Cardinal Nine Picked to Win BIG EAST by Rivals.com
January 02, 2008 | Baseball
Jan. 2, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rivals.com has released its BIG EAST preview and the University of Louisville is picked to win the conference title, while senior Zack Pitts was named the top pitcher in the conference. A total of four Cardinals are on the Preseason All-Conference team and Head Coach Dan McDonnell was named the "Coach on the Rise."
SEBaseball.com also named the Cardinal baseball program as the top baseball program on the rise.
Pitts, a righty from Elizabethtown, Kentucky was joined by sophomore lefty Justin Marks, senior catcher Derrick Alfonso and sophomore Chris Dominguez on the All-BIG EAST squad. Dominguez, who plays third base for the Cardinals, was selected to the team as the DH.
Last season Pitts was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST, while posting a school record-tying 10 wins, adding a 2.52 ERA while tossing a record 121.2 innings. He ranks third in U of L history with a 3.58 ERA entering the 2008 season.
He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 30th round of the 2007 MLB Draft.
Marks, from Owensboro, Ky., (Owensboro Catholic) was named to the Louisville Slugger, PING! and Rivals.com Freshman All-American teams following last season.
His post-season resume also included 2007 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, and Second Team All-BIG EAST honors.
Marks was 9-2 with a 2.67 ERA in 18 starts, jumping into the weekend rotation as a freshman. He struck out 87 in 104.2 innings pitched and limited opponents to a BIG EAST low .189 batting average.
Dominguez, a redshirt sophomore from Miami, Fla., was the NCAA Columbia Regional MVP after batting .421 (8 for 19) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBI in five games. He hit .262 with 19 doubles and 15 home runs.
He hit .318 with eight home runs and 19 RBI in 11 NCAA Postseason games last year.
Alfonso, a second team All-BIG EAST selection in 2007, played in 70 of the 71 games last season at catcher for the Cardinals, posting a .274 batting average with nine doubles, five home runs and 31 RBI in 66 starts. The Bowling Green, Kentucky native was 4 for 6 on steals and was third on the team with 10 sac bunts.
He threw out 29 of 60 baserunners, adding four pickoffs. Opponents were just 12 for 26 in BIG EAST games.
Alfonso also handled a pitching staff that set a school record for strikeouts (514) and finished the season with the 5th best ERA in the nation.
McDonnell set a school record with 47 wins, guiding the Cardinals to the College World Series in his first season as a head coach, the first in 27 years to do so. He and his assistants; Recruiting Coordinator Chris Lemonis and Pitching Coach Roger Williams all signed long-term contract extensions following the 2007 season.
The Seattle Mariners' Sean Green and Nick Swisher of the Oakland A's are scheduled to headline the 2008 Louisville Baseball Leadoff Dinner in the South Wing of the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. sponsored by Republic Bank.
Tickets can be purchased for $50 each, by calling (502)852-2015 or by filling out and submitting the registration form. The deadline to register is January 31, 2008.
The Cardinal baseball team opens the 2008 season on February 22 when they host Cleveland State in the first of a three-game series at 2:00 p.m. in Jim Patterson Stadium. Admission to all home games is free.
