Jan. 20, 2013

Lineup Card

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

Jan. 14-20, 2013

The finale of the Big East series with Pittsburgh at Louisville will be televised on ESPNU. The May 18th contest at Jim Patterson Stadium starts at noon ET.

Hawaii will put season tickets on sale on Jan. 22. The Rainbows will have 31 home contests at Les Murakami Stadium in their first season in the Big West Conference. UH averaged 3,340 fans with a total of 116,909 in 2012, ranking 13th in the nation and first in the West region.

LSU will put a limited number of individual-game tickets on sale on Jan. 28 for its 38-game home schedule. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth.

Southeastern Louisiana will put tickets on sale on Jan. 22 for its 25-game home schedule, with season tickets starting at $60.

East Carolina has suspended junior right-hander Tanner Merritt indefinitely for a violation of team policy. Merritt went 3-6 with eight saves in 2012, posting a 2.91 ERA in 25 appearances.

Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Tony Robichaux announced that junior pitcher Caleb Kellogg and sophomore outfielder Almann Snowden are no longer in the program. A reliever the past two seasons, Kellogg was dismissed for a violation of team rules. Snowden was a reserve a year ago and decided not to return to school for the spring semester.

Former Houston standout and current Chicago White Sox reliever Jesse Crain (right) will play for Team Canada in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Crain was a First Team All-American in 2012 as a utility player, going 4-0 on the mound with an 0.23 ERA. He batted .309 with 47 RBI as the Cougars’ starting shortstop.

Mississippi State has exceeded the 5,000 mark for season ticket sales for the 12th consecutive year. The Bulldogs have 5,075 season tickets sold, pursuing the school record of 5,632 set in 2010.

Iowa has created the Iowa Baseball Academy for year-round training programs for players aged 5-18. The academy will run at Duane Banks Field and the Iowa athletic indoor facilities. Director of operations Brian Furlong will serve as academy director.

Elon will have four captains for the 2013 season: senior left-hander Dylan Clark, senior outfielder Niko Fraser, senior catcher Alex Swim and junior infielder Sebastian Gomez. Clark went 9-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 2012 with 18 walks and 64 strikeouts in 88.2 innings. Fraser played just 31 games a season ago due to injury, but had 10 steals in 11 attempts. Swim was First Team All-Southern Conference in 2012, batting .357 and putting together a 25-game hit streak. Gomez made 56 starts a season ago and tied for the team lead with 43 runs.

Former Cougar Kevin Decker has returned to College of Charleston as a graduate assistant after playing two years in the minor leagues. Decker played for the Cougars in 2009 and 2010, posting an 11-1 career mark. He went 8-0 in 2010 and was Second Team All-Southern Conference.

Southeastern Louisiana will hold annual spring banquet on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in Twelve Oaks on the Southeastern campus. The Lions will hold their Alumni Game on Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. with free admission.

Tennessee was forced to cancel its Leadoff Banquet on Jan. 17 due to severe weather. The program plans to hold an alternate kickoff event prior to the start of the season.

Georgia Southern has season tickets on sale for its 31-game home schedule at J.I. Clements Stadium. Prices begin at $60.

LSU’s Alex Box Stadium is listed among the Top 101 stadium experiences in the United States for 2012 by Stadium Journey magazine. Alex Box Stadium was No. 70 on the list. The magazine staff visited 1,225 different stadiums this past year. The rankings were based on overall atmosphere, concessions, area surrounding the stadium, and access inside and outside the stadium.

Brian Hanni will handle play-by-play for Texas Tech radio, while Jamie Lent will join Mike Gustafson as one of the color analysts. Hanni calls Red Raider basketball and is a co-host of a local sports talk show. Lent is a program director and co-host of a sports talk show.

Tyler Moore will be the featured speaker at Mississippi State’s First Pitch/Meet the Team celebration on Feb. 9 at the Griffis Boardroom/Palmeiro Center. This past April, Moore became the 49th athlete with ties to the Bulldogs to reach the Major Leagues as he debuted for the Washington Nationals. Moore batted .299 in 2008 for MSU with 11 doubles, 14 homers and 46 RBI.

Nicholls season tickets are now on sale for its 24-game home schedule at Ray E. Didier Field. There are three general admission packages, with options to upgrade to reserved chair-back seats.

USC Upstate has opened a Twitter account for baseball. The official account is @UPSTBSB with fans using hashtag #DiamondSpartans.

Southeastern Louisiana will host a charity car wash on Jan. 19 at Gateway Ford in Ponchatoula starting at 10 a.m. Proceeds will go to Restoration House, a non-profit organization in Hammond that helps women and families. Players will also participate in a dance-off on Jan. 24 at halftime of the women’s basketball game against Sam Houston State.

Middle Tennessee’s 40th annual Groundhog Day Luncheon will take place on Feb. 4 at 11:30 a.m. in the Murphy Center, with the traditional menu of ham hocks, white beans, tomato salad, green onions, corn bread, chocolate cake and ice cream. Season and single-game tickets are now on sale for the Blue Raiders.

South Carolina will hold a Baseball/Softball Preview Party on Jan. 31 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Field House. Players and coaches will be available for autographs.

Texas Tech has season tickets on sale for its 30-game home schedule at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. Season ticket prices start at $99.

UCF has tickets on sale for its 34-game home slate. Season tickets start at $75 and single-game tickets range from $4 to $8.

Season tickets are on sale for the first season at the Liberty Baseball Stadium. Season tickets for the 28-game home schedule start at $30.

(photo courtesy of Houston Media Relations Office)