2008 College Resource Thread

[TooLiveBrew]

Arizona State DeMarini Invitational

Arizona State hosts the two-time defending national champion Oregon State Beavers along with Vanderbilt and Miami (OH). Vanderbilt faces Oregon State on Friday, which should have a pair of sophomores, LHP Mike Minor and RHP Jorge Reyes, squaring off.

 

 

That's a strong grouping of teams. I just hope the FSN affiliate here in OR will have this on. Hopefully I'll remember to check!

Nothing on FSN (or anywhere from what I could tell). I'm sure there's some pay-package where you could see these games, but I know I don't have it if it does exist. Dang - I was really hoping to catch these games.

[colbyjack]

It's probably a little too early for college baseball to show up on TV. I noted earlier that the Hawaii-San Francisco game was scheduled to be on at 12:30 tonight (tomorrow morning) on ESPNU, and the FSN network (FSN Pacific/Central/Atlantic) does carry quite a few college baseball games over the course of the spring. ESPNU and CSTV will carry a handful as well.

 

You can subscribe to CSTV to watch about as many games as you please online, but unfortunately the services aren't the greatest for Mac users. There is a new patch for Quicktime that I downloaded at work, but still was unable to watch the OSU/Vandy game that is currently being played.

[fewgoodcards]

free online video of the huge brian matusz and stephen strasburg matchup tonight on the san diego state website tonight.

[colbyjack]

Thanks afewgoodcards, I actually found a free promo code online that got me a free month of CSTV. I got to check out most of Shooter Hunt's outing (Tulane) before the Matusz/Strasburg matchup started. I can't tell you how nice it is to have baseball back...

 

A few quick game notes, since we typically focus more on the players here, Vanderbilt on the strength of soph. LHP Mike Minor beat RHP Mike Stutes and Oregon State today 8-1.

 

UWM got their butts handed to them 20-8 by Jacksonville today.

 

Ok, onto the notable performances.

 

Brian Matusz: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 6 K, 4 BB

Steve Strasburg: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7 K, 1 BB

 

What a great matchup to start off the season. You got the sense as this game progressed that Tony Gwynn is starting to truly turn things around for the Aztecs with the talent he has assembled. Matusz line looks worse than he actually pitched, as I don't think the scouts will walk away too concerned about his future. He was a little all over the place tonight, but as much as that hurt him in the long run, it also helped him. He struck out the side in the 1st, but he also went to a full count on six of the first 8 batters. His curve was effective and his changeup was as nasty as usual, and he has a big, sturdy frame that screams future ace.

 

Strasburg started shaky, as he had troubles spotting his fastball. He was overthrowing and then got burned a little in the 2nd inning when the Toreros started playing small ball on him scoring a pair of runs, the only runs he would give up. Then he started getting his curve over, which he relied on a little more after throwing almost all fastballs before striking out Josh Romanski in the 1st inning. He threw a ton of pitches those 1st two innings, but came back out in the 3rd after Matusz got roughed up a new man. The fastball is a little straight for my tastes, but that is probably because he threw too many early without showing much of his secondary pitches. He has an absolutely perfect pitching frame with long, lean and strong limbs. It was a nice way to start the '08 season especially since he's been pegged more and more as a potential top pick next year.

 

Shooter Hunt: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 8 K, 0 BB vs UIC

 

The CSTV Tulane/UIC video wasn't that great, as it clearly wasn't produced as well as the USD/SDSU game was, so it was more difficult to get a feel for the players on the field. You didn't need a clear picture to tell Hunt was mowing down the Flames, as he pitched very efficiently, as a radio broadcast would have painted the picture just as well as his line score may suggest. I'm getting really psyched to see Hunt pitched a week from today at the Metrodome (against Brett Hunter to boot).

 

Onto the other performances, line scores only, of some of the other top pitchers in college baseball. Keep in mind it's early in the season, so there are a lot of 5 IP performances. There were also quite a few rainouts, stalling the '08 debuts of guys like Brett Hunter and Jacob Thompson. Zach Putnam apparently isn't Michigan's Friday starter to open the season, while Tim Murphy, Cole St. Clair and Cody Satterwhite are a few of the bigger named pitchers that will be going Saturday.

 

Aaron Crow: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 0 BB vs. UConn

 

Tyson Ross: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER (solo HR), 7 K, 1 BB vs. Kansas State

 

Lance Lynn: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 12 K (struck out the 1st 8 to open the game), 1 BB vs. Minnesota

 

Sophomore Kendal Volz may have something to say about not being a popular name being tossed around like Steve Strasburg is as a potential early '09 draft pick. He went 8 IP against Purdue today giving up 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB while striking out 10. Baylor overall is a team to keep an eye on with a ton of young talent.

[fewgoodcards]

i was really impressed with strasburg last night. i was expecting a raw guy with a big arm, but after that first inning he really showed very good control. next year's draft is extremely deep with college pitchers with guys like kyle gibson, alex white, strasburg, minor, volz, gavin brooks, andy oliver, and many more.

[molitor fan]

I will be going to Phoenix/Tempe for spring training from March 1-8, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Arizona State will be playing 5 games at home during that span, including a tourney that will include Michigan and Hawaii. Portland, New Mexico, and Massachusetts are also teams they will be playing during that stretch. Any pointers on the opponents and players that I might especially want to catch would be appreciated.

[colbyjack]

molitorfan, Arizona State is loaded with talent, particularly on offense. Ike Davis (1b), Brett Wallace (3b), Jason Kipnis (OF) and Petey Paramore © are the bigger attractions on that team. Michigan is the best of the bunch from their opponents in that stretch, with DH/RHP Zach Putnam having the greatest pro potential. Putnam hasn't pitched so far this year, which makes me think Michigan is going to use him on Sundays to take advantage of his bat on Friday and Saturday during a series. SS Jason Christian is also a very talented ballplayer.

 

Onto more results from the weekend, starting with a couple of nice shots of Brett Hunter and Tim Murphy courtesy of the Pepperdine and UCLA baseball homepages:

 

Brett Hunter: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 6 K, 1 BB vs. Wake Forest

http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics11/400/ST/STVDKDONRHVENXU.20080224025352.jpg

 

Tim Murphy: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 4 K, 3 BB (99 pitches) vs. Oklahoma

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ucla/sports/m-basebl/auto_tall_sport/1772869.jpeg

 

Other results from Saturday:

 

Christian Friedrich: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 11 K, 1 BB vs. Bucknell

 

Tanner Scheppers: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 10 K, 0 BB (84 pitches) vs. UC Davis

 

Cody Satterwhite: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R (0 ER), 3 K, 3 BB as Ole Miss smoked Minnesota 22-5

 

Jacob Thompson: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 6 K, 3 BB vs. Lehigh

 

Cole St. Clair: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 K, 0 BB (67 pitches) vs. Long Beach State

Vance Worley: 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 1 BB (88 pitches) vs. Rice

Game two of the Rice-Long Beach St. matchup had a couple of talented draft eligible pitches facing off, with St. Clair making a successful transition to the starting rotation. Head Coach Wayne Graham said that St. Clair would not go more than 4 innings heading into the weekend. LBSU took the series after claiming the first two games of the series, as game 1 ended 1-0 in extra innings when Danny Espinosa singled with the bases loaded. That matchup saw Ryan Berry and Andrew Liebel both pitch a gem (7 scoreless for Berry, 8 scoreless for Liebel).

[GagneCY03]

Pedro Alvarez wasn't in the starting lineup yesterday or today for Vandy. Have any info on a possible injury, CJ?

[fewgoodcards]

according to their announcers yesterday he has some forearm soreness and they were calling it very minor and strictly precautionary, but who really knows.

[colbyjack]

I thought Zach Putnam's absence on Friday was more interesting. I figured that the Wolverines decided to hold keep Putnam from pitching until Sunday's given the importance of his bat in their lineup, similar to how Rice handled Joe Savery a year ago. It turns out Putnam didn't pitch at all this weekend, but was in his usual cleanup spot as the DH in all three games in a sweep over Villanova.

 

I'm sure BA will have something on this, but if there's an injury concern I almost wonder why he was allowed to DH all three games, especially against a team like Villanova who Michigan handled easily. I there have been some concerns about Putnam since he didn't pitch at all last summer on the Cape and asked not to play a position on the field, making scouts wonder if he wants to even pitch or play defense, which is an odd stance to take for any player, especially one as athletically talented as Putnam is. Stay tuned...

[colbyjack]

Just to confirm afewgoodcards report, that what a few other sources are calling Alvarez' injury as well. It sounded as though he could have played.

 

Scott Green: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 10 K, 0 BB vs. Fairfield

 

Brett Jacobsen: 3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 5 K, 4 BB vs. ASU

 

ASU was on fire this weekend, sweeping the DeMarini tourney beating Miami (OH) 7-0 on Friday, Vanderbilt 18-6 on Saturday and Oregon State 11-0 today. Miami was 0-3, Vandy 2-1 and Oregon State 1-2.

 

The player of the weekend was Arizona State third baseman Brett Wallace, who homered twice on Saturday, a grand slam and a three-run shot, both of which reportedly were huge blasts. Wallace is also reported to be down 20 pounds from last year, which may have prompted the Sun Devils to put Wallace at the hot corner to open the season. He is still a 1B at the pro level, but he keeps on mashing picking up where he left off a year ago, and added another bomb today vs. Oregon State.

 

Oh yeah, he leads off for the Sun Devils. OBP fans will love this guy, and the way ASU plays for that matter.

 

Also keep an eye on Arizona State CF Jason Kipnis, who was one of my sleepers to open the season. He's a transfer from Kentucky, that had a good season in limited playing time a year ago (he was suspended and/or booted from the team I believe for off-the-field issues). He added a pair of HRs for the Sun Devils over the weekend and a triple, while walking five times in three games. He could put up some crazy numbers if he continues to hit behind Wallace, Petey Paramore and Ike Davis, but I wouldn't be surprised to see he and Wallace switch places in the batting order moving forward (although Pat Murphy likes Wallace in the leadoff spot).

[fewgoodcards]

Ryan Perry also went today. he fired 5.1 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts against georgia. he has a great arm, but he is all potential at this point as he has really done nothing in his career. he did throw 55 of 84 pitches for strikes, so that is somewhat encouraging.

 

Gordon Beckham went 7-13 with a double and a homer in the series. that is pretty impressive against a solid pitching staff like arizona.

 

two of the more impressive hitters of the weekend were south carolina teammates Justin Smoak and Reese Havens. Smoak went 5-12 with a double, 2 homers, and 5 walks. Havens went 7-14 and also had a pair of bombs. he drew 4 walks and maybe more impressively, didn't strike out once. Smoak is obviously considered one of the top talents in the draft, but Havens was also pretty highly regarded coming out of high school. he had a solid summer on the cape, and may be starting to figure it out with the bat.

[GagneCY03]

Miserable weekend for my boy Brandon Crawford. 0 for 8 with 3 strikeouts in yesterday's DH.

[fewgoodcards]

Miserable weekend for my boy Brandon Crawford. 0 for 8 with 3 strikeouts in yesterday's DH.

i wouldn't touch him with a 10 foot pole. he might even be worse than tyler greene. sure he has tools, but he can't hit a lick.

 

 

as for zach putnam, baseball america is reporting shoulder discomfort. that's not good at all. he's an example of a kid that should have taken the money out of high school.

[Madtown Bomber]

Congrats to UWM for looking as poor as possibly possible on opening weekend. Their top players all looked overmatched for the exception of Josh Groves, who had a termendous weekend. UWM saved their "number 1" Andy Hetebrueg, a 6'7" junior, for UNC Richmond and he preceeded to give up 3 HR's and a bunch of walks. From the 2 sources I have talked to that saw the games said that UWM's sole win was against Richmond, who would have a tough time beating many of the top WIAC schools. Said Hetebrueg struggled with control, and was topping out at 81-84. Said many of the Panthers looked overmatched and frustrated.

[colbyjack]

So much for precautionary measures, Pedro Alvarez has a broken bone in his hand and is expected to miss at least 6 weeks. He is listed as being out indefinitely.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=341

 

This scenario is an awful like the one Mark Teixeira faced his junior year in college when I believe he broke his foot or leg or ankle or something like that. He missed significant time, and still went fifth overall IIRC to the Rangers since there still was no question that the guy could hit.

[colbyjack]

The upcoming weekend is loaded with premier matchups due the number of high quality tournaments through the country. Local viewers can also enjoy a few key college matchups on TV. Here's the nuts and bolts:

 

Minute Maid Park College Classic

Rice, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Tennessee and Houston will all participate in this tourney, as this one is always well attended by the scouting community.

 

University of San Diego Tournament

San Diego, Missouri, Cal, San Diego State, Fresno State and Cal Poly participate in this tourney, which features four potential first-round pitchers in Brian Matusz, Aaron Crow, Tyson Ross and Tanner Scheppers as well as Steve Strasburg and the incredibly hot San Diego State Aztecs.

 

Dairy Queen Classic

Minnesota hosts Tulane, Pepperdine and TCU in this annual weekend tourney at the Metrodome. I'll be at Friday's Tulane-Pepperdine matchup to watch Shooter Hunt face Brett Hunter, a pair of potential first-round picks.

 

Coca-Cola Classic

There are actually two Coca-Cola Classics this weekend, one in Arizona where Arizona State and Michigan play a pair of games as well as one in South Carolina, where North Carolina, Winthrop, Kent State and St. John's will be participating.

 

Other interesting weekend matchups include Oregon State vs. Georgia, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Long Beach State vs. Wichita State and Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford.

 

The TV lineup:

 

Auburn @ Florida State

1:00 PM Saturday, March 1st

FSN Atlantic, channel 107 for TW Cable subscribers

 

This will present an opportunity for fans to get a good look at Buster Posey, who could be a legitimate candidate to be the Brewers first-round pick. Infielder Tony Delmonico is another interesting draft-eligible prospect while Auburn has a quartet of sluggers that includes juniors Mike Bianucci and Luke Greinke as well as freshmen Kevin Patterson and Hunter Morris.

 

UCLA vs. Bethune Cookman

USC vs. Southern

7:00 and 10:00 PM, Saturday March 1st

ESPN2

 

These games are part of the Urban Invitational in Compton, CA. The UCLA game should give college fans the opportunity to see LHP Tim Murphy on the mound who could sneak into the first or sandwich rounds. UCLA is loaded with draft-eligible talent including SS Brandon Crawford, 3B Jermaine Curtis and C Ryan Babineau as well as a big bat for the '09 draft, Gabe Cohen.

 

USC has a pair of sophomores that are expected to be taken in the first round of the '09 draft, SS Grant Green and C Robert Stock.

[GagneCY03]

Terrible news on Alvarez. Hope he comes back and rakes.

 

I'll be tuning into the Urban Invitational this weekend. Hopefully Brandon Crawford will have a better showing. Also interested in seeing Stock and Green.

[TooLiveBrew]

One that didn't get mentioned this weekend is the Papé Grand Slam:

Oregon State hosts Georgia in a clash of power-conference squads

 

 

Fri. 2/29 (6p / 8p Central)

 

Sat. 3/1 (1p / 3p) -- TV: FSN NW

 

Sun. 3/2 (12p / 2p)

 

 

I'm extremely psyched about this, as I literally just noticed the marquee display at PGE Park here in Portland on my way home from work. I hope to go to all 3 games. I wish I could find updated info on expected SP, but haven't been able to turn anything up. If anyone *cough - colbyjack - cough* has better info, please update (mods feel free to edit).

 

Maybe once OSU wins a national championship or two, they'll get a little more love on BF.net. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[colbyjack]

Hey TLB, re-read my post above and you'll find this:

 

Other interesting weekend matchups include Oregon State vs. Georgia, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Long Beach State vs. Wichita State and Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford.

 

Check out either Oregon State's or Georgia's baseball page to see if they have a weekend preview in which the starters are listed. If not I would suggest either reading your local paper or checking the box scores from last weekend's Georgia and Oregon State games to see who went Friday-Saturday-Sunday. In college baseball, the weekend starters usually stay the same from week-to-week.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

I was at today's Tulane vs. Pepperdine game at the Metrodome today, a matchup that featured two potential first-round picks facing one another, Tulane's Shooter Hunt vs. Pepperdine's Brett Hunter. I'll have more details later this weekend/early next week, along with some pictures, but I can tell you that Hunt sat in the 93-94 range through 6 innings, while Hunter started in the 94-95 range and was touching 97 by the 6th inning. I was very impressed by Hunter, as he got better as the game progressed, which is saying something for a guy that has previously been used in short relief.

 

Neither starter factored into the decision, a game Pepperdine squeezed out in the late innings 4-2. 4-2 seems like a high score, as there wasn't much offense in this contest.

[GagneCY03]

Thanks for the notes on Hunt and Hunter, CJ.

 

Pretty amazing day for Baylor OF Aaron Miller. going 5 for 5 with 3 HR and a double. He's already ranked as one of the top sophomores in the country and should be a very high draft pick in 2009.

[GagneCY03]

Sophomore RHP Charles Brewer just lost a no-hitter in the 7th inning. His first start for UCLA will be a memorable one.

[TooLiveBrew]

Hey TLB, re-read my post above and you'll find this:

Other interesting weekend matchups include Oregon State vs. Georgia, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Long Beach State vs. Wichita State and Cal State Fullerton vs. Stanford.[/i]

Check out either Oregon State's or Georgia's baseball page to see if they have a weekend preview in which the starters are listed. If not I would suggest either reading your local paper or checking the box scores from last weekend's Georgia and Oregon State games to see who went Friday-Saturday-Sunday. In college baseball, the weekend starters usually stay the same from week-to-week.

 

Dang - sorry, cj... should've known you'd never miss that! As for the 'check the teams' sites', I did before originally posting that. Honestly, I went all around the outside of the park today asking everyone from random fans, ticket agents, the will-call booth, ushers... even the Beavers' sportsradio guy. No one knew who the SP matchup was. The best I got was from the radio guy, who told me that Casey (OSU's coach) is notoriously close-to-the-vest (Belichick-ey) with that kind of thing. Not to mention that the Beavers' last matchup against ASU saw OSU burn up something like 6 arms.

 

And then on top of that, it was Portland being Portland... after 8+ consecutive days of nothing but blue skies & sunshine, the rain rolled in at appx. 4pm local time, and didn't let up much - if at all - well past the scheduled 6p start time. So I skipped the game Friday night - didn't feel like getting soaked. Game tomorrow is on FSN NW (1p Pacific time/3p Central), so I'll be able to see it no matter what. Sunday I'm planning on attending rain or shine.

 

Again, sorry for being ignorant of your full post, colbyjack. I hope I can provide some useful (or at least not useless) observation(s) from the remaining two games.

[colbyjack]

TLB, you're not being ignorant, and no need to apologize.

 

Seriously trying to determine the starting pitchers for a weekend game or entire series isn't that difficult to do. I believe last weekend Mike Stutes went on Friday for Oregon State while Trevor Holder went Friday for Georgia. That would lead me to believe Jorge Reyes is going today, and I think freshman RHP Greg Peavey is their Sunday starter (IIRC, he got shelled last weekend). You may see weekend starters get shuffled around from time to time, but usually deeper into the season than just one week.

 

And another reason people may not know what the pitching matchups are is that they don't care. Many college fans aren't fans of the sport for the names of the players on the field, since those names change each and every year.

 

If you haven't checked it out, be sure to stop by Baseball America as their college editor, Aaron Fitt, is in San Diego this weekend to cover that tournament, with blog reports on Brian Matusz, Steve Strasburg, Aaron Crow, Tanner Scheppers and someone I'm probably forgeting about. Between those reports and mine on Hunter/Hunt, you have word on almost all of the first-round eligible college starters eligible for this year's draft.

 

Here's a picture of Brett Hunter (left) and Shooter Hunt in action from yesterday's game:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/colbyjack/hunter-v-hunt.jpg

[TooLiveBrew]

I believe last weekend Mike Stutes went on Friday for Oregon State while Trevor Holder went Friday for Georgia. That would lead me to believe Jorge Reyes is going today, and I think freshman RHP Greg Peavey is their Sunday starter (IIRC, he got shelled last weekend).

 

Yea - Stutes went last night, and went 5 2/3, with 8 K / 3 BB, 4 R (all ER) on 93 pitches. Holder only lasted 4 2/3 with 5 R (1 ER). He walked 2, struck out 1, and only gave up 6 H... but 3 E by his defense helped allow in a bunch of runs.

 

"The teams played in front of a crowd of 7,456, which is believed to be the largest home crowd in Oregon State history."

That's from OSU's website recap of Friday night. The crowd today was over 10,000 - a new Pac-10 single game attendance record. Game 2 is well over by now; I'm not sure why there's no info available online. UGA was up 10-5 in the 9th... when I just couldn't take any more of the cool, wet day. UGA went off for 7 in the top of the first, and coasted from there.