July 8, 2012

Lineup Card

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

July 1-8, 2012

Jason Dietrich has been named pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton. He has spent the past five seasons at UC Irvine, including the past two as pitching coach. The UCI pitching staff posted a combined ERA of 3.10 and WHIP of 1.18. Dietrich was director of baseball operations for the first three years with the Anteaters. Dietrich has also been pitching coach at Los Angeles City College, Irvine Valley College and Cal State Los Angeles.

Todd Butler has been promoted to associate head coach at Arkansas. He completed his seventh season as the hitting and outfield coach for the Razorbacks as well as recruiting coordinator. Butler has helped lead Arkansas to seven straight NCAA Regional bids and a pair of College World Series appearances (2009, 2012).

Anthony Everman has been hired as an assistant coach at Arkansas State. He was an assistant at Garden City Community College this past season as well as serving as an associate scout for the Cleveland Indians. He worked as an assistant at Northern Colorado in 2011 and at Kansas State in 2010 following one season as a volunteer assistant at Arkansas State in 2009. A native of Castalia, Iowa, earned a degree in physical education from Loras College and a Master of Science in Physical Education from Virginia Tech in 2005.

Former Rebel Eric Nielsen will be a volunteer assistant at UNLV. Nielsen posted a career batting average of .376, second in program history. He hit .402 as a senior with 101 hits, 16 home runs and 87 RBI to win the Triple Crown and Player-of-the-Year honors in the Mountain West. Nielsen was also a First Team All-American. He was a 12-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays and spent five years in their organization. Nielsen was a color analyst on UNLV radio broadcasts over the past two seasons.

Team USA has dropped two of its first three games in Cuba. Michael Conforto of Oregon State had a grand slam in the top of the sixth on July 5 to give the Americans a 4-3 victory in the opener of the five-game series. Jonathon Crawford of Florida picked up the win, while Bobby Wahl of Ole Miss recorded the save. Cuba scored three in the seventh and two in the eighth to rally past Team USA 7-6 on July 6. Conforto, D.J. Peterson of New Mexico and Johnny Field of Arizona all went deep for the Americans. Cuba scored four in the bottom of the ninth to register a 9-8 win on July 7. Kris Bryant of San Diego homered and drove in three, while Peterson went deep and knocked in a pair for Team USA.

Virginia third baseman Stephen Bruno was named the state’s Player of the Year in the University Division by the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID), while UVa’s Brian O’Connor was named Coach of the Year for the seventh time in the past nine years. click here for full team

Former Notre Dame standout Mike Amrhein passed away on July 5. He was an all-region performer in 1997, hitting .394 with 14 home runs, 71 RBI and 70 runs. Amrhein was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 1997 MLB Draft and spent six seasons in their organization. He worked in the Special Services department at Downers Grove North High School in Downers Grove, Ill., for six years and was an assistant varsity baseball coach.

Virginia will have a new playing surface at Davenport Field next season. A sand-based grass playing field will sit over a new irrigation and field drainage system. The $1 million project is funded by a combination of donations and athletic department maintenance reserves. Davenport Field did not have a drainage system prior to this.

Aaron Judge of Fresno State won the third TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby on July 3 in front of 22,403 fans at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. Judge defeated Mason Katz of LSU and Tyler Horan of Virginia Tech in the finals, belting four straight homers with one out remaining. Drew Gadaire of Davidson was honored as the recipient of the first Fan’s Choice Award, recognizing positive role models on and off the field.

The Toledo Baseball Dugout Club will have its annual alumni golf outing on August 17 at 1 p.m. at Bedford Hill Golf Club. Young grads (2008-12) have an entry fee of $75 and others are $100. Hole sponsorships are also available for $100.

Former South Carolina hurler Sam Dyson made his Major League debut on July 5 against Toronto. He fanned one in 0.1 inning of relief. Dyson was a member of the 2012 national championship team and is one of six former Gamecocks to play in the big leagues this season.

Former Richmond standout Joe Mahoney has been called up by the Baltimore Orioles. Mahoney played three seasons for the Spiders and was a sixth-round pick of the Orioles after belting 17 homers and driving in 62 in 2007. Mahoney was the 2010 Oriole Minor League Player of the Year.

Former Coastal Carolina assistant Kevin Schnall was recently named hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at UCF. Schnall had been with the Chanticleers for 12 seasons, helping them earn 11 NCAA Tournament bids over that time and reach the Super Regionals in 2008 and 2010. Schnall was Big South Player of the Year in 1999 as a catcher at Coastal Carolina with a batting average of .405 and on-base percentage of .515, a school record.

Former Kansas head coach Floyd Temple passed away on June 29. He is the winningest coach in program history, posting 438 victories in 28 seasons from 1954-81. Temple earned two letters in both baseball and football with the Jayhawks and was the third baseman for the 1949 squad that won the Big Seven Conference title. He played three years of minor league baseball before returning to Lawrence in 1954. Temple was also an assistant football coach at Kansas from 1958-77. Temple’s No. 13 was retired in 1982 and is the only jersey number displayed on the outfield wall at Hoglund Ballpark.

Former UC Riverside pitcher Paul Bargas passed away on June 26 at the age of 23 after battling brain cancer for the past 18 months. Bargas played one year at Arizona before transferring to UC Riverside. He led the Highlander in starts and innings as a sophomore. Bargas was named Big West Pitcher of the Week three times as a junior. He was picked in the 13th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. Bargas played two years in Colorado’s system before being traded to the Minnesota Twins following the 2010 season.