Jan. 31, 2012

Lineup Card

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

Jan. 23-31, 2012

The Big 12 will have six games televised on Fox Sports Net (all times Central):

April 7 Kansas at Oklahoma State 2:30 pm

April 28 Texas A&M at Texas 2:30 pm

May 4 Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (Tulsa) 7 pm

May 12 Baylor at Oklahoma 2 pm

May 19 Kansas State at Texas Tech 1 pm

May 27 Big 12 Championship Game 1 pm

Auburn named Justin Bryant, Jon Luke Jacobs and Cory Luckie as captains for the 2012 season. The announcement was made as the conclusion of the Jan. 28 preseason banquet.

UCLA posted a 13-0 victory over its alumni on Jan. 28 at Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Nick Vander Tuig allowed one hit in four scoreless innings to pick up the win. Cody Keefer went 2 for 3, including a two-run single in a nine-run sixth.

Former VMI Keydet Graham Sullivan signed a free agent contract with the Southern Illinois Miners of the independent Frontier League. Sullivan recently played in the California Winter League.

Three-time World Series champion Tony LaRussa will be the featured speaker at Wichita State’s annual First Pitch Banquet on Feb. 24 at the Charles Koch Arena. A reception begins at 6:30 p.m. with dinner following at 7:30 p.m.

Elon will host its Meet the Phoenix dinner on Feb. 16 at The Cutting Board at 6:30 p.m.

San Diego will announce a $13 million baseball facility on Jan. 28 to be named Fowler Park and Cunningham Field. Construction is scheduled to begin following the 2012 season and completed prior to the start of the 2013 campaign. The project will add lights, clubhouse, office space and suites to the park.

Indiana will construct a new $19.8 million baseball and softball complex, with work beginning after the 2012 season and hopefully completed before the start of the 2013 season. The project will use private donations and athletic department funds.

Georgetown will play an exhibition game against the Washington Nationals on Friday, March 2 at noon at Space Coast Park in Viera, Fla.

Atlantic Sun fans can vote for the conference preseason awards through the A-Sun Facebook page. Balloting runs through 10 a.m. on Feb. 1.

Senior Timothy Younger will wear East Carolina’s honorary No. 23 jersey for the 2012 season. It was the number worn by the late ECU head coach Keith LeClair and has been an honorary number for the Pirates since 2003. Younger is in his second year at ECU after transferring from St. Petersburg College.

Illinois State will broadcast 30 games on either WHOW 1520 AM/92.3 FM or WEZC 95.9 FM. Baseball SID John Twork will handle play-by-play duties.

Maine will face Boston College on May 15 at 6 p.m. at Hadlock Field, the home of the Portland Sea Dogs. It will be Maine’s first game at Hadlock Field since 1998. Tickets are on sale now for the contest.

ETSU assistant coach Xan Barksdale is featured in the current issue of Inside Pitch magazine for his use of technology in baseball. He developed The Catcher’s Thumb, a preventative splint to protect from hyperextensions.

Kansas will have all 56 regular season games on Jayhawk All-Access or KLWN Radio (1320 AM). It marks the first time that the entire baseball schedule has been carried on live broadcast. Tom Hedrick, Kyle West and Brian Hanni will provide broadcast coverage.

Cincinnati will have 19 games broadcast of Real Talk 1160 WQRT-AM. Steve Jarnicki will call the play-by-play action.

Cal will sell season tickets for the first time beginning on Feb. 1 for the 20-game home schedule. Season parking passes will also be available. The Golden Bears will host their first-ever Fan Fest on Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. at Evans Diamond. Admission is free and a Blue and Gold intra-squad scrimmage will start at 1 p.m.

Coastal Carolina received approval from the State of South Carolina for its $10.2 million renovation for the baseball and softball stadiums. Construction will begin after the 2012 season and both teams will have to play home games at alternate venues in 2013 before the project is completed in time for the 2014 season. Both playing surfaces will remain intact, with the addition of new grandstands, restrooms, concession stands, scoreboards, coaches offices, locker rooms and lounges, team meeting rooms, athletic training rooms and media areas. For baseball, the 850-seat Watson Stadium will include 2,500 permanent seats, with the potential to accommodate between 5,000 and 6,000 spectators.

Central College in Pella, Iowa, announced its Strike Out Cancer Campaign. Organized by assistant coach Jordan Stauber, the campaign asks supporters to pledge to donate a given amount for each strikeout Dutch pitchers record this season. Central registered 235 punchouts in 2011. All funds will go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a non-profit organization that has funded more than 200 research projects at more that 65 institutions nationally. The campaign is on Twitter, @CentralKCancer. Click here to visit campaign website.

Cal State Fullerton head coach Rick Vanderhook joined sports information director Mike Greenlee at Goodwin Field to discuss the 2012 season. click here to watch to video

Arkansas will hold its 17th annual Meet the Razorbacks Day on Feb. 4 at center court of the Northwest Arkansas Mall from 4-6 p.m. Head coach Dave Van Horn and members of the team will be available for photos and autographs. The Diamond Dolls, RBI Girls and Ribby the Mascot will also be present.

South Carolina will hold three scrimmages this weekend at Carolina Stadium: Friday at 4 p.m. and both Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. All are open to the public and free of charge.

Alabama has season tickets on sale for its 31-game home schedule at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, including chair back seats, reserved bleachers and general admission.

UC Irvine will have three games televised nationally this season. The Anteaters will face Southern on Feb. 18 at Minute Maid Park in Houston as part of the Urban Invitational. The 3 p.m. CT contest will be carried on the MLB Network. ESPNU will broadcast a pair of Sunday games from Anteater Ballpark: April 15 against Cal State Fullerton and May 6 against UC Santa Barbara. Both contests have been moved to 2 p.m. PT.

Florida Atlantic players and coaches recently volunteered at the Boca Raton Little League, encouraging the kids on their evaluation day.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2012 Houston College Classic, March 2-4 at Minute Maid Park. Participating teams include Rice, Houston, Texas, Texas Tech, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Ohio State’s Diamond Club will hold its Meet the Team Dinner on Feb. 4 at the University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in Columbus. A social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. Former National League All-Star Steve Swisher will be the guest speaker. He was a first-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1973 and is the father of former Buckeye and current New York Yankee Nick Swisher.

Southeastern Louisiana will host its annual spring banquet on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in Twelve Oaks on the Southeastern campus. The Lions will hold an alumni game on Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. Admission to the game is free and complimentary hot dogs will be available.

Notre Dame’s 11th annual Meet The Team dinner will be held on Feb. 7 in Club Naimoli of Percell Pavillion with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and dinner starting at 6 p.m.

Arkansas has a limited number of season tickets on sale for the upcoming 36-game home schedule at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks open the season on Feb. 17 with a three-game home series against Villanova and host two-time defending national champion South Carolina May 4-6. Arkansas averaged 7,932 fans in 2011, third in the nation.

FGCU will put season tickets on sale on Jan.25 for its 29-game slate at Swanson Stadium. Seven contests will be against NCAA tourney teams from a year ago.

TCU will have nine games televised on the MountainWest Sports Network: 3/6 vs. Baylor, 3/30 vs. UNLV, 4/3 vs. Dallas Baptist, 4/17 vs. ULM, 4/20-22 at San Diego State, 4/24 vs. Texas A&M and 5/1 vs. Oklahoma.

Brian Meyer has been hired as director of baseball operations at Tulane. Meyer coached for the past two seasons at Wright State after serving as co-recruiting coordinator and hitting coach at his alma mater, Otterbein.

Two-time defending national champion South Carolina will have three captains for the 2012 season: senior outfielder Adam Matthews, junior right-hander Matt Price and senior left-hander Michael Roth. Matthews batted .264 a season ago in 34 games with 14 RBI and 26 runs. Price was a CBI All-American in 2011, posting a 7-3 record with a 1.83 ERA and 20 saves. He fanned 75 in 59 innings. Roth was the CBI National Player of the Year in 2011 with a 14-3 record in 21 games and a 1.06 ERA. He struck out 112 in 145 innings and will be a captain for the second straight season.

Stanford juniors Mark Appel, Kenny Diekroeger and Stephen Piscotty will appear on Chronicle Live on Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. The show will be rebroadcast at 11 p.m. that evening. The trio will discuss the upcoming season for the Cardinal.

The Hot Stove Banquet for Illinois, scheduled for Jan. 28, has sold out. Two-time World Series champion David Eckstein will be the keynote speaker.