June 27, 2008

Baseball Accomplishments in PDF Format

In 2008, Conference USA continued to solidify its place as a national power in baseball.

For the third consecutive season, Rice advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. It was the fourth straight year that C-USA has had a representative at the CWS.

The Owls won their third straight Conference USA regular season title, finishing 21-3 in league play. After a surprising 0-2 showing at the league tournament, Rice hosted both an NCAA Regional and Super Regional at Reckling Park for the third consecutive season. The Owls rolled through those postseason events with an unblemished 5-0 record, knocking out Sam Houston State, St. John's, Texas and Texas A&M (twice) en route to a return trip to Omaha. Though the Owls fell short at Rosenblatt Stadium, losing to Fresno State and LSU, the Blue & Gray still finished with one of the top records in all of college baseball at 47-15.

The 2008 Entergy Conference USA Baseball Championship was held in New Orleans at Tulane's brand-new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. The five-day, double-elimination tournament proved to be one of the wildest in league history and punctuated the league's top-to-bottom strength. Rice became the first No. 1 seed to lose its first two games, nationally-ranked East Carolina went 1-2 and host Tulane bowed out after winning just once. UAB's victory over then-No. 5 Rice marked the first time in school history that the Blazers had defeated a top 10 team. A much-improved Marshall squad made an improbable run to the championship game, falling one run short of an NCAA bid, but set a school record for wins and served notice of becoming a baseball contender in the league. When the dust had cleared, it was the Houston Cougars that had won the championship. Despite having to battle back through the loser's bracket, UH defeated UAB twice in the semifinals and held off Marshall, 3-2 in the title game, to earn its first C-USA Tournament crown since 2000.

East Carolina headlined the league's top individual awards, winning three of the five major awards. Senior catcher Corey Kemp was named Player of the Year, right-handed pitcher Seth Maness grabbed Freshman of the Year honors and junior righthander Justin Bristow earned Newcomer of the Year recognition. Tulane right-hander Shooter Hunt was named Pitcher of the Year and Rice skipper Wayne Graham took home his third consecutive Keith LeClair Conference USA Coach of the Year award.

Regular season champion Rice had the most total All-Conference selections with seven and East Carolina had five, while Southern Miss and Tulane each produced four. Seven of the league's nine teams had at least one representative on the first team, with ECU and Southern Miss each placing three players on the first team.

Seven different players earned All-American honors and seven players were named to Freshman All-American teams, the most by debut players since 2002.

Conference USA sent a league-record-tying five teams to the NCAA Championship, the seventh straight season in which it has produced at least four bids. In addition to Rice, East Carolina made its ninth appearance in 10 years, Southern Miss was in the field for the sixth straight season and Houston and Tulane returned to regional play after a one-year absence.

While Rice was nationally-ranked all season long, the Owls were not alone in the national rankings. East Carolina, Houston, Southern Miss, Tulane and UCF each enjoyed time in the polls, giving the league six ranked schools in the nine-team circuit.

Ranked fifth among the 29 baseball-playing conferences, C-USA produced a total of 20 wins over ranked opponents in 2008. Among the teams that the league owned victories over this season were, Georgia, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, UC Irvine, Texas, Long Beach State, North Carolina State, Missouri, Michigan, Mississippi, UNC Wilmington, New Orleans and TCU. Six of Conference USA's teams have defeated at least one win ranked non-conference foe in 2008.

Major League Baseball continued to take note of the talent in Conference USA when it came time for its June draft. A record total of 37 players were selected from the league, including one player from each school for the first time. Included were two first round selections in Tulane's Shooter Hunt and Rice's David Price, marking the fourth straight year that the league has produced at least one first round draft pick. A year after Rice produced an NCAA record 14 selections, the Owls had 11 more players taken. Five different schools (East Carolina, Houston, Memphis Southern Miss and UCF) had four players selected.

It was also a strong year for Conference USA Baseball in the classroom. Six C-USA players earned ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors, including a pair of first team selections in Memphis pitcher Neil Schenk and Rice pitcher Chris Kelley. A total of 157 baseball student-athletes were named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll.

CONFERENCE USA BASEBALL 2008 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Conference USA was the No. 5 ranked baseball conference in 2008, trailing only the ACC, Pac-10, SEC and Big 12.

• Rice advanced to its third straight College World Series and its seventh since 1997. It was the fourth consecutive year that C-USA placed a team in the CWS (Tulane in 2005).

• Conference USA tied a league record by placing five teams in the 2008 NCAA Championship (East Carolina, Houston, Rice, Southern Miss and Tulane). It was the seventh straight year that C-USA produced at least four NCAA teams. For the first time ever, five teams advanced to regional championship games.

• For the eighth time in the last nine years, a Conference USA team hosted an NCAA Regional when Rice welcomed Texas, St. John's and Sam Houston State to the Houston Regional. The Owls also hosted a Super Regional against Texas A&M, marking the ninth straight season a C-USA team has advanced to Super Regional play.

• Rice was ranked in the top 10 all season long, rising as high as No. 4 on several occasions.

• East Carolina, Houston, Southern Miss, Tulane and UCF have each been nationally-ranked in one of the four major polls (USA Today, NCBWA, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball) this season, giving the league a total of six ranked teams at some point this season.

• Five Conference USA teams won at least one game against a nationally-ranked, non-conference opponent.

• C-USA teams posted a total of 20 wins over nationally-ranked, non-conference opponents during the regular season, including seven against Top 10 foes. Among the NCAA teams that C-USA defeated in 2008 were: Georgia (Memphis), Texas A&M (Houston, Rice), Oklahoma State (Rice), South Carolina (East Carolina), UC Irvine (Tulane), Texas (Rice), Long Beach State (Rice), North Carolina State (Marshall), Missouri (UCF), Michigan (East Carolina), UNC Wilmington (East Carolina), New Orleans (Southern Miss, Tulane), TCU (Tulane), Mississippi (Southern Miss) and Elon (East Carolina).

• Four Conference USA teams won at least 40 games this season for the first time ever, with another posting 39 victories. Seven of the nine league schools won at least 30 games for the first time ever.

• Seven different Conference USA players were honored as All-Americans, including Tulane pitcher Shooter Hunt, who appeared on all but one All-American team.

• Seven C-USA players earned Freshman All-American honors, the league's highest total since the 2002 season.

• Conference USA had two players that earned National Player of the Week honors.

• Six C-USA players were named to the 2008 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District teams, including a pair of first team selections in Memphis pitcher Neil Schenk and Rice pitcher Chris Kelley.

• Conference USA had a record 37 players chosen in the June Major League Baseball Draft. included were a pair of first round picks in Tulane's Shooter Hunt and Rice's David Price, the fourth straight year that C-USA has produced a first round pick. For the first time ever, each Conference USA school had at least one player selected.

• Thirteen players from C-USA schools appeared on the opening day rosters of Major League Baseball teams, with five more players being called up in the first two months of the season.

CONFERENCE USA BASEBALL SCHOOLS
The nine schools that currently comprise Conference USA Baseball have enjoyed a great deal of success. Here are some of their accomplishments:

Eleven College World Series Appearances

2003 National Champions - Rice

At least one College World Series team in eight of the last 10 seasons.

99 NCAA Appearances in Baseball (60 since 1995)

Five National Players of the Year since 1995

Six National Freshman of the Year since 1995

107 players have been All-Americans since 1995

Schools have combined to win 40 or more games 51 times in the last 12 years

Has had a team ranked No. 1 in the nation in four of the last five regular seasons