Boston College 14, MU 6

■ MU finishes the Auburn Classic 2-1, losing their Sunday game to Boston College.

■ Next up: MU at the Houston College Classic

■ Instant Analysis: Missouri at Auburn (SEBaseball.com)

I liked Missouri's offense, especially at the top. The top five batters combined for 13 of the team's 14 hits. Not sure about the pitching staff.

MU 11, Auburn 7

■ Today: MU vs. Boston College, 11 AM

■ Missouri baseball team wins fourth game in a row (Columbia Missourian)

Saturdays are becoming a good day for the offense of the Missouri Tigers baseball team.

One week after putting up 17 runs, the Missouri Tigers (4-1) scored 11 runs on 14 hits in an 11-7 victory over the Auburn Tigers on Saturday afternoon in their second game of the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala. The win was Missouri’s fourth in a row after losing its season opener.

■ Bats heating up (FAU Owl Access)

A day after FAU batters failed in crucial situations in a loss to Mizzou, the Owls came up with big hits in a 13-2 victory vs. Boston College in Auburn, Ala. On Saturday.

FAU pounded out 11 hits and got a second strong seven-inning performance from Mike Gipson to bounce back from Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Tigers.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ Zagone wants to start '10 how he ended '09 (MASNsports.com)

It's been a busy winter for Zagone. He married Stephanie in October, moved to Columbia in Howard County as well and took part in workouts in January at Camden Yards.

Recently he's been throwing at Georgetown Prep with fellow O's Kenny Moreland and Patrick Kantakevich. In early March he'll report to spring training to start the season.

He seems likely to begin in Frederick's rotation, but could advance to Double-A Bowie before the year is out.

■ Video story of Aaron Crow getting his first pitches off the mound in Spring Trainining for the Royals (KansasCity.com)

MU 4, FAU 2

■ Freshman Eric Anderson had an impressive debut on the mound: 5 scoreless innings, 4 hits, 2 HBP, 5 strikeouts.

■ Talented freshman outfielders earning their playing time for MU Baseball (Columbia Missourian)

“The coaches made that clear that there would be a lot of opportunities to get to play,” Brown said. “If we produce, the freshmen would get their chances definitely, could end up with starting roles and things like that.”

■ Tigers quickly learn patience (TigerExtra.com)

“Watching the freshmen handle themselves, they looked like they were actually veterans on the team,” junior transfer Brett Nicholas said. “It was really encouraging. They really, for the most part, led our team this weekend. … Each of them had a great weekend.”

Game Day: Auburn Classic

■ Complete Auburn Classic schedule

2 PM Friday: Missouri vs. Florida Atlantic

6 PM Friday: Auburn vs. Boston College
11 AM Saturday: Boston College vs. Florida Atlantic

3 PM Saturday: Missouri vs. Auburn

11 AM Sunday: Missouri vs. Boston College

3 PM Sunday: Auburn vs. Florida Atlantic.

■ Weekend weather in Auburn, AL: Highs in the mid-50s, Lows around 30; Clear skies

■ Check out the Florida Atlantic University Baseball Insider video. The interviewer needs to lay off the Red Bull . . . or maybe he's a life-size bobble-head doll.

■ FAU Owl Access (a fowl pun) is a site devoted to Florida Atlantic sports. They've got a player feature and several articles in their Baseball Archive.

■ You might want to keep an eye on a weekend series on the west coast, between Cal State-Fullerton and Texas Christian University, one of Mizzou's opponents in the the Houston College Classic next weekend. Baseball America has a preview of that series, along with a few quotes and notes about the poor opening weekend for Texas, another of the Tigers' opponents next weekend.

As for that other newcomer you might have heard about—freshman lefthander Matt Purke, an unsigned first-round pick who turned down seven figures to enroll at TCU—the early returns were good. Purke got the start Saturday and got the victory, striking out eight and walking one over five innings, though he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits. After allowing three runs in the first two innings (all with two outs), Purke settled into a groove.

Auburn Classic Quotes & Notes, Part 2

■ The College Baseball Blog had an interview back in January with Mik Aoki, Head Coach of Boston College

3. Boston College and Texas played in the longest game in NCAA baseball history during the Austin Regional in 2009. Do you think the national attention that the game received has had a positive impact on the BC program?

I definitely think it has brought us increased exposure – no doubt about it. It has provided us with a tremendous opportunity to keep the momentum rolling from last year and establish ourselves as a program with a consistent high level of play – perennial ACC and NCAA tournament berths. I also know that while all of our kids were proud to have played in a historic game against a storied program, none of our kids took some sort of moral victory from it. We all feel we could have won that game and had we done that, we all feel we would have won that regional. I really feel that game will make us a better program – a hungrier and more confident program.

■ AUTigers.com has a preview of the Auburn Classic

Boston College hit .315 as a team against the Tulane Green Wave [last weekend] with Matt Watson’s .500 average leading the way. Robbie Anston and Anthony Melchionda are both over .400 early in 2010 with Melchionda adding a home run and seven RBI. On the mound the Eagles will throw junior left-hander Pat Dean in the opener against Auburn. He’s 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA after allowing just two runs on six hits in seven innings in the season opener.

■ Pawlowski confident in 2010 (Plainsman.com)

As he kicks off his second season as head coach of the Auburn baseball program, John Pawlowski said he has a solid team and looks forward to the days ahead. Although there are challenges, Pawlowski said he is confident in the leadership and abilities of his many players, many of whom are upperclassmen, and his coaching staff. “I feel good about the leadership on our team,” Pawlowski said. “We’ve got some guys who have been in the program three or four years, and so I think that’s going to be an important part of what we’re doing this year.”

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors & Majors

■ Crow enjoying big league camp experience (kansascity.com)

“He looked good,” manager Trey Hillman said Wednesday after Crow’s 30-pitch workout. “I’d like to see a little better command, but it’s really early. He’s got good stuff. This was my first opportunity to see him face hitters.”

■ Tigers hope Scherzer is a winner in No. 3 pitching spot (MLive.com)

"I just know that Tony La Russa thinks he's an All-Star," Leyland said. "Tony and (St. Louis pitching coach) Dave Duncan and Torre have seen him a lot, and they gave him rave reviews."

Mizzou Baseball Recruits

■ Ian Ekery, LHP from Franklin High School, was ranked # 1 in the El Paso Times Pre-Season poll of the top 25 players to watch in El Paso. El Paso is a city in West Texas with a population of over 800,000. The poll contains players from 5A and 4A. Ian attends Franklin High School which is the largest 5A school in the city with over 3,200 students. When Ian is not on the mound he plays right field and bats third.

Chasing RPI points

■ Thanks to Kendall at CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com for linking to a great article at SEBaseball.com by Mark Etheridge, Weighing Temptation, about the complications and difficulties of trying to schedule for increased Schedule Strength and higher RPI rankings, as well as the reason why some mid-major schools are tempted to save their ace pitcher for a mid-week game against a higher-ranked school.

"I think we would see how conference goes, and if we are in good shape there you could see him go back to mid-week and chase some RPI points."

Speaking of RPI points, perhaps no one knows more about the RPI and its ramifications than Paul Kislanko, our own statistical expert. Putting the impact those wins may have on human perception aside for a minute, how much effect would success in those high-profile mid-week games have on their resume?

"If a team has a win against opponent B and loss against opponent A, their RPI will be the same as if they beat A and lost to B, because the the winning percentage and SOS are the same in either case," said Kislanko. "But if the W is against a higher-ranked team, there's one more favorable item on the team's resume."

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Mizzou's Mike Liberto did NOT receive the Big 12 Player of the Week award, edged out by Bodie Greene of Texas A&M and his .727 average.

■ According to a survey of Big 12 coaches by CollegeBaseballInsider.com, Aaron Senne is the Most Underrated Hitter in the conference

Auburn Invitational Quotes & Notes

■ I participated in a Q&A exchange with the manager of PlainsmanParkingLot, an Auburn Baseball blog. You can see my answers to his questions at that site sometime this week. Here are his answers to pretty much the same questions:

1. What should Mizzou fans know about Auburn baseball?

Auburn takes its baseball pretty seriously. It will be pretty obvious for fans coming down to Plainsman Park this weekend. We've built that stadium into one of the tops in the nation. A little backstory on the Park. It takes its design from three of the most famous Major League Parks: Fenway (Green Monster) Camden Yards (The Green Chairbacks) and Wrigley Field (Brick Backstop). One of the biggest gripes is that we've missed out on the SEC baseball tournament for the past 6 years; so we've got the gorgeous stadium with an inferior product. If you're one of the bottom 4 teams in your league then changes have to be made, and they were. Coach John Palowski is in his second season, and you can already see progress. We've gone from a masher and whiffer team last year, to a more small ball oriented team. Our biggest weakness is our pitching. We had one of the worst ERAs in the SEC last year (probably the nation too) and we've tried to improve our arms with some JUCO guys like Cole Nelson and Stephen Kohlscheen, who had fantastic debuts last Sunday.

2. Who are some players to look for?

Probably our biggest name is Hunter Morris. Preseason All American at 1B. He's slimmed down by about 20 lbs and it shows on the field. Great pop, great power, and probably playing his last season at Auburn. He turned down the Red Sox coming out of High School (one of the highest drafted Red Sox EVER to turn them down). Creede Simpson is another guy. Probably a pleasant surprise to be honest. Simpson is a hometown guy who's returned after a JUCO stint and in 3 games has morphed into a clutch hitter.

3. Historically, who are some famous players from Auburn?

Funny you should ask that because fans going to the game Saturday will get to meet some of Auburn's biggest baseball Alumni. Auburn will be unveiling their inagural Wall of Fame and the four players honored (Tim Hudson, Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson, and Gregg Olson) will all be on hand to participate in the ceremony prior to the Mizzou/AU game (http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/021610aac.html). Some other MLB guys are Gabe Gross, Mark Bellhorn, and Chris Bootcheck.

4. What's the outlook for the team this year?

Going in we had high expectations. A ton of returning starters, a full year under Palowski, and an added confidence and do or die attitude. Now, after some injuries, and a season opening loss to SEMO, we're kind of tempering those expectations a bit.

5. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses for this team?

Offensively we should still be fine. We still managed to average 8 runs a game this past weekend, despite only hitting 2 HRs. Our pitching staff is the biggest question mark. Sunday was good, but our starts Friday and Saturday left a lot to be desired

6. What will qualify as a successful season for Auburn?

We have to make it to the SEC this year. Anything less will be considered a disappointment. It doesn't seem like much of the writers and coaches are giving us a chance though. That's the most pressing issue. We make the SEC then we'll make an NCAA Regional. Simple as that. Considering that the majority of our team next year will be drafted or graduating, it's almost now or never.

7. You've had some injuries to key playres just before the season. How will this impact the team?

The injuries are already being felt because we don't have an stability at SS and CF right now. Creede Simpson has been doing a good job in CF in place of Trent Mummey, but he doesn't have the jump that Mummey has. Justin Bryant has been filling in for Casey McElroy at SS. He made huge strides from Saturday to Sunday so that's a huge positive. Another huge positive will be the possibility of Casey McElroy (a guy who started every game for the Tigers last year) could return this weekend. The injuries led to knew faces at new positions, which led to a new problem for the Tigers: Errors. For some reason this first weekend we were very Error prone. Something that was unlike Auburn last year. Definitely something that has to be fixed before the games this weekend.

■ Morris trimmed down, fired up for baseball season (AuburnUndercover.com)

Morris’ signing class was rated among the nation’s best, but so far, they’ve been unable to get the Tigers into postseason play. They’ll try again in John Pawlowski’s second season as coach.

“It’s huge for this university and for this baseball program,” Morris said. “The people of Auburn deserve a lot more than what we’ve given them. For us as a group coming in, there obviously was a lot of expectations, a lot of talent.
. . .

There has been a major improvement, Morris says, in pitching depth, a major problem last season.

“The guys who were here last year did a great job,” Morris said. “They competed and we did the most with what we had. The biggest thing I can see is the depth in the bullpen, the ability to not have to leave a starter out longer than he needs to be there. That has been a big problem for the two years I’ve been here.”

■ There's another Tiger Baseball Blogspot site out there: Plainsman Parking Lot, a blog devoted to Auburn Tigers Baseball. Our two blogs will be trading Q&As about our respective teams sometime this week.

SNAKE BIT The Tigers will go into the 2010 season already in a hole. Two key players, Trent Mummey and Casey McElroy are lost and their return in unknown (Mummey at least has been rumored to return for start of SEC play). Just how key are McElroy and Mummey?

■ There's an impressive Wikipedia article on Florida Atlantic Baseball. Someone put in some time on it.

■ Check out the Florida Atlantic blog at Sunsentinel.com. Also the same writer has a good season preview on the Baseball Owls.

“It’s all about pitching,” has been his mantra, and that is not a bad way to go. And he is also looking for players who come from winning programs, whether that be in high school or community college.

■ Boston College took 2 of 3 from Tulane in the opening weekend.

Roster status

According to an anonymous source (not an official source), here is the status of the players who were not included on the final 2010 roster"

• Andrew Mueller - retired
• Jack Dudenhoffer - Non roster redshirt
• Jake Walsh - Non roster redshirt
• Andy Heifner - Non roster redshirt
• Rex Meyr - cut
• TJ Schieber - cut
• Cody King- cut (personal issues)

The best team in the Big 12 . . . Oklahoma???

■ The best team in the Big 12 . . . Oklahoma? (collegebaseballtoday.com)

Let’s see, you just swept four games from a team that went to the NCAA tournament last year, while in the process you beat their All American pitcher in the first game, you won impressively even with a large cast of newbies and… well, on top of all that, rival Texas lost again.

■ Baseball sweeps San Diego State (OUDaily.com)

OU was able to lean on its bullpen and hitters, who displayed they could launch balls out of the yard as well as successfully play small-ball, to win the first two games of the series 7-4 and 17-5 in come-from-behind fashion.

■ Tech baseball dominates weekend slate of games (Daily Toreador)

Fans saw a little bit of everything from Texas Tech baseball’s season opener this weekend.

The one constant? The Red Raiders (4-0) always found a way to win, whether it was from an abundant offense or stifling pitching.

“We came out really strong,” Tech left-fielder Michael Reed said. “A lot of good pitching, defense backed us up, a lot of timely hitting.”

■ Baylor baseball team concludes QTI Classic with win over number 22 Georgia (Bleacher Report)

“We did play two good clubs,” Bears head coach Steve Smith told Baylor’s official athletic site. “Obviously we are pleased to have won three out of four. It was a good start to the first part of the season"

■ Too early for UT baseball fans to panic (Austin American-Statesman)

Augie Garrido took out his frustrations on an unsuspecting radio headset after Saturday's loss to New Mexico but he was in a much better frame of mind Sunday even though his team lost again.

So why the change of reaction? That's an easy one. Garrido saw some positives outside of a scoreboard that read: New Mexico 3, Texas 1. He noticed three scorched balls that reached the warning track and could have easily been home runs on another day. He noticed the Horns did not commit an error. He appreciated the 62/3 solid innings he got from lefty pitcher Austin Dicharry.

■ Huskers unravel in extra innings for third straight loss (examiner.com)

Nebraska's offense was much more impressive in today's match up but the pitching staff is still searching for answers. It's already clear in this extremely young season the Anderson's squad has a tough time finishing games which could spell doom for the Big Red if the problem isn't fixed in a hurry

■ Aggie offense makes Seton Hall walk the plank (the batt.com)

The Texas A&M baseball team flexed its offensive muscles Saturday at Olsen Field, sweeping Seton Hall in a doubleheader by a combined score of 19-9.

MU 2. NMSU 1: Walk-off HBP in 10th

The Tigers are 2-1 for the opening weekend - already an improvement over 2009.

• Mike Liberto should definitely receive consideration for Big 12 Player of the Week, compiling an .818 batting average, 9 hits in 11 at-bats, a double and a triple, 4 runs scored, 3 RBI and a walk.
  
  
• I've been saying all along that the success of the 2010 Tigers will hinge upon how quickly the freshmen and newcomers contribute. Dane Opel (.635), Blake Brown (.500) and Brannon Champagne (.286) certainly seem to be getting a good start offensively. Champagne has a great catch at the outfield fence that Tex Little described as very Evan-Frey-like, high praise indeed. Transfers Aaron Blunt and Jeff Scardino came out strong on the mound this opening weekend as well. The rain shortened the weekend schedule, keeping highly touted freshman Eric Anderson from getting his first start.

Meanwhile, the consensus #1 team in the country, the Texas Longhorns, lost 6-5 on Saturday and then dropped game 3 on Sunday, 3-1. Apparently everyone in the Top 5 had a bad weekend as well.

MU 17, UW 6: Tigers play at 11 AM Sunday

■ Revised schedule for Sunday, from MUTigers.com:

Mizzou will be back on the field just 10 hours after the completion of Saturday's game. The schedule for the final day of the Collegiate Cactus Classic has been adjusted due to the weather. The Tigers will take on New Mexico State at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday in their final game of the weekend.

■ Rainy day in Tucson ends with loss to Missouri (GoHuskies.com)

In the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases again with no outs. After getting one across on a double-play groundout, an RBI single from DH Jonah tied the game at 6-6. First baseman Aaron Senne followed with a homer down the right-field line, giving Missouri its first lead of the night at 8-6.

In the eighth, the Tigers used six hits, two walks and two hit batters to add nine more runs.

Rain Delay at Collegiate Cactus Classic

■ 4 PM UPDATE from MUTigers.com:

Missouri's game against Washington, which was originally scheduled to start at 4 p.m. CT, is now tentatively set to start at 8 p.m. CT. The Tigers' second scheduled game of the day, against New Mexico State, will not be played today.

The remainder of the tournament schedule is still to be determined. Stay tuned to mutigers.com for futher updates.

■ Earlier today, from GoHuskies.com:

TUCSON, Ariz. - Washington's two baseball games scheduled for today in Tucson will likely start late due to rain in the area. The first game of the day in the Cactus Classic, featuring Gonzaga vs. New Mexico State, is in a rain delay, which began at 12:51 p.m. MST.

Washington was scheduled to face Missouri at 3:00 p.m. MST and Gonzaga at 7:00 p.m. MST Saturday. While the forecasts indicate that all the games will be played, start times are likely to be pushed back.

1:00 P.M. PST UPDATE: The Gonzaga-New Mexico State game remains in a delay. The most current likely scenario calls for the game to resume and for Washington's game vs. Missouri to begin at or around 7:00 p.m. MST. Washington's scheduled game vs. Gonzaga, originally slated for 7:00 p.m., would be cancelled and the Huskies would play New Mexico State on Sunday, as planned.

0-1: "We got to play"

On Deck: The Collegiate Cactus Classic continues on Saturday when the Tigers will play a pair of games. MU will take on Washington at 4 p.m. CT before facing New Mexico State at 8 p.m. CT. Mizzou and Gonzaga will meet again on Sunday at Noon CT.

■ Missouri loses in baseball (Columbia Tribune)

“We got to play,” MU Coach Tim Jamieson said. “We got a lot of people involved, and we know what things we need to focus on. There were a few situations where if we can make the play, runs don’t score.”

■ Opening Day lineup:

1. Russ Lafleur, LF
2. Blake Brown, CF
3. Brett Nicholas, 3B
4. Jonah Schmidt, RF
5. Aaron Senne, 1B
6. Jesse Santo, SS
7. Kale Gaden, DH
8. Ryan Ampleman, C
9. Mike Liberto, 2B

P Jeff Scardino

■ Few return for Missouri baseball team (Columbia Missourian)

“This year’s team is a lot different than last year’s team,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “Sometimes when you have veteran groups, they kind of settle in. Last year’s team, I thought took some things for granted early in the year. And quite frankly, we weren’t as good as people thought we were. That had a lot to do with our slow start last year.”

■ Questions abound as MU opens in '10 (TigerExtra.com)

“I don’t know if we’ll have the same lineup for the first half of the year,” senior outfielder/first baseman Aaron Senne said. “Just get guys in and see who can handle it and run with it from there. It’s going to be kind of exciting.”

■ Rural grad Aaron Crow preps for Spring Training with Royals (WIBW.com) is an audio clip of an interview with Crow.

Opening Day

"The good time is approaching.
The season is at hand
When the merry click of the two-base lick
Will be heard throughout the land.
The frost still lingers on the earth, and
Budless are the trees,
But the merry ring of the voice of spring
Is borne on every breeze."
The Sporting News, 1886

■ Let's take the lid off the sucker is this morning's post at CollegeBaseballToday. Worth a look, even if just for the great picture.

'Twas the night before Opening Day . . .

■ Whom you should root for is the grammaticaly precise theme of Eric Sorenson's latest post at College Baseball Today. Good thoughts all, except the one about rooting for the Coach-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Cheered-For:

6- WICHITA STATE, FLORIDA STATE, TEXAS and RICE.Look people, we never know when Coach Stephenson, Martin, Garrido and Graham are going to announce their retirement and ride off into the sunset. And we like having these colorful characters around way too much to let that happen. In fact, now that I think of it, forget cheering for them. ‘Coz if one of them wins a national title this year, they may hang up the cleats for good, so nevermind.

■ Baseball America's Opening Weekend Preview discusses, among other things, the rough start the Auburn Tigers (next week's Mizzou opponent) have had before the season even has gotten started.

The spring has gotten off to a rough start for the Tigers even before the first official pitch has been thrown. Two of Auburn's key players have suffered injuries in practice that will sideline them for the start of the season

■ Rivals.com's Kendall Rogers provides comic relief by posting his first Regional Projections before the season even begins. Next week he'll handicap the 2012 presidential election.

Opening Day Eve Quotes & Notes

■ Big 12 baseball season opens with a chill (KansasCity.com)

Teams in the league’s north outposts will step in the batter’s boxes and on mounds when the season starts Friday with precious few outdoor practices.

“I know there’s been bad weather everywhere,” Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. “We’re glad to get going.”

■ Hey there! Mizzou Baseball is using twitter! They did last year, too. For a while. Then they didn't. time will tell.

■ Thompson loss hurts, but KU Baseball still confident (KUSports.com)

“Obviously losing Tony is one of the most devastating losses in the country for any team,” senior starting pitcher Cameron Selik said Wednesday at the team’s Media Day. “But he will be back, and he’ll be the same guy he was last year. We’ve got enough quality arms and bats to step up and get the job done while he’s out.”

■ Some headline writer at Kansan.com is apparently the only person willing to say in print that the Big 12 baseball season looks bright

■ Missouri baseball is packing more heat (KOMU.com)

Tim Jamieson says unusual circumstances reduced Missouri's roster. "It was an attrition over a couple three-year period of guys that we had signed that never got here in school, and then guys that were in the program who used up their eligibility or signed professionally so it kinda came around where we needed a whole lot of new faces."

Story includes video

2010 Mizzou Baseball roster posted

MUTigers.com has posted the official 2010 Roster. The following players who were on teh Fall roster appear to have not been included on the active roster for the regular season: TJ Schieber, Jack Dudenhofer, Rex Meyr, Andrew Mueller, Andy Heifner, Jake Walsh, Cody King

Huskies have nothing to lose

■ UW's Meggs: We've got nothing to lose (HeraldNet.com)

“What I like about this team is I feel like we’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “Because of the change in the coaching staff and because of the mediocre record last year, I told the guys: ‘I don’t think people expect much from us.’ I don’t think Oregon State’s worried about us. I don’t think UCLA’s worried about us.

“And in a way, we might be able to sneak up on some people. And maybe that’ll give us some time to figure it out, and maybe we can make a run at the end, and who knows what could happen?”

Quick turnarounds have been a staple of Meggs’s 23-year coaching career. He took a seven-win Chico State program and turned it into a national contender by Year Three, then won the first of his two NCAA Division II national titles the following year. Meggs moved on to Indiana State in 2007, turning the Sycamores around while earning Missouri Valley Conference coach-of-the-year honors in his third season there.

Mizzou Baseball Media Day

■ Mizzou Baseball Media Day (mutigers.com)

On the pitching rotation for the opening weekend: "It's likely to be Jeff Scardino on Friday. He is a junior college left hander and that's something we have not decided for sure. Right now it looks like Jeff on Friday, Nick Tepesch and Aaron Blunt on Saturday and Eric Anderson, a freshman, on Sunday. That's what it would be if we made the decision today. "

Mizzou Baseball picked 8th in Big 12 coaches pre-season poll

■ Texas unanimously picked to win 2010 Big 12 title (Big12Sports.com)

Rank	Team (First-place votes)	Points
1.	Texas (9)	81
2.	Kansas (1)	69
3.	Texas A&M	64
4.	Oklahoma	57
5.	Oklahoma State	47
6.	Baylor	39
7.	Kansas State	29
8.	Missouri	22
	Nebraska	22
10.	Texas Tech	20

Big 12 Quotes & Notes

■ Big year should bring big crowds (kstatecollegian.com)

The team also set a school record for attendance at games, with an average attendance mark of 1,391 fans. The official capacity is listed at 2,331.

You don’t have to be Rain Man to realize the large difference between those two numbers. It’s approaching 1,000 empty seats, 940 to be exact. However, these statistics are misleading. In the final home game against Kansas, K-State fans poured into Tointon Family Stadium, setting a school record crowd for K-State baseball at 4,280 fans.

■ Freshman pitchers talented but humble (huskerextra.com)

Giller and Hander lead a group of six freshmen that figure to make immediate impact, Newman also gets to glimpse at the future. And it makes him want to stick around to see it blossom.

“They’re all talented and physical, and they’re good kids,” Newman said of the three draft picks and right-handers Tyler Niederklein (from Millard West), Dylan Vogt (Millard South) and Luke Bublitz (Thornton, Colo.). “They work hard at it. They all have a real aptitude to pitch.

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Preview

■ MUTigers.com begins a 4-part MU Baseball 2010 Preview today

Monday, Feb. 15 -- PART 1 - The 2010 Schedule
Tuesday, Feb. 16 -- PART 2 - The Infielders and Catchers
Wednesday, Feb. 17 -- PART 3 - The Outfielders
Thursday, Feb. 18 -- PART 4 - The Pitching Staff

Countdown to Opening Day

Coming up this week:

■ Big 12 Coaches' Pre-Season Poll should be released this week at Big12Sports.com.

■ The Big 12 Baseball Coaches Pre-Season Teleconference will be Wednesday, February 17th beginning at 10:00 AM. Listen live at Big12Sports.com. Tim Jamieson is scheduled first on the list.

■ Final rosters have to be cut down to 35 this week

■ All Division I teams begin play on Friday

Big 12 Baseball Quotes & Notes

Texas Tech

■ Spencer, Raiders vying to get back into postseason (RedRaiders.com)

“I think this club is hungry,” Spencer said. “They had a little taste of success last year and they also had their feelings hurt in the last game of the tournament. All those things are good.

“When regionals begin being talked about my feeling is they’ll be talking about the Texas Tech. We have enough starting pitching, we’re going to play good defense and we should be an offensive bunch as far as guys who can hit and guys who can run. For people nationally to overlook the Red Raiders and not talk about the Red Raiders as being a contender and going to a regional, I think that’s foolishness.”

■ Also check out Get to know your Raiders

Baylor

■ Weather not slowing baseball practice schedule (WacoTrib.com)

“The weather hasn’t kept us yet from getting what we need to get done,” said Baylor coach Steve Smith, whose team will open its season Feb. 19 with a home doubleheader against Duke and Georgia. “We’ve had enough time to get in about six intrasquad (scrimmages). We still will get that done, provided we don’t have any extended bad weather.”

During one chilly afternoon earlier this week, the Bears sported some new hats adorned with cloth flaps to keep their ears warm — kind of the Elmer Fudd look, so to speak.

Kansas

■ Father-son duo makes Division 1 history (ESPN.com)

And then there are Kansas head coach Ritch Price and his son Ritchie of South Dakota State, Division I's youngest head coach at age 25, a father and son who have a unique connection amidst the baseball landscape. There have been other father-son pairs to both enter the college coaching ranks, but, according to Baseball America's research, the Prices are the first such combo to be leading D-I programs at the same time.

Kansas State

■ Cats face high expectations (CJOnline.com)

Coming off arguably the best season in school history along with the departure of last year's senior class and Big 12 pitcher of the year A.J. Morris, the Kansas State baseball team now must deal with heightened expectations.

Oklahoma

■ Q&A with Sunny Gollaway (SoonerSports.com)

What are some of the club's strengths? No question about it ... depth. We have a chance to manage this club better than ever before. This team has interchangeable parts across the board. We have four middle infielders, three players at first base and designated hitter, eight or more outfielders and depth behind the plate despite losing J.T. Wise. This team has speed and power off the bench and left-handed arms in the rotation and out of the bullpen. That gives us the ability to use multiple arms on both sides of the mound, different base runners, defensive specialists and designated hitters or bunters throughout nine innings and across a 56-game schedule.

Also check out Sooners' Depth Chart

■ SoonerSports.com has a great collection of 2010 Newcomer Video Spotlights. Great promotional feature to get the fans excited about the team.

Nebraska

■ NU 'poster boy' Belfonte refreshed after break (Omaha.com)

Belfonte returned this season with an invigorated approach. We'll soon see about the Huskers.

“I never gave up on baseball,” he said. “The time off made me appreciate how much I enjoy playing the game. I think it gave me a little grasp of reality. I lost sight of the most important thing about it — just enjoying being out there, playing the game and winning.”

■ Husker baseball players suffer from cabin fever (HuskerExtra.com)

“The kids, some of them have worked out indoors, some of them haven’t. The ones that haven’t, it’s that time of year that you should be outside doing things because that’s what they’ve done all their life,” Anderson said. “I won’t say that I forgot, but Dave and Eric came and said, ‘Hey, you need to say it again, because you can see the little bit of cabin fever that they’re feeling. Tell them we’re fine.’ And we are.

“There’s nothing we can’t get done except playing a live game.”

Cactus Classic: Opening Weekend

■ College baseball will help fill spring training void (AZStarNet.com)

One year before losing its two remaining spring training teams, Pima County is positioning itself as a warm-weather home for college baseball clubs.

Monday, organizers announced the Cactus Classic Collegiate Baseball Event, which will take place Feb. 18-21 at Kino Sports Complex.

Washington, Gonzaga, Missouri and New Mexico State will participate in the round-robin event, which organizers say will grow to 12 teams starting in 2011.
. . .

The University of Washington, the official host of the event, booked the teams.
. . .

This year, the teams will use practice fields that once belonged to the Chicago White Sox. Seven of the eight tournament games will be held at Tucson Electric Park and will be open to the public.

■ Soldiers, Aggies hope for heavy offensive firepower in 2010 (Las Cruces Sun-News)

There is a buzz surrounding the New Mexico State baseball program.

Especially surrounding the team's offensive firepower.

"Every year, I expect to break the school record for home runs, which we have done four or five times," Aggies coach Rocky Ward said. "It's getting harder to do."

■ The Washington Huskies have a new head coach that should be familiar to Mizzou: Lindsay Meggs, who formerly was head coach of the Indiana State Sycamores.

MU: Then and Now

Take a photo trip through the history of the MU Campus at MU: Then and Now. Some shots of interest to MU Baseball fans:

• Photo #44: A shot of the old Rollins Field, where both MU Football and Baseball played, and a current photo of Stankowski Field, showing that area now.
  
  
• Photos #63-71 : Comparative photos of the MU Sports Park, including an old shot of Simmons Field before the Devine Pavilion blocked the view of the University Hospital and the rest of the southwest campus.

Batttle plans & Trash Talk

■ Jamieson set to go to war with young Tigers (TigerExtra.com)

“I think we’re going to see a lot of different lineups and people playing different positions,” Jamieson said. “We’re going to be moving guys around. We may play more people than we’ve played in the past.”

■ Mizzou baseball needs top effort from ace (Columbia Missourian)

“I’m definitely ready for the challenge,” Tepesch said. “I don’t overanalyze it or do any of that stuff. If that’s my role, I’m going to perfect my role and do the best I can to help the team.”

. . .

“I think we’re going to have some depth on the mound,” Jamieson said. “It may take us a while to figure out who does what, when. The pitching’s probably a little bit more resolved than the positional set.”

■ 8 days until Texas baseball: A look at the Big 10 (I mean Big 12) (Austin American Statesman)

Truthfully, this year, there wouldn’t be much difference playing in the Big 12 or the Big 10 in baseball. That’s not the case most years as the Big 12 has historically had infinitely better baseball programs than the Big 10.
. . .

MISSOURI: Aaron Senne has to step up. That’s where things start. After hitting over .300 last season, Senne is going to have to be the catalyst

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Mizzou Baseball recruit Michael Franco is the subject of a report (with video) on KRIS-TV: Hot Corner to staff ace: Moody's Franco adds new role

Moody third baseman Michael Franco earned a scholarship to Missouri with his bat and glove.

The Trojans are now hoping his right arm leads them to Round Rock and the state title. Franco will be the staff ace this season.

■ Tim Jamieson is listed as one of several D-1 coaches who have done "more with less" in a discussion thread on CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com

■ Mizzou Baseball alum Kurt Calvert (06-08) is now an assistant coach with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

■ Nick Tepesch is ranked #50 on a Top-100 Draft Eligible College Players list at The college Baseball Blog

Live arm, poor command, decent CH, 4 average pitches, future bullpen guy?

Big 12 Quotes & Notes

■ KU 3B Thompson injures knee (Topeka Capital Journal)

University of Kansas all-America third baseman Tony Thompson will miss the first several weeks of the college baseball season after sustaining a knee injury in practice, KU coach Ritch Price announced Tuesday.

Price said Thompson, the Big 12's Triple Crown winner last year, sustained a hairline fracture of his left kneecap after fouling a pitch off his knee during a practice last week.

■ OU Baseball Season Preview

• Part I: “We were disappointed last year, but that is a learning experience for the returners and something they can relay to the incoming class,” said Golloway. “These players know the importance of hosting a regional and know they can earn a national seed to host the super regional round. “

• Part II: “The amount of talent we have in the outfield is unprecedented,” said Golloway. “We have up to nine guys who can help us at any given time. We are excited to have two returning starters back and see how the recruiting class can help us.”

The First Boyd of Spring

Boyd is back, so the baseball season can't be far behind! Boyd Nation has his first 2010 pre-season material posted at the always informative Boyd's World.

• Boyd has Team Schedule Calendars for every D-1 team. Click and download to your Outlook Calendar.
  
  
• Intended Strength of Schedule numbers for every D-1 team. I crunched MU's schedule numbers on my own a few weeks back, but Boyd's is quite different, based on his ISR rankings. He shows Mizzou with the 25th toughest intended strength of schedule in all Division I. Fellow Big 12 team Baylor is #1, with 4 other conference teams joining BU and MU in the top 25. An interesting set of rankings, considering most pundits are predicting the Big 12 to have an overall down year.
  
  
• He also has a list of returning career statistical leaders. The Big 12 has surprisingly few players on those rankings.

Unassisted Trripleplay: What I'm looking forward to in 2010

Inspired by Eric Sorenson's post the other day, here is my own list of what I'm looking forward to in 2010 (alas, not a list of 50 -- 9 is the perfect baseball number):

1. That moment in every ballgame when I look out onto the brightly-lit night field, or the sunshine drenched day field, and am once again carried away with the incredible joy of being at a baseball game.
   
   
2. The mental contortions required to pat myself on the back for being such an eternally faithful fan to sit at Simmons Field through rain, sleet, snow and bitterly cold winds - all in the same 9 innings.
   
   
3. Renewing the acquaintance of fellow fans and players' families, and getting to know the new people in the stands.
   
   
4. Reading the stories and features of whatever student journalist the Columbia Missourian assigns the MU Baseball beat to this year -- and hoping they live up to the job done by the last couple of writers aspiring to be the next Peter Gammons.
   
   
5. Watching the development of what looks to be the most promising collection of freshmen at Mizzou in a while. I'm counting on their quality surpassing their quantity.
   
   
6. Aaron Senne at first base is a move I expect to be highly successful. I expect it will even have a positive impact on his offensive production.
   
   
7. Unlike many of my fellow fans (and possibly the coaching staff), I look forward to the possibility of seeing Johnny Wholestaff on the mound again -- hopefully not anywhere near as often as he was used in 2009, but I think it's a great strategy for weeks when the number of games stretches the pitching staff.
   
   
8. I'm waiting for the day when new coaching assistant Travis Wendte digs into his closet and resurrects that dusty old Legion of Doom flag for the bullpen.
   
   
9. And I'm looking forward, believe it or not, to a season where the Tigers are almost universally predicted to be in the lower tier of the Big 12, to not be ranked nationally, to not even make it to the NCAA Regionals. It's going to be fun watching this team "over-achieve" and prove everyone wrong.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes: KU still sucks

■ Price has Kansas thinking something special (CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com)

"Call him crazy, but Price loves his role at Kansas. It’s his baseball paradise."

I can do that.

■ What I'm Looking Forward To in 2010 (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

1- I look forward to the first pitch of the season and I look forward to the last pitch of the season, but to differing degrees right now.

32- I look forward to Kansas “shocking the world” as the second-best Big 12 team.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Big 12 appears to be one-team show (CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com)

• Ranks MU #8 in the Big 12

• "For now, though, the Tigers also are expecting Dane Opel, Blake Brown and Jonah Schmidt to be the starting outfielders."

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Recruits

Word comes to us that Zach McCoy has changed his mind and will not be playing for Mizzou.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Taking a look at the Big 12 (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

Look people, Texas can’t be the only ones carrying the flag here. Everyone else must reach down for a little more gusto and make their presence felt on the national stage. Are we really looking at Kansas as being the primary competition for the Big 12 title? Don’t be shocked if the Jayhawks make a run at this thing.

Three Non-Conference Series The Big 12 Better Not Overlook:
1- Oral Roberts at Baylor, March 5-7.
2- Xavier at Missouri, March 12-14.
3- Oklahoma State in the OSU T

And if you read the entire Big 12 preview, No, Dan Sheppard is not going to be catching at Mizzou. He signed with Missouri State.

■ 2010 CBB Season Preview: Big 12 (TheCollegeBaseballBlog.com)

■ Rivals Top 25: Texas tops preseason rankings (CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com)

Only Kansas joins Texas representing the Big 12 in these rankings

And, Rivals' Teams on the cusp of the Top 25 includes Texas A&M

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ MU Recruit Matt Linderer, RHP (Bishop DuBourg, St. Louis, MO) has been named as an Honorable Mention to the 2010 Louisville Slugger Pre-Season High School All-American team.

■ Huskers eager to get back on the field (huskerextra.com)

Since then, Nebraska has added 20 players to a roster that will be at 35 when play begins Feb. 19 at 2008 national champion Fresno State. NU’s recruiting class was ranked 13th-best nationally by Collegiate Baseball, but eighth-year coach Mike Anderson has a hunch his returning players will set the tone.

“There’s some veteran guys that have a bad taste in their mouth,” he said.
“It’s good. Chemistry is good. Bonding is good. Talent level, I think, is improved. It’s a matter now of finding out the unknowns of the season. The unknown is how we’re going to perform. You just don’t know.”

■ Thoughts from Texas baseball (statesman.com)

• Pitcher Chance Ruffin said he knew he was going to be the closer since the
team’s final meetings last season.

• Just from talking to people, the most impressive freshman so far seems to be outfielder Cohl Walla. The question is if he’s going to start

Mizzou Baseball on TV

■ FSN to air two Mizzou Baseball games (mutigers.com)

The Big 12 Conference has announced its 2010 baseball telecast schedule on FSN. Six games, including the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, are slated for broadcast. Missouri will be featured in two of the five regular season games that have been selected by FSN.

The Tigers' game at Oklahoma on April 10 and the home contest against Kansas State on April 24 will both air on FSN. Eight different schools will be featured on FSN during the regular season. Mizzou and Texas are the only teams that have multiple games scheduled for FSN.

The six contests will be available to FSN's regional affiliates, reaching more than 82 million cable and satellite TV homes nationwide.

Additional television appearances are possible through other Big 12 broadcast partners and institutional contacts and will be announced at a later time.