LAWRENCE, Kan. — A conversation with baseball coach Ritch Price about his early influences and love of the game.

Q. Your sons obviously had you to look up to to get into baseball, but who were some of your inspirations to get into the game?

A. At an early age it was my dad. My dad was a high school coach, both my uncles were high school coaches and my grandfather coached an American Legion team when I was growing up. I pretty much grew up on the baseball field. Once I got into playing, my junior college coach, Dick McLean, was my role model for how to coach players and how to relate to players.

(Read the rest of this post)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Last season, after a 13-13 record in Big 12 play, the Aggie baseball team shocked everyone but themselves when they tore through the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City and beat Baylor 11-8 in the final game to claim the Big 12 tournament championship. Less than two weeks later, the Aggies magical postseason run was halted by the No. 1 Rice Owls, who eliminated the Aggies in the Super Regional Finals one game away from the College World Series.

“No one had higher expectations for us last year than we did,” said A&M head baseball coach Rob Childress. “We expected to be there in Omaha last year, and we just didn’t get it done. People may think we did something special, but to us we know we haven’t done anything yet.”

Fall workouts concluded for the Aggies over the weekend with the Fall World Series at Olsen Field. The Plowboys defeated the Roughnecks to take the crown and their second Fall World Series win in a row.

(Read the rest of this post)

MISSOULA, Mont. — In 1948, Babe Ruth died from oral cancer.

The nicknames are countless. Ruth went as the “The Sultan of Swat,” “The Bambino,” “The Colossus of Clout.” He went as the greatest player to ever live.

But he could’ve also been remembered as “The Big Dipper,” for all the wrong reasons. For Ruth, chewing tobacco will never end his legacy. But it did end his life.

(Read the rest of this post)

HOUSTON — The 2008 UH baseball season does not start until February, but fall practice has the team getting ready for what they think will be a great year.

Practice began on Oct. 1 and has the team working mostly on fundamentals of pitching and hitting.

Last season’s team was plagued with injuries, which led to a disappointing outcome when the Cougars made an early exit in the 2007 Conference USA Tournament.

(Read the rest of this post)

MUNCIE, Ind. — The NCAA placed the Ball State University athletics department on two years probation Tuesday for infractions of multiple athletic teams.

The football, men’s tennis and softball teams were given sanctions as part of the violations.

The football and men’s tennis team’s lost scholarships for player’s involvement in the textbook scandal of 2005. Student-athletes from about half of Ball State’s athletics teams were found to have used scholarship money to buy textbooks not needed for their classes.

(Read the rest of this post)

BATON ROUGE, La. — A purple and gold bloodline may have produced a great future LSU athlete in 16-month-old C.J. Harris.

The toddler is the son of former women’s basketball guard Marie Ferdinand-Harris and former baseball center fielder Cedrick Harris, arguably two of the best athletes in LSU history.

They met in the weight room at LSU during the late 1990s, when Ferdinand-Harris was a Kodak All-American guard under Sue Gunter and Harris won two College World Series titles as a member of Skip Bertman’s squad.

(Read the rest of this post)

HANOVER, N.H. — In front of a small but vocal crowd on Sunday, the Dartmouth baseball team closed out its fall preseason with a 16-inning scrimmage against a strong University of Massachusetts at Amherst team. In line with fall exhibition tradition, no score was kept during the game.

Even though no score was tallied, head coach Bob Whalen was pleased with his team’s overall performance, especially considering the team has only had eight formal days of practice since its arrival in Hanover.

“The team showed some very good things” Whalen said, “but also showed they haven’t played together for that long. We’re just in the process of getting better everyday.”

(Read the rest of this post)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The Boston College baseball team released its schedule for the 2008 season on Thursday. In the lineup for the Eagles this spring are 55 games, including 31 Atlantic Coast Conference contests.

The Eagles, looking forward to their third year in the ACC, will look to improve upon the 24-27-1 record they strung together last year. In conference play, they compiled a 12-17 record, no small feat in one of the most competitive baseball conferences in the nation. BC opens up on Feb. 22 through Feb. 24, when they will face Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga. From there, the Eagles will head to Fort Myers, Fla. for their annual spring training series against the Boston Red Sox. Last year, this series — one of the more exciting components of the season — featured America’s first ever look at Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Senior infielder Johnny Ayers was the first batter to face him and rocketed a first-pitch double off him.

In a spring break trip on March 1 through March 9, BC will join St. Bonaventure, Mount St. Mary’s, Notre Dame, and Lehigh for the Palm Beach Challenge. The Eagles will play 10 games — seven nonconference and three conference — during that stretch. After the tournament, BC continues the Florida tour with games against Florida International University and ACC rival Miami.

(Read the rest of this post)

RUSTON, La. — Former Louisiana Tech baseball coach Pat Patterson killed hiswife, who had Alzheimer’s, and then himself Thursday at an assisted livingfacility.

The shootings occurred about 7:15 a.m. Thursday at Arbor House outsideRuston, La., Lincoln Parish Sheriff Mike Stone said. Patterson’s 71-year-oldwife, Glenda, had been a resident of the home for about a month, he said.

(Read the rest of this post)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The season does not begin until late February, but autumn is the perfect time to hone skills and build camaraderie for the Ohio State baseball team.

The annual Scarlet and Gray World Series, a best-of-five intra-squad series that began Monday at Bill Davis Stadium, will conclude five weeks of practices for the Buckeyes. While the World Series has always given players a chance to gain game experience before the season commences, this year’s series carries added significance because the roster includes 10 true freshmen.

“What we’re trying to do is create that intensity and create that atmosphere that they’re going to face in the spring,” coach Bob Todd said.

(Read the rest of this post)