Christopher Newport took on the Rowan Profs for the second game of a two-day, two-game set. The Captains defeated the Profs in comeback fashion, winning by a final score of 17-10.

Rowan wasted no time in getting some offensive production as they got on the board early as John McMullin hit a grand slam over the left-center field fence in the first inning. Rowan would add two more runs off of Kyle Baumann in the top of the 2nd before Ian Lenda came in to record the final out of the inning with the Profs jumping out to a 6-0 lead.

The Captains would answer in the bottom of the 2nd inning with a 2-run home run by Eric Cole, and a Mike Giarrizzi RBI single; cutting the Profs lead in half, making it 6-3. Christopher Newport would continue to chip away at the Rowan lead until a Cole sacrifice in the 5th put the Captains ahead. A four run 5th inning put the game away for Captains.

The Captains were lead offensively by Cole who went 3-5 with 4 runs batted in. Senior John McMullin lead the Profs with a with 5 RBIs on a 3-5 night.

In other action: With a stellar defensive performance, a quality start from Robert Vaughn and a season-best 19 hits, Linfield found its recipe for success in defeating Puget Sound 12-2 Saturday afternoon at Roy Helser Field. The contest was the opening tilt of a three-game tournament set titled the Jim Doran Auto Classic. In other games in the Jim Doran Auto Classic Saturday, Pacific Lutheran outlasted Oregon Tech 16-12 and Concordia opposed Whitman in the late game.

Capital began its 2009 season by splitting a doubleheader at Averett on Saturday afternoon. Averett pounded out 13 hits to beat Capital 7-1 in the opener. In the finale senior Marc St. John and the Crusaders found some offensive production as St. John had two doubles as part of a 3-for-4 performance that included a pair of RBI and three runs scored.

Rhodes defeated Greensboro 9-3 this afternoon in the Rawlings Southern Classic. Rhodes put up two runs in the top of the first and was able to hold onto the lead for the remained of the game. Matt Gilbert hit a 3 run homer in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Nick Cesare tossed five and a third innings to pick up the win as Kean opened the 2009 season defeating Stevens Institute of Technology, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at Jim Hynes Stadium.

McMurry starter Dakota Smith held Ozarks to one run and six hits and strand 11 Eagles in game one of the ASC crossover matchup as McMurry won 5-1. In game two, Ozarks held a 2-1 lead until the fourth when Jake Mullin hit a two-run homer to take the lead back. McMurry would have an answer for every Ozark rally and came away with a 9-4 victory.

Cal Lutheran continued their winning ways and took game two of a three game series with La Verne 9-5. The second game of the day was suspended after eight innings with the Kingsmen leading 6-4.

Washington and Lee fell, 6-5, to Whitworth and defeated Brandeis, 6-2, to wrap up play at the Peoria Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon. In game one, the Generals was led by Hunter Serenbetz, who was 2-for-5 at the plate with a pair of doubles and one RBI. In their final game in Arizona, the Generals defeated Brandeis, 6-2.

Rutgers-Camden freshman Andrew Hoffman didn't waste any time placing his stamp on the collegiate baseball scene. Hoffman hurled 7-2/3 innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and allowing only two unearned runs, as the Scarlet Raptors defeated Waynesburg, 4-2, Saturday on the second day of the Floyd B. Wilcox Memorial Tournament at Hampden-Sydney.

Shenandoah scored seven runs over the final four innings to erase a 4-0 deficit and defeat Elizabethtown 7-4 in non-conference baseball action on Saturday afternoon. Trailing 4-0 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Hornets scored four runs to tie the game at 4-4, then added two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to pick up the win over the Blue Jays.

No. 12 Texas-Tyler cranked out six home runs on the day as the Patriots swept a doubleheader with the Mary Hardin-Baylor, 7-1 and 9-4, on Saturday at Irwin Field. Jared Hood and Chad Daleiden had multiple home runs days. Hood finished the day by going 5-for-8 with five runs, four RBIs and a double. Daleiden went 5-for-7 with four RBIs, two runs and two home runs.

Salisbury capped off its six-game home stand with a doubleheader sweep of Staten Island on Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Field in front of a crowd of 125. The Sea Gulls took the first game by a score of 8-1 and finished off the sweep with a 9-3 victory in game two. Salisbury got off to a slow start, a day after a huge victory over top-ranked Cortland State, but the offense found its grove late in game one and carried that momentum into the second game to take two from the Dolphins, who were making their season debut.

Bates opened the 2009 season with a 6-5 win over Alma at the Cal Ripken Experience tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Friday. Down 5-4 in the ninth, the Bobcats loaded the bases with two outs. Walks by Noah Burke and Jake Simon gave Bates their first win of the season.

Emory picked up its third-consecutive win on Saturday, as the Eagles claimed a 9-4 triumph over NC Wesleyan at the Rawlings Southern Classic. Emory shortstop Andrew Cohn extended his hitting streak to 23 games in grand fashion, going three-four-four with five runs batted in and a double, in addition to turning three double plays.

Texas-Dallas and Texas Lutheran have staged some memorable battles through the last few years, usually in the setting of an ASC Championship Tournament or the NCAA Regionals. The old foes got together again this weekend for a three-game series that did not count for anything special, but featured the intensity and drama one would expect from the rivalry. Texas-Dallas swept the Bulldogs in dramatic fashion. The Comets won Friday's opener 13-6, then rallied from big deficits twice on Saturday to take 14-13 and 10-9 victories.

For the second day in a row, George Fox spotted the Concordia-Portland Cavaliers a big early lead, but this time the Bruin bats awoke in time to come back for a 16-9 victory in a non-conference baseball game Saturday at Morse Field.

Tom Burke went 2-for-3 in each game, finishing 4-for-6 overall Stephen Montalbano tossed 5.2 innings of two-hit ball to earn the victory as New Jersey City opened the 2009 season with a 4-2 victory over 2008 Skyline Conference champion Farmingdale State on Saturday. The Rams, an NCAA qualifier last year, won the nightcap of the two seven-inning doubleheader, also by a 4-2
count.

The game between No. 9 Salisbury and top-ranked Cortland lived up to the hype on Friday afternoon at a frigid and windy Sea Gull Field. The Sea Gulls pushed across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead and closed the door on the Red Dragons in the top of the ninth to secure the upset victory.

Salisbury, who never trailed in the game, loaded the bases in the eighth with one out and the game knotted at three apiece. Newly inserted pitcher J.J. Potrikus plunked Salisbury shortstop Will Evans in his back with a ball to force in the eventual game-winning run. Potrikus struck out the next two batters but the damage was done.

The game pitted two preseason All-American pitchers against one another. Salisbury sent out Eric Willey who tossed five and two-thirds innings and surrendered three runs on eight hits, walked none and struck out six Red Dragon batters. Cortland rolled out Matt Tone who matched Willey with five and two-thirds innings tossed and allowed three runs on four hits, walked three and struck out eight.

In other action: Emory recorded 19 hits, and eight different Eagles drove in at least one run, as the Eagles defeated York 17-3 in eight innings at Chappell Park, during the opening day of the Rawlings Southern Classic. Emory's Steve Bralver paced the Eagles, continuing his hot start to the 2009 campaign, going four-for-five in the game with a home run, three singles and five runs batted in.

Rowan mounted a 6-run comeback that tied their game with Christopher Newport at 9 on a cold Friday afternoon at Captains Park. The final score was 9-9 after 8 innings, when the game was called due to darkness.

Rutgers-Camden rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and went on to defeat Moravian College, 9-4, in the season opener for both teams at the Floyd B. Wilcox Memorial Tournament here at Hampden-Sydney College.

Franklin has been selected as the favorite to claim the 2009 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball championship but stumbled out of the chute with losses to Ferrum 3-2 and Oglethorpe 19-12 in the Rawlings Southern Classic in Atlanta on Friday.

Ferrum scored the winning run with one out in the ninth inning on a Nathan Bryant wild pitch, spoiling a stellar starting performance by Jared Applegate. Dennis Cauley got the win for the Panthers, pitching two innings of relief. Ferrum starter Trey Finch scattered seven hits over seven innings, allowed two earned runs and three walks, and struck out five.

Paul Strack went 2-4 with three RBIs but Franklin could not hold an early lead against Oglethorpe. The Grizzlies led 7-4 after three innings but allowed 15 runs before they scored another run. Stephen Archer led the Petrels with a 6-6 performance that included 4 runs scored.

Also at the Rawlings Southern Classic, Ferrum defeated Oglethorpe 12-1, Rhodes defeated Piedmont 10-7 and York suffered two losses to Emory 17-3 and Greensboro 9-8.

In other action: Chapman snapped a brief two-game skid with a decisive 11-2 victory over visiting Westmont at Hart Park on Friday afternoon. The Panthers rallied from a fifth-inning 1-0 deficit to score 11 times over the next three innings for their most lopsided win of the season.

Two solo home runs helped lift Texas-Tyler past the Mary Hardin-Baylor, 5-3, on Friday night at Irwin Field. In the fourth inning, Jeremy Harding hit the first of two Patriot home runs on the night to tie the game. In the eighth, Joe Towns closed the door on any comeback by the Cru with his own solo shot over the left field fence.

The Lutes, playing as the home team against Linfield, saw the Wildcats rally to tie the game at 8-8 with two runs in the seventh inning and one more in the eighth. Pacific Lutheran would prevail when Jordon Post, the Lutes' senior first baseman, slugged his second home run of the season over the fence in right-center field for the winning margin.

Bottom of the 11th inning, a full count and down to its final out before postponing the game due to darkness the Kingsmen scored the game deciding run to earn an 8-7 victory over La Verne in its conference opener.

Redlands used an outstanding outing by senior pitcher/first baseman Nolan Nicholson on the mound as the Bulldogs steamrolled Occidental 9-1, in the first of a three-game weekend series Friday. Outfielder Corey Vane also had a spectacular day both offensively and defensively. Vane went 2-for-5 on the afternoon while scoring a run and batting one in. The game's final out came as a result of Vane's cannon as he launched a fielded ball from right field to throw out the runner from second at home.

Doug Bloom went 4 for 5 and scored five runs, as Willamette opened the season with a 12-4 victory over Cal State East Bay on Friday. Willamette led 6-4 after six innings, then pulled way with three runs in the final three frames.

Newcomer Brad Orosey, Texas Lutheran joined three upper classmen in garnering conference pitching honors. Orosey was named the ASC-West pitcher of the week while junior Jonathan Reeder, Texas-Dallas received it for the ASC-East division. Junior Tyler Fransen, Pacific (NWC) and senior Gage Levac, Shenandoah (USA South) were also named conference pitchers of the week.

Last week, Orosey picked up wins against both Trinity and Cal State-East Bay. In his two outings, he scattered six hits and struck out 10 batters with no walks over 11+ innings. Orosey (2-0, 1 save) has pitched in four games in 2009 and has an ERA of 0.66. He has pitched a total of 13-2/3 innings and has allowed just one earned run. Opponents are hitting .163 against him. He has struck out 13 batters and has yet to issue a walk. Conference rival Reeder (1-1) tossed five innings of scoreless relief with five strikeouts, allowing just one hit against a Whittier team that had totaled five runs and seven hits over the first four innings. Reeder picked up the win and conference honors.

Fransen (1-0) in his first game of the season, started the Boxers' Saturday tripleheader against Pomona-Pitzer, allowing just four hits and two walks with two strikeouts to lead Pacific to a 3-0 victory. The game was just the sixth start of Fransen's Pacific career and marked his first complete game. For his performance on the mound, the hurler was awarded NWC Baseball Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week. "Tyler had a great first outing," said Pacific Head Baseball Coach Greg Bradley. "He was aggressive, had great command and challenged the Pomona hitters. He has worked hard to prepare this season and it was evident in how he performed."

Gage Levac (0-0, 2 saves), Shenandoah tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief and collected two saves to open the season for the Hornets. In a 3-0 victory over Misericordia, Levac pitched the final 2.2 innings, giving up just two hits to record the save. In a 4-2 win over King's (PA), Levac appeared in the final inning, allowing one hit with two strikeouts to earn the save.

D3baseball.com preseason All-American Hunter Owen's walkoff home run on the first pitch he saw from Teddy Smoyer in the bottom of the 10th sent Millsaps to a thrilling 2-1 win Sunday win over Hendrix, complementing a stellar performance from sophomore Aaron Willams who tossed a complete game, four-hitter on the bump for his first win of 2009.

In a game that lasted just 2 hours and 24 minutes due to solid pitching from both teams, Williams scattered eight strikeouts in throwing the fourth complete game of his career, with the only run coming off a passed ball in the Warriors' half of the seventh.

Millsaps took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning thanks to a bases loaded balk call on the first batter Drew Gustafson faced after entering in relief of Dave Keine, while Daniel Ward scored for Hendrix in the seventh to knot it at 1-1.

After a scoreless eighth and ninth forced the game to extra innings, Owen's bomb to leftfield in 20 mph winds blowing straight in from center was the game-winner and the 30th home run of his career.

In other action: No. 9 Salisbury improved to 5-0 this season with a doubleheader sweep of Stevens Institute of Technology in two non-conference seven-inning games. Salisbury had to rally in both games as the Ducks scored at least one run in the first inning of both games. Salisbury took the first game 7-2 and rallied from three runs down in the fourth inning for a 7-5 victory in game two.

La Verne earned a key regional with a come-from-behind 11-10 triumph over Pacific Lutheran Sunday at Ben Hines Field. La Verne overcame a 7-2 decifit in the seventh inning to overtake Pacific Lutheran. Mark Larini was the offensive hero for the Leopards against the Lutes, batting in both the game-tying and game-winning runs.

No. 12 Texas-Tyler outscored Castleton State by a combined score of 31-2 as the Patriots swept Sunday's doubleheader at Irwin Field. The Patriots got their bats going early by taking down the Spartans 19-1 in the first game. In the second game, it was more of the same as Texas-Tyler won the back end of the doubleheader by a score of 12-1. On the day, Texas-Tyler scored 31 runs off of 30 hits, compared to just two runs off of nine hits by Castleton.

Jason Butterworth went 4-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI as Ferrum beat the Maine-Presque Isle 16-5 in the first game of a baseball doubleheader in Ferrum. The Panthers picked the win in the nightcap as well, 7-2.

Emory salvaged a weekend split with Birmingham Southern on Sunday with a 7-5 win over the Panthers. Starter Matt Ryckman took the win for the Eagles with four innings of work. He gave up two hits, walked five, and struck out three. Zeb Heidt earned the save in two innings and gave up one Panther run in the top of the eighth. Michael McCalib went one and a third innings for the Panthers in the loss, giving up four hits, four runs and two walks.

Guilford got wins over Greensboro and Averett Sunday in the USA South/ODAC Challenge. The Quakers took a 3-2 decision from Greensboro Sunday morning at NewBridge Bank Parkk. Kyle Wooden had three hits, including two doubles for Guilford and Adam Hart pitched seven strong innings for his first Guilford win. Later in the day, Wooden had three more hits and Drew Ward had three RBI as the Quakers downed Averett, 9-7, at McBane Field.

Phil Cadle extended an opening season hitting streak to five consecutive games, C.J. Rhodes pushed a hitting streak to four straight games, and Myles Shipp came through with the heavy hitting Sunday as Virginia Wesleyan swept a non-conference doubleheader from the Knights of Neumann College at Marlins Field. Shipp registered the first two home runs of his career, clobbering a lead-off shot in the third inning of the opener as the Marlins posted a 12-4 win, and ripping a three-run shot in the fourth inning of the game as the host team completed its first sweep of the season with a 10-2 decision.

After a pair of close games yesterday against Lewis and Clark, Occidental was not looking to repeat the come-from-behind wins they needed heroics to pull off. Rather they used a seven run fourth inning to shift the momentum of the game in their favor, winning 12-3 and sweeping the three game series with Lewis and Clark.

Randolph-Macon closed out its stay at the ODAC/USA South Challenge with a split on Sunday, defeating NC Wesleyan 7-5 and a loss to Greensboro 17-6 in its final game of the weekend. In the win over NC Wesleyan, Randolph-Macon starter Byron Mendenhall gave up just two hits, no runs through six innings of work and left the game up 4-0 on the strength of a Charlie Hartt solo homerun and a base clearing double by Greg Mitro. The Battling Bishops fought back and tied the game at 4-4 before Randolph-Macon scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Christopher Newport pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Captains knocked off 20th-ranked Lynchburg 6-5 in extra innings Saturday morning.

Lynchburg jumped on top early thanks to single runs in both the second and third innings. Christopher Newport responded in the bottom of the third inning, as the Captains scored three runs off of Lynchburg starter Conner Thompson. The Hornets tied the score in the top of the fifth on a Kyle Bradley sacrifice fly, but Trae Bailey homered in the bottom of the seventh to put Christopher Newport back up by a pair

Lynchburg forced extra innings thanks to a two-spot in the top-half of the eighth, highlighted by a Bradley homer, his first of the season. In the deciding frame, the Captains got a lead off single, and after a sacrifice bunt, scored the winning run after a Hornet miscue in the field.

Lynchburg was paced by Bradley, who finished three-for-four with two runs and two RBI. Bailey ended the day 2-4 with three driven in and two runs, while Parker Neal and Travis Medina each collected two base hits for the hosts.

Lynchburg would later knocked off Gwynedd-Mercy 7-4 in nightcap as Joe Devlin went six strong innings, allowing just three earned runs.

In other action: Sandersius finished with 10 strikeouts in the game, his second complete game. Despite giving up just four hits the entire game, ten Millsaps walks proved to be the difference as two Hendrix runs crossed the plate in the second inning without the benefit of a hit. Hendrix's Matt Giza's RBI-single to right-center in the eighth was the go-ahead run for a 5-4 Warrior win.

Steve Bralver went three-for-five with two doubles and three RBIs for Emory as Birmingham-Southern won their first road game of the 2009 season today at Chappell Park in Atlanta, defeating Emory 12-5.

Pacific and Pomona-Pitzer played their second tripleheader in as many years on Saturday, with the Sagehens taking two of three from the Boxers in baseball action at Alumni Field. Pacific won the opener 3-0 behind a complete game, four-hit effort by pitcher Tyler Fransen. The Sagehens then received a 4 for 5 effort by Drew Hedman to take the sandwich game by a 10-3 score. In the final game, the Sagehens' James Brunswick and James Kang combined for a five-hitter, neutralizing a two-hit complete game effort from Dan Wolfe for a 3-0 win.

Chapman dropped it second consecutive decision to West Region rival La Verne with a 7-2 loss at Hart Park on Saturday night. Chapman was held to a season-low five hits, all singles, and two fifth-inning runs. Victor Pinado and Kevin Ibarra each hit solo home runs for La Verne, which never trailed in the game. The pair combined to go 4-for-5 with four runs scored. Tim Jolly struck out seven batters in 4 2/3 innings for the Leopards, but was not around for the decision.

Guilford sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run eighth inning to score a 12-10 comeback win over NC Wesleyan Saturday in the USA South/ODAC Challenge. Joe John's two-run single gave Guilford a 9-8 lead in the eighth inning and sophomore Kyle Wooden added a two-run double later in the inning to secure the win.

Mary Washington used timely hitting and strong pitching to post a doubleheader sweep over Messiah on Saturday at Dickinson Stadium in the 2009 season opener for both teams. The Eagles won the opener, 7-0, before prevailing, 10-3, in the second game.

Texas Lutheran evened the three-game series with Cal State East Bay at 1-1 with a 6-2 win Saturday at Texas Lutheran's Katt-Isbel Field. The Bulldogs rebounded from Friday's 9-1 loss to the Pioneers with help on the mound from Travis Staggs as he pitched around trouble early and held off the Pioneers for seven innings.

Piedmont picked up its second victory of the season this afternoon over visiting Sewanee at Loudermilk Field by the score of 9-2. With the score tied 1-1 in the fifth the Lions exploded for six runs on four hits including a pair of homeruns to secure the victory.

After winning the first game of the series 10-7, the the Dallas Crusaders were defeated 5-2 by Sul Ross State. Dallas's Zach Atkins tied a school record by hitting 2 home runs in the game, giving him a total of 3 home runs on the day with a solo blast in the day's opener. Starting pitcher Gabe Sandersius struck out 5 batters in the first two innings before surrendering 4 runs in the next two innings.

Redlands split a doubleheader against Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, winning its first game, 4-0, before falling just short in the second contest, 5-7. Nolan Nicholson took the hill in the first bout, pitching a complete-game shutout. In nine innings of work, he allowed just four hits while striking out four. In the second game, Brandon Sales went 2 for 2 with a double to pace the Lutes past the Bulldogs.

Mary Hardin-Baylor tied the game in the top of the ninth inning to send it to extra innings and finally pushed across the game-winner in the top of the 13th as the Cru posted an 8-7 victory over Methodist Friday night in Abilene.

Mary Hardin-Baylor trailed 7-6 entering the top of the ninth inning before Joseph Villegas singled and stole second base. Villegas came around to score the tying run on R.B. Garza's single. Garza then set the Monarchs down in order in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. The Cru would leave two runners on base in both the 11th and 12th innings before finally breaking through in the top of the 13th. Ryan Swindell led off the inning with a walk and scored on a throwing error. Mary Hardin-Baylor would load the bases, but could not push across an insurance run. Methodist put two runners on base in the bottom of the frame, but Sam VanHoozer got the final batter to flyout to end the threat and nail down the victory.

VanHoozer scattered three hits over the final two innings to pick up his first win of the season. Cru starter Jared Hopper struck out eight and allowed just four hits and two earned runs over the first six innings. Josh Andrade took the loss despite not allowing a hit in three innings of work.

In other action: McMurry scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh en route to knocking off Whittier, 4-3, Friday afternoon. Dakota Smith pitched seven and a third innings and only surrendered three earned runs on six hits to get the win against Whittier. Gerad Morris and Weston Franco had three hits with Jake Mullin getting two singles.

Jeremy Hogan homered twice and drove in six runs in the Eagles 20-4 win over Williams Baptist College. Hogan was one of five players to record at least two hits for the Eagles. Hogan, who also had a double in the game, finished 4-for-5 with three runs. Bruce Cameron went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and scored three times. David Smith had a 3-for-3 performance and scored five times. DJ Braswell had plenty to work with and delivered a strong performance to help move his record to 1-1 on the season. Braswell logged five innings of work, striking out seven and scattering four hits.

Wesley and Penn State Berks played to a 2-2 tie through 10 innings before darkness forced the umpires to call the game. The Wolverines plated a pair of runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Stu Madden and a double by Kevin Murphy. The Nittany Lions tied the game up in the top of the sixth when Seth Schultz scored on a passed ball and Aaron Klaptosky stroked an RBI ground out. Before the scoring, Wesley's Bobby Buttafogo and Penn State Berks Berks' Brad Swavely kept the offenses off balance. Buttafogo allowed just two hits and three walks, while striking out six in his collegiate debut. Swavely scattered three hits and three walks over five innings. The two bullpens combined to toss 9.2 scoreless innings to finish the game. Madden, Murphy, Alex Carter, and Geoff Kimmel had two hits apiece for the Wolverines. Pat Griffin and Michael Ference had multi-hit efforts for Penn State Berks.

After dropping the first game of a twi-night doubleheader with the D-II U Hawai'i-Hilo Vulcans 6-3, George Fox bounced back to take the nightcap 6-5 in non-conference baseball on Friday. Matt Wyckoff and Bo Thunell each went 3-4 for George Fox, Wyckoff scoring twice and Thunell knocking in two. Shane Dalgleish worked five innings, scattering eight hits and walking two with three strikeouts, to pick up the win in the second game.

The College Baseball Foundation announced today that voting is now under way for the 2009 class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock. The ballot to select this year's inductees features 51 players and 18 coaches.

"We're looking forward to seeing who the voters will elect to this year's Hall of Fame class," said Mike Gustafson, co-chair of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and Board of Trustee member for the College Baseball Foundation. "Each person on the ballot was a truly exceptional college baseball player."

In addition, 2009 will mark the first year for a "small school" category. It is made up of coaches and players from junior college, NAIA, and NCAA Division II and Division III. Inluded in the The "small school" category are two-time Player of the year Tim Jorgensen, UW-Oshkosh and the 1989 player of the year and three-time first team All-American John Deutsch, Montclair State. Legendary coach John Winkin and Ohio Wesleyan grad, Branch Rickey are also inculed on this years ballot.

"The decision to incorporate the additional levels of college baseball was a long time coming, relatively speaking," Gustafson said. "The ballot now includes players and coaches who have never before been considered, and that creates a new level of intrigue."

The members of the 2009 College Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced in late February or early March once all the ballots have been tallied and the results verified.

"As the ballots come in, we get to watch the class unfold before our eyes," said Jeff Chase, co-chair of the College Baseball Hall of Fame. "The voting panel does a great job of choosing the class each year."

To be eligible for the College Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, players must have completed one year of competition at a two-year or four-year institution and/or earned verifiable national acclaim.

"As always, we have worked closely with schools across the country to select the best candidates for this year's ballot," Chase said.

The 2009 inductees will be honored on July 3 as part of the College Baseball Foundation's annual celebration of both the past and present of college baseball from July 2 through July 4 in Lubbock.