Sept. 6, 2009

Lineup Card

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

Sept. 1-6, 2009

Kansas State has given head coach Brad Hill (left) a new four-year contract through the 2013 season. He will have a base salary of $160,000 and could earn up to an additional $157,500 in incentives. The Wildcats had their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009, the sixth campaign under Hill. KSU set school records with 43 wins, 14 Big 12 victories, 675 hits, 149 steals and 453 strikeouts. Hill was named 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year and ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

CBI co-founder Sean Ryan was quoted in a story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch concerning composite bats and the NCAA’s decision to ban them. Click here to read the story.

Matt Argyropoulos had a two-run homer in the third as Washington State defeated the Cougar Alumni 6-2. Mike Kinkade (1992-95) went deep in the first for the alums. He finished 3 for 3 and added an RBI double in the seventh. Patrick Claussen had a two-run single in the fourth for WSU, one of his two hits.

Seniors Brian Baudinet, Mike Donato and Jared Freni have been named captains at Massachusetts. Centerfielder Baudinet will be a captain for the second straight season. He started all 53 games in 2009 and led the Minutemen with 54 runs and 35 walks. Donato started all 53 contests in left field this past season, batting .336 with 73 hits, 13 doubles, five homers and 40 RBI. He set a school record with 217 at bats. Freni, a right-handed pitcher, started a school-record 15 games in 2009 with 56 strikeouts in 73.2 innings.

George Fisher has been named the volunteer assistant at William & Mary. He will assist with the pitching staff. Fisher has been an assistant for the past seven seasons at Averett University, his alma mater.

Georgia State head coach Greg Frady, who is also head coach of the German National Team, headed to Munich for the Baseball World Cup. Germany will play exhibition games against Great Britain in Stuttgart and Heidenheim. Germany will face China, Venezuela and the United States in Group E play in Regensburg, Germany. The top two teams from the group will advance to the second round.

Brennan Dobbins of UCF was one of four student-athletes to receive the 2009 Conference USA Sportsmanship Award, joining Andre Anderson of Tulane football, Abby Bools of East Carolina golf and Aaron Ammons of Southern Miss track and field. A junior pitcher, Dobbins is the vice president for the UCF Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He is two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll. The right-hander has 28 appearances in his first two seasons with the Knights.

Former Rice standout Lance Berkman will be inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Berkman played for the Owls from 1995-97 and led Rice to its first College World Series appearance. He is a member of the Houston Astros, having surpassed 300 home runs, 1,500 hits and 1,000 RBI during his major league career.  

The Texas A&M baseball team held its fourth annual Paint-a-thon at the home of Ms. Mary Weir in College Station. The Aggies painted the exterior of the house, cleared brush, installed a front garden and set a stone walkway.

The second of four phases of renovations has begun at Tennessee’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium. It includes a new club area and MVP seating behind home plate. Permanent chair-back seats will be added throughout the main grandstand and the exterior will be faced with brick. A batting cage facility will be will be added down the right-field line and the visitor’s locker room will be renovated. All work is scheduled to be completed prior to the start of the 2010 season. A photo gallery is available at utsports.com.

Pitcher Cory Arcement is one of five former student-athletes to join the Nicholls State University Athletic Hall of Fame. The quintet will be honored prior to the Colonels’ football home opener on Sept. 12 against Duquesne. Arcement played from 1995-98 and was first-team All-Southland Conference as a senior, leading the league with 10 wins. He helped Nicholls win the 1998 Southland Tournament and earn an NCAA Regional bid. Arcement posted a 25-18 career record with 266 strikeouts in 318 innings.

Former South Alabama standout Luis Gonzalez announced his retirement from a 19-year career in major league baseball. Gonzalez played with the Jaguars from 1986-88. He will join the Arizona Diamondbacks as special advisor to the club president and CEO. USA trains in the Luis Gonzalez Indoor Hitting Facility. The number 5 of Gonzalez is one of two retired numbers in USA baseball history and the only former player to be so honored. The five-time All-Star played with the Astros, Cubs, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Marlins. Gonzalez had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series for Arizona. 

(photo courtesy of KSU Media Relations Office)