Cal State-San Marcos and Azusa Pacific split a Cougars vs. Cougars matchup at APU's Cougar Baseball Field.

First game: CSUSM started with five runs in the top of the first inning, on an RBI single by 3B Austin Coleman, a two-RBI double by 2B Michael Meccuci, and a two-RBI single by 1B Kenny Belzer.

APU starter Ben Ruder was replaced by Zachary Hedges in the second inning. He was greeted with an RBI single by LF Anthony Renteria, son of Rick Renteria, who played 184 games with the Pirates, Mariners, and Marlins, and is currently the bench coach for the Padres. Hedges ended up going 6 2/3 innings, and didn't allow another earned run the rest of the way. This made an impressive comeback by APU possible. CF Matt Kimmel got it started. He drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third, and scored on a single by SS Anthony Rodriguez. The second run of the inning was scored by 3B Brendan Casey on a wild pitch; Casey originally got on base with a walk. APU officially got back in the game with two runs in the fourth on an RBI ground out by C Matt Page and an RBI single by 2B Sammy Soyring. This made the score 6-4.

Read more: Campus visit: Azusa Pacific 8, Cal State-San Marcos 7; Cal State-San Marcos 10, Azusa Pacific 7

Patten RHP Issac Duran was able to keep the Lions in this one for 6 2/3 innings. However, CF Steven McMichael reached on an error, and the unearned run scored by 3B Ryan DiMascio became the winning run. The Eagles got another run in the seventh on an RBI single by LF Kyle Konicek. The two relievers who replaced Duran in the eighth were ineffective, turning a pretty good ball game into a rout.

The defending champions got a complete game from RHP Brent Clapper, who held the Lions to five hits, struck out 11, and didn't walk a batter.

The Eagles got on the board in the third inning with a leadoff triple by SS Matt Palmer. Palmer scored on a sacrifice fly by the next batter, 2B Daniel Shine. The Eagles left the bases loaded in the fourth; Duran got two key strikeouts, then fielded a ground ball and threw it home for the force out to end the inning.

Read more: Campus visit: Concordia-Irvine 9, Patten 1

Oklahoma City (5-1) split a double-header with Missouri Baptist. The Spartans won their season opener 2-1; Bunk Coronado, a transfer from LSU-Shreveport, and Aaron Matula combined to hold the Stars to three hits, and Coronado recorded nine strikeouts. LF Joe Riley doubled in the winning run. The Stars won the nightcap 9-1; Blake Schwartz and Patrick Goelz combined to hold the Spartans to one hit, and Schwartz struck out ten of the 17 batters he faced. RF Chad Carman batted in three of the Stars' runs. A mid-week game at Central Oklahoma was canceled, and a pair of weekend games against Ottawa were also canceled. The Stars have a busy week ahead. They host Southern Nazarene Feb. 16, MidAmerica Nazarene Feb. 17-18, and Bellevue Feb. 18-19.

Concordia-Irvine (3-4) lost four games on the week to Division II teams; 11-1 to Cal State-Los Angeles, and 7-6 (11 innings), 14-8, and 6-4 to Cal Poly Pomona. The Eagles missed two chances to win the extra-innings game. They outhit Cal Poly Pomona in the second game, but Eagle pitched walked ten batters, and hit three more. The Eagles host Patten Feb. 17-18.

Lee (8-0) defeated Tennessee Temple 15-0, and recorded three shutouts against Shawnee State, 5-0, 2-0, and 4-0. Kris Hall and Joe Fabre combined for a two-hit shutout in the first Shawnee State game (Hall struck out twelve), Patrick Merkling pitched five hitless innings in the second game, and Jose Samayoa allowed one hit in the first five innings of the third game. 1B Roberto Reyes hit a three-run home run in the third game. The Flames host Union C. (KY) Feb. 13, visit Tennessee Wesleyan Feb. 15, and visit Emmanuel Feb. 17-18.

Read more: Recap for February 13

The NAIA's top 11 teams, and 12 of the top 13 teams, have started their seasons.

Oklahoma City started their season with four wins, two against Hastings, and two against Grand View. The Stars trailed the first game 1-0 going into the sixth inning of a seven-inning game. P Rich Hawkins tied it with a home run in the sixth, and SS Chris Munoz batted in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Hawkins went the distance, scattered six hits, struck out seven. Kirby Wells and and Addison Ives combined to hold the Stars to only three hits. The Stars visit Division II Central Oklahoma on Feb. 7, and host Missouri Baptist and Ottawa Feb. 10-12.

Concordia-Irvine (3-0) visits Division II Cal State-Los Angeles Feb. 8 and Division II Cal Poly Pomona Feb. 10. They host a double-header against Cal Poly Pomona, who are 4-0, in Feb. 11.

Lee swept three games against Talladega, 14-2, 4-1, and 2-1, and defeated Hiwassee (NCCAA) 11-0. Kris Hall, Patrick Merkling, Andy Hillis, and Mike Fasolo got the wins, and Fasolo combined with James Rechenbach and Kyle Briner for a one-hitter against Hiwassee. Blake Barber is batting .538 for the Flames. They host Tennessee Temple Feb. 7 and Shawnee State Feb. 10-11.

Lubbock Christian lost two of three to Northwood (TX) and lost to Texas Wesleyan. All four games were close. Kyle Forsyth was credited with the 10-8 win over Northwood; the Chaparrals scored seven runs in the eighth inning, led by a bases-loaded double by RF Benny Woodard. In the first loss to the Knights, Clayton Woodruff, Nick Harrison, and Colton Reavis combined to hold the Chaparrals to four hits. The next game went into extra innings, and the Knights won it on an RBI single by 1B Adam Humes. In the 3-2 loss to Texas Wesleyan, C Alex Padilla bunted with the bases loaded to bring in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Oklahoma transfer Nolan Barbee got the win for the Rams, but starter Derek Vaughn put in a strong performance; six innings, four hits, seven strikeouts. The Chaparrals host York Feb. 10-11. The Rams have started the season 4-0, and they visit Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor Feb. 7, host Tabor Feb. 9, and U. of the Southwest Feb. 10-11.

Embry-Riddle swept three games from Florida Memorial, 6-5 (11 innings), 12-0 (mercy rule) and 10-4. 1B Chris Page went 3-for-6 in the first game, hit a single off the wall in the bottom of the 11^th to bat in the winning run. Chad Modomo pitched a four-hit shutout in the second game. CF Frankie Arias went 4-for-4 in the third game, and Kevin Maloney got the win. The Eagles visit Warner Feb. 10-11.

Read more: Recap for February 7

Concordia-Irvine has started the season 3-0, with an easy win over Simpson, and a double-header sweep of Arizona Christian, 6-3 and 10-7. C/DH Chris Kuber is batting .600 for the Eagles, Blake Harrison, Brent Clapper, and Thomas Hoenshell got the wins. The defending champions don't play again until Feb. 8, at Division II Cal State-Los Angeles.

Auburn-Montgomery hosted a round-robin event with four ranked teams, and the result was a draw. The Warhawks (they are no longer the Senators), Embry-Riddle, and Tennessee Wesleyan went 2-2, and Southern Polytechnic went 1-1. The best game of the event was probably the first one, a 2-1 win for the Warhawks over Embry-Riddle. Story at Auburn-Montgomery site: Dugan's Walk-Off Gives Warhawks Split with No. 5 Embry-Riddle. Enbry-Riddle got a complete seven-inning game from Chad Modomo in a 5-2 win over Tennessee Wesleyan; it was Modomo's first start for the Eagles. The Warhawks host Webber International Feb. 3, and Southeaster Feb. 4. The Eagles host Florida Memorial Feb. 3-4.

Belhaven swept three games against Blue Mountain, 4-0, 6-3, and 15-4. Geoffrey Thomas, Matthew Shaw, and Robert Marzoni combined for a four-hit shutout in the first game. Thomas, a transfer from Southern Mississippi, pitched six shutout innings, allowed one hit, struck out five. The Blazers host Tougaloo Jan. 31, and visit LSU-Alexandria Feb. 3-4.

Wayland Baptist swept four games against U. Of the Southwest, 6-2, 5-4, 3-1, and 6-3. The Pioneers score three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the second game; freshman LF Colton Palmer hit a two-RBI single, and freshman SS Bernie Rosario hit a walk-off RBI double. The Pioneers will be playing at the Arizona Desert Classic in Anthem, AZ Feb. 2-4, with College of Idaho, Fresno Pacific, Lewis-Clark State, and Point Loma Nazarene.

More teams with good starts: Loyola-New Orleans is 4-0, Emmanuel is 3-0.

Savannah College of Art and Design has announced that they are dropping baseball and two other sports at the end of this season. Click here for the announcement and comments.

The program had been successful in recent years, under Coach Doug Wollenburg. The 2009 team was 39-23. The Bees have two alumni currently playing pro ball, RHP Ryan Pope (Yankees) and LHP Richard Sullivan (Braves). Pope had an ERA of 1.15 in 2007, recorded 122 strikeouts, pitched a no-hitter and a phenomenal 14 complete games; he completed every game he started.

Story by Dennis Knight in Savannah Morning News: SCAD to drop baseball, softball and volleyball

The 56^th NAIA baseball season starts today, with defending champion Concordia-Irvine hosting Simpson, Palm Beach State at Saint Thomas (FL), and Point Loma Nazarene playing an exhibition game at UC San Diego. Simpson visits Point Loma on Jan. 25, and The Master's on Jan. 27. On January 26, Doane visits Texas-Brownsville. On January 27-29, Auburn-Montgomery hosts a four-team tournament with Embry-Riddle, Tennessee Wesleyan, and Southern Polytechnic. Also on the 27^th, Belhaven hosts Blue Mountain, Brewton-Parker hosts South Carolina-Beaufort, and at least nine more games are scheduled. On January 28, Montreat visits Thomas (GA) and Warner visits Webber International.

Here is an evaluation of the top 10 teams according to the pre-season coaches' poll:

#1 – Oklahoma City: The Stars are led by All-American C Chad Carman (.323), IF Miguel Beltran (.346), and LHP Rich Hawkins (10-5, 2.04 ERA). They've loaded up on talent with C Dane Phillips (transfer from Oklahoma State, batted .337 in 2010), RHP Blake Schwartz (transfer from Minnesota State-Mankato, 10-2, 2.11 ERA, 79 K), RHP Patrick Goelz (transfer from Bethune-Cookman, 8-3, 3.09 ERA, 75 K), IF Chris Munoz (transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State JC), OF Cody Ferrell (transfer from Seminole State JC, .367, 8 home runs), and LHP Ryan Gibson (transfer from Oklahoma, 48^th round draft pick in 2009). Games to watch: Missouri Baptist Feb. 11-12, at Oklahoma Baptist March 22, 24, Oklahoma Baptist March 23, Rogers State April 5, at Rogers State April 7, at Lubbock Christian April 20-21.

#2 – Concordia-Irvine: The defending champions lost Matt Ivanoff to graduation, and John Hill and Bryan Nicholson to pro ball. They still have OF Kyle Konicek (.391), RHP Blake Harrison (8-1, 2.74 ERA), and LHP Josh White (2-1, 2.20 ERA). They've added a high-profile JUCO transfer, P/OF Ty Holm (Everett CC), and two Division I transfers, LHP/OF Aaron Gates (Pepperdine, 4-5, team-best 3.15 ERA) and IF Dave Peterson (Hawaii, .283). Games to watch: at Cal State-San Marcos March 9, Cal State-San Marcos March 10, at Point Loma Nazarene March 16, Point Loma Nazarene March 17, at Biola March 29-30, Biola March 31, at Cal Baptist April 5-6.

Read more: 2012 Season Preview

If you've seen, or are planning to see the film “Moneyball”, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, it's entertainment. Most of the real story can be found on Wikipedia, in the articles on A's GM Billy Beane and Assistant GM Paul DePodesta.

DePodesta was taken out of the film entirely, and replaced by the fictional character played by Hill. The film portrayed Beane as placing his career on the line with the deals he made during the 2002 season, when, in fact, he had already been the General Manager of the A's for four seasons.

The book that the film was based on was written by Michael Lewis and published in 2003. It gives a history of “sabermetrics”, a set of baseball statistics that started with Bill James, and was refined by a community of geeks. James felt that batting average, home runs, and RBI are ineffective measurements of a players performance. On-base percentage is better, but James came up with the “runs created” statistic, which is:

Read more: Moneyball: The book, the movie, and college baseball

The Western Major Baseball League, a semi-pro league with teams in Alberta and Saskatchewan, decided at its annual meeting last week to become a "full collegiate" league starting with the 2013 season.

Current league rules allow teams to have three over-aged players. The change will put the WMBL in the same category as the Cal Ripken, Cape Cod, Northwoods, West Coast and other high-profile summer leagues. However, the WMBL has a much higher number of players from NAIA schools.

Story from WMBL site: WMBL Set For Full Collegiate Model in 2013

The 2012 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, released November 15:

First place votes: Concordia-Irvine 10, Oklahoma City 4, Embry-Riddle 2, Lee 1, LSU-Shreveport 1

The biggest surprise in this was that Concordia ended up ranked second, despite getting the most first-place votes. CourtesyRunner.com's pre-season preview will be published in mid-January.