Quotes & Notes: 2009 Opponents

■ Nevada Wolfpack: Inexperience is the buzzword for Pack

The pitchers who made up more than half of the Nevada baseball team's innings pitched from 2008 as well as more than half of the team's starts are no longer on the team.

So it's not difficult to see what will make or break the Wolf Pack's 2009 season.

"(The rotation) is a work in progress," 27th-year coach Gary Powers said Monday after the team's first practice of the season at Peccole Park. "The one question mark on the team is the lack of experience of our pitching staff."

■ Arizona State Sun Devils: Australian will play key role for ASU

Australian Josh Spence is part of what Murphy believes could be his best starting pitching staff in 15 seasons at Arizona State. The 6-foot-1 left-hander will fill the role held in recent seasons by Josh Satow, pitching between righties Mike Leake and Seth Blair in ASU's rotation.

"He reminds you of Josh," Murphy said. "He's got a little better slider and maybe not as good a change-up. He's going to beat you. He's a pretty special kid. He's an
exceptional human being.

"I'm really confident he'll do well. His problem will be trying too hard, and trying to be better than he was. He doesn't need to be much better than he was."

■ Northern Illinois Huskies: Talking baseball

NI Coach Ed Mathey: "It's going to be an interesting year. We lost a lot of innings on the mound. As we get some new guys acclimated to being on the mound, being out there and the highs and lows of it, it's going to be a growing process. Posiontally, I think we've got a chance to have a really good ballclub. We've got some versatility. We can do a lot of different things with our lineups. I think we have to play a matchup with pitcher, a stadium or weather conditions, we can do that. I think that's going to be our foundation early and hopefully some of our pitchers develop into what we think they can be.

"We've got speed. We've got depth. We can play a more powerful lineup. From that standpoint, it's going to be intriguing. I just hope I don't get to the point where I'm tweaking things too much."

■ Western Illinois Leathernecks: 'Necks dealt three of a kind to start season

Last season, the 'Necks took down the two highest-ranked opponents they played, Long Beach State and Missouri, and managed to put runs on the board against every ranked team in their schedule. The biggest problem wasn't the ability to score in the big games, but an inability to hold down their opponent's talented offenses.

This season, the Leathernecks may have improved offensively with their core of starters in their lineup but have question marks in the pitching staff, only returning three pitchers.

"It's the biggest turn over we've had in a pitching staff," Hyman said. "It is a young group and me and coach Radz will handle them very carefully. I think it's a very talented group, and the only reason everyone is questioning it is because they don't have D-1 experience."

■ Ball State Cardinals: Cards begin practice

Ball State has been joined in winter practices by Perci Garner, who was the third-string quarterback the past two years. Garner pitched in high school, but has not played since then.

"He's kind of had a backup role in football, Perci wanted a chance to come out and play," Beals said. "We took him slow to make sure his arm's in shape. He has a future playing baseball."

As Garner tries to work into a pitching role for the Cardinals, Beals said the other big question in the lineup is where infielder/pitcher Kolbrin Vitek will play when he's not
on the mound.

"He can hit and he can pitch," Beals said. "We're finding the way where he best fits our team, knowing he'll be in the everyday batting order and as a starting pitcher."

■ Illinois-Chicago Flames: Baseball picked to win Horizon League in 2009

23 players from last year's 35-win NCAA College Station Regional squad return to the diamond for the Flames in 2009, including Brooks Wallace National Player of the Year Award candidates Brett Schaefer (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice H.S.) and Steve McGuiggan (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley H.S.).

Schaefer (.382/10 HR/61 RBI in 2008) and McGuiggan (.370/5 3B/40 RBI in 2008), the team's leaders in batting average last season, are just two of the returning hitters that will anchor the Flames' offense.

The mound will be manned by returning senior starters Derrick Miramontes (Durham, Calif./Durham H.S./Butte College) and Mike Kool (Davenport, Iowa/Central H.S./Black Hawk College) and senior closer Adam Worthington (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township H.S.).

■ Eastern Illinois Panthers: Panthers picked second in OVC baseball

This marks the highest EIU has been picked in the preseason poll since also being tabbed second in 2003.

Additionally, senior center fielder Brett Nommensen has been named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year. He led the conference with a .518 on-base percentage last season while ranking third with a .402 batting average. In January, he was named a Preseason All-American by the college baseball Web site, Ping!Basball.com.

Sophomore right-hander Josh Mueller, meanwhile, has also been selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team by the league coaches. En route to representing the Panthers on the 2008 OVC All-Freshman Team, he led the EIU pitching staff with six victories and 79 strikeouts, the latter total ranking third on the program’s single-season list.

■ Texas Longhorns: Texas baseball team has much to prove this season

And while many players say there is no pressure to turn the postseason trend around, some seniors are feeling it.

"I thought I would come here and win four national championships," Shinaberry said. "To not even get to Omaha in three years, this is my last shot. I'm ready to go. I think there's a lot of built-up feelings about the past three years in this clubhouse."

The Longhorns will have to do it with a different look, as outfielders Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell, the school's career home run leader, left for the pros. With less power than last season, Texas will focus on manufacturing more runs. They'll also have to play stronger defense after committing 89 errors a year ago.

■ Oklahoma Sooners: 2009 OU Baseball Preview: Pitchers

Jeremy Erben (Righty) started both the season and Big 12 openers for the Sooners last year. In between those two starts he allowed just six runs in seventeen innings of relief pitching. Opposing batters only hit .247 off him in conference play.

Andrew Doyle (Righty) led the team in wins with 9 and was named to the Big 12 All Tournament Team after a complete game performance in OU’s win over Texas A&M. He also led the team in strikeouts with 72.

■ Kansas State Wildcats: Baseball holds first Spring practice

The Cats, who recorded the most conference victories and its highest conference finish (tied for sixth) since 2002, return five pitchers who combined for 21 starts in 2008. The Wildcats will rely heavily on junior A.J. Morris and seniors Lance Hoge and Todd Vogel, while sophomore Thomas Rooke, who tied for fifth in school history with 25 appearances out of the bullpen last year, could be called upon to start some games this year for the Wildcats, but is invaluable as the team’s top middle reliever.

Offensively, K-State returns four of its top five hitters from 2008, including junior infielder Justin Bloxom and senior outfielder Dane Yelovich. Bloxom led K-State in virtually every category last season, including batting average (.288), hits (63), RBI (49), triples (2), total bases (105), total plate appearances (252), at bats (219), games played (58) and games started (57). Yelovich finished with a .286 average and stole 18 bases, which was good for fourth in the Big 12.

■ Kansas Jayhawks: Kansas baseball joins the club

The Kansas baseball team inched its way closer to having facilities comparable to the top teams in the Big 12 Conference with the construction of the McCarthy Family Clubhouse. The clubhouse opened Jan. 14 and is located behind the home team dugout on the first base side of Hoglund Ballpark.

The main features of the $2 million clubhouse include new locker rooms for the home team, a game-day training room, a study area with computers and a printer, a cardio room and a deck that overlooks the field. The players’ lounge, equipped with couches and flat-screen TVs, is already a favorite among the athletes.

■ Texas Tech Red Raiders: Tech baseball begins practice, expects to be more aggressive

Players said Spencer intensified the off-season workouts and fans should expect
to see a more aggressive 2009 squad compared to years passed.

"We're going to have a fast team," senior right handed pitcher AJ Ramos said. "A lot of stolen bases, a lot of bunts. We're not going to be a finesse team with not that much power. Pitching-wise, we're going to have a lot of good pitchers."

■ Nebraska Cornhuskers: Huskers, who figure to need more offense, have four switch-hitters

Coach Mike Anderson said he welcomes the offensive versatility, which figures to make the Huskers formidable for opponents who stress the right-left matchups. But the abundance of offensive options also makes it tempting for Anderson to over-coach.

"Just because it's a good matchup, that doesn't mean it's where we should go," Anderson said. "The key is being a good hitter and being able to fit a role within a lineup. We're going to settle into a lineup that is created by good hitters."

Nebraska loses 72.9 percent of its innings on the mound and 28 pitching victories from a team that finished 41-16-1 a year ago and lost at home in NCAA regional play.

As a result, Anderson said, the Huskers must be more offensive than they were in 2008. NU often produced in the clutch to average 6.4 runs per game last year but hit .276, its lowest mark since 1989.

■ Missouri State Bears: Missouri State picked to win Valley

Missouri State returns a solid pitching rotation led by right handed junior Tim Clubb. Clubb was preseason all-Valley along with first baseman Ben Carlson and third baseman Brayden Drake. Clubb was last year's pitcher of the year and spurned the big league's to return to Springfield.

Tim Clubb/Preseason All-Valley: "I think that's what a lot of college athletes who face the decision of going pro ultimately decide on, to win something special for the school and the team, it's what I want to do, and I wanted to come here and win a championship and this is what I think we can do this year."

■ Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners: Young 'Runners open baseball practice

CSUB's squad includes 13 freshmen, 11 junior college transfers and one four-year college transfer.

The season is approaching quickly. The first game in the history of the Roadrunner program will be Friday, Feb. 20, at home vs. St. Louis University. CSUB's first eight games will be played on its new field, located on the west side of campus.
. . .

The focus this first season is player development. Kernen calls that more important than wins and losses.

"We're going to get some lessons along the way," he said. "We're going to get our hat
handed to us a few times. "But my deal on that: Let's see what it's like. Let's let these guys look and say, 'This is the deal. This is the big time.'

"We're going to Nebraska where there will be 6,000 people there. This is it. What happens is: They raise the level of their game if you give them those experiences ... I want them in the deep end of the pool. As long as they don't drown, we'll let them thrash around a little bit. Then they'll be used to being around UCLA, Nebraska."