August 15

Lineup Card

Lineup Card is a feature highlighting notes from around college baseball.

August 9-15, 2010

Ash Lawson (left) has been hired as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Tennessee. He replaces Bradley LeCroy, who resigned earlier this week. A native of Athens, Tenn., Lawson is a former San Diego Padres regional crosschecker. He was an area scout for five years for Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina. Lawson was interim head coach at Bluefield College in 1999 and was head coach at Tennessee Wesleyan College from 1999-2004. Lawson was conference and regional coach of the year in 2003. He graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan in 1996 and was a volunteer assistant at Elon from 1996-98.

President Barack Obama will hold a reception on Sept. 13 to honor several NCAA national championship teams, including the baseball team from South Carolina.

The Southern Illinois baseball program will hold a Wrigley Field Rooftop Fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 5, as the Cubs host the New York Mets.

Tim LaVigne has been named pitching coach at Old Dominion. The Virginia Beach native played 11 seasons in the minor leagues after a standout career as a shortstop and reliever at Virginia. He was drafted in the 32nd round of the 2000 draft by New York Mets and also pitched in the New York Yankees and Houston Astros organizations.

Ohio State will hold a baseball alumni gathering on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeye football team will play Ohio at 12 noon and baseball alums will tailgate prior to the game at 11 a.m. The alumni game and home run derby will follow the football game. A golf outing is planned for 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Golf Club of Dublin.

Wright State will hold walk-on tryouts on Monday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m. at Nischwitz Stadium. Potential players must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours, must be registered and cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse and must have documentation of a physical. Contact associate head coach Greg Lovelady if interested.

Washington State will hold its annual alumni weekend Sept. 10-11. A golf tournament will be held on Friday, Sept. 10, at 8 a.m. at Palouse Ridge Golf Club. Lunch will be at 1 p.m. with a baseball scrimmage at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 11, tailgating will begin at 1 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field prior to the football game against Montana State at Martin Stadium.

William and Mary will hold the BB&T Tribe Club Invitational at the Golden Horseshoe Green Course and the Tribe Baseball Outing at the Yorktown Course at Williamsburg National on Oct. 1. Contact assistant coach Jad Prachniak for more information.

Valparaiso has added three to its 2010 recruiting class: junior middle infielder Bobby Martin (Crystal Lake, Ill./Heartland CC), freshman outfielder Chris Manning (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) and junior pitcher/utility player Kevin Wild (Brown Deer, Wisc./Madison College).

Sophomore outfielder Chad Hinshaw has been named the recipient of the inaugural Stephen Heaton Endowed Scholarship at Illinois State. Hinshaw batted .299 in 55 games as a freshman with an on-base percentage of .424. He had 22 steals and was hit by 15 pitches. Hinshaw posted a GPA of 4.00 in the fall and 3.79 in the spring. The scholarship is named for the late Steve Heaton, a former baseball player at ISU who dedicated his life to teaching business and coaching baseball.

Brad Hill has received a new five-year contract at Kansas State through the 2015 season. The average annual salary is $235,000 with a retention incentive of $125,000 if Hill remains at KSU through the life of the contract. Hill could also earn an additional $172,500 in performance incentives. After setting a program record with 43 wins in 2009, the Wildcats posted 37 victories in 2010, Hill’s seventh campaign in Manhattan. KSU earned its second straight at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Hill has produced 37 Academic All-Big 12 selections, including seven in 2010.

Pittsburgh has added Tom Lipari as pitching coach and Kyle Cheesebrough as volunteer assistant. For the past three seasons, Lipari was pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Youngstown State. A player at New Orleans, Lipari also coached at Michigan State and Morningside College. Cheesebrough was at Louisville for the past three seasons as a player and student assistant. He coached first base, worked with the catchers and helped with the Cardinal offense.

Former Oregon State standout Darwin Barney has been called up to the major leagues by the Chicago Cubs. The infielder helped the Beavers win College World Series titles in 2006 and 2007.

Johnny Thomas has signed with Middle Tennessee. The middle infielder played at New Orleans in 2010 and will have three years of eligibility remaining. Thomas will not have to sit out as UNO is transitioning to Division III. Thomas batted .269 with eight doubles and 15 RBI in 42 games this past season. He was named UNO Male Newcomer Athlete of the Year.

Right-hander Taylor Cole has transferred to BYU for his sophomore season after serving a mission. A native of Las Vegas, Cole was 10-3 with a 1.37 ERA in 2008 at CSN with 87 strikeouts in 92 innings. He served his mission in Toronto, Ontario.

(photo courtesy of Tennessee Media Relations Office)