Oct. 23, 2011

Lineup Card

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

Oct. 17-23, 2011

Cal State Fullerton completed a two-game fall scrimmage sweep at Vanderbilt. Matt Chapman had a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the game and Michael Lorenzen’s sacrifice fly later in the frame helped the Titans post a 9-3 win on Sunday. Lorenzen drove in three and Carlos Lopez had four hits and two RBI as Fullerton scored four in the seventh and four in the eighth to take the win. Grahamm Weist allowed two hits in five innings of relief with five strikeouts to earn the victory. Tony Kemp had a double and a run for the Commodores. In Saturday’s 10-8 win, Greg Velazquez had two hits and knocked in three, while Austin Kingsolver added three hits and two RBI for the Titans. Anthony Gomez had two hits and drove in a pair for Vanderbilt.

Beau Faulk and Austin Flores both had three hits, while Flores drove in three to lead Nicholls past Millsaps 13-3 Saturday in exhibition action in Thibodaux, La. Ryan Zemke went 4 for 6 with a run for the Majors. Patrick Schreve fanned three of the nine batters he faced for the Colonels.

The Colonial Athletic Association 2012 and 2013 tournaments will be held at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Va., the home of the James Madison Dukes. The tourney returns to a six-team double elimination format. The 2012 event will run from May 23-26 and will be the first CAA tourney in the state of Virginia since 1994. The past 17 had been held in North Carolina, at Grainger Stadium in Kinston (1995-99), Coy Tillett, Sr. Memorial Field in Manteo (2000-03) and Brooks Field in Wilmington (2004-11).

Kansas State will start its five-game Fall World Series on Oct. 30 and play through Nov. 4. The games at Tointon Family Stadium are open to the public.

San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano has received a six-year contract extension with the Dons. Giarratano led USF to its second West Coast Conference title in 2011 and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. This past season, he was named WCC Coach of the Year for the third time. Giarratano has a record of 368-370 in 13 seasons with the Dons. He is six wins from Dante Benedetti’s record for career victories. Giarratano also received recognition this past summer for donating a kidney to his father.

Wake Forest has added Jim McGonigle and T.J. Baxter to its staff. McGonigle will be the volunteer assistant for the Demon Deacons. He played under WFU head coach Tom Walter at New Orleans before playing his final year at Texas State. Baxter will be the director of baseball operations. He also played for the Privateers from 2005-08. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 24th round of the 2008 MLB Draft and spent three seasons in their organization.

Members of the Fresno State baseball team visited Red Bank Elementary School on Wednesday to talk to the students about living drug and alcohol-free lifestyles. Assistant coach Pat Waer joined senior shortstop Pat Hutcheson and junior catcher Austin Wynns participated in the Red Ribbon Rally at the school.

The William and Mary baseball team volunteered at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walk this past Saturday at Yorktown High School, which raised more than $47,000. The players and coaches set up tables, chairs, tents and signs on the course. During the event, the Tribe greeted participants as they finished and manned a popcorn stand, ice cream truck and dunk tank.

Former Boston manager Terry Francona will be the featured guest at the 2012 Tennessee Baseball Leadoff Banquet on Jan. 18 at the Knoxville Convention Center. A reception will be at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Francona led the Red Sox to a pair of World Series titles over the past eight seasons. He was the 1980 Golden Spikes Award winner while at Arizona, leading the Wildcats to a national championship. Francona played 10 seasons in the Major Leagues.

UCLA will add 580 chairback seats at Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium, raising the seat total to 1,820. The renovation project should be finished in December.

Texas Tech will begin its annual Red & Black series on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Rip Griffin Park. The five-game series will continue next week. All contests are free and open to the public.

Oklahoma will start its best-of-five Red-White Series on Monday, Oct. 24, at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Games will continue next week and conclude on Nov. 1. All contests are open to the public at no charge.

The annual ULM Maroon & Gold Blood Series begins on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Warhawk Field. Games will continue on Sunday and next weekend. All games are open to the public and free of charge. The losing team of the series will donate blood to an area blood bank.

Clemson will have three scrimmages at Doug Kingsmore Stadium next weekend, Oct. 28-30: Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The games are open to the public and admission is free.

Former Miami (Fla.) baseball player Tomas “Tommy” Gil passed away this past Sunday at the age of 50. He played for the Hurricanes under head coach Ron Fraser from 1978-81 and graduated in 1981.

(photo courtesy of Fresno State Media Relations Office)