July 12, 2009

Lineup Card

Lineup Card is a new feature on CollegeBaseballInsider.com, highlighting notes from around college baseball.

July 6-12, 2009

LSU outfielder/DH Blake Dean (right) will return for his senior season. Dean was taken in the 10th round of the MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins. He will have surgery on his left shoulder to correct some instability. Dean was first team all-SEC this past season for the national champion Tigers. He batted .328 with 17 home runs and a team-high 71 RBI.

Cliff Godwin has been promoted to associate head coach at UCF. Godwin enters his second season with the Knights as recruiting coordinator and hitting coach under head coach Terry Rooney.

LSU senior right-hander Nolan Cain signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Tigers and is pitching for the Lakeland (Fla.) Flying Tigers of the Class A Advanced Florida State League. Sean Ochinko, a catcher and first baseman, signed with Toronto after being selected in the 11th round by the Blue Jays. He has been assigned to the Auburn (N.Y.) Doubledays of the Class A New York-Penn League.

Head coach Greg Frady received a five-year contract from Georgia State. Frady just completed his third season with the Panthers, leading Georgia State to a school-record 39 victories. The Panthers won their first Colonial Athletic Association title and earned their first NCAA Tournament bid. Frady has a record of 98-77 in three seasons at Georgia State.

Brian Shubsda of The Citadel has signed a free-agent contract with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League. Shubsda played in the outfield and behind the plate for the Bulldogs. His professional career will likely be limited to this one season, as he signed a contract earlier this year to be commissioned in the United States Marine Corps. Shubsda is scheduled to report to Quantico, Va., for training in October.

Link Jarrett (left) has been named Director of Player Development at Auburn. He will coordinate and implement the practice plan for the student-athletes both on and off the field. Jarrett will assist with all recruiting efforts. He will also work with the hitters and help defensively with the catchers. Jarrett had been hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for the past four seasons at East Carolina.

Jeff Jones of William & Mary signed a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Angels. He was sent to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League. Jones batted .347 this past season with 13 doubles, four home runs, 31 RBI and 23 steals.

Kansas State right-hander A.J. Morris has signed with Washington. He was taken with the first pick of the fourth round of the MLB draft by the Nationals. Morris will start with the Gulf Coast League Nationals before going to the Hagerstown Suns, the Class A affiliate of the Nats. Morris was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year this past season, setting school records with 14 wins, 100 strikeouts, 116.1 innings pitched and 16 games started.

USF received the Big East Team Academic Excellence Award for baseball, recognizing its efforts in the classroom this past year. Head coach Lelo Prado and his staff instituted rules where if players missed tutoring, they missed practice, and if they missed class, they missed games. The Bulls compiled a team GPA of 3.20 in the fall and 3.21 in the spring.

West Virginia outfielder Austin Markel has signed a free-agent contract with the Florida Marlins. He is expected to play with the Jamestown Jammers of the Class A New York-Penn League. Markel hit .326 in four seasons with the Mountaineers with 28 home runs, 156 RBI and 75 runs. As a senior, Markel batted .357 with 15 homers and 56 RBI.

Kentucky shortstop Chris Wade has signed with the Florida Marlins. The sophomore was taken in the 11th round of the MLB draft. Wade was second team all-SEC in 2009, hitting .313 with 10 doubles, six home runs, 42 RBI and 14 for 17 on stolen bases.

ULM has hired Lantz Wheeler as pitching coach. Wheeler was an assistant coach the past four seasons at Lipscomb. He played at Paducah Community College and Morehead State, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science in 1998.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals is the first former Virginia Cavalier to make the All-Star Team in the Major Leagues.

Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers is the first former VCU Ram to make the All-Star Team in the Major Leagues.

(action photo by Jimmy Jones, head shot courtesy of Auburn & ECU Media Relations Offices)