There will never be much love lost between these mid-major rivals, cannibalizing each other to the hilt while also tearing off a dozen or more wins over the monster conferences at the same time. They may be down, but don’t try to test and see if they’re out.

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2011 in a Paragraph:

The Southern Conference isn’t used to down cycles, but that’s what the mid-major overachievers found themselves in last season as nearly everybody and their brother underachieved in a massive way. For the first time since 2008, the SoCon became a one-bid league to the NCAA tournament. All the contenders: Elon, UNCG, CofC and Samford, were all within sniffing distance of an at-large bid to the Dance but all came up with a rock in this Halloween candy grab. But the one team that did bust through was the one team that not a lot was being said about in the pre-season: Georgia Southern. The Eagles won a pair of one-run games over Charleston and Samford to earn the auto-bid. But even still, the Eagles went 0-2 in the Columbia Regional, marking the first time in recent memory that the SoCon went winless in the Big Dance.

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Conference ISR: 16

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HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- The Southern Conference.

1- Georgia Southern

2- College of Charleston

3- Elon

4- Samford

5- UNC-Greensboro

6- Appalachian State

7- Furman

8- Western Carolina

9- Wofford

10- Davidson

11- The Citadel

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2012 in a Paragraph:

To be honest, there is a very small amount of wiggle room for GSU, even though they’ve been given the favorites role here. They basically edged out the field because of the difference-makers they’ll put on the field this year. The College of Charleston might have more overall talent, but there will be a lot of youth sprinkled in there. But beware if the yearlings mature quicker than expected, they could put the Cougars over the top in a hurry. Elon and Samford are entrenched in their contenders status once again, especially since they were both burrs in the saddles of the upper-crust Eagles and Cougars last season. It’s good to see UNCG back in the thick of things again and will team with Furman and Appy State to provide some depth to the conference. And let me play Mr. Obvious here, never count out the Catamounts of WCU. They return the  best infield in the loop and also have some youngin’s that could raise their profile.

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Favorites: Georgia Southern, College of Charleston

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Contenders: Elon, Samford

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Darkhorse: Western Carolina

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Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: College of Charleston at Georgia Southern, March 30-April 1.

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Best Non-Conference Series: College of Charleston at Clemson, May 5-7.

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Hot Coach: Rodney Hennon, Georgia Southern

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Hot Seat Coach: Dick Cooke, Davidson

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The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: RHP Chris Beck, Georgia Southern

The “You Gotta See” Player: OF Victor Roache, Georgia Southern

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Three Non-Conference Series SoCon Opponents Better Take Seriously:

1- Georgia Southern at Georgia Tech, March 27-28.

2- Elon at South Carolina, Feb. 24-26.

3- Appalachian State at LSU, Feb. 24-26.

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- APPALACHIAN STATE (33-27, 15-15)

2011 ISR: 142

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Ryan Arrowood (8-3, 2.96)

RHP Nathan Hyatt (6-5, 4.26)

RHP Seth Grant (5-9, 5.28, .245OBA)

OF Tyler Zupcic (.350-3-29, 15SBs)

2B Hector Crespo (.316, 18SBs)

1B Trey Holmes (.299-6-45, 12SBs)

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The Good News:

Give coach Chris Pollard and the ‘Neers big time props. Last year saw them earn their fifth straight 30+ win season as they’ve won 33, 32, 33, 38 and now 33 wins, the highest five-year win total in 23 years. Pollard and Co. could be onto something big this year as nearly the entire team returns for 2012, so I s’pose the question is, can they get to the 40-win plateau? Hmmm, maybe. Either way, this will be a junior-senior heavy team as all three weekend starters are upperclassmen, led by senior Ryan Arrowood (team-high 8wins) and Seth Grant, who could pull in big time accolades if they pitch to potential. The second-best defense in the SoCon (.970 fielding) returns experience at every position and will lean on catcher Jeremy Dowdy (.228) and the right side of 1B Trey Holmes and 2B Hector Crespo as they combined for just nine errors last year. The new hammer closer for this year should be RHP David Port (2-0, 2.33, 3svs), who was more of a middle-reliever with 29 appearances last year, but held opponents to a .230 average. Nice. Mid-week starting LHP Ryne Frankoff (1-2, 3.19) should have a big year, as well as fellow southpaw Will Helms (4-0, 5.00, 33apps).

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The Bad News:

This time, it wasn’t a tough SoCon start to the season that cost ASU so bad, it was a soiled ending of the season as the Mountaineers limped to a 7-9 finish. Things weren’t helped by the fact that ASU was outscored 52-26 in the 1st inning of games last year. Gotta get a better start boys. Gotta. The only positions to fill for this coming season appear to be for the closer’s role that was vacated when Taylor Miller (12svs, 26apps) hit the high road and also replacing the arm/speed/experience of Jack Myers in right field. Oh, and Myers also hit in the 3rd slot of the order for most of last season. Other than that, if the Mountaineers can cut down on the walks (236 issued) and plunkings of their opponents (54 last year), this team could be ready for much bigger things.

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Schedule Note:

Venturing into another Big House.

Not only did the ‘Neers have slow starts in 1st innings of games last year, but they also stumbled out of the blocks in SoCon play as well, getting swept by The Citadel and Elon in the first two weeks. And this coming on the Heels of winning a game at Miami in week two. This year, they’ll make the week two trip from hell to LSU for three games against what is now an angry program. But don’t be shocked if the ‘Neers can pull a stunner. We’re not talking about an ASU shape-shifter like the pigskin win over Michigan in the Big House, but LSU is still not back to its 1990s levels of play. So we’ll see.

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- COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (39-22, 18-12)

2011 ISR: 71

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Daniel Aldrich (.347-22-73)

OF Marty Gantt (.329-7-44, 25SBs)

RHP Christian Powell (8-1, 3.09, .232OBA)

LHP Josh Renfro (9-3, 3.66)

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The Good News:

It’s not hard to be excited if your a Couger fan. Coach Monte Lee has led his charges to win totals of 35, 44 and 39 wins the last three years. And now, with a boffo recruiting class coming in, the future looks to get only better. The pitch staff is locked and loaded for 2012 led by the return of the entire weekend rotation of Christian Powell, Josh Renfro and RHP David Peterson (5-6, 4.52), who returned to campus after getting drafted by the Astros. None of the three are dominant strikeout kings of the mountain, but they’re very efficient and don’t get themselves in too many jams they have to wriggle out of. Behind them, they’ll have a bullpen chock full of experienced arms in LHP Jake Zokan (4-2, 3.54, .229OBA), RHP Kyle Owings (1-3, 4.46, 8svs) and RHP Matt Pegler (2-1, 4.30, 1sv). There’s nothing wrong with have a pair of wicked sticks like Daniel Aldrich (who was the NCBWA National Freshman of the Year) and Marty Gantt (who is a 5’9 flyer on the basepaths too), who are both in their second year in the program and will lead the power and speed brigade for this year’s team. As I wrote about in the fall, coach Lee and his staff brought in one of the more surprising recruiting classes in the country, ranked No. 35 by Collegiate Baseball and is renown for their athleticism. SS Morgan Phillips was expected to be a top-five round draftee but dropped to the 17th round, and fellow infield prospect Devon Reed was a 20th round pick of the Marlins. Those two could form the middle-infield for the Cougars this season. Coach Lee is really high on RHP Will Dorton, who was a 15th round pick, especially after seeing him throw in the low 90s as a junior in high school. Also, JC transfer Bradley Goodson was one of the best defensive infielders in the state of Florida last year and should have his presence felt on the diamond as well.

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The Bad News:

Just like in 2010, the Cougars have had to live nine months with the thought that they missed moving on last year with another crushing one-run loss. This one came in the Southern Conference tournament vs. Georgia Southern. Damn. Obviously, judging by the numbers above, there isn’t a whole lot of experience returning to the batting order/field. Fifty of last season’s 81 home runs and three .300+ hitters have hit the road including Rob Kral, Cole Raker and Matt Leeds, who were longtime team leaders on the field and in the dugout. There will be a large amount of youth on the field this time around, so some early bumps could haunt them until the team gels a few months in. Also, wildly-talented Casey Lucchese is gone from the bullpen after making 23 appearances and posting seven saves last year. Weekend starter David Peterson needs to amp his game back up after dropping off a bit last season, a campaign where some thought he might go in the top 10 rounds of the draft last June but fell off the table a bit.

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Schedule Note:

Not a bad place to catch a game.

If you live in the Mt. Pleasant area, going to a Cougar game ain’t a bad proposition. CofC will take on a number of interesting mid-majors on their home field this season, including the opening weekend vs. South Alabama (and former South Carolina assistant Mark Calvi) and the second weekend where they’ll host snowbirds UConn, Rhode Island and Xavier, all of whom have a chance to make some noise in June. Jacksonville, South Carolina and Coastal Carolina all pay visits to Patriot’s Point as well in mid-week contests.

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- DAVIDSON (18-30, 8-21)

2011 ISR: 231

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (25+inns.): 1

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Drew Gadaire (.362-5-36)

RHP Ryan Overcash (2-6, 4.03)

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The Good News:

On April 10th last season, the Wildcats just completed a weekend win vs. UNCG and sat at 16-15 overall and 9-8 in SoCon play. If they can emulate that start this year, their more-experienced squad should be able to handle their success better this time around. Eight starters return to the batting order, including Drew Gadaire, a fleet outfielder, who will team with soph OF Forrest Brandt (.300, 10SBs) to lead an offensive renaissance. The pitch staff had a team ERA of 4.64 and returns Ryan Overcash and fellow senior RHP Brian Russell (2-4, 7.47), who combined for 20 starts and are a good base to rebuild around. The infield should be a strength with the return of sophomore Michael Zeblo (.189) and junior Andrew Barna (.223), who needs to revert to his Frosh form where he hit .329.

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The Bad News:

A 2-15 stretch to close the 2011 season brought a cloud of doom to this team as the season dwindled to an end. There are a lot of returnees coming back, but beyond Gadaire and Brandt no other hitters went better than .247 at the plate. Yeesh! Also, the three most important flingers on the bump in Mike Frongello (4-3, 2.54, 9svs), Chris Lamb (1-7, 3.75) and Ian Horkley (4-4, 4.90) have all hit the bricks leaving gaping holes in the mound corps. This will be a huge chore to overcome. Incoming greenhorns like RHP Ryan Lowe, LHP Henry Sisson and RHP Clark Beeker need to hit the ground running for the Wildcats or else it could be a long season for DC.

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Schedule Note:

it could be rough sledding early on.

The Southern Conference slate isn’t going to be so kind to the paws of the ‘Cats. They’ll open loop play with three of the first four weekends on the road at Appy State, hosting champion Elon, then going to CofC and to WCU in consecutive weekends. At least the early season will be a tad easier with games again Niagara, LaSalle, Bucknell, Lehigh, Fairleigh Dickinson, Ohio and Presbyterian in the first three weeks.

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- ELON (36-21, 23-7)

2011 ISR: 59

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 1

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All Conference Candidates:

LHP Dylan Clark (3-3, 2.78)

RHP Kyle Webb (2-1, 2.80)

2B Sebastian Gomez (.305, 14SBs)

OF Niko Fraser (.200, 20SBs)

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The Good News:

As usual, I start my preview on the Phoenix with huge props meted out to head coach Mike Kennedy, who brought his charges to their 12th 30+ win season in 14 years on the job. Do you realize how impressive that is at a program like Elon? Last year the Phoenix added a Southern Conference regular season title to their ledger of accomplishments. Coach Kennedy used six pitchers with seven or more starts last season and three of those talents return in Dylan Clark (7starts, 68inns), Kyle Webb (9starts, 54inns) and RHP David Whitehead (6-2, 4.84, 8starts, 67inns). They’ll be joined by two-way star Grant McCoury (.238-6-24/1-2, 3.48), who will help rebuild the bullpen and will man the 1st base spot on the infield. Speed is a huge part of this team as well since Elon led the SoCon with 114 thefts last season and in triples with 21. Sebastian Gomez and SS Garrett Koster (.223, 13SBs) will form a decent middle-infield (part of EC’s .967 defense that should improve this year) and will join Niko Fraser and Alex Swim (.280, 11SBs) in giving opposing pitchers the heebie-jeebies anytime they’re on the basepaths.

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The Bad News:

The Phoenix have had to live with that horrible 0-and-2 finish in the Southern Conference tournament that ruined their 2011 dreams, one of which was a 20-inning meat-grinder of a loss. The biggest problem to the Phoenix cause last year (and one that is usually never a problem) was the hitting. The order was rated second-to-last in the SoCon with a paltry .256 average and have only two hitters with .300 or better averages coming back. So the offense must pick up the pace this season for their hopes to rise. The mound corps loses a lot, including staff ace Ken Ferrer (13starts) and their top three arms in terms of ERA; relievers John Brebbia (who also had a team-high 7wins), Greg Amorosso (20apps) and saves leader Mitch Conner (9svs). The Phoenix had a great ERA (3.91, 2nd in the Southern Conference), but gave up double-digit run totals 14 times last year.

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Schedule Note:

Not for the meek.

The Phoenix have the unenviable task of facing conference-giants CofC and Georgia Southern (meaning the wicked bats of Daniel Aldrich and Victor Roache) in back-to-back weeks to start SoCon play in the first two weekends of March. Ouch. Things will lay out well for them if they can survive those arduous tests as they’ll play their final three weeks of the season at home, against UNCG, WCU and The Citadel. So things go their way at the back end of the slate. Oh, they’ll also have the chance to pull their usual upsets with games against north Carolina, East Carolina, N.C. State, Wake Forest and a pair of games at/vs. Clemson on March 20th and 21st and a three-game set at South Carolina in the second weekend of the season.

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- FURMAN (24-33, 13-16)

2011 ISR: 177

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Bobby Lyne (4-4, 3.84)

LHP Daniel Stallsmith (4-3, 4.83)

RHP Drake Brown (2-2, 3.62, 31apps)

OF Will Owens (.321, 13SBs)

OF Will Miller (.298-3-29, 16SBs)

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The Good News:

Where there’s a Wills there’s a way. The offense of the Paladins will get kick-started by Will Owens and Will Miller, a pair of swift outfielders who combined for 56 walks, 15 plunking and a .403 on-base percentage. If those two seniors can get guys like 3B Alex Abrams (.290), C/1B Paul Nitto (.282-6-26) and 2B Will Muzika (.271-5-29, 10SBs) to amp up their bats just a bit, this team could find lightning in a bottle. That’s because the pitching staff returns nearly intact for 2012 as seniors Bobby Lyne and Daniel Stallsmith will be re-joined in the weekend rotation by RHP Tyler Wood (3-5, 6.35) and will get supported by mid-weeker LHP Nate Smith (3-5, 5.88). The bullpen gets back the services of Drake Browne (who was named to the Cal Ripken Summer League All-Star team) and LHP Stephen Gary (2-2, 5.87), who combined for 54 appearances last season.

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The Bad News:

Although they cut down on the number of double-digit run totals surrendered (from 24 in 2010 to 16 last year), the pitching and offense was still far below championship form. For the Paladins to get serious about getting into the mix in SoCon title talk, they’ll have to show marked improvement in the 5.51 team ERA (10th in the conference) and the .277 team batting average (7th in the conference). Additionally, the mound corps threw a SoCon-low of just 272 strikeouts, so they’ll have to bear down AND establish a presence on the bump this year. The staff will only lose one pitcher of note from last year, but it’s a biggie as ace reliever Dylan Cole (10svs, 26apps) led the team in ERA (3.00) and must be replaced. Top hitter Aaron Thompkins has also hit the bricks, along with SS J.B. Jenkins, who committed just 9errors last year, so those are two big spots in the infield that must be replaced.

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Schedule Note:

Mirroring Elon.

Just like the Phoenix, the Paladins will start the SoCon portion of their schedule with a three-gamer vs. CofC (a week after Elon starts with them). They’ll also face a road test at Samford and then a home weekend vs. Georgia Southern as their first three weekends in the SoCon rigors. Not easy. And just like Elon, the back end of the slate gets markedly easier as they’ll play the bottom-feeders of the conference in the final three weekends, hosting Wofford, going to The Citadel and hosting Davidson to put a stamp on the regular season. FU will play host to MAC contenders Miami (Ohio) and Toledo and also Big 10 heavy Michigan State in the first three weeks of the season.

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- GEORGIA SOUTHERN (36-26, 18-12)

2011 ISR: 97

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Victor Roache (.326-30-84)

SS Eric Phillips (.390-4-39, 26SBs)

OF/DH Michael Burruss (.300-3-46, 10SBs)

RHP Chris Beck (9-5, 3.23, 109Ks, .211OBA)

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The Good News:

Now, even after giving such props to Elon’s Mike Kennedy, we definitely must give Rodney Hennon slightly bigger props for the steady level of success his Eagles have attained over the years. The 2011 season not only saw them get back to the NCAA tournament, but also posted their 13th straight 30+ win season. To get No. 14, he’ll be able to lean heavily on a pair of All American candidates in OF Victor Roache and RHP Chris Beck, as both have been tabbed as Top 10 pro prospects by the MLB (Beck at #8 and Roache at #10). Roache led the nation in home runs last season (a school and conference record of 30) and Beck paced the SoCon in strikeouts (109, 25 more than the second place guy). Beck is one of a pair of 9-game winners from last year as fellow weekend starter RHP Josh Adams (9-6, 4.79) also comes back to the rotation. Plus, coach Hennon will also be able to go to a pair of righties in soph Will Middour (3-1, 5.09) and Justin Hess (3-2, 6.58), who combined for 10 starts and 28 appearances out of the bullpen. The pitching should still be a strength. The Eagles will also have a pretty solid middle-infield with SS Eric Phillips being flanked by 2B Ben Morgan (.239), who should be steadier in this, his sophomore year. Watch for part-time OF Scooter Williams (.277, 10SBs) to take on a more prominent role for 2012 as well.

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The Bad News:

It could be argued that the Eagles had a pretty weak finish to last season, outside of the week of the SoCon tournament, which they won going 4-1. Other than that, GSU was 5-8 in conference play down the stretch and also went out in two straight games in the Columbia Regional – albeit to good teams in South Carolina and N.C. State. The defense needs to lock down more after posting a .960 fielding percentage last season, which was 8th in the SoCon. And though they were second in the conference in steals (with 95), a good bit of that speed went out the door in Shawn Payne, who has joined .326 hitter Steve Cochrane in moving on to pro ball. The pitchers with the two best ERAs on the team, Andy Moye and saves specialist Matt Murray have also hit the high road and will be hard to replace.

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Schedule Note:

Interesting SoCon slate.

The Eagles will open conference play with a trip to defending champion Elon in early March (c’mon schedule-makers, can’t you put this series of SoCon favorites nearer to the end?), but will have a home-heavy schedule from there, hosting UNC-Greensboro, College of Charleston, Samford and Western Carolina all in Statesboro. The Eagles will play mid-weekers at Georgia Tech (March 27 & 28), at Jacksonville (April 11) and at Florida (April 17). Another interesting aspect to the slate? A three-gamer at Indiana in mid-April. Hmmmm.

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- NORTH CAROLINA-GREENSBORO (20-33, 7-23)

2011 ISR: 99

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

1B/C Trevor Edwards (.318-8-51)

OF Bobby Martin (.272, 16SBs)

LHP Brandon Browne (2-2, 3.78, .226OBA)

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The Good News:

For the second year in a row, the Spartans got out to an 11-5 start but unlike 2010, Coach Gaski’s charges turned that good start into a memorable season last year, as they stemmed the tide of four straight losing seasons. UNCG got piping hot at the end, going 15-1 down the stretch, and the 2012 edition would love to keep that kind of consistent play going here now. Having a bellcow like Trevor Edwards is a good building block as he may be one of the better power-sticks in the conference (though he toils in a conference with Daniel Aldrich and Victor Roache, but you get the sentiment here). Seniors Thomas Troelstrup (.244-3-30) and OF Bobby Martin (who also had 18 sacrifices at the plate) will help rebuild the middle infield and the outfield as lead-by-example types. LHP Brandon Browne enters his second season with even more confidence, after starting 13 games as a true frosh. He’ll team with a trio of relievers who all recorded saves last year in RHP Tyler Hollstegge (3-1, 5.18 4svs), RHP Zach Furl (2-0, 5.95, 2svs) and LHP Jonathan Jones (2-4, 4.72, 2svs), who also started five games. LHP Dylan Hathcock (2-1, 4.75) made 23 appearances last season and should move to weekend duty in his sophomore year.

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The Bad News:

A couple of bad losses in the SoCon tournament cast a pall over their astonishing finish to last season. Hopefully that turns into a motivator this season. But this will be a team with very little returning to the roster, especially in terms of starting pitching as Colby Hyatt Jarett Miller and Warren Slack all vamoosed from the starting rotation, taking with them 42 of last years’ 54 starts on the bump. Also, five of the top six hitters from last year have moved on as well, including three .300+ hitters. The infield double play duo of Ray Quinones (who was also the leadoff hitter) and Eric Brindle will be sorely missed and will be two of many spots in the field that will be replaced by young gloves, which is always a dicey proposition.

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Schedule Note:

Sweet 16.

The Spartans will have the luxury of integrating all those new bodies in the comforts of home as they will play the first 16 games of the season right in their back yard. They’ll start off pretty light as well, taking on three game sets with Delaware State, Penn State and Radford the first three weekends. But things get heavy in a hurry from there as they’ll open SoCon play with back-to-back roadies at Georgia Southern and Western Carolina. Yeesh! If it helps, the final two weekends of the season are also at home as they’ll host Wofford and College of Charleston, so that could help in their quest for a good post-season run. But they’ve got to make it there first, of course.

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- SAMFORD (37-23, 18-12)

2011 ISR: 84

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Phillip Ervin (.371-4-41)

1B Saxon Butler (.355-9-61)

OF Brandon Miller (.270-16-43)

P Lex Rutledge (5-6, 3.71)

P Charles Basford (7-4, 2.45)

P Kyle Putkonen (7-2, 3.25)

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The Good News:

If you see the smiles at Samford beaming just a tad brighter than usual it’s because the Bulldogs went 9-3 against in-state rivals, which included wins over Alabama and Auburn (twice) at that. It didn’t hurt that the ‘Dogs also improved their win total to 37 games and swept their way to the title game of the SoCon tournament. Got more for 2012 guys? There is plenty of hopes here as six of the top seven hitters from last year return, including the power-sticks of Saxon Butler and Brandon Miller, who combined for 25 dingers and 104 ribbies last year. The entire weekend rotation is back in seniors Charles Basford and Kyle Putkonen. Lex Rutledge is highly regarded (he held opposing batters to a minuscule .220 average) after leading the staff with 80Ks last season. Watch for a trio of seniors in support roles on the mound as 8-game starter Josh Martin (6-2, 2.76) will be backed by bullpenners Grant Sides (1-0, 1.78, 22apps) and Tyler Vanderheiden (2-0, 1.99, 25apps). Additionally, C.K. Irby (5-1, 2.48) had a break-out year as a frosh after holding opposing hitters to a .176 average. Mercy, but that’s good! The pitching staff led the SoCon with a 3.11 team ERA and has nearly everyone back, so look for big things on the mound.

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The Bad News:

With a senior-laden team on tap for 2012, coach Casey Dunn doesn’t have to worry about a lot of bad news items to report. But finding a clamp down closer like Andrew Jones (1.49ERA, 15svs) will be one of the keys to this year’s late-inning success. Also, 2B Michael Johnson’s glove and his mercurial cleats will be missed as well. Part timers like Gardner Richey (.206 in 30starts) and Tommy Corbin (.198 in 25starts) MUST amp up their games if this team is going to gain some quality depth. And the reason I say that is because the bottom of the batting order was one of the big sticking points in last year’s wispy .278 team average. And yes, while we’re nit-picking here, the defense was just sixth in the conference (at .960 fielding percentage) and must become a more stable unit.

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Schedule Note:

Taking a page out of UNCG’s book.

Just like the Spartans above, the Bulldogs will also face Radford and Penn State in a pair of three-game weekends early on in the season. Mashed between this visits will be a trip to in-state rival South Alabama and single games with Jax State, Alabama and Troy. So some early pride could be built with wins in those games. In mid-March there will be an interesting – albeit dangerous – visit to No. 1 ranked Florida as the Dogs will try to survive a pair of mid-week games in Gainesville. They’ll actually finish the season by hosting the Gators for a single game on May 15th and then will head to Oklahoma for a non-conference three-gamer to close the regular season. How about that? Who knows, the ‘Dogs could be in need of some RPI points at that time, so let’s see what happens.

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- THE CITADEL (20-36, 8-22)

2011 ISR: 210

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

2B Nick Orvin (.320-9-32, 20SBs)

3B Drew DeKerlegand (.317-2-24)

1B Justin Mackert (.303-2-33, 17SBs)

RHP T.J. Clarkson (1-4, 4.24, 4svs)

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The Good News:

It’s a new season. And good riddance to last season, it’s time to move on with a clean slate. Bygones can be bygones. Lots of steady performers come back for another season at the academy, including four of the five position players around the diamond, led by catcher Grant Richards (.235, 33starts) who hopes to go the whole season this year, and the speedy pair of 2B Nick Orvin and 1B Justin Makert, both seniors and both very good baserunners, as the Bulldogs should approach last year’s total of 93 stolen bases. Weekend starter RHP Austin Pritcher (5-3, 4.61) will be joined by RHPs Jeremy Long (4-3, 2.95) and Bryce Hines (4-4, 4.38) as all three led the team in wins last season. Reliever extraordinaire T.J. Clarkson made 32 appearances last year and will be the big arm to rebuild the bullpen around.

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The Bad News:

The 2011 season was disastrous. It’s the kind of year that can ruin a program for years to come. The Bulldogs went from 43 wins in 2010 to just 20 last year, including only eight measly wins in conference play. And all this was considering they had a lot of experience and a lot of starters back on the mound. This year, they’ll miss out on the services of weekend starters Matt Talley , the staff ace, and also Justin Russell, as the two of them combined for 26 starts. Saves leader Drew Mahaffey (he had five saves, compared to Clarkson’s  four) has also moved on, as has last year’s top bat in William Ladd, who hit .327. Between Ladd and burners like Matt Simonelli and Brad Felder, they combined for 50 of last year’s 93 thefts, so some new base-stealers will have to emerge. The Citadel was dead last in the SoCon defensively, fielding at a .953 pace, so those returning dirtbaggers will have to put the clamps on their sieve gloves.

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Schedule Note:

Another Sweet 16.

Count the Bulldogs in as another Southern Conference team which will have a lot of time spent at their home confines attempting to gel their new players with the old to start the season. Games with teams like Towson, Richmond, Delaware, Columbia and South Carolina-Upstate make up most of the 16 straight games they’ll play at home to begin things. But from there, beginning on March 9th, The Citadel will have to strap it on tight as they’ll host Western Carolina, then go to Appy State and to Minnesota on back-to-back weekends and also take on defending champion South Carolina for a mid-week game. In April, the Bulldogs will take on CofC and Georgia Southern on consecutive weekends to test their will.

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- WESTERN CAROLINA (23-31-1, 12-18)

2011 ISR: 186

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

2B Ross Heffley (.419-11-65)

RHP Jordan Smith (6-7, 5.29)

RHP Taylor Sandefur (2-3, 8.86)

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The Good News:

Defensively, the Catamounts might be hard to match, coming off a season where they fielded at a .968 pace and return a lot of those key lockdown positions. 2B Ross Heffley is a great leader on the diamond and one of the true hidden gems in college baseball who is 62 hits shy of the school record. He’ll team with soph SS Aaron Attaway (.298) and 1B Tyler White (.289, 10SBs) to form a great double-play combo. Also watch for power-hitting catcher Adam Martin (.291-5-28), who won the Alaska League Home Run Derby last summer and has a cannon arm behind the dish. The newbies coming to campus are one of the best groups of incoming frosh ever for the Catamounts. Three talents were drafted last summer but came to campus, led by 6’8 flamethrower Jeremy Null (37th round, Mariners), who figures to be a weekend starter and flings it in the low 90s from an intimidatingly high angle. Also watch for RHP Tyler Powell (45th round, Rangers), who at 6’5 is not small on stature either. OF Garrett Brown is extremely athletic, having converted from catcher but with blazing speed, and was chosen in the 43rd round by the Rockies.

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The Bad News:

Much like The Citadel above, the Catamounts had a crazy-good amount of experience and starting pitchers returning for last season and had no business winning just 21 games. Yuck! It all started with a horrid 3-11 start to conference play. So this team can’t rehash that knack for getting into slumps and not getting out of that rut. This will be a youthful team in 2012 with six sophomores projected for the starting lineup. Veterans Stephen Notaro, Matt Johns, Cameron Dullnig and Austin Schultz, who all hit between .288 and .335 last year, leave campus and take 613 career starts with them. The pitch staff needs retooling for sure. And righties Dakotah Thomas (1-1, 3.71), Darron Dotson (0-0, 3.48) and Kyle Dees (0-0, 3.31 and drafted in the 21st round by the Cardinals last June) need to step into bigger roles after combining for just 41 innings last year. Taylor Sandefur needs to revert to his frosh form when he went 1-2, 5.19 and finished the year as the Friday night starter

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Schedule Note:

(NA as of press time.)

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- WOFFORD (22-33, 9-21)

2011 iSR: 213

Starters Returning: 6

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Konstantine Diamaduros (.332, 10SBs)

OF/C Mac Doyle (.300-10-46, 10SBs)

LHP Cash Collins (8-4, 3.15)

OF James Foster (.306, 22SBs)

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The Good News:

If the Terriers can get back out to an 11-5 start again like last season, it could be a great shot of confidence to their 2012 season. There are some pillars to build the pitch staff on, especially All SoCon candidate Cash Collins, who threw 97 innings, including two complete games last year. He’ll also have Gus White (1-2, 3.44), who only started five games last year but was 2-5 in 10 starts in 2010, and junior RHPs Brandon Yarusi (1-6, 5.89) and Ryan Traylor (2-1, 5.23 in 26 appearances), who should both step into bigger roles. The outfield should be very good with the all-senior lineup of Konstantine Diamaduros, James Foster and Mac Doyle (who also platoons at catcher), who all possess good speed and are the main pressure points on the basepaths. Junior Clark Wise (.298, 10SBs) also gets spot duty in the meadow. C/DH David Roney (.256) and SS Matt Moore (.210) are pretty good defenders. Incoming Texans like OF Matthew Kaskow and RHP Nate Cole should make immediate contributions.

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The Bad News:

The Terriers had eight field starters back, three weekend starters on the mound and a bullpen chock-full of experience for the 2011 season. How did this team not improve its SoCon ledger from 9-21 in 2010? And only 22 overall wins? Sorta a crap season, to say the least. That 3-13 finish didn’t help things as it seemed this team either ran out of gas or gave up. The squad has waved goodbye to two of the top pitchers in Tom Dolinak (12 starts) and ace reliever John Cornely (9svs). Developing a rotation of relievers and a dominant closer will be of utmost importance. New starters in key infield positions like 2B and 3B will also need some smoothing over in the early part of the season. LHP J.D. Osborne (threw just 1.1inns last year) was 3-4, 7.89 in 2010 and needs to step up his game.

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Schedule Note:

Almost like they’re wearing an ankle bracelet.

The Bulldogs are nearly locked into their homes for most of the season. They’ll play 34 home games in Spartanburg and then play an additional 13 games inside the state of South Carolina. As we speak, there are also seven more games in North Carolina and just two games all season outside of the Carolinas (a two-game mid-weeker at Virginia Tech). Needless to say, Travelocity hates these guys.