jensen was a 6th round draft pick, so he’s in the pros now and diminutive fighter Paul Paez, who led the team with seven wins, was given the boot off the team just after coming back from Christmas break. It was almost bizarre to see the Toreros stuck way down at 6th in the conference in pitching last season, sporting a team ERA of 4.32 and also having the 2nd-highest walk total (232BBs) and 2nd-highest plunk total (72HBPs). Yuck. And shockingly, it was the defense which was the biggest detriment, fielding at a WCC-worst .967. Yuck, part II. As usual, the Toreros need to avoid the injury bug that seems to hit them at epidemic-like levels every other year or so. I know, a lot of you out there probably think I shouldn’t mention things like that, but it’s okay because I don’t believe in jinxes.

.

Schedule Note:

The usual type of suspects.

It’s no big shock to see the Toreros bite off a huge chunk of wicked-tough non-conference games… it’s just what they do, ya’ know. They’ll start the season way out in southeast Texas, taking on Southland Conference favorite Sam Houston State, for a great matchup of mid-majors. USD will also play Kansas State, Oregon State, Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge in back-to-back tournaments at home the following two weekends. But it’s weekend No. 4 that will be the real litmus test for this team as coach Hill will take his charges to Nashville to play at Vanderbilt in a three-game set. The WCC slate has USD going on the road for three of the final four weekends with trips to Portland, BYU and the season ender at Pepperdine on tap.

.

.

- SAN FRANCISCO (32-25, 16-5)

2011 ISR: 48

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

.

All Conference Candidates:

RHP Kyle Zimmer (6-4, 3.73)

LHP Elliott Waterman (6-2, 3.19, .243OBA)

LHP Jordan Remer (3-2, 3.67, 4svs, .174OBA)

.

The Good News:

How about that 2011 season for the Dons? Winning the WCC title and making its first visit back to the Big Dance since 2006, proving once again that you can never count out Nino Giarratano, who seems to pull surprising seasons out of thin air when you least expect it. it’s little wonder he was rewarded with a six-year contract extension in the fall. The defense was the top unit in the country, fielding at an impeccable .985 pace and will have 1B Nik Balog (.274-4-34), 2B Jason Mahood (.237-3-19) and a pair of shortstops that split time at the position in Adam Clear (.325, 31starts) and Artiz Garcia (.318 in 32starts). But it’s the pitching staff that should still have some punch back n the rotation, with weekend starter Kyle Zimmer back as the staff leaning post. He could be joined in the rotation by southpaws Jordan Remer (who returns to the Dons despite getting drafted by the Rangers in the 25th round last summer) and Elliott Waterman, who combined for 46 appearances out of the ‘pen this season. Bullpen righties Cameron Love (1-1, 2.60, .201OBA in 21apps) and Alex Balog (2-2, 6.23, 17apps) also were well-used last year and could be primed for bigger roles in 2012. The fresh faces on the roster should make a lot of immediate inroads, especially wildly-talented OF Bradley Zimmer, who is 6′5, 200lbs and was a 23rd round draft pick of the Cubs last summer. Also look for Canadian import Brendan Hendricks (40th round pick, Phillies)

.

The Bad News:

Coach Giarratano isn’t afraid of rolling up his sleeves and doing some rebuilding work. Hell, the dude gave up a kidney for his father, you think filling a few holes in the lineup is gonna scare him? Pfft, no. But it won’t be easy to replace stud arms like the two Matts, Heiserman and Lujan. Those two weekend starters were instrumental in the big run heading into post-season play last season. A pair of really solid ace relievers hit the trail with them in Garrett Luippold and Jonathan Abramson, who had 46 appearances last season. They’ll also move on without the do-it-all nature of CF Pete Lavin, who led the team in hitting, doubles, triples, walks and stolen bases last season. He was a great lead-by-example guy. The offense in general has big strides to make after hitting just .273 as a team last season. So look for needed improvement from bottom of the order guys like Jason Mahood, OF Tom Barry (.240) and OF Ted LeMasters (.245).

.

Schedule Note:

Going coastal.

The Dons won’t spend much time outside of spitting distance from the Pacific Ocean, having roadies to nearby San Jose State, at Cal, at San Diego State, at Hawaii, at Portland, at Oregon, at LMU, at Fresno State, at Pepperdine, at Stanford and at St. Mary’s. You get the picture. USF won’t spend anytime outside their time zone, other than the Hawaii trek of course. They’ll play 25 home games at Bendetti Field and will also have their March 31st game vs. San Diego will be played at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

.

.

- SANTA CLARA (17-34, 4-17)

2011 ISR: 188

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 0

.

All Conference Candidates:

OF Lucas Herbst (.289)

3B/2B Kyle DeMerritt (.280)

.

The Good News:

Well it was time for some new blood, new enthusiasm for the Bronco program and that’s what they got in the off-season in new head honcho Dan O’Brien, who built a national power at D-2 UC-San Diego the last few years and twice won the national coach of the year. He’ll have seven returning regulars to work with this season, including infielders Kyle DeMerritt and Justin Viele (.237), who both played multiple positions last season and should help the defense stay strong (.970 last season. But also look for a big contribution from the return of SS/2B Evan Peters, who had to sit out the 2011 season with an injury. The outfield could be a strength with the another returnee who sat out last year in 6′4, 215 Pat Stover. The other good news I wanted to point out was that last June’s Super Regional between Cal and Dallas Baptist was my first chance of catching a game at Schott Stadium… and I gotta say, I really dig that place. Nice joint. It’s time for SCU to pull some Ws and make it a showplace for their program, not others.

.

The Bad News:

Well after years of optimism, wait-til-next-year’s and hopes-for-the-best, it turns out that the Broncos hit rock bottom in 2011, finishing in last place in the WCC at 4-17. From the three losses at national champion South Carolina to open the season to the 3-17 finish, the 2011 campaign was a frustrating one to say the least. So it wasn’t a complete shock to see head coach Mark O’Brien was given his walking papers. The worse news is that there is very little experience coming back in the arms staff, which is a dicey proposition, especially for an all-new coaching staff. Lots and lots of new blood will have to hit the ground running for the Broncos this spring, so look for some more rough patches. Even though there are seven returning batters to the order, keep in mind this was a team that hit just .263 last year and had very little multi-base pop. Things will get better for SCU, but it might be a while before we get to that point.

.

Schedule Note:

Sleeping in their own beds.

One of the positive aspects to this year’s team will be their ability to stay at home for most of the early part of the season. After opening the year in San Marcos, TX (against Texas State, Wichita State and Louisiana), SCU will play 17 of their next 21 games at home with the lone roadies being at San Jose State and a three-game weekend down in San Diego against the Toreros. So staying at home and not getting road-weary will help keep the team fresh through the early points of the season.