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College Baseball Poll - Collegiate Baseball Newspaper

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Friday, Dec. 23, 2005

TEXAS NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER (www.baseballnews.com) POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Texas has been ranked No. 1 in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s Fabulous 40 pre-season poll. The defending national champions, which rolled to a 56-16 overall record last season, return possibly the top pitching staff in the nation with six key pitchers back, three of whom are Louisville Slugger pre-season All-Americans.

 

The trio includes RHP Kyle McCulloch (12-4, 2.92 ERA, 99 K, 45 BB), RHP Adrian Alaniz (8-3, 2.67 ERA, 94 K, 39 BB) and RHP Kenn Kasparek (8-0, 2.10 ERA, 46 K, 31 BB).

 

Texas posted a perfect 5-0 record and registered a microscopic team ERA of 1.40 (seven runs allowed in five games) during last year’s College World Series which ranked as the fourth best ERA of a championship team since ERA records were calculated starting in 1953.

 

For possibly the first time in CWS history, two freshmen pitchers and a sophomore from the same team played pivotal roles in leading a team to the national title. Amazingly, 34.6 innings out of 45 were thrown by these young pitchers.

 

Texas is currently in the midst of the greatest run of championship finishes since Southern California won five national titles from 1970-1974 as the Longhorns have finished No. 1 in 2002, No. 3 in 2003, No. 2 in 2004 and No. 1 last season.

 

While four position player starters return, three are outfield starters which is good news for that area of the defense. The headliner among the group is All-American centerfielder Drew Stubbs who is expected to be a first round draft pick next June. He hit .311 with 11 homers, 20 doubles, 46 RBI and 32 SB.

 

"We should be able to pitch and play defense," said Texas Head Coach Augie Garrido. "We should also have a solid offense."

Garrido said that it will be extremely difficult for Texas to defend its national title of 2005. It has not been done since Louisiana St. won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997. Prior to that, Stanford won titles in 1987 and 1988.

 

"What makes it so tough is the mentality changes on the team. Everyone knows what to say after you win a national championship. But from my experience, player turnover is great after a national title. You don’t have the feeling among the players that you have to do what you did last year. There is more of a feeling with the new players that you want to get on this ride and get some of this.

 

"I see our transfers and freshmen playing a huge role in the success of our season in 2006. The upcoming season presents a lot of unknowns which excites me. We have a combination of quality returning players in key spots and a mix of talented newcomers. Now the question is how development takes place. If we grow and get better as the season goes along, we have a chance. How we deal with adversity will also be important because we will face that as well."

 

The "Collegiate Baseball" Newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

 

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