The race for the 2010 Big West baseball championship begins in earnest this week. Preseason league favorite Cal State Fullerton hosts UC Davis, while upstarts Cal State Northridge and Pacific look to support strong non-conference showings with an equally impressive start against their Big West brethren.
AROUND THE BIG WEST
Conference Play Begins
Attention turns to Big West play as the league slate begins this week with a special Easter edition. All series this week will be played from Thursday-Saturday, with the conference schedule returning to the normal Friday-Sunday routine the following weekend.
A wide open competitive race is to be expected if anything can be gleaned from everyone’s non-conference results. Eight of the nine Big West schools have earned records of .500 or better, leading to an overall non-conference mark of 109-83 (.568) through games of March 29.
Cal State Northridge and Pacific were picked to finish seventh and eighth in the preseason coaches poll, respectively. The Matadors and Tigers have responded to post the most wins (16) and best winning percentage (.697) with identical 16-7 records. Pacific’s start is the program’s best since also going 16-7 in 2006.
Cal State Fullerton, the preseason pick to win the conference, has had some trouble generating momentum in the early going. At 12-11 overall, the Titans have lost no more than two straight games, but their longest winning streak is only three. Ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in the preseason polls, the Titans are receiving votes in two polls. High expectations aside, consider the Titans have won eight of their last 12 games entering Big West play.
Picked to finish second in that preseason coaches poll was UC Irvine. The Anteaters have won four of five weekend series to push out to a 14-8 record and maintain their standing in the national polls for six straight weeks. UCI is No. 24 in this week’s Baseball America poll. The Anteaters travel to Cal State Northridge for a battle between an explosive Matador offensive and UCI’s starting pitching rotation of Daniel Bibona, Christian Bergman and Eric Pettis. The Matadors rank second in the Big West with a .336 team batting average and have cranked out a league-leading 30 homers. The Anteater staff has compiled the Big West’s third-lowest ERA at 4.35.
Cal State Fullerton hosts UC Davis, Pacific visits Long Beach State, and Cal Poly sojourns to UC Riverside in other league action this week. UC Santa Barbara treks to Sacramento State for the only non-conference series.
College Baseball Foundation Names Six To Watch Lists
The College Baseball Foundation released the first watch lists for the Brooks Wallace Award and Pitcher of the Year, and the Big West was represented by six players. The Brooks Wallace Award, which recognizes the nation’s top shortstop, includes Cal State Fullerton junior Christian Colon, UC Santa Barbara senior Matt Valaika and Pacific senior Ben Gorang on the list of 54 players being considered by the CBF. On the 49-player Pitcher of the Year Watch List, UC Irvine seniors Danny Bibona and Eric Pettis join UC Santa Barbara junior Mario Hollands as Big West representatives.
Colon was one of two finalists for the 2009 Wallace Award that appeared on the initial 2010 list. The other player was Jedd Gyorko of West Virginia.
Both awards will be presented on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the College Baseball Awards Show.
Double Play Record Tied
Pacific and San Jose State combined to turn 10 double plays on Sunday as the Tigers emerged victorious, 3-2 in 11 innings and captured their fifth straight weekend series. The 10 double plays - five by each team - tied the NCAA record originally set by Georgetown (6) and George Mason (4) on April 4, 1989.
Weathers Forecasting 300th Win
Long Beach State leads the Big West with four victories against non-conference top 25 teams. The 49ers added No. 9 Oregon State to that list as they took two of the final three games in Corvallis last weekend. In the process, head coach Mike Weathers moved within one of his 300th career win at the school. The ninth-year mentor is 299-192 overall at LBSU. Weathers could capture the milestone win on April Fools Day when LBSU tangles with Pacific at Blair Field. Whether the players attempt to play a prank on their coach remains to be seen, but what is no joke is that Weathers ranks No. 9 all-time among Big West coaches with his 299 wins at one school.
Brontsema Gaucho Wins Leader
UC Santa Barbara head coach Bob Brontsema achieved a career milestone on Sunday when the Gauchos topped San Francisco, 11-6. The victory gave Brontsema 446 for his career, surpassing Al Ferrer for the most wins in program history. Ferrer was 445-330-10 from 1981-94 at UCSB.
Pineda Pummeling Pitchers
Cal State Northridge junior Ryan Pineda is simply terrorizing opposing pitchers. He leads the Big West in home runs (9), runs scored (32) and RBI (38). The nine long balls is just one off his 2009 total. He’s also rapidly moving closer to surpassing last year’s total of 44 RBI.
Cal Poly Looking For Rebound
Struggling Cal Poly hopes for a turnaround of sorts when league play begins this week. The Mustangs are the league’s only team below .500 at 7-15 overall after losing nine of their last 10 outings. They are struggling in the close ones. Five of Cal Poly’s last nine losses have been by two runs or less.
Brown Living Up To Billing
Cal State Fullerton’s Gary Brown is having an outstanding 2010 season so far, supporting the preseason All-American acclaim he received from some publications. The junior is batting .448 with 47 hits and 27 runs scored. He leads the Big West in hits and triples (5), and ranks second in average, runs scored, slugging percentage (.686) and stolen bases (14). Successful in 14 of his 17 steal attempts, Brown now has swiped 62 bags in his career, which is eight away from entering the Big West career top 10.
Emmons Twirls Gem
UC Riverside junior Dustin Emmons threw just the third complete-game, 1-0 shutout in the school’s Division I history on Saturday against Saint Mary’s. He moved to 4-0 on the year as a starter with the solid effort against the Gaels. Emmons scattered eight hits and walked only one while extending his streak of not allowing a home run to 31.1 innings. His only blemish was a loss in relief, courtesy of an unearned run, to a nationally ranked UCLA squad earlier in the season.
Two Games To Appear On ESPNU
ESPNU will televise two Big West baseball games as the Sunday, April 11 Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine and Sunday, May 9 UC Irvine at Cal Poly games will appear on the 24-hour college sports network with 2:00 p.m. start times.
Four Big West Catchers Named To Johnny Bench Watch List
The Big West has four players on the watch list for the Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award presented by The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission. Fifty-three catchers have been selected this year, as nominated by their coaches. The list will be updated to include other candidates until May 5, 2010.
The award is given annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher in the nation and will be narrowed down to 10 semifinalists on May 19, 2010, with the winner announced during the 2010 College World Series on July 1.
Cal Poly’s Ross Brayton, Cal State Northridge’s Dominic Piazza, UC Irvine’s Francis Larson and Pacific’s Joe Oliveira were among the 53 catchers named to the watch list. This is the third straight year that Oliveira was selected to the watch list.
Cal State Fullerton’s Kurt Suzuki was the recipient of the Johnny Bench award in 2004. He is now the starting catcher on the Oakland A’s.
Most Multi-Hit Games
Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton 14
Brian Martin, Pacific 13
Mike Walker, Pacific 12
J.B. Brown, Pacific 12
C.J. Belanger, Cal State Northridge 12
Most Multi-RBI Games
Dominic D’Anna, Cal State Northridge 9
Ryan Pineda, Cal State Northridge 8
Brian Martin, Pacific 7
Jeff Cusick, UC Irvine 7
Nick Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton 7
Live On The Net
The Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network are partnering to bring exclusive Big West events to your computer. BigWest.TV brings exclusive coverage of sports, press conferences, interviews and features into your home via the Internet! Now in its fourth year, BigWest.TV covers every home and conference contest in women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball. Also covered are select men’s and women’s soccer matches, baseball and softball games, and Big West Conference Championships. A monthly subscription of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. If you can’t make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV.