Jan. 8, 2012

Lineup Card

 

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

 

Jan. 1-8, 2012

 

Brandon Harris will be one of eight former William and Mary standouts to be inducted into the 2012 Tribe Athletics Hall of Fame on April 14. Harris was taken in the fifth round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs and has played seven seasons in the major leagues. Harris batted .363 during his collegiate career with 36 homers, 59 doubles and 160 RBI. He helped the Tribe win the CAA Championship in 2001 by batting .390 with 18 homers, 20 doubles and 69 RBI.

 

Missouri State will hold its fourth annual Bears First Pitch and Reunion Night on Feb. 11 at the Bill Rowe Indoor Training Facility at Hammons Field. The event begins at 5 p.m. and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Care to Learn.

 

Long Island University has changed its name to LIU Brooklyn as part of a rebranding initiative by the school.

 

Virginia will put 10-game general admission mini-packages on sale on Monday. General admission season tickets are still available. Reserved season tickets are sold out for 2012.

 

Appalachian State will hold its fourth annual Baseball 101 and its inaugural Hot Stove First Pitch Banquet on Feb. 11 at the Appalachian Athletics Center Club Level. Baseball 101 is a ladies-only event at 11 a.m. and the banquet begins with a reception at 5:45 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

 

Oral Roberts will have Colorado Rockies General Manager Dan O’Dowd as its featured speaker at the 2012 ORU Diamond Dinner on Feb. 2 at the Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills. A silent auction will start at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. O’Dowd has been the GM in Colorado since 1999, helping the Rockies earn two playoff spots and win the NL pennant in 2007.

 

Former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein will serve as the keynote speaker at the annual Hot Stove Banquet, hosted by Illinois and the Fighting Illini Dugout Club. The banquet will be held on Jan. 28 at the I Hotel and Conference Center with a reception at 3 p.m. and dinner at 4 p.m. Eckstein played 10 seasons in the major leagues and was named an All-Star in 2005 and 2006. He won World Series titles with the Angels in 2002 and the Cardinals in 2006.

 

East Carolina will host its 12th annual “Meet the Pirates” luncheon on Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. at the Murphy Center’s Harvey Banquet Hall. Attendees are invited to an intra-squad scrimmage that afternoon at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

 

Middle Tennessee will hold its 39th annual Groundhog Day Luncheon to benefit Blue Raider baseball on Feb. 2 at 11:30 a.m. in the Murphy Center.

 

The Citadel is holding a raffle for a trip for two to Minneapolis in March to watch the Bulldogs face the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The raffle will be a fundraiser for the trip with the drawing on Jan. 12 at halftime of The Citadel-Elon basketball game.

 

Former Kansas head coach Dave Bingham has been elected to the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in Wichita. Bingham coached the Jayhawks from 1988 to 1995, guiding KU to its first NCAA Tournament and College World Series appearance in school history in 1993. He also coaches for 14 years at his alma mater, Emporia State. Bingham will be inducted on Feb. 4 along with former Wichita State pitcher Darren Dreifort, former college umpire Bob Homolka, former major leaguers Lee Stevens and the late Joseph Vaughan, and 14 Negro League players.

 

Mike McRae, head coach at Canisius, was No. 34 on the list of most influential Canadians in baseball by the Canadian Baseball Network. McRae made the list for the fourth straight year. Former Golden Griffin pitcher and current Milwaukee Brewers closer John Axford was No. 6 on the list. click here for full list

 

Texas State will hold its annual Diamond Club Lead-off Dinner on Feb. 11 at the Embassy Suites in San Marcos. Paul Goldschmidt, former Bobcat and current Arizona Diamondback first baseman, will be the featured speaker. A reception will start at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

 

Mississippi State will hold a free coaches clinic on Jan. 27. Registration begins at 8:15 a.m. with clinic sessions starting at 9:15 a.m. Clinic participants can also watch the Bulldogs’ first preseason practice that afternoon at Dudy Noble Field. Contact the MSU baseball office if interested in attending.

 

The Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences announced a collaborative effort to enhance long-term scheduling commitments between the two leagues across all sports for the 24 institutions. Football hopes to have an annual 12 inter-conference game schedule by 2017, while other sports hope to start as early as the 2012-13 academic year. For the upcoming season, the only baseball match-ups between the Big Ten and the Pac-12 have Cal traveling to Nebraska for a four-game series and Illinois playing at both Oregon and Oregon State in the Nike College Showcase.