Big 12, Day 1

Lots of games going on in the Big 12 today.


#6 Texas defeated Virginia Commonwealth 6-2.

• Junior SP Austin Wood struck out 6 in 6 innings
• Junior C Preston Clark collected 4 RBIs
• Freshman LF Kevin Keyes went 3-4 with a double

#17 Missouri defeats UConn 6-1

• Junior SP Aaron Crow struck out 7 and gave up 1 run in 6 innings.
• Senior CF Kurt Calvert went 3-4 with 3 RBIs
• Junior RF Ryan Lollis went 2-4

Oklahoma State beat Gonzaga, 6-1.

Kansas beat Hawaii-Hilo, 2-1.

Stanford beat Nebraska 17-4 in game 1 of their double header, while Nebraska took game 2 9-2.

California defeated Kansas State, 5-1.

• Cal SP Tyson Ross and RP Daniel Wolford combined to throw a one hitter.
• KSU RF Jordan Cruz lead off the game with a solo home run, Kansas State's only hit of the game.

Baylor outscored Purdue 2-1 in Waco, thanks to a 7th inning 2 run homer by Fr. 2B Landis Ware.

• Baylor 2B Raynor Campbell is sidelined 4-6 weeks after a successful surgery on his right thumb Wednesday morning. Campbell sustained the injury earlier in the week fielding ground balls. True freshman Landis Ware will fill in for him.
• Sr. CL Nick Cassavechia recorded his first save of the season, throwing a perfect session in the 9th.
• Sophomore SP Kendal Volz picked up the win after going 8 innings with 10 strikeouts

#20 Texas A&M outlasted Northern Colorado, 9-5, in College Station.

• Aggies Dane Carter, Jose Duran and Brian Ruggiano all collected 3 hits on the night
• A&M and Northern Colorado both struggled defensively, collecting 4 errors a piece
• Freshman RF Brooks Raley went 2-4 at the plate, collecting a run and an RBI, while also pitching a scoreless inning in relief for the Aggies

Oklahoma's contest against #19 UCLA has been postponed due to incliment weather

Texas Tech plays Louisiana-Lafayette at 10 am on Saturday.

BIG 12 STANDINGS:

TEAM	W	L	WIN %	STREAK	LAST 10
Baylor	1	0	1.000	W1	1-0
Kansas	1	0	1.000	W1	1-0
#17 Missouri	1	0	1.000	W1	1-0
Oklahoma State	1	0	1.000	W1	1-0
#6 Texas	1	0	1.000	W1	1-0
#20 Texas A&M	1	0	1.000	W1	1-0
Nebraska	1	1	.500	W1	1-1
Oklahoma	0	0	0.000	0	0-0
Texas Tech	0	0	0.000	0	0-0
Kansas State	0	1	0.000	L1	0-1

FORMER LONGHORNS/RED RAIDERS UPDATE:
Michael Demperio led off for Georgia and played 2B. He was 0-4 with 1 run and a HBP. He reached base on his first at bat after being hit by a pitch. He later scored on a SF.

Clint Stubbs was 0-1 with a run for Louisiana Tech. He reached base on an 8th inning fielder's choice and came around to score.

Josh Prince started at SS for Tulane. He was 2-4 with a run and an RBI for the Green Wave.

Geoff Byrns hit 2 doubles and scored a run as the starting DH for St. Mary's. Byrns was a perfect 2-2 at the plate

Here we go!!

VCU Starting Lineup

CF Matthew Leskiw
2B Richard Gonzalez
3B Chris Jackson
1B Jared Bolden
C Carlos Rodriquez
DH R.J. Schenk
LF Nathan Furry
RF Justin Wright
SS Joe Van Meter
SP Will Hirsch

Texas Starting Lineup

3B Travis Tucker
2B Michael Torres
CF Jordan Danks
RF Kyle Russell
C Preston Clark
DH Russell Moldenhauer
1B Brandon Belt
LF Kevin Keyes
SS David Hernandez
SP Austin Wood

..... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
VCU.. 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 8 1
Texas 1 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 X 6 8 1

WP: Austin Wood (1-0)
LP: Will Hirsch (0-1)

VCU (0-1)
PLAYER......AB R H RBI
Leskiw...... 2 0 0 0
..Cheatham.. 3 0 0 0
Gonzalez.... 2 0 1 0
Jackson..... 4 0 0 0
Bolden...... 4 1 0 0
Rodriguez... 4 0 1 0
Schenk...... 3 0 1 1
..Evans..... 1 0 0 0
Furry....... 4 1 2 0
Wright...... 3 0 1 0
..Santos.... 1 0 0 0
Van Meter... 4 0 2 1
TOTAL.......35 2 8 2

TEXAS (1-0)
PLAYER......AB R H RBI
Tucker...... 4 1 2 0
Torres...... 3 0 0 1
Danks....... 2 2 0 0
Russell..... 2 2 0 0
Clark....... 3 0 2 4
Moldenhauer. 3 0 0 0
Belt........ 4 0 0 0
Keyes....... 4 1 3 1
Hernandez... 2 0 1 0
TOTAL.......27 6 8 6

2B: Keyes (1) SB: Danks (1), Russell (1), Tucker (1) CS: Gonzalez (1)

Scouting Texas pitching

The Statesman now has their preview of the Texas pitching staff up. Seems pretty good. They have Cole Green, Kenn "The Lefty Lank" Kasparek and Austin Wood as the starters.

Spurs add Kurt Thomas

The Spurs made a trade today, looking to add size for their playoff run. PF Kurt Thomas comes to San Antonio in exchange for SF Brent Barry, C Franscisco Elson and a 1st round pick.

The addition of Thomas will be a big help for a team looking to give Tim Duncan some much needed help inside. Losing Barry won't hurt as much, with his injuries and the current play of Ime Udoka, and Elson hasn't been as much of an impact as the Spurs would've hoped when they signed him from Denver.

Scouting the Texas outfield

Well, we are just 2 days from the first pitch, and the Statesman has released their preview of the Texas outfield. Kyle Russell in right, Jordan Danks in center and, wait for it, Kevin Keyes in left field. That's right, freshman Kevin Keyes beat out sophomore Russell Moldenhauer for the starting job. It appears that Moldenhauer isn't quite over an injury he sustained in the offseason. Moldenhauer, along with sophomore Kyle Lusson will be the top backups in the outfield.

So that gives the Longhorns lineup a change:
C Preston Clark (Cameron Rupp if Clark isn't ready to go)
1B Brandon Belt
2B Michael Torres
3B Travis Tucker
SS David Hernandez
RF Kyle Russell
CF Jordan Danks
LF Kevin Keyes
DH Russell Moldenhauer/Cameron Rupp (just a guess on my part)

Bravo, Hunter Pence

Well, apparently Astro's CF Hunter Pence walked through the glass door at his apartment. The story from the Chronicle says that he was going outside to get into the hot tub with his friend, and was unaware that the door had been shut. He walked right into it and cut himself up a bit. It wasn't too bad, but he will be out for at least a week.

Its a real shame when accidents like this happen, especially in front of a lady you're trying to "be friends with," right Hunter?

Houston Chronicle

Is anybody goin' to San Antone?

The Red Raiders have found their opponent(s) for this weekend. Thanks to some hard work on the phones, Texas Tech is headed for the Alamo City to participate in the UTSA Baseball Classic at Wolff Stadium.

So instead of having 4 games against NIU, Tech has games against Louisiana-Lafayette, Army, Oral Roberts and UTSA. Tech and UL-L play Saturday at 10 am. Sunday includes a double header for the Raiders with Army at 10 am and ORU at 2 pm. They round out their trip with a 2 pm game against the tournament host Roadrunners on Monday.

Saturday 2-23: vs. Louisiana-Lafayette 10 am
Sunday 2-24: vs. Army 10 am, vs. Oral Roberts 2 pm
Monday 2-25: vs. UTSA 2 pm

TTU release

Scouting the Texas infield

Austin American-Statesman

The gist of it revolves around having only one player returning in his original spot (C Preston Clark) as well as having 3 completely new faces starting for the Longhorns.

Tech still sifting through options for this weekend

Texas Tech has been searching through many options to replace their weekend series with Northern Illinois, which was canceled on the heels of last week's tragedy in DeKalb. Tech was scheduled to play a 4 game series against the Huskies until the NIU administration called off all sporting events until Monday.

So far, the options have ranged from getting NIU down here for a 3 game series on Monday and Tuesday, to heading to a tournament at UTSA or UT-PB.

Losing 4 games could come back to haunt Tech come NCAA Tournament Selection time. It also changes the 5-game warmup before the Minute Maid Classic to as small as a 1-game warmup against New Mexico next Thursday.

If Tech is able to schedule NIU for a Monday-Tuesday series (2 games on Monday, 1 on Tuesday), it would mean that the Red Raiders' pitching staff would have to find a way to cope with 9 games in a 10 day period.

Short Hops

Fox34

Kidd to Dallas, Round 2

Jason Kidd is reportedly headed to Dallas, finally, in a deal that doesn't include Jerry Stackhouse or Devean George. The deal now is Jason Kidd and Malik Allen headed for the Mavericks, while New Jersey will recieve Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, Keith Van Horn, Trenton Hassell, 2 first round picks and $3 million.

The trade is being sent to the NBA today to see if they will allow it. The question mark is Keith Van Horn. Van Horn hasn't played in the NBA for over a year and a half. If it is approved, Dallas will sign him and then trade him to New Jersey, the team that originally drafted him out of Utah.

NIU cancels series against Tech in aftermath of tragedy.

It seems that NIU has cancelled all sporting events until February 25th, after the tragic shooting spree that occured Thursday. As upset as I am, I cannot get mad at the University for their decision. They are calling it a "Week of Healing," which they probably need.

I've read rumblings of Texas Tech looking to schedule an opponent from D-II or possibly finding an opponent at the UT-Arlington Tournament.

Five days, and counting...

We are only five days away from the first baseball game for the Red Raiders. Friday at 3:00 pm, I will be planted on the metal bleachers at Dan Law Field, ready to begin another season of college baseball.

Texas Tech opens their schedule on February 22nd against Northern Illinois University. They play on game on Friday, two on Saturday at 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm and concluded the four game series with a noon contest on Sunday.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal wrote their preview for the 2008 season. They break down each position and suggest what they believe will be the starting lineup. It falls very close to everything that has been floating around the internet lately. Their projected starting lineup and batting order is as follows:

1B: Doug Thennis
3B: Joey Kenworthy
LF: Chris Richburg
RF: Roger Kieschnick
C: Monk Kreder
DH: Taylor Ashby
CF: Tanner Rindels
SS: Chris Hall
2B: Willie Rueda

SP: AJ Ramos
SP: Nathan Karns
SP: Chad Bettis
SP: Cory Large

RP: Sam Janca
RP: James Leverton
RP: Robert Kilcrease
RP: Brian Cloud
RP: Lorenzo Douglas
RP: Paul Gonzalez
RP: Brennen Stewart

CL: Zach Stewart

INF Jason Seefeld is still not up to 100% after his torn ACL from the fall, but should be back sometime during the season. Once he does return, he will most likely gain a starting spot, possibly at 3rd. SP Miles Morgan is still healing from his injury suffered last season, but will also return before too long. His role will most likely depend on how healthy he is.

C Juan Rodriguez will definitely push Kreder for playing time early on, while Ben Baker does the same with Kenworthy for the starting job at the hot corner.

Friday also marks the first game for the University of Texas Longhorns at the newly renovated UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns will square off in a three game weekend series against Virginia Commonwealth University starting at 2:30 pm Friday afternoon.

Kieschnick, Russell among Golden Spikes nominees

USA Baseball announced their list of 75 players on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List on Friday. The Golden Spikes Award is annually given to the to player in college baseball.

Notable players from the Big 12 named to the Watch list include the Texas trio of Kyle Russell, Preston Clark and Jordan Danks, A&M's Blake Stouffer, Roger Kieschnick of Texas Tech, Baylor SS Beamer Weems, Aaron Crow of Missouri and OSU SS/RHP Jordy Mercer. Rice also had 3 nominees with 2B Aaron Luna and pitchers Cole St. Clair and Ryan Berry.

The list will be narrowed to 50 players on May 20th before USA Baseball announces the 5 finalists on June 3rd. The winner will be announced July 16th.

Link

Not sports related, but definitely awesome related.

Big 12 announces FSN baseball telecast schedule

2008 FSN Big 12 Conference Baseball Telecast Schedule
Saturday, March 29	Nebraska at Texas	6 p.m.
Saturday, April 12	Texas Tech at Kansas	12 p.m.
Sunday, April 27	Missouri at Texas A&M	1 p.m.
Saturday, May 3	Baylor at Texas	2:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 18	To Be Determined	3:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 25	Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship AT&T Bricktown Ballpark; Oklahoma City	1 p.m.

Those are the 5 Big 12 games that will be televised this season on Fox Sports.