Saturday, November 24, 2007

CSTV Links And Shameless Self Promotion

In addition to his football beat, CSTV's Eric Sorenson has been cranking out monthly baseball columns this off-season. In October, Eric mentioned yours truly and this little piece of cyberspace while discussing the stadium projects underway around the conference.

Now, saying nice things about BTH doesn't get you a link in return. Well, come to think of it, yeah, it does get you a link. However, it doesn't necessarily get you a timely one. (Sorry, E. I've been watching a little basketball and enjoying the off-season.)

This month, Eric reviews his 2008 Omaha predictions and stops to ponder a certain Big Ten program.

While I'm plugging CSTV employees, Doug Kroll has his list of top returning firstbasemen and Michigan's Nate Recknagel gets an "On The Radar" mention. That places Recknagel in the top ten returning firstbasemen. At a position that's traditionally loaded, that's high praise.

Recuriting News

Here are some links to each program's official press release regarding those high school players who signed a letter of intent during the early signing period. Translation: here's a recruiting update. Enjoy.

Illinois signs four.

Hoosiers get four, too.

Iowa's class gets ranked.

Wolverines sign seven.

Spartans' class ranks top in conference.

Minnesota signs five.

2008 Minnesota Schedule

The University of Minnesota has released their 2008 baseball schedule. (No, I did not copy and paste that line from the OSU schedule post and change Ohio State to Minnesota. I actually typed the whole thing over again.) The Gophers begin the new season in Oxford, Mississippi with a three game series against Ole Miss. The opening weekend is February 22 - 24.

After the Rebels, Minnesota will host the Dairy Queen Classic at the Metrodome. On Friday, February 29 the Gophers will take on TCU. The next day Coach Anderson's nine will face Tulane. Pepperdine will be the last opponent for Minnesota on March 2. The weekend after the DQ concludes, the Gophers will host another tournament at the Metrodome.

New Mexico, California and Northern Iowa will face Minnesota on consecutive days beginning March 7 in the new, and aptly named, Metrodome Tournament. Once that series wraps up, Minnesota will head west to take on Pacific in a three game series opening on March 14.

The California trip is brief, as it's right back to indoor ball as the Gophers will play seven straight non-conference games at the dome starting March 18. North Dakota State (2 games), South Dakota State (3 games) and Missouri (2 games) all come calling. The protracted home stand will finish with a four game visit from Indiana to open conference action.

Illinois, Michigan and Penn State will all be on the home schedule for the Gophers in '08. Road trips include Ohio State, Northwestern, Purdue and Iowa.

Yes, I've left out a handful of non-conference games. I will note that ND State, SD State and Northern Iowa all pop back up on the Gophers schedule after their earlier visits.

2008 Ohio State Schedule

The Ohio State University has released their 2008 baseball schedule. The Buckeyes will open the year in Millington, Tennessee with a three game series. Arkansas State, Memphis and Seton Hall will provide the competition from February 22 -24. Then, it's three at College Station, Texas.

Host Texas A&M, Louisiana Tech and Arkansas will be on the docket from February 29 - March 2. From the Lone Star State, OSU will finish their winter road trip with a stay in Florida. Air Force, Maine and Connecticut will take on the Buckeyes in West Palm Beach from March 7 -9. OSU will then travel to Bradenton to play their Spring Break schedule from March 15 - 21. The opposition for those dates has not been announced.

Coach Todd's side opens the home slate with a visit from Pittsburgh on March 26. The Panthers will be the lone home opponent before Big Ten play begins. OSU will host, in order, Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue and Illinois. The road series will be at Michigan State, Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa.

As always, I'm leaving out a few non-conference games. I do expect you to click through and check the whole schedule, if you are so interested. (I will mention that the Central Michigan game on April 9 could be interesting. Well, interesting to me anyway.) It's also important to keep in mind this is a college baseball schedule, thus it is not only subject to change, it's almost a sure thing.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Cape Calls Three From Ann Arbor

It appears three of Michigan's players will be in the lineup for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League next summer. Adam Abraham, Jeff DeCarlo and Erik Katzman are all penciled in on the 2008 Hyannis Mets roster.

As is the case with all this early summer league data, it's subject to change.

A hat tip to Codball is in order, as well.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Hoosiers, Hawkeyes Heading To The Cape

Courtesy of a link at CodBall, I've found number of players from Indiana and Iowa will be playing in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2008. The Bourne Braves have the Hawkeyes' battery of sophomore C Tyson Blaser and freshman P Zach Kenyon while the Hoosiers are sending P Matt Bashore, C Josh Phegley and OF Kipp Schultz to the Wareham Gatemen.

As it's a long, long time before summer, it's best to keep in mind that this is all tentative. However, it's good to see a number of Big Ten players already getting interest from the highest profile summer league.