If you're like me and a college baseball fanatic I'm sure you cannot wait until early February for baseball season.

Here is what the CUSA runner-up UTSA Roadrunners are up to:

UTSA is returning 2-3 of their starters including their Ace, Brock Hartson and lefty Nolan Trababino. The bullpen is relatively untouched led by SU/CL Logan Onda. Some of the big bats are gone but UTSA returns their leading HR hitter in Jesse Baker. UTSA also had an excellent recruiting year and pulled in several top 500 players and a few JUCO standouts. I had a chance to talk to Coach Marshall and he told me UTSA was going to be a very solid defensive team in 2015.

A few notable OOC series/games:
ULL home series (Feb 13-15)
UC Irvine home series (Mar 6-8)
Texas (Feb 17)
Texas A&M (Mar 24)
Baylor (April 28th, May 12th)

What can we expect from your team this year?

Charlotte was terrible last year and we just kicked several guys off the team for hazing, so I'm sure we'll be bad again this year.

The move has been tough for us because we had A10 caliber players before. The A10 is a terrible baseball conference, so they were nowhere near CUSA quality guys. It'll be a few years of recruiting before we have a team filled with CUSA players.

(01-05-2015 11:54 AM)Niner National Wrote:  Charlotte was terrible last year and we just kicked several guys off the team for hazing, so I'm sure we'll be bad again this year.

The move has been tough for us because we had A10 caliber players before. The A10 is a terrible baseball conference, so they were nowhere near CUSA quality guys. It'll be a few years of recruiting before we have a team filled with CUSA players.

Sucks to hear. I'm sure they will bounce back. Question: I know NASCAR HOF Dale Jarrett's son plays for Charlotte. Is he a big booster for Charlotte Baseball?

4 years ago I would have. Unfortunately we've become complacent with 30-25 seasons and missing the postseason 3 years running due to Scott Berry and his staff's inability to coach.

You can read all about our fall ball at the following links....

PITCHERS

Quote:FIU lost staff ace Mike Franco to the Tampa Bay Rays and closer Mike Gomez to the Chicago White Sox in the MLB Draft. Plus, Conference USA Freshman of the Year Chris Mourelle is on the mend from an elbow injury. Mourelle is expected back for the start of the season but he will be worked in slowly.

The most pressing issue with the FIU pitching staff is figuring out who will be the Friday night starter. Franco owned that slot last year going 9-3 with a 1.09 ERA. It might be too much to ask of any pitcher to duplicate Franco's season, which led to him being drafted in the 7th round by the Rays, but the Panthers need a similar mound presence from the 2015 Friday starter. Franco finished second in the nation in ERA last season to Oregon State's Ben Wetzler, who had a 0.78 ERA in 104 innings of work.

From last year's weekend rotation, Cody Crouse is still penciled in as the Saturday starter and Thomas would like to keep Mourelle as the Sunday starter this season.

http://fiusports.typepad.com/the-prowl/2...chers.html

POSITION PLAYERS

Quote:FIU has three of its infield starters back from last season in third baseman Josh Anderson, shortstop Julius Gaines and Edwin Rios, who is expected to move from second base to first base as he recovers from a shoulder injury. The Panthers know what they have in those three: solid bats and good gloves. Thomas said Anderson had a really good fall.

In the outfield Brian Portelli might have had the best fall ball. Portelli, who was primarily a DH last season, will be playing either left field or right field this season.

"Brian Portelli has been the most impressive of anybody this fall," Thomas said. "We'll look at him play left and right to see where he plays better. He has improved a lot as an outfielder with his arm and feet. Always been a good hitter."

http://fiusports.typepad.com/the-prowl/2...field.html

(01-05-2015 12:01 PM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  4 years ago I would have. Unfortunately we've become complacent with 30-25 seasons and missing the postseason 3 years running due to Scott Berry and his staff's inability to coach.

I still want revenge from that UTSA/Southern Miss series last year. That walk-off grand slam in the rubber match still haunts my dreams

I don't see much reason for optimism about this Golden Eagles team going into the season. We lose 2/3 of our weekend rotation and our closer who broke the school's all-time saves record.
Most of our lineup returns with only big loss being our #2 hitter and RBI man leaving via the draft. Not sure if that's a positive since we only hit .248 as a team last year.
To top it off we lost the four best players from our recruiting class, one in the late first round, and had to fill those spots with JUCO's that didn't have previous offers.

Other than that things look great.

(01-05-2015 11:59 AM)Digi368 Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 11:54 AM)Niner National Wrote:  Charlotte was terrible last year and we just kicked several guys off the team for hazing, so I'm sure we'll be bad again this year.

The move has been tough for us because we had A10 caliber players before. The A10 is a terrible baseball conference, so they were nowhere near CUSA quality guys. It'll be a few years of recruiting before we have a team filled with CUSA players.

Sucks to hear. I'm sure they will bounce back. Question: I know NASCAR HOF Dale Jarrett's son plays for Charlotte. Is he a big booster for Charlotte Baseball?

Honestly I don't know. I'm not a big baseball fan so I don't follow it closely. If he donates much he does it discretely. I'm sure he donates and donates more than the average fan but if he has made any significant donations no attention has been brought to it.

(01-05-2015 12:04 PM)FIU Panther Fan Wrote:  You can read all about our fall ball at the following links....

PITCHERS

Quote:FIU lost staff ace Mike Franco to the Tampa Bay Rays and closer Mike Gomez to the Chicago White Sox in the MLB Draft. Plus, Conference USA Freshman of the Year Chris Mourelle is on the mend from an elbow injury. Mourelle is expected back for the start of the season but he will be worked in slowly.

The most pressing issue with the FIU pitching staff is figuring out who will be the Friday night starter. Franco owned that slot last year going 9-3 with a 1.09 ERA. It might be too much to ask of any pitcher to duplicate Franco's season, which led to him being drafted in the 7th round by the Rays, but the Panthers need a similar mound presence from the 2015 Friday starter. Franco finished second in the nation in ERA last season to Oregon State's Ben Wetzler, who had a 0.78 ERA in 104 innings of work.

From last year's weekend rotation, Cody Crouse is still penciled in as the Saturday starter and Thomas would like to keep Mourelle as the Sunday starter this season.

http://fiusports.typepad.com/the-prowl/2...chers.html

POSITION PLAYERS

Quote:FIU has three of its infield starters back from last season in third baseman Josh Anderson, shortstop Julius Gaines and Edwin Rios, who is expected to move from second base to first base as he recovers from a shoulder injury. The Panthers know what they have in those three: solid bats and good gloves. Thomas said Anderson had a really good fall.

In the outfield Brian Portelli might have had the best fall ball. Portelli, who was primarily a DH last season, will be playing either left field or right field this season.

"Brian Portelli has been the most impressive of anybody this fall," Thomas said. "We'll look at him play left and right to see where he plays better. He has improved a lot as an outfielder with his arm and feet. Always been a good hitter."

http://fiusports.typepad.com/the-prowl/2...field.html

Thank you for the links! I'm sure the Florida schools will be contenders this year like they always are

Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

this will be Tech's first season with new coach, Greg Goff, from Campell

(01-05-2015 02:46 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

In our geography, where we have to fight for regional/super hosting,

3. TCU
4. LSU
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. OkState
10. Texas Tech

(01-05-2015 02:52 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 02:46 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

In our geography, where we have to fight for regional/super hosting,

3. TCU
4. LSU
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. OkState
10. Texas Tech

Key ooc games

Texas x4
Arizona x3
Stanford x4
TCU
Houston x3
Sam Houston x2
Texas A&M

(01-05-2015 02:46 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

I'm just glad we don't have to see Michael Aquino again. Man that guy single handily destroyed UTSA in the championship game. I think Leon Byrd is a solid player not mentioned in above blurb

(01-05-2015 03:00 PM)Digi368 Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 02:46 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

I'm just glad we don't have to see Michael Aquino again. Man that guy single handily destroyed UTSA in the championship game. I think Leon Byrd is a solid player not mentioned in above blurb

I'm also a big fan of Leon.

WKU has a baseball team? Ever since Finwood left for ODU, we have been a disaster in conference in baseball...However our HC had battled health issues so that might be a reason why we have struggled last 3 seasons...

(01-05-2015 12:04 PM)FIU Panther Fan Wrote:  You can read all about our fall ball at the following links....

PITCHERS

Quote:FIU lost staff ace Mike Franco to the Tampa Bay Rays and closer Mike Gomez to the Chicago White Sox in the MLB Draft. Plus, Conference USA Freshman of the Year Chris Mourelle is on the mend from an elbow injury. Mourelle is expected back for the start of the season but he will be worked in slowly.

The most pressing issue with the FIU pitching staff is figuring out who will be the Friday night starter. Franco owned that slot last year going 9-3 with a 1.09 ERA. It might be too much to ask of any pitcher to duplicate Franco's season, which led to him being drafted in the 7th round by the Rays, but the Panthers need a similar mound presence from the 2015 Friday starter. Franco finished second in the nation in ERA last season to Oregon State's Ben Wetzler, who had a 0.78 ERA in 104 innings of work.

From last year's weekend rotation, Cody Crouse is still penciled in as the Saturday starter and Thomas would like to keep Mourelle as the Sunday starter this season.

http://fiusports.typepad.com/the-prowl/2...chers.html

POSITION PLAYERS

Quote:FIU has three of its infield starters back from last season in third baseman Josh Anderson, shortstop Julius Gaines and Edwin Rios, who is expected to move from second base to first base as he recovers from a shoulder injury. The Panthers know what they have in those three: solid bats and good gloves. Thomas said Anderson had a really good fall.

In the outfield Brian Portelli might have had the best fall ball. Portelli, who was primarily a DH last season, will be playing either left field or right field this season.

"Brian Portelli has been the most impressive of anybody this fall," Thomas said. "We'll look at him play left and right to see where he plays better. He has improved a lot as an outfielder with his arm and feet. Always been a good hitter."

http://fiusports.typepad.com/the-prowl/2...field.html

Those newcomers joining FIU's team this year were highly ranked as a recruiting class by several websites. Perfect Game ranked FIU's incoming class #8 in the nation, while Baseball America had FIU's class #16 in the nation, and Collegiate Baseball has FIU in their Top 30 class: http://www.fiusports.com/news/2014/11/3/...h=baseball

(01-05-2015 02:52 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 02:46 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

In our geography, where we have to fight for regional/super hosting,

3. TCU
4. LSU
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. OkState
10. Texas Tech

You forgot one, we are loaded even after losing the talent that we did. Not #1 loaded but we should finish in the Top 25.

(01-05-2015 06:20 PM)geauxcajuns Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 02:52 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(01-05-2015 02:46 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Rice #16 nationally

http://collegebaseballcentral.com/colleg...25-2/8319/

16. Rice Owls

As a rule, Rice is at its best when they are led by a veteran group of pitchers. That will certainly be the case in 2015, as they return big-time arms in Blake Fox and Matt Ditman, along with several other key pieces such as Kevin McCanna, Jon Duplantier, Trevor Tekyl, and Jordan Stephens, who missed most of the 2014 season with an injury, but was a key piece of the Owls’ rotation in 2013. Offensively, they do have some holes to fill, as they lost 2014’s biggest power bats in Michael Aquino and Skyler Ewing, along with key role players in Keenan Cook, Shane Hoelscher, and Chase McDowell.

In our geography, where we have to fight for regional/super hosting,

3. TCU
4. LSU
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. OkState
10. Texas Tech

You forgot one, we are loaded even after losing the talent that we did. Not #1 loaded but we should finish in the Top 25.

No slight intended. I merely listed the ranked teams from the link I supplied.

MT has a lot of new players, so I'm hopeful for improvement.