August 31, 2012

Lineup Card

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

August 27-31, 2012

Andy Jenkins (left) has been named the volunteer assistant at Oregon State. Jenkins was a member of the Beavers’ 2005 College World Series team and was an undergraduate assistant at OSU this past season. Jenkins was taken in the 11th round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the Florida Marlins. He played six years in the minor leagues in the Florida and Texas organizations. He reached Triple A in 2009 and 2010.

Dave Serrano has brought in one of his former players, Tony Asaro, as the volunteer assistant at Tennessee. Asaro was an assistant for the past three years at El Camino College, serving as hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and third base coach. Asaro played under Serrano at UC Irvine, helping the Anteaters reach the College World Series for the first time in program history in 2007.

Brian Pruitt has been named the volunteer assistant at Stetson. He has been a graduate assistant at Barry for the past two years. Pruitt played for the Hatters from 2006-08, batting .270 in 165 career games with 26 doubles, 16 homers and 121 RBI. He was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 2008 MLB Draft.

Saint Joseph’s head coach Fritz Hamburg had announced the hiring of three new staff members: Matt Allison, Kyle Werman and Alex Pracher. Allison will be hitting coach and work with the outfielders. He was hitting coach at Menlo College for the past three seasons after serving as head coach at Willamette. He was also an assistant at Cal, Georgetown, Cal Poly, SUNY-Cortland and Cornell. Allison is a 1982 graduate of UC Riverside. Werman was a walk-on at Virginia and became a four-year starter at second bas, graduating in 2005. He coached for two seasons at George Mason and for the past two years at Radford. Werman will coach third base, work with the infielders and serve as recruiting coordinator. Pracher will be the volunteer assistant, coaching first base and helping with the pitching staff. He spent three years at Stanford before pitching for the Hawks in 2012 as a graduate student.

Ty Rogers had been hired as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Oakland University. Rogers was the volunteer assistant at Bradley this past season after working at Parkland College in 2011. Rogers was a three-year starter at Indiana from 2008-10, playing second base and center field. He helped the Hoosiers win the 2009 Big Ten Tournament, the program’s first title in 13 years. Indiana earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament, participating in the Louisville Regional. Rogers was an All-Big Ten selection in 2010. He played professionally for one season in the Frontier League with the Gateway Grizzlies and the Oakland County Cruisers.

On August 13, the Houston Astros traveled to Wrigley Field to meet the Chicago Cubs. Former Florida Atlantic players appeared on each roster, with Mickey Storey a pitcher for the Astros and Jeff Beliveau a reliever with the Cubs. It was the first time that two former Owls played for opposing Major League teams in the same game. Both players graduated from FAU in 2008. Both hurlers worked in the series, as Beliveau pitched a scoreless inning in the series opener and Storey fanned three in 1.1 innings on August 15.

Former Florida left-hander Nick Maronde was recently called up to the Major Leagues by the Los Angeles Angels, becoming Kevin O’Sullivan’s first player to reach the big leagues. Maronde was 3-2 in seven games with the Double A Arkansas Travelers, posting an ERA of 3.34. He fanned 21 and walked just three in 32.1 innings. Maronde played three seasons for the Gators (2009-11) and was selected in the third round of last year’s draft by the Angels.

Former Mustang Thomas Eager (left) has been named pitching coach at Cal Poly. Eager was a pitcher for the Mustangs in 2006 and 2007. He was 11-3 with a 3.43 ERA as a sophomore and was drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent four seasons in the St. Louis organization. For the past two years, Eager was director of operations at Cal Poly. He replaced Jason Kelly, who left to become pitching coach at Washington.

Scott Hall has been added to Jim McGuire’s staff at Middle Tennessee. Hall will serve as recruiting coordinator and work primarily with the offense. Hall spent the past six seasons at Belmont, helping the Bruins win consecutive titles in 2011 and 2012. A four-year starter at Maryville, Hall was head coach at Central High School in Shelbyville, Tenn., for seven years.

Ryan Speier has returned to Radford as a student assistant coach. He played for the Highlanders from 1998-2001 before signing a free agent contract with the Colorado Rockies. Speier pitched in the Major Leagues from 2005 to 2009, including working in the 2007 World Series. Speier will work with the pitching staff while completing his degree in psychology.

Former Northern Kentucky head coach Bill Aker will be inducted posthumously into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame on Jan. 4, 2013. Aker began the program in 1971, when the school went by Northern Kentucky State College. He posted a record of 807-572-1 in 29 seasons. Aker earned four regional and two Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year awards, while twice leading the Norse to the World Series. He retired in 2000 and a year later, the baseball field was renamed the Bill Aker Baseball Complex. Aker passed away on March 26, 2011.

Oregon State will have five former Beavers playing in this year’s Arizona Fall League: RHP Greg Peavey, OF Adalberto Santos, RHP Tyler Waldron, IF Stefen Romero and RHP Kevin Rhoderick. Play begins on Oct. 9 for the 32-game schedule in the Phoenix Metro area. click here for links to the rosters of the six AFL teams

Jerry Goodwin, a longtime supporter of Cal State Fullerton athletics, passed away on Aug. 28 at the age of 90. He donated one million dollars for the expansion of the Titan baseball facility prior to the 2000 season. Before the upgrade, Fullerton played 21 consecutive postseason tournaments on the road. Since the expansion, the Titans have played host to 10 Regionals and eight Super Regionals. On April 14, 2000, the name of the stadium was officially changed from Titan Field to Goodwin Field. Goodwin and his wife, Merilyn, were inducted into the Cal State Fullerton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Tickets for the “Battle For Bell” are now on sale. The first baseball contest between Missouri State and Drury will take place on Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Hammons Field. Proceeds will benefit former MSU shortstop and Drury assistant Howard Bell, who is battling ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Bell is currently head coach at Glendale High School.

Loyola Marymount baseball is now on twitter at @BaseballLMU. Head coach Jason Gill and his staff will run the account.

(photos courtesy of OSU, FAU & Cal Poly Media Relations Offices)