Here are some of the best articles from the first day of College Baseball practice from various Newspapers and TV stations.
Clemson baseball has high expectations
CLEMSON — Clemson baseball began practice Friday surprisingly hungry for a team that advanced to the College World Series in June. Maybe that’s because the Tigers’ trip to Omaha was overshadowed by South Carolina’s title. Maybe it was the questions: Who can replace Kyle Parker’s production? Who will replace the efficiency of left-handed ace Casey Harman?
Despite several veterans to replace, the Tigers return the bulk of their roster this spring. With drafted players like Jeff Schaus and John Hinson returning, the national media is bullish on the Tigers. Baseball America ranked Clemson 10th in its preseason poll this week, and USA Today/ESPN has Clemson ranked fifth. The ACC coaches also picked Clemson to win the conference Friday.
Coastal Carolina: Meo looks be main man on mound for Coastal Carolina
CONWAY — There’s every reason to think this will be junior Anthony Meo’s last season in a Coastal Carolina uniform. He’s developed into one of the elite pitchers in college baseball over the past two years, and a promising professional career looms on the not-too-distant horizon.
Coming off a sterling 13-win season and equipped with a mid-to-upper-90s fastball and improving breaking pitches, Meo will have the attention of Major League Baseball scouts throughout the coming months. And Chanticleers coach Gary Gilmore, for one, thinks the ace right-hander could well be a first-round draft pick in June.
LSU baseball team isn’t fazed by new players, bats
BATON ROUGE- LSU baseball fans have grown accustomed to new Alex Box Stadium as it enters its third season as the Tigers home field.
What goes on inside will reflect change for the 2011 season.
With 16 first-year players on the 32-man roster and some new equipment rules in place, the Tigers might be playing a more fundamental brand of ball.
Nevada Baseball: Pack embraces new baseball season, rule changes
The Nevada Wolf Pack baseball team welcomed a new season on Friday and also a new era of college baseball.
The Pack, which went through its first day of practice at Peccole Park in preparation for the season opener Feb. 18 at UC Irvine, and every other NCAA college baseball team will have to get accustomed to a new style of baseball this year.
The aluminum bats used by college baseball players will now have less pop and “trampoline effect” this season. Umpires are also going to enforce a new 90-second time limit between innings and a 20-second limit between pitches with no runners on base.
South Carolina: Matt Price to remain closer
COLUMBIA – If all goes well for the University of South Carolina baseball team this season, Matt Price will take his familiar walk from the bullpen to the mound in the midst of a high-pressure, late-inning situation.
And quite honestly, that’s how the former Sumter High and Sumter P-15’s standout likes it.
“I really like the bullpen,” Price said Friday before the start of USC’s first spring scrimmage. “Just all the adrenaline going, getting real pumped and going into a game and closing it out.
Tulane baseball team hoping to get better with age
A warm, sunny afternoon greeted the Tulane baseball team on its first day of practice Friday.
It matched the squad’s spirits. The Green Wave enters the season ranked 25th by Baseball America, its first ranking since 2008. Last year’s freshman-laden club becoming sophomore-rich makes a big difference.
Preseason Rankings Show UConn Baseball’s New Status
STORRS – A lot is expected of UConn’s baseball team in 2011, and this, of course, beats the alternative.
For coach Jim Penders, it also calls for a balancing act. He reminded his players that Ohio State, last year’s “fashionable northern pick,” finished out of the top 100.
“You need to temper the enthusiasm a little bit,” Penders said as his team officially began practice on Friday. “We have to continue to expect more of ourselves.”
