Other College Sports Capsules: Gamecocks moving closer Price into rotation
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Ray Tanner sees it as making a terrific thing even better. At least that's what the two-time national champion is hoping for with star closer Matt Price moving to the rotation.
Tanner said the switch gives the Gamecocks a chance to get more than 100 innings from Price's electric stuff instead of the 59 innings he logged last season. Teamed alongside staff ace Michael Roth, South Carolina looks like a solid bet to contend for a third College World Series crown — as long as someone picks up Price's old role.
"Can he be an outstanding starter? I think he can," Tanner said Friday. "Does that leave us a void at the end? I hope not."
Price has been a wonderful luxury the past two seasons and as big a reason as anyone why the Gamecocks will raise a second championship banner at Carolina Stadium when the season opens against VMI on Feb. 17. The junior right-hander had 10 saves as a freshman and then led the nation with 20 a year ago. And he came up the biggest at some of the Gamecocks' most important moments.
Price saved both of South Carolina's NCAA super regional wins in 2010, then won twice at the College World Series including the 2-1 clinching victory over UCLA. He was even sharper last year, going 2-0 with saves in each of the Gamecocks' closing wins in the CWS best-of-three finale against Florida.
Price looked as good as gone when Arizona drafted him in the sixth round of last June's Major League Baseball draft. Price said the Diamondbacks made him a fair offer, but not enough to get him to leave the Gamecocks.
Price is ready to step up to his new challenge. His approach to things won't change now that he'll be pitching in the first inning instead of the later ones.
"The mindset is as a starter just be who I've always been, just go after hitters," he said.
Tanner said Price has four workable pitches (fastball, slider, curveball and change-up) and has not been able to use them all as a closer. "If it works, it was a good idea. If it wasn't, it was the pitching coach's idea," Tanner joked.
It certainly seems like a tantalizing idea that could vex Southeastern Conference opponents this season.
Roth was an all-SEC pitcher last year who went 14-3 with a 1.06 earned-run average that was second best in the country as the Gamecocks' Friday starter. If Price can back him up on Saturday, it would give South Carolina one of the league's best one-two punches. The Gamecocks have several candidates for that third arm on the weekend, including Colby Holmes and big left-hander Adam Westmoreland who made only 11 appearances last year as he returned from Tommy John surgery.
Taking over Price's role at the start of spring practice is sophomore Forrest Koumas, who made the all-SEC freshman team last year going 6-1 with 2.93 ERA, primarily as a starter.
Roth said the switches just show how deep South Carolina's pitchers are across the board.
"We've got plenty of pitchers. We've got plenty of veterans in the bullpen," Roth said. "I have confidence in those guys. I think they're going to do fantastic."
Tanner said Koumas, a former high-school quarterback, has the fierce, unafraid mentality he likes from his closers.
Some might argue Tanner's adding question marks to a club that's got plenty of them already. The Gamecocks enter the without three-quarters of last year's infield as third baseman Adrian Morales and second baseman Scott Wingo finished their eligibility and shortstop Peter Mooney left for the pros. South Carolina is also without an experienced catcher and will likely shuttle true freshman Grayson Greiner and junior Dante Rosenberg behind the plate.
Roth shakes off the concerns. Expectations are as high as they always are at South Carolina, he says, even before the Gamecocks pulled off two straight national championships. "Freshman year, we were losing to Clemson and we got booed," Roth said with a laugh. "So for me, it's no different."
Tanner hopes his latest moves keep the Gamecocks on top. He's always open to change, though. "If it's not a situation that is not productive to us, we'll go back to the way it we were," he said.
Van Horn: Arkansas moving fence in for recruiting
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn has seen college baseball change quite a bit during his 23 seasons as a head coach.
The latest change, as the game has continued to grow in recent years, has been the proliferation of negative recruiting — a well-known practice in both football and basketball.
Van Horn addressed the issue on Friday before the Razorbacks' first practice of the season, saying the school is moving Baum Stadium's right-center field fence in 10 feet, from 375 to 365.
"It's starting to get a little bit difficult to recruit left-handed hitters," Van Horn said. "(It's) starting to get to the point where Division I baseball is becoming ... I wouldn't call it maybe a business, but it gets tough out there recruiting and they're using everything they can against you."
Arkansas was last in the Southeastern Conference with a .270 team batting average last season, and the wind predominately blows in from right field in Baum Stadium.
Van Horn, entering his 10th season with the Razorbacks, said he's wanted to move in the right field fence since he was hired. He said he's talked with former left-handed hitters such as St. Louis Cardinals prospect Zack Cox and the Chicago White Sox's Andy Wilkins about the impact of the wind, but they didn't notice it while playing at Arkansas.
However, Van Horn said other schools have brought up the subject with recruits.
"I think there (are) coaches out there trying to make sure left-hand hitters know it," Van Horn said. "I think this is really going to help us. We've noticed just by the few skill-instruction workouts that we've had hitting that with the wind blowing in, we're still able to get balls off that fence now that were caught right at the front of the warning track."
The negative recruiting hasn't hurt the Razorbacks on the field since Van Horn was hired. They are 359-201 in nine seasons under the former Nebraska coach and have reached the College World Series twice, in 2004 and 2009.
Arkansas was 40-22 last season and reached an NCAA regional before falling to Arizona State. This season, the school is expected to be one of the top teams in the SEC and is ranked No. 4 by Baseball America.
Van Horn said he considered it a compliment of sorts that other coaches feel the need to resort to such tactics.
"I think we're in real good shape," he said.
-- Kurt Voigt
Volleyball
Montana State names three finalists for volleyball coach
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Montana State athletics director Peter Fields has named three finalist for the volleyball coaching vacancy. Fields says Southwestern University head coach Hannah Long, Denver University assistant Todd Nelson and Ohio University Assistant Kyle Weindel are scheduled for on-campus interviews.
Long played both basketball and volleyball at Portland State from 1995-98 and has been head coach at Division III Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas since 2004. Last season, her team was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation.
Nelson has been an assistant at DU since 2006 and interim head coach since November. During his time in Denver, the pioneers have posted a 109-82 overall record. He also has been an assistant at Marquette, Indiana State and Minnesota-Duluth, where he also played volleyball.
Weindel has been an assistant at Ohio University since 2008, during which the team posted a 95-39 mark. He played on Ball State's 2002 Final Four team.
