CSU Baseball Game Notes, Season Opener

The CSU Baseball team welcomes Marist College of the MAAC to the newly renovated Buccaneer Ballpark for their 2009 season opener.  The first pitch is slated for 2 p.m.  The game will be the first game of season for each as well as the first meeting between the two programs.  Marist posted a 19-28 record last season, while the Bucs are entering off an 18-35 record from 2008.

Complete Game Notes

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Live Audio for Friday's game

A New Era

The CSU baseball team enters the 2009 season with a lot of ‘new’ in it. At the very top is a new face of the Buccaneer program in head coach Stuart Lake. Lake, a graduate of CSU, has returned to his alma mater to take the reigns of a program that he played and lettered in. Lake comes to the Buccaneers after stints at South Carolina, The Citadel, the College of Charleston and Mississippi.

Lake hired Charles Assey as assistant coach for the Buc program. Assey is former player of Presbyterian College, now a Big South member. Before his coaching stint at Presbyterian, Assey was at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas as the Graduate Assistant for baseball and also as the head strength and conditioning coach for the school.

Stan Kowalski returns as the pitching coach for the Buccaneers, after having played for the Buc program from 1991-95 as a pitcher. Kowalski left the program as the winningest pitcher with 23 victories and held the record until former Buc, and now MLB player, R.J. Swindle surpassed the mark.

Lake’s third assistant to join the program is also a former Buc himself, Anthony Hayes. Hayes will coach the outfielders, after having played two seasons for the Bucs (1996-97). Hays appeared in 97 games during his tenure. Hayes joins after having serving as the hitting and infield coach for ProLevel Sports 18u AAU team, as well as working the varsity team at R.B. Stall High School as an assistant coach during the 2008 season.

The Game

Friday will be the first time CSU and Marist have met to compete. It will be the first game of the season for both the Bucs and the Red Foxes. The Red Foxes, who tied for 4th in the MAAC preseason poll, bring with them two MAAC Preseason All-Conference members: shortstop Richard Curylo and first baseman Ryan Gauck. The Red Foxes ended their 2008 campaign 19-28 and 8-15 in the MAAC. The Bucs ended their 2008 campaign 18-35 and 6-16 in league play.

The Bucs bring back 10 starters from last season’s roster including four pitchers and seven from the field. The Bucs also add several new names to the roster including pitchers and field.

The New Look of Buc Baseball

The Buccaneer baseball program has been working for many years to improve the look and visibility of Buccaneer baseball. This season may show off the most dramatic improvements to the facilties for the Bucs. Major improvements and renovations include, a new cover for the batting cages, a new netted backstop, new benches and fencing for both dugouts, new first and third baseline cutouts, new grandstand bleachers, and new seat back chairs. The new seating dramatically increases the capacity of Buccaneer Ballpark from 500 to 1,500, making room for more fans and better access to watch the Bucs in action.

Keep up with the Action Live

Friday’s game at Buccaneer Ballpark will be broadcast live online through The Edge TV on the Big South Sports website at: www.bigsouthsports.com. Click on The Edge icon to order the game. There will also be live stats available through the CSU sports home page at www.CSUSports.com; the link can be directly accessed on the baseball schedule page by clicking the ‘stats’ icon next to the game.