Bulls Picked Third in BIG EAST Poll

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

Bulls Picked Third in BIG EAST Poll

TAMPA, Fla. – On Thursday the BIG EAST Conference announced the 2008 preseason baseball poll and all-conference team. 

The University of South Florida baseball team has been tabbed as the third-best team in the league, as voted on by the 12 conference head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams.

Senior second baseman Dexter Butler is the lone Bull representing USF on the preseason all-conference team. He finished 2007 with a .324 average, 44 RBIs, 45 runs scored and All-BIG EAST Third Team honors.

St. John's, which won 41 games and claimed a share of the BIG EAST regular-season title last year, has been chosen as the favorite to win the 2008 conference championship, and Louisville, who appeared in the 2007 College World Series, was selected as the runner up. Rutgers, who earned a share of the 2007 regular-season league title, was picked to finish fourth, and the league coaches expect Notre Dame to improve on last year’s 28-28 record, slotting the Irish in fifth place.

Preseason Poll

Team

Points (First Place Votes)

2007 Overall

2007 BIG EAST

1. St. John’s 

117 (7) 

41-19

20-7

2. Louisville

113 (5) 

47-24

19-8

3. USF

92

34-26

13-14

4. Rutgers

91

42-21

20-7

5. Notre Dame 

80

28-28

11-15

6. Connecticut

66

34-27

10-14

7. Pittsburgh 

59

27-27

15-11

8. Villanova

51

29-25

12-15

9. Cincinnati

41

28-28

10-16

10. West Virginia

39

29-22

10-16

11. Seton Hall

31

25-25

9-15

12. Georgetown

12

21-34

8-19

Preseason Player of the Year:

  Chris Dominguez, So., 3B, Louisville

Preseason Pitcher of the Year:

  Zack Pitts, Sr., RHP, Louisville

Preseason Team                                           

Pos.  Name, Class, School

Key 2007 Stats (All Games Played)

LHP  Scott Barnes, Jr., St. John’s*

7-2 Record, 2.93 ERA, 15 GS, 1 CG, 1ShO, 95.1 IP, 34 BB, 99 SO

RHP  Zack Pitts, Sr., Louisville*

10-3 Record, 2.52 ERA, 18 GS, 1 CG, 121.2 IP, 24 BB, 91 SO

LHP  Justin Marks, So., Louisville

9-2 Record, 2.67 ERA, 18 GS, 104.2 IP, 38 BB, 87 SO

LHP  Dan Osterbrock, Jr., Cincinnati

9-1 Record, 2.67 ERA, 14 GS, 5 CG, 1 ShO, 94.1 IP, 25 BB, 82 SO 

RHP  David Phelps, Jr., Notre Dame

8-5 Record, 1.88 ERA, 15 GS, 5 CG, 1 ShO, 110.1 IP, 30 BB, 102 SO

C  Derrick Alfonso, Sr., Louisville

.274 avg., 234 AB, 32 R, 64 H, 9 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 30 RBI, 4-6 SB

1B  Tom Edwards, Jr., Rutgers

.340 avg., 238 AB, 44 R, 81 H, 10 2B, 7 HR, 48 RBI, 7-10 SB

2B  Dexter Butler, Sr., USF

.324 avg., 213 AB, 33 R, 69 H, 11 2B, 1 HR, 44 RBI, 2-3 SB

SS  Josh Harrison, Jr., Cincinnati

.327 avg., 220 AB, 59 R, 72 H, 17 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 21-23 SB

3B  Chris Dominguez, So., Louisville

.262 avg., 271 AB, 47 R, 71 H, 19 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR, 61 RBI, 9-12 SB

OF  Tony Campana, Sr., Cincinnati

.329 avg., 237 AB, 51 R, 78 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 60-74 SB

OF  Sean Conley, Sr., Pittsburgh

.283 avg., 205 AB, 44 R, 58 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 11-18 SB

OF  Brian Kemp, So., St. John’s

.384 avg., 230 AB, 53 R, 80 H, 10 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 34 RBI, 25-29 SB

DH  Matt Karl, Sr., Connecticut

.301 avg., 123 AB, 17 R, 37 H, 3 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI

* - unanimous selection

 

[flsportsfan83]

we could win the Big East easily.

[JoeB]

We could win, but I don't think it will be easy.  We only have 9 or so guys coming back from last year, so new players will have to step up and contribute right away.

[JoeB]

Just looking at the schedule, we play on Tuesday and Wednesday alot this season.  I don't recall this last year.  It seemed like we'd play once during mid week and then have the weekend series.  This year having two games mid week will really tax our pitching staff, so we'll need to be alot deeper than last year.  We basically went from having a 4 game week to a 5 game week.  I'm sure Lelo had this changed for a reason.