Sept. 5

Lineup Card

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

September 1-5, 2010

Chris Pollard has received a three-year contract extension as head coach at Appalachian State. He has one year remaining on his contract and is inked through the 2014 season. Pollard has posted a record of 170-165-2 in six seasons with the Mountaineers, including 30-win seasons each of the past four years. ASU was 38-18-1 this past season, its second-highest win total in program history.

Pacific has named Chris McCormack its director of baseball operations and Keith Komeiji as its volunteer assistant. McCormack has been the volunteer assistant for the Tigers for the past two years. Komeiji has been hitting coach at Hawaii for the past five seasons. He will be a hitting instructor and work with the catchers. Former Tiger Ramon Glasgow will be an undergraduate assistant. He played in the Pacific outfield in 2005-06.

Former Seton Hall head coach Mike Sheppard, Sr. has been elected to the American Baseball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame. Former Oklahoma State skipper Gary Ward will also be inducted on Jan. 7, 2011, at the ABCA Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Sheppard led the Pirates for 31 years, from 1973-2003, and registered 28 winning seasons. He was named Big East Coach of the Year three times (1985, ’87, ’89) and twice took the Pirates to the College World Series (1974, ’75). Sheppard is a member of the Halls of Fame for Seton Hall, Seton Hall Prep and Newark, N.J. He had his jersey No. 17 retired at Seton Hall in 2004.

Former UNC Wilmington catcher Chris Hatcher has been elevated to the major leagues with the Florida Marlins., the second Seahawk to reach the big leagues this season. John Raynor opened the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. A fifth-round pick of the Marlins in 2006, Hatcher split time this season with Double A Jacksonville (Fla.) and Triple A New Orleans. Hatcher hit .324 in three seasons at UNCW with 16 home runs and 105 RBI. He is the seventh Seahawk to reach the major leagues.

Former Long Beach State infielder Danny Espinosa was promoted to the major leagues by the Washington Nationals. He is the 15th former Dirtbag to reach the big leagues this season and 37th in school history. Espinosa started the season at Double A Harrisburg and moved up to Triple A Syracuse. He was a three-time All-Big West performer at LBSU with a career batting average of .303 with 11 homers and 98 RBI.

Former Tulane All-American Brian Bogusevic has reached the major leagues with the Houston Astros, the 17th player in program history to reach the big leagues. A first-round pick of the Astros in 2005, Bogusevic was drafted as a pitcher but has moved to the outfield. In four minor league seasons, Bogusevic has 24 home runs, 142 RBI and is 54 of 59 in stolen base attempts.

The Houston Astros also promoted former Connecticut standout Brian Esposito to the major leagues after 11 seasons in the minor leagues. The 31-year-old catcher played one inning in 2007 for the St. Louis Cardinals but did not get an at-bat. Esposito batted .225 at Triple A Round Rock this season with 11 runs and 18 RBI.

Former USC outfielder Lucas Duda was called up to the major leagues by the New York Mets, the 97th Trojan to reach the big leagues. He was a seventh-round pick of the Mets in 2007. Duda started the season in Double A Binghamton before batting .314 with 17 homers in 70 games in Triple A Buffalo. He hit .275 in three seasons at USC with 11 dingers and 81 RBI.

Tennessee will participate in the Light the Night Walk for the fourth consecutive year. The fund-raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be held on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. on the UT campus. The team will collect donations at its Orange and White World Series games this fall.