Sept. 30, 2012

Lineup Card

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

Sept. 24-30, 2012

Missouri State downed Drury 4-2 on Sept. 29 in front of 3,753 fans at Hammons Field in the Battle for Bell, a fund-raiser for former MSU shortstop and Glendale High School head coach Howard Bell in his fight against ALS. It was the largest home crowd for the Bears since May 2, 2006. Koby Peebles had two hits and two RBI, while Travis McComack went 2 for 2 with two walks for MSU.

Arizona State student coach Cory Hahn will be a guest at the first Miracle League/Avnet Wiffle Ball Championship on Oct. 3 at Dan Haren Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hahn, who will participate in pregame ceremonies, is paralyzed from the chest down after a collision at second base during the season-opening series of his freshman season in 2011. He attends classes at ASU and serves as a student coach for the Sun Devils.

Former Milwaukee players Sam Sivilotti and Cole Kraft have been added to the UWM staff. Silvilotti will serve as director of operations after spending last season as the volunteer assistant with the Panthers. He will be responsible for community relations, charity and the visibility of the program. Silvilotti finished his four-year career in 2011 with batting average of .302. He was an All-Horizon League selection as a junior. Kraft will work as an assistant coach as playing professionally the past two years. He was a two-time All-Horizon League performer. Kraft is third in program history with 204 games, 250 hits and 52 doubles.

Shooter Hunt will be the volunteer assistant at his alma mater, Tulane. He will work with the outfielders and base runners, coach first base and assist with the pitching staff. A two-way collegiate performer, Hunt was a first round pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2008. Hunt fanned 219 in 193 innings during his four-year professional career, 10.21 strikeouts per nine innings.

Adam Curynski has been named the volunteer assistant at Air Force. Curynski lettered two years at Southern Illinois and was All-MVC in 2008 as a pitcher. He was pitching coach at Wisconsin-Stout this past year.

Jason Laws has been named director of baseball operations at Virginia. Laws will work with all aspects of the program, including handling team travel, assisting with game day operations and helping with on-campus recruiting. He was an assistant last season at Arkansas State, working with the catchers and hitters. Laws was an All-OVC performer at Murray State, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 2010. He was an assistant at South Dakota State in 2010-11 while earning a master’s degree in sport and recreation studies.

Former North Carolina All-American Adam Greenberg has been offered a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins for his return to the Major Leagues. He was picked in the ninth round of the 2002 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs and made his Major League debut on July 9, 2005. In his only at-bat, he was hit in the head and removed from the game. Greenberg missed the remainder of the season with post-concussion syndrome in addition to other health issues. He has played minor league and independent baseball in recent years, working to return to the big leagues. He is expected to get his one at-bat against the New York Mets on Oct. 2 in Miami.

Former William and Mary and Rhode Island head coach Frank Leoni has been hired as the inaugural head coach at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. Leoni has posted 462 career wins in 20 years as a Division I head coach, earning 196 victories over the past seven seasons with the Tribe and 266 wins in 13 campaigns with the Rams.

Rhode Island was recognized as the top Division I baseball team in New England by the BoSox Club, the official booster club of the Boston Red Sox. It was the second time in the past four years that the Rams were so honored. URI went 33-25-1 overall and placed third in the Atlantic 10 with a 16-8 mark. The Rams were twice named CBI Northeast Region Team of the Week.

Marist baseball joined Team IMPACT on Sept. 29 for a draft-day ceremony for 17-year-old Nick Scianna of Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Team IMPACT is a non-profit organization that matches children with life-threatening illnesses with collegiate sports teams. Scianna is battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, having already gone through chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. He received a game jersey to welcome him to the team.

East Carolina will begin its Purple-Gold World Series on Oct. 2 and run through Oct. 14. All games are free and open to the public.

SIUE held an intrasquad scrimmage on Sept. 28 with the price of admission of one canned food item. The items were collected for the Glen-Ed Food Pantry.

College of Charleston will hold its annual alumni game on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at Patriots Point. The game will precede the CofC Baseball Golf Tournament on Nov. 3 at Patriots Point Links.

Belmont will celebrate Alumni Weekend Oct. 5-6. The Dave Whitten Memorial Golf Tournament will take place on Oct. 5, with the Alumni Game the following day.

Nicholls will hold its annual Alumni Day on Oct. 13 prior to the football homecoming game against Sam Houston State. Morning batting practice will precede an intrasquad scrimmage. The annual baseball golf tournament will take place on Nov. 5.

Ron Roenicke, manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, will be the guest speaker at the 2013 Diamond Dinner at FIU on Feb. 9 at the Graham Center Ballroom on the Modesto A. Maidique campus. Roenicke spent one season at UCLA before being the 17th overall pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 MLB Draft. He played for six different organizations during his eight-year playing career and began coaching in 1992. Roenicke led the Brewers to the NL Central Division crown a season ago in his first year as skipper in Milwaukee.

Former Iowa standout Bo Porter has been named manager of the Houston Astros. He was an outfielder and defensive back for the Hawkeyes from 1990-94. Porter was selected in the 40th round of the 1993 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, making his Major League debut in 1999. He played three seasons in the big leagues with the Cubs, Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers. Porter was a coach with the Washington Nationals over the past two seasons.

Hawaii will host a pair of fall exhibitions against the Shanghai Sports Institute of China on Oct. 16 and 17 at 6 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium. Admission is free for both games.

Oregon State will hold a pair of scrimmages this weekend at Goss Stadium: Friday at 2:40 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. Admission if free.

Louisville will have two weekend scrimmages at Jim Patterson Stadium: Friday at 2:45 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

South Carolina will hold three scrimmages this weekend at Carolina Stadium: Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at noon and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

William and Mary will hold the first Tommy Smith Memorial Golf Outing on Oct. 19 to support the Tribe baseball program. The event was renamed for the long-time supporter of W&M baseball.