Jan. 16, 2009
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The University of Notre Dame baseball team was picked to finish third in the 2009 BIG EAST preseason baseball poll as determined by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams. The Irish received a total of 99 points and trailed only Louisville (121) and USF (103).
Notre Dame placed the trio of junior RHP Eric Maust (Alpharetta, Ga.), junior OF A.J. Pollock (Hebron, Conn.) and senior SS Jeremy Barnes (Garland, Texas) on the preseason All-BIG EAST squad. No other conference school had more players on the 14-man squad than Notre Dame.
Pollock has already been named to the Wallace Award Watch List, named second team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball, third team preseason All-American by Ping!Baseball and listed as the 39th overall prospect and 16th collegiate prospect for the 2009 MLB Draft by Baseball America. He was also ranked as the seventh-best prospect from the Cape Cod League by Baseball America following his Most Valuable Player season this past summer.
Pollock finished last season for Notre Dame with a .352 batting average, 15 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 42 RBI and 28 stolen bases. A two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week selection, Pollock led the Irish in batting, hits (76), doubles (tied), total bases (109), sacrifice flies (7), stolen bases, at bats (216), games played (tied, 55) and games started (tied, 55).
Barnes, who has moved from second base to shortstop this season, batted .307 with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 50 RBI. He added 29 walks, 40 runs scored and three stolen bases. Barnes led Notre Dame in RBI and doubles (tied). He played in all 55 games last year and stated 53.
Maust, a second team all-league selection in 2008, went 6-3 with a 4.52 earned run average in 14 appearances a year ago. He not only tied for the team-lead in victories with six, but he also led the BIG EAST in league victories (also six). Maust made 10 starts after a move from the bullpen and logged 69.2 innings of work. He struck out 46, walked 23 and opponents hit .278 against him.
Louisville was the unanimous choice as the squad to beat in the 2009 season according to the league coaches. The Cardinals finished the 2008 season with a 16-11 BIG EAST record and the BIG EAST Championship title. UofL completed the `08 season with a 41-19 overall record and returned to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row where they were eliminated in the Athens, Ga., Regional.
USF has been selected as the runner up to Louisville with 103 points. In 2008, the Bulls ended their season with a 31-27 overall record and a 14-13 BIG EAST record to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship.
St. John’s, the 2008 BIG EAST regular season champion, was selected to place fourth in the 2009 season with 93 points. The Red Storm concluded the 2008 season with a 41-14 overall season and a 20-7 conference record. It was the fourth consecutive season that STJ reached the 40-win mark. The Red Storm received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.
Cincinnati earned 77 points to place fifth in the preseason poll. UC posted a 39-20 overall record in 2008 and a 19-8 record in conference play to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship. The Bearcats fell to Louisville 6-3 in their first ever Championship game. Last season, Cincinnati stole 133 bases in 169 attempts. It was the only league squad to top the 100 steals mark.
Connecticut, which ended the 2008 season with a 27-28 overall record and 11-16 conference record, was selected to finish sixth in the 2009 season with 62 points. Right behind Connecticut with 60 points to place seventh is West Virginia. The Mountaineers completed the ’08 campaign with a 35-21 overall record and a 13-14 conference record to qualify for the BIG EAST Championship. Rutgers was picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll with 58 points. Seton Hall was selected to finish ninth with 49 points. The Pirates ended the ’08 season with 31-25 overall and qualified for the BIG EAST Championship with a 15-12 conference record.
Villanova was tabbed to finish 10th with 31 points after a 2008 campaign in which it finished 30-28 (12-15 BIG EAST). League coaches slotted Pittsburgh to finish 11th with 27 points following a 19-34 (7-19 BIG EAST) season. Georgetown rounds-out the preseason poll with 12 points after an 18-32 (7-20 BIG EAST) season.
Notre Dame opens the 2009 spring season on Feb. 20-22 with the BIG EAST vs. Big Ten Challenge in Tampa, Fla. The Irish will face Ohio State (Fri.), Illinois (Sat.) and Purdue (Sun.).
Preseason BIG EAST PollRank Team Points (First Place Votes) 2008 Overall 2008 BIG EAST1. Louisville* 121 (11) 41-19 16-112. USF 103 31-27 14-133. Notre Dame 99 33-21-1 16-104. St. John's 93 (1) 41-14 20-75. Cincinnati 77 23-11 19-86. Connecticut 62 27-28 11-167. West Virginia 60 35-21 13-148. Rutgers 58 23-29-1 11-169. Seton Hall 49 31-25 15-1210. Villanova 31 30-28 12-1511. Pittsburgh 27 19-34 7-1912. Georgetown 12 18-32 7-20
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year: Chris Dominguez, Jr., 3B, Louisville
Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year: Justin Marks, Jr., LHP, Louisville*
Preseason All-BIG EAST TeamPos. Name, Class, School Key 2008 Stats (All Games Played)LHP Justin Marks, Jr., Louisville* 9-2 Record, 2.37 ERA, 14 GS, 0 CG, 0 ShO, 91.0 IP, 39 BB, 89 SORHP Eric Maust, Jr., Notre Dame 6-3 Record, 4.52 ERA, 10 GS, 0 CG, 0 ShO, 69.2 IP, 23 BB, 46 SORHP Michael Hill, Sr., Cincinnati 6-4 Record, 3.46 ERA, 12 GS, 3 CG, 0 ShO, 80.2 IP, 16 BB, 65 SORHP John Folino, Sr., Connecticut 4-4 Record, 5.11 ERA, 7 GS, 0 CG, 0 ShO, 56.1 IP, 12 BB, 39 SORHP Sean Black, Jr., Seton Hall 3-3 Record, 3.44 ERA, 8 GS, 1 CG, 1 ShO, 65.1 IP, 30 BB, 59 SOC Jeff Arnold, Jr., Louisville .333 avg., 183 AB, 39 R, 61 H, 14 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 32 RBI, 12 SB1B Jaren Matthews, So., Rutgers .294 avg., 214 AB, 37 R, 63 H, 11 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 54 RBI, 8 SB2B Jeremy Barnes, Sr., Notre Dame .307 avg., 199 AB, 40 R, 61 H, 15 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 50 RBI, 3 SB3B Chris Dominguez, Jr., Louisville .365 avg., 249 AB, 68 R, 91 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 21 HR, 75 RBI, 11 SBSS Jedd Gyorko, So., West Virginia .409 avg., 232 AB, 62 R, 95 H, 17 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 63 RBI, 4 SBOF Ryan Lockwood, So., USF .415 avg., 193 AB, 44 R, 80 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 37 RBI, 12 SBOF A.J. Pollock, Jr., Notre Dame .350 avg., 217 AB, 49 R, 76 H, 15 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 42 RBI, 28SBOF Cameron Satterwhite, Sr., Cincinnati .364 avg., 225 AB, 49 R, 82 H, 21 2B, 2 3B, 14 HR, 61 RBI, 0 SBDH Chris Affinito, Sr., Seton Hall .308 avg., 201 AB, 38 R, 62 H, 9 2B, 3 3B, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 0 SB* - unanimous selection
— ND —