February 23 Baseball Notebook
Feb. 23, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format A pair of Conference USA coaches reached significant milestones during the opening weekend of the 2009 season. Houston head coach Rayner Noble posted his 500th win as the Cougars skipper, moving his all-time record to 500-359 (.582) as he begins his 15th season at UH. Tulane's Rick Jones became the school's all-time winningest coach on Sunday with his 642nd career victory. Jones, who will coach Team USA this summer, broke former baseball coach Joe Brockhoff's record, which stood at 641 wins since Brockhoff's retirement following the 1993 season.
HITTER OF THE WEEK STEPHEN BATTS, EAST CAROLINA Senior, OF, Wilmington, N.C. Batts helped the Pirates to a perfect 3-0 week picking up a series sweep of 2008 NCAA Regional participant Monmouth. The senior leftfielder collected a team-high nine hits (9-for-14), with three RBI and six runs scored while batting a team-best .643. In game one of the series, he collected a career-high four hits and then matched that total with his second four-hit performance of the season in the series finale. Batts was a perfect 3-for-3 on the base paths recording a stolen base in all three contest and slugged .857 on the weekend. Dating back to the end of the 2008 season, Batts is currently riding a five-game hitting streak where he is batting .500 (12-for-24) with eight runs scored. He drove in at least one run and scored at least one run in all three games. PITCHER OF THE WEEK HEITH HATFIELD, MEMPHIS Freshman, RHP, Bartlett, Tenn. Hatfield had one of the most dominant collegiate debuts in Memphis baseball history in preserving a 2-1 win over Kansas on Sunday, the Tigers second win over the Jayhawks in three days at the Service Academies Classic. The righthander struck out eight batters and held KU to just one hit in three innings of relief to earn a save in his first outing in the collegiate ranks. Hatfield notched a Tiger record by fanning four batters in the eighth inning. He retired six of the first eight batters he faced on strikes. C-USA NOTEBOOK EAST CAROLINA ECU’s opening series sweep over Monmouth marks the first time since the 2004 season that the Pirates have started a season 3-0 (12-0 in ’04). The Pirates three weekend starters combined for 19 strikeouts, two walks and four earned runs in 19.1 innings of work, while the bullpen did not allow a run in 7.2 innings and fanned seven with five walks. Combined, the pitching staff allowed just four runs (all earned), struck out 26, walked seven, allowed opposing hitters to bat .187 and sported a 1.33 ERA. Sophomore RHP Seth Maness was impressive in his 2009 debut, scattering five hits over seven innings with one run (earned) and six strikeouts. He improved to 10-2 for his career and boasts a 3.42 ERA. Senior DH Kyle Roller batted .500 in the Pirates opening series (5-for-10) with six RBI, four runs and a slugging percentage of 1.000. In the series opener he was 2-for-5 with five RBI, two runs scored, hit his 24th career home run and narrowly missed another, which turned into a triple, the third of his career. He is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak dating back to 2008. Sophomore SS Dustin Harrington and junior 1B Brandon Henderson each extended their current hitting streaks to seven games. Harrington is currently batting .455 (5-for-11), while Henderson is hitting at a .400 clip with four RBI and three runs scored. HOUSTON Head Coach Rayner Noble earned his 500th career win at the University of Houston on Sunday. The winningest coach in school history is now 500-359 (.582) as he begins his 15th season at the helm of the Cougars. Sophomore SS Blake Kelso hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie Kansas State 2-2 on Sunday and force extra innings. The Cougars would go on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning on a single from sophomore OF Matt Murphy, scoring junior OF Zak Presley who reached base on a single to second base. Sophomore RHP Chase Dempsay held Kansas State scoreless in 3.2 innings of work to close out the final game of the series and earn the win. He allowed just three hits and struck out five batters. Dempsay stopped KSU from taking the lead in the 10th inning. With one out and two runners on base, he threw out the go ahead run at home and struck out the next batter to end the inning. Dempsay added a 4-for-8 performance at the plate and has a team-high .500 batting average. MARSHALL The Thundering Herd were 2-2 at the Wake Forest Tournament, including a one-run loss to host Wake Forest. Sophomore RHP Arik Sikula made his first collegiate-career start and earned his first victory of the season in Friday’s season opener against Akron. Sikula, Marshall’s single-season saves leader (8 in 2008), fired five scoreless innings, scattering just four hits, while striking out five Zips batters to help the Herd win its season opener for the second time in as many years. Senior OF Nate Lape, the preseason C-USA Player of the Year, had a pair of home runs at the Wake Tournament. Sophomore DH Victor Gomez batted .400 (6-for-15) with two doubles, a triple, a home run and two RBI. Freshman C/IF Thor Meeks registered a team-high .444 batting average on opening weekend with four hits in nine at bats. He blasted his first two collegiate-career home runs and drove in three runs. MEMPHIS The Tigers were 2-1 at the Service Academies Classic over the weekend, with one game being cancelled due to rain. Both of the Memphis victories were one-run triumphs over Kansas. In Sunday’s tournament finale, junior LHP Brach Davis kept the Kansas offensive off balance, striking out six in six innings to earn his first win of the year, and freshman reliever Heith Hatfield followed with eight strikeouts in three innings. The win was Daron Schoenrock’s 100th victory as head coach at Memphis. On Friday, the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally to a 5-4 victory over the Jayhawks. The winning run was driven in by freshman CF Drew Martinez, who was 3-for-5 in his collegiate debut. Martinez had a strong start to his Tiger career, leading the team in hitting (.429), hits (6), runs (2), doubles (2), total bases (8), slugging (.571) and on-base percentage (.467) in the opening weekend. Martinez batted .429 (6-for-14) in the Tigers’ three games, hitting safely in all three contests, including posting multiple hits twice. Junior LHP Brennon Martin had a strong debut performance against KU on Friday night, tossing six scoreless innings with five strikeouts and no walks. RICE For a second-consecutive year, Rice dropped two of its three season-opening games on the road in California. Last year the Owls lost two-of-three to Long Beach State and last weekend it was two-of-three to Cal Poly. The Blue & Gray collected 14 hits in the opener, but then fell in a Saturday double-header where Rice had a 6-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning in game two. The good news is that in 2008 the Owls rebounded from a similar season-opening road swing to advance all the way to the College World Series. On the weekend, the Owls batted a composite .318 with a .500 slugging percentage. Five of the Rice starters batted .360 or higher over the weekend, including true freshmen Anthony Rendon (.455) and Jeremy Rathjen (.364). Junior Diego Seastrunk started behind the plate for two of the games and in addition to solid work receiving, he batted .400 (4-of-10) with a double and two home runs. With three walks and no strikeouts over the weekend, Jimmy Comerota's on-base percentage (.400) is more than 250 points higher than his slugging percentage (.143). Two Owls who were position players and/or designated hitters last year made their pitching debuts over the weekend. Sophomores Doug Simmons and Abe Gonzales both threw an inning from the right side and left side, respectively. The game action was Gonzales' first appearance since an injury last March. SOUTHERN MISS The Golden Eagles opened the 2009 season with a convincing three-game sweep of Lehigh, reaching double-digit runs in each contest and outscoring the Mountain Hawks, 43-3. Last season, Southern Miss didn’t score its 43rd run until the 12th game of the season. The Golden Eagle pitching staff was just as dominant, allowing only two earned runs over the three game stretch. The staff recorded 23.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to start the season while walking only seven and striking out 19. The Southern Miss bullpen worked eight innings of scoreless baseball while allowing only two hits and striking out nine. Senior SS Brian Dozier, the NCAA’s active career hits leader entering the season, batted .615 (8-for-13) against Lehigh. He recorded six RBI and scored five runs while drawing four walks and being hit by a pitch for an on base percentage of .722. Two of his eight hits were doubles for a .769 slugging percentage. Dozier now has 261 career hits as a Golden Eagle. Senior OF Bo Davis recorded a triple in each of the first two games, tying the school’s career triple record of 13. Junior LHP Cody Schlagel threw seven shutout innings in his Southern Miss debut on Saturday. He held the Lehigh offense to just two hits, a .095 average, while walking two and striking out two. Schlagel used 77 pitches to record 10 ground ball outs and only allowed one runner to reach second base. TULANE The Green Wave were 3-1 on opening weekend against LeMoyne. Tulane head coach Rick Jones reached another milestone in his coaching career on Sunday. As the Wave’s 6-0 shutout gave Jones his 642nd win, earning him the distinction as the winningest coach in Tulane history. Jones broke former baseball coach Joe Brockhoff's record, which stood at 641 wins since Brockhoff's retirement following the 1993 season. Jones' record-setting victory came after Wave starting pitcher Josh Zeid went 7.0 innings, giving up just four singles, while freshman C Jeremy Schaffer went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Sophomore P Conrad Flynn pitched an efficient 7.0 innings of work on 80 pitches in his first-ever start for the Green Wave in the season opener on Friday. Flynn gave up only one run on five hits while fanning seven. Senior 1B Sam Honeck enjoyed a productive series at the plate, going 6-for-12 (.500) with a double, a triple, a homer and seven RBI. Senior 3B Steve Moritz was also 6-for-12, smacking three doubles and driving in three runs. UAB The Blazers opened the season by winning two-of-three against Radford. UAB earned both of its wins over the weekend in come-from-behind fashion. In Friday’s game, the Blazers trailed 7-0 through three innings before scoring eight unanswered runs to win their seventh straight season-opener. In Saturday’s contest, UAB managed a less dramatic comeback. The Blazers fell behind 2-0 after an inning and a half but grabbed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the second and never trailed again in an 11-5 win. The UAB bullpen played a major role in the Blazers’ success in the opening weekend. UAB relievers combined to pitch 10.2 innings over the three games without allowing an earned run. UAB used just one reliever in each contest. Tristan Farrell pitched 4.0 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win Friday. Nick Graffeo threw 3.2 innings out of the bullpen and gave up just two unearned runs to pick up a save on Saturday. In Sunday’s series finale, Beau Pender pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief. In the season opener, senior OF Brint Hardy moved into fifth place all-time at UAB with 46 career steals. Hardy stole at least one base in each game of the series, including two in Saturday’s contest. Now in his third season with the Blazers, Hardy owns 64 career steals, counting his freshman season at Birmingham-Southern in 2006. UCF The Terry Rooney era opened with a 10-2 victory on Friday night against VCU. He became the fourth UCF skipper to win in his debut with the Knights. Rooney is also serving as the team’s pitching coach, and through three games the staff has only walked one batter in 27 innings of work. Junior Shane Brown, the team’s leading hitter last season, was 6-for-13 on opening weekend with a double, a homer and seven RBI. In three games in right field, senior Colin Arnold already has posted two outfield assists. He recorded one in the first game of the year vs. VCU and his second in the second inning Feb. 22. Senior 1B Kiko Vazquez blasted a pair of home runs in Saturday’s 10-9 loss. UCF brought in the outfield fences 10 feet this year, and that might be playing a part in the amount of long balls the Knights have had. Through three games, UCF has totaled six home runs. Conversely, the Knights had to play 10 games last year before hitting their sixth dinger of the year. The series drew a total attendance of 5,582, which makes it the highest attended series in UCF history. With the trip to No. 1 LSU on the plate this weekend, the Knights will be facing the top team in the land for the fourth time since 2001. A win over the Tigers would be the Black and Gold’s first over a top-ranked program (the Knights did beat LSU when it was No. 2 in 2004). THE POLLS Baseball America (Feb. 23) Collegiate Baseball (Feb. 23) NCBWA (Feb. 23) LAST WEEK’S STARS Other than the players of the week, here’s a look at some of the top performances in Conference USA during the games of Feb. 20-22: HITTING HOU – CHASE DEMPSAY – seeing action in right field and as the DH, he had a pair of multiple-hit games, going 4-for-8 with a double, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base. MAR – THOR MEEKS – hit safely in his first four collegiate games, going 4-for-9 (.444) with a pair of home runs. He scored three times and drove in three runs, while walking four times to register a .688 on-base percentage. MEM – DREW MARTINEZ – opened his college career by hitting .429 (6-for-14) with a pair of multiple-hit games. He had a pair of doubles, two stolen bases, two runs scored and one RBI. RICE – RICK HAGUE – batted .462 and tallied three doubles at Cal Poly to give him a .692 slugging percentage. He added a walk, a sacrifice bunt, scored three runs and drove in three. USM – BRIAN DOZIER – hit .615 (8-for-13) with two doubles, six RBI and five runs scored in a series sweep of Lehigh. He drew four walks and was hit by a pitch, giving him a .722 on-base percentage. UAB – CODY McMURRY – batted .500 (4-for-8) in a season-opening series win over Radford, reaching base in nine of his 13 plate appearances, thanks to five walks. Had four doubles and scored four runs, while posting five RBI. UCF – SHANE BROWN – was 6-for-13 (.462) in UCF’s three games against VCU, including career-highs of four hits and five RBI in Sunday’s win. He had a double, a home run and seven RBI on the weekend. PITCHING ECU – CHRIS HESTON –picked up his first win as a Pirate in game two against Monmouth after working seven innings where he allowed two hits, one run (earned) and struck out nine batters with no walks. HOU – CHASE DEMPSAY – held Kansas State scoreless in 3.2 innings of work to earn a win. He allowed just three hits and struck out five batters with one walk. MAR – ARIK SIKULA – earned a victory over Akron in his first collegiate start, throwing five shutout innings in MU’s season opener. He gave up four hits and struck out five, while walking two. RICE – MIKE OJALA – allowed just one earned run while pitching a team-long 6.1 innings at Cal Poly on Saturday. He struck out a team-high eight batters. USM –CODY SCHLAGEL – threw seven shutout innings in his Southern Miss debut on Saturday. He allowed Lehigh just two hits over seven innings, while striking out two and walking two. TLN – CONRAD FLYNN – was solid in his Green Wave debut, allowing just one run on five hits over seven innings against LeMoyne on Friday. He struck out seven and walked just one batter. UAB – TRISTAN FARRELL – earned the win in relief in the season-opener on Friday vs. Radford, throwing four scoreless innings. He scattered four hits and struck out two without walking a batter. UCF –KYLE SWEAT – threw five shutout innings in the opener against VCU, giving up just five hits. He walked one and struck out seven, one shy of his career-high.
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