Success at Rutgers
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ................................................................................................1 RUTGERS UNIVERSITY ........................................................................46 Media Information............................................................................................10 HISTORY AND TRADITION ..................................................................60 COACHING STAFF ..................................................................................11 Rutgers All-Americans ..................................................................................61 Head Coach Fred Hill......................................................................................12 1950 College World Series Team ..........................................................64 Coach Hill Year-by-Year ................................................................................13 Rutgers in the Hall of Fame ........................................................................65 Asst. Coach Darren Fenster ......................................................................17 Rutgers in the Pros ........................................................................................67 Asst. Coach Jay Blackwell............................................................................18 Conference History..........................................................................................70 Asst. Coach Rick Freeman ..........................................................................19 All-Time Coaches Records/NCAA Tournament ..............................71 Dir. of Operations Glen Gardner ..............................................................20 RECORDS AND RESULTS ....................................................................72 Support Staff ......................................................................................................21 Individual Batting Records............................................................................73 2010 OUTLOOK ......................................................................................22 Individual Pitching Records..........................................................................75 2010 Season Preview ..................................................................................23 Team Records ..................................................................................................78 SCARLET KNIGHTS ................................................................................26 All-Time Letterwinners ..................................................................................79 2010 Roster ......................................................................................................27 Year-by-Year Results ......................................................................................82 Player Bios ..........................................................................................................28 Scarlet R Club ....................................................................................................86 SEASON REVIEW ....................................................................................41 Bainton Field - Field of Dreams..................................................................87 2009 Season Review ....................................................................................42 The BIG EAST Conference ............................................................................88 2009 Season Stats ........................................................................................44 2010 BIG EAST Composite Schedule....................................................89 2009 BIG EAST Review ................................................................................45 www.scarletknights.com 1 A LEGACY OF SUCCESS Rutgers baseball is about winning and a commitment to playing the game the right 1988 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONS way. Players who come through the program get a chance to grow on and off the field and are in a great position to play at the next level. In the last 12 years, more than 40 players have gone onto the professional ranks, including five players drafted in the top six rounds. The 2000 team, which won the BIG EAST regular season and tournament championship, featured 18 players who have played professionally at some level in the United States and two others who have played professionally overseas. The 2007 squad tied the school record for victories with 42 and established a new school mark for home runs with 63. Their run production of 474 and their RBI total of 425 were both second-most all-time. Scouts took notice with a record six Scarlet Knights select- ed in the 2007 MLB Draft. The pipeline to the pros continues each season with Scarlet Knights represented in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. Driven by a knowledgeable coaching staff committed to fundamentals and carried out by determined student-athletes, the baseball program has risen to among the nation’s best, debunking the theory that northern schools can’t compete nationally. While practicing in cold temperatures and hitting indoors might not be the ideal conditions for preparation, especially when teams like Miami, Georgia Tech and Florida Atlantic are on the early portion of the schedule, it toughens the team and provides greater resolve heading into the season. Over the past few years, Rutgers has shown that it can win in the BIG EAST (2003 Regular Season Champions and 2007 BIG EAST Regular 1998 BIG EAST CHAMPIONS Season and Tournament Champions), compete with the nation’s top REGULAR-SEASON AND TOURNAMENT teams (with several wins against top 25 teams) and is deserving of NCAA tournament consideration (six bids in the last 12 seasons). The heart and soul of the team is its players - a tight-knit group of Jersey kids who play their hearts out each and every game and play the game the right way. • When Fred Hill took over the Rutgers baseball program in 1984, the Scarlet Knights were coming off a 13-22 record in 1983 and had not advanced to the postseason since the 1970 season. Just two years later, Hill led Rutgers to the 1986 Atlantic 10 Championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers would win the next eight regular season titles and, starting in 1986, four of the next six tournament championships. • In 1987, Rutgers posted its first-ever 30-win season, capturing 36 victories, while in 1988, the team eclipsed that mark with 38 wins, includ- ing its first NCAA Tournament victory (6-1 vs. Clemson) under Hill. • In 1990, Rutgers posted a 37-19 mark, won the first of 2007 BIG EAST CHAMPIONS back-to-back Atlantic-10 Tournament titles, and came within one win of the College World Series by advancing REGULAR-SEASON AND TOURNAMENT to the final of the 1990 Northeast Regional in Waterbury, Conn. After losing the opening game, 3-2, to North Carolina, the Scarlet Knights rattled off three-consecutive wins to advance to the finals vs. undefeated Georgia. Needing two wins to knock off the Bulldogs, Rutgers won the first, 4-3, before falling in the final, 20-9. Georgia would not lose another game on its way to the 1990 National Championship. • Despite leaving the Atlantic 10 following the 1995 season, Rutgers still ranks among the all-time leaders in the confer- ence in regular-season titles (first with 10), tournament titles (first with 6) and tournament wins (third with 26). 2 A LEGACY OF SUCCESS • In 1996, Rutgers moved to the BIG EAST Conference and, just two years later, captured both the regular season (17-3) and tournament titles. Rutgers has repeated the feat twice more, in 2000, winning the regular season (18-5) and tournament crowns and in 2007 with a school-record 20-7 league mark and tournament title. The Scarlet Knights also captured the 2003 Regular Season Championship. RU is one of only three teams to win both the outright regular season and league tournament in the same season. • From 1996 to 2001, Rutgers finished either first or second in the BIG EAST regular season standings and finished no lower than fourth in each of its first six seasons. In 2002, RU finished fourth in the regular season, but advanced to the BIG EAST Championship game for the third time in seven seasons. • Following its fourth-place finish in 2002, Rutgers captured the 2003 BIG EAST Regular Season Championship (its third since 1998), despite having 16 newcomers and just one senior pitcher on its roster. • Rutgers has appeared in six of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments, serving as the No. 1 seed and host for the 2000 Regional at Upper Montclair and the No. 2 seed at the 2001 Regional in Lincoln, Neb., and the No. 2 seed in the 2007 Charlottesville Regional, featuring No. 3 seed Oregon State, the eventual National Champion. In 2001, Rutgers advanced to the regional final, before the College World Series-bound Cornhuskers rallied for a 14-10 victory in the last inning. In 2003, RU traveled to Tallahassee, Fla. and went 1-2 in the NCAA tournament, beat- ing Jacksonville, 8-5, in the second round before losing to top-ranked Florida State, 17-7. In 2007, Rutgers took down Lafayette but was defeat- ed twice by scores of 5-1 and 5-2 by eventual National Champion Oregon State. • In 26 seasons under Hill, Rutgers has enjoyed 22 winning campaigns and 17 seasons of 30 or more wins - including nine of the last 12 years dating back to the 1998 BIG EAST Championship season. Three times since 2000 - 2000, 2001 and 2007 - the Scarlet