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2010 Auburn Regional
Capsules by Barrett Neale, Michael
Perry, Matt Mullen, Andrew Woods, Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton
1. Auburn Tigers
Auburn, Alabama
At-large bid from SEC
2010 record: 20-10,
40-19 (first in SEC West)
Head coach: John
Pawlowski (Clemson, 1996)
Record at school:
71-44, 2 years
Overall record:
409-238-1, 11 years
Assistant coaches:
Scott Foxhall, Link Jarrett, Ty Megahee
Team offense: .348 BA,
538 R, 117 HR, .585 SLG%, .424 OBP, 61-91 SB
Team pitching: 4.78
ERA, 527.1 IP, 571 H, 200 BB, 445 K
Top hitters: Hunter
Morris (.392/21/70/17 2B), Dan Gamache (.387/7/34/14 2B), Trent
Mummey (.371/15/47/10 2B), Ryan Jenkins (.365/7/37/12 2B), Brian
Fletcher (.359/20/70/15 2B), Justin Fradejas (.347/1/26/14-21
SB), Kevin Patterson (.307/16/31)
Top pitchers: Austin
Hubbard (5-2, 9 SV, 1.96 ERA, 41.1 IP, 34 H, 21 BB, 54 K), Grant
Dayton (8-2, 4.33, 87.1 IP, 94 H, 18 BB, 60 K), Slade Smith
(3-0, 4.39, 53.1 IP, 61 H, 11 BB, 38 K), Cole Nelson (6-3, 5.07
ERA, 65.2 IP, 67 H, 28 BB, 64 K), Cory Luckie (6-4, 5.68 ERA, 65
IP, 74 H, 20 BB, 53 K)
Last NCAA Appearance:
2005 (2-2 at Tallahassee Regional)
Notes: Auburn is making
its 18th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2005. The
Tigers have made one Super Regional appearance (1999). Auburn
has made four trips to the College World Series, the last coming
in 1997. It took two years for coach John Pawlowski to get
Auburn back to the NCAA Tournament. The former rising coaching
star at College of Charleston has the Tigers hosting a Regional
for the first time since 2003. Auburn was 27-7 at home this
year. The Tigers have topped 100 homers in each of the past two
seasons and boast one of the most lethal lineups in the country
- they hit .348, slug .585 as a team and average 9.1 runs a
game. Three players: Hunter Morris (.752), Trent Mummey (.788)
and Kevin Patterson (.789) slug over .700. Morris, the SEC
Player of the Year, had 23 homers and 82 RBI his first two years
and has 21 homers and 70 RBI as a junior. Mummey has 34 career
homers in three years. Brian Fletcher has 47 career homers and
is the son of former major leaguer Scott Fletcher. Starter Corey
Luckie, a CBI journalist, missed all of 2009 with an arm injury.
Starter Grant Dayton has led the team in strikeouts the past two
years and is four behind fellow starter Cole Nelson this year.
Closer Austin Hubbard has turned into one of the best relievers
in the SEC, saving 21 games the past two years after struggling
as a part-time starter his first two years. Opponents hit .218
off of him.
2. Clemson Tigers
Clemson, South Carolina
At-large bid from ACC
2010 record: 18-12,
38-21 (second in Atlantic Division)
Head coach: Jack
Leggett (Maine, 1976)
Record at school:
762-352-1, 17 years
Overall record:
1139-642-1, 31 years
Assistant coaches: Tom
Riginos, Dan Pepicelli, Michael Johnson
Team offense: .305 BA,
515 R, 81 HR, .491 SLG%, .407 OB%, 98/120 SB
Team pitching: 4.81
ERA, 528 IP, 577 H, 202 BB, 409 K
Top hitters: Kyle
Parker (.364/19/57/.709 SLG), Brad Miller (.373/7/37/.483 OB%),
John Hinson (.324/12/62/22-26 SB), Mike Freeman (.328/7/51),
Jeff Schaus (.311/15/75), Wilson Boyd (.295/5/41), Will Lamb
(.291/3/34)
Top pitchers: Casey
Harman (6-2, 5.15, 91.1 IP, 86 H, 30 BB, 78 K), Scott Weismann
(6-2, 5.47, 79 IP, 86 H, 29 BB, 63 K), David Haselden (4-4,
4.15, 22 SV, 34.2 IP, 40 H, 12 BB, 28 K), Dominic Leone (2-1,
4.69, 48 IP, 58 H, 17 BB, 34 K), Alex Frederick (6-2, 4.01, 2 SV,
51.2 IP, 52 H, 25 BB, 43 K), Tomas Cruz (3-2, 5.40, 3 SV, 35 IP,
44 H, 13 BB, 22 K)
Last NCAA appearance:
2009 (3-2 at Clemson Regional, 0-2 at Tempe Super Regional)
Notes: The Tigers
advance to the postseason for the 35th time, and the 23rd of the
past 24 years. They have not been to the College World Series
since 2006, and redshirt senior Wilson Boyd is the only
remaining player from that team. Clemson, winner of the ACC’s
Atlantic Division, is the only school in conference history to
become division champions in football and baseball during the
same academic year. Coach Jack Leggett can use his personal
experience to lead his team through the postseason – he was a
captain on the 1976 University of Maine College World Series
team and also played three years of football for the Black
Bears. Representing Clemson on the All-ACC Baseball Team were
junior outfielder Kyle Parker, a first-team selection, and
senior second baseman Mike Freeman and junior outfielder Jeff
Schaus on the second team. Parker – whose father, Carl, played
six seasons in the NFL – also plays quarterback for the Tigers’
football team, and his grand slam on April 21 made him the first
Division I athlete to throw 20 touchdown passes and hit 15 home
runs. He needs only one more long ball to reach his goal of 20
touchdown passes and 20 home runs. Schaus is from a family of
college athletes: his parents went to Canisius, where Michael
played football and Carolyn played basketball, and his sister,
Kristen, struck out a school-record 833 batters from 2005-08 as
Princeton’s softball pitcher.
3. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Automatic bid-Won Conference USA Tournament
2010 record: 14-10,
35-22 (second in C-USA)
Head coach: Scott Berry
(Southwest Missouri State, 1986)
Record at school:
35-22, first year
Overall record: 220-80,
5 years
Assistant coaches: Chad
Caillet, Michael Federico, Richy Harrelson,
Team offense: .323 BA,
488 R, 71 HR, .498 SLG %, .422 OB %, 50/69 SB
Team pitching: 5.73
ERA, 501.0 IP, 595 H, 246 BB, 367 K
Top hitters: B.A.
Vollmuth (.378/18/68), Taylor Walker (.365/7/53), Adam
Doleac (.362/6/53), Tyler Koelling (.324/4/36), Mark Ellis
(.318/7/40), Joey Archer (.297/6/38), Travis Graves (.296/4/30),
Kameron Brunty (.293/9/37)
Top pitchers: Todd
McInnis (6-5, 3.15, 94.1 IP, 82 H, 33 BB, 86 K), Scott Copeland
(11-0, 3.38, 90.2 IP, 86 H, 23 BB, 64 K), Jeff Stanley (3-0,
6.75, 30.2 IP, 38 H, 19 BB, 20 K), Geoffrey Thomas (1-5, 7.57,
44.0 IP, 54 H, 36 BB, 30 K), Collin Cargill (3-2, 9 SV, 1.86,
38.2 IP, 39 H, 10 BB, 27 K)
Last NCAA appearance:
2009 (3-1 at Atlanta Regional, 2-0 at Gainesville Super
Regional, 0-2 at College World Series)
Notes: Southern Miss
trumped Rice with the clutch pitching of Scott Copeland, who
carried the Golden Eagles to their first C-USA title since 2003.
Southern Miss will make its eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA
tourney under first-year head coach Scott Berry. Last season the
Golden Eagles made it to Omaha, but dropped their first two
contests. B.A. Vollmuth leads the team at the plate; another
true gem of the team is Copeland, who will look to defend his
spotless 11-0 mark. Former Southern Miss football standout Brett
Favre told the team that if it returns to the College World
Series, he would return to the NFL.
4.
Jacksonville State Gamecocks
Jacksonville, Alabama
Automatic bid – won Ohio Valley Tournament
2010 record: 15-8,
32-24 (second in OVC)
Head coach: Jim Case
(Louisiana Tech, 1983)
Record at school:
289-233, 9 years
Overall record:
289-233, 9 years
Assistant coaches:
Steve Gillispie, Travis Janssen
Team offense: .316 BA,
456 R, 73 HR, 91-101 SB
Team pitching: 6.60
ERA, 475.2 IP, 604 H, 228 BB, 370 K
Top hitters: Bert Smith
(.371/0/39/34-38 SB), Todd Cunningham (.352/10/39/16 2B/21-23
SB), Daniel Adamson (.348/13/53/12-12 SB), Andrew Edge
(.330/11/62/17 2B), Steven Leach (.326/3/39), Blake Seguin
(.306/0/23/11-11 SB), Jake Sharrock (.291/2/31/14 2B), Kyle
Bluestein (.287/12/44), Sam Eberle (.277/16/60/16 2B)
Top pitchers: Alex
Jones (1-6, 6 SV, 3.60 ERA, 50 IP, 37 H, 37 BB, 60 K), Austin
Lucas (6-0, 4.97 ERA, 58 IP, 57 H, 23 BB, 43 K), Tanner Freshour
(6-1, 1 SV, 5.62 ERA, 49.2 IP, 54 H, 22 BB, 27 K), Todd Hornsby
(4-1, 5 SV, 5.63 ERA, 46.1 IP, 61 H, 23 BB, 32 K), Jordan
Beistline (3-3, 6.91 ERA, 54.2 IP, 76 H, 13 BB, 36 K)
Last NCAA appearance:
2006 (0-2 in Tuscaloosa Regional)
Notes: The Gamecocks
played at Auburn on May 18, falling 9-7. Jacksonville State is
making its third NCAA Tournament appearance and is looking for
its first win. The second-seeded Gamecocks went 3-0 to win the
OVC tourney and stretched their win streak to six. Bert Smith
had three hits and three runs in the 10-8 title game against
top-seeded Tennessee Tech. It was the third OVC tourney title
for JSU. Smith and Todd Cunningham were named first team All-OVC,
while Daniel Adamson was second team and Hunter Rivers was named
to the All-Freshman team.
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