Louisville Selected as 2010 BIG EAST Conference Baseball Favorite
December 30, 2009 | Baseball
Dec. 30, 2009
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - After sweeping last year's BIG EAST Conference regular-season and tournament titles and advancing to an NCAA Super Regional, the Louisville baseball team was selected as the favorite to win the 2010 BIG EAST title in the league's preseason coaches' poll released on Wednesday afternoon.
Louisville earned nine of a possible 11 first-place votes to edge second-place USF as the 2010 favorite. The Cards had 119 points in the poll, while the Bulls were second with 113 points and three first-place votes. The close vote suggests a possible repeat of last season's championship race, which saw Louisville overtake USF in the last weekend of the regular season by taking three games against the Bulls.
The coaches also selected West Virginia shortstop Jedd Gyorko as the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and tabbed USF right-handed pitcher Randy Fontanez the BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
The Cardinals return seven starting position players and the majority of its pitching staff from last year's team that went 47-18 overall and 19-7 in the BIG EAST. Louisville made its third straight NCAA tournament appearance and reached the NCAA Super Regional round for the second time in three years. The Cards are ranked No. 13 in the Ping Baseball preseason poll and No. 19 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll.
Louisville also had five players named Preseason All-BIG EAST on Wednesday, including senior catcher Jeff Arnold (.246, 3 HR, 31 RBI), senior first baseman Andrew Clark (.350, 9 HR, 55 RBI), senior second baseman Adam Duvall (.328, 11 HR, 51 RBI), redshirt sophomore outfielder Stewart Ijames (.349, 8 HR, 39 RBI in 2008), who missed the 2009 season due to injury, and sophomore right-handed pitcher Tony Zych (6-2, 3.25 ERA, 2 saves). Clark was named MVP of the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament, Arnold and Zych were named to the All-Tournament Team and Duvall was an All-BIG EAST selection a year ago.
The 2010 Cardinals also return All-America third baseman Phil Wunderlich, who was the team's leading hitter with a .367 batting average to go with 18 home runs and 78 runs batted in last season, as well as junior right-handed pitcher Thomas Royse, who was an All-BIG EAST selection last year.
Louisville will open the 2010 season on Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. ET, in the first of three games against Bowling Green at Jim Patterson Stadium.
2010 Preseason BIG EAST Baseball Coaches' Poll
1. Louisville (9) 119
2. USF (3) 113
3. Connecticut 94
4. St. John's 87
5. Notre Dame 84
6. West Virginia 79
7. Cincinnati 53
8. Rutgers 49
9. Pittsburgh 44
10. Seton Hall 32
11. Villanova 23
12. Georgetown 15
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year: Jedd Gyorko, Jr., SS, West Virginia
Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year: Randy Fontanez, Jr., RHP, USF
2009 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Pos., Name, Class, School (Key 2009 Stats)
P, Randy Fontanez, Jr., USF * (7-3, 3.09 ERA, 99.0 IP, 57 K, 24 BB, .250 OBA)
P, Jarryd Summers, Jr., West Virginia (7-3, 3.05 ERA, 94.1 IP, 99 K, 35 BB, .239 OBA)
P, Cole Johnson, Jr., Notre Dame (7-3, 4.56 ERA, 94.2 IP, 64 K, 36 BB, .252 OBA)
P, Tony Zych, So., Louisville (6-2, 3.25 ERA, 2 SV, 44.1 IP, 31 K, 10 BB, .235 OBA)
C, Erick Fernandez, Jr., Georgetown (.349, 5 HR, 28 RBI)
C, Jeff Arnold, Sr., Louisville (.246, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 13 SB)
1B, Andrew Clark, Sr., Louisville * (.350, 9 HR, 55 RBI)
2B, Adam Duvall, Sr., Louisville (.328, 11 HR, 51 RBI, 12 SB)
SS, Jedd Gyroko, Jr., West Virginia * (.421, 8 HR, 58 RBI)
3B, Dan DiBartolomeo, Jr., West Virginia (.439, 8 HR, 59 RBI, 5 SB)
OF, George Springer, So., Connecticut * (.358, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 12 SB)
OF, Stewart Ijames, So., Louisville (.349, 8 HR, 39 RBI in 2008)
OF, Jimmy Parque, Jr., St. John's (.360, 5 HR, 61 RBI)
OF, Junior Carlin, Jr., USF (.384, 0 HR, 27 RBI)
DH, Matt Szczur, So., Villanova (.346, 1 HR, 24 RBI, 18 SB)
* - unanimous selection
