ESPN Family of Networks Ramps Up Its College Baseball and Softball Coverage

We have a bunch of college baseball and softball games on the ESPN platforms, ESPN2, ESPNU and the soon-to-be renamed ESPN3.com. This means a combined 53 regular season baseball and softball games. Most of them will be seen on ESPNU and a whole slew of contests will involve the SEC. Take a look at the press release.

ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 & ESPN360.com Offer Most-Ever College Softball & Baseball Schedule Beginning with Regular-Season Action

ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will televise 53 regular-season college softball and baseball games leading into the networks’ extensive postseason action of up to 110 contests. It is ESPN’s most coverage overall of the two sports and the most games scheduled of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship – up to 55 — with the addition of a Regional round.

Regular-season softball action will begin with two games from the No. 13 Florida at No. 5 Alabama series Saturday, March 27, at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2 HD and Sunday, March 28, at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU HD. Baseball coverage will start the following weekend with three telecasts, all featuring at least one ranked team: Georgia at No. 4 LSU (Friday, April 2, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU HD), No. 8 Texas at No. 12 Oklahoma (Saturday, April 3, at 3 p.m. on ESPNU HD) and Mississippi State at No. 23 South Carolina (Sunday, April 4, at 2 p.m. on ESPNU).

Regular-season schedule details:

• ESPNU will televise the majority of the action, with 41 of the 53 games. ESPN360.com will simulcast the 12 ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts.
• Thirty-one of the telecasts will be in high definition.
• The schedule includes 30 softball and 23 baseball games.
• The networks will combine to televise six conference title games, comprising:

• The entire SEC Softball Tournament.
• The SEC Baseball Tournament championship game.
• The SWAC softball and baseball championships.
• The baseball championships from the BIG EAST and MEAC.

ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will offer up to 55 games each from the NCAA Division I Softball Championship and NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for a potential of 110 total telecasts (the entire schedules for both will be released at a later date). Coverage for both events will include two Regional series, all eight of the Super Regionals and the entire Championships.

A minimum of 62 games will be offered in high definition, including every game from both of the softball and baseball Regional series and the entire Women’s College World Series and College World Series.

Softball and baseball commentators

ESPN’s telecasts will feature former top players and coaches providing analysis. The softball lineup will include:

• Three U.S. Olympic Medalists working softball games: two-time gold medalist Michele Smith (2000 and 1996), Jessica Mendoza, who won gold in 2004 and silver in 2008, and Amanda Freed, who won gold in 2004.
• Former Northwestern standout Garland Cooper, a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year and all-time Big Ten home runs leader.
• National Pro Fastpitch commissioner Cheri Kempf.
• Cindy Bristow, former head softball coach at Arizona State, New Mexico State and Wichita State.

The baseball telecasts will include:

• Kyle Peterson, a former Stanford All-American, participant in the College World Series and first-round MLB Draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, entering his seventh season of college baseball analysis with ESPN.
• Morgan Ensberg who won the College World Series with USC in 1998 and played eight years in Major League Baseball (Houston Astros, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees).
• Former LSU All-American and Gold Spikes Award winner Ben McDonald, who also played eight years in Major League Baseball (Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers).
• Leland Maddox, a former Major League Baseball Director of Scouting for the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland A’s.

* Tape Delay

All baseball rankings are from ESPN/ USA Today Coaches Top 25

All softball rankings are from ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Women’s Top 25

Schedule subject to change; All times Eastern

Additional commentator assignments will be released as the season progresses

That does it. And yes, I now have jump capabilities so the posts won’t be so long. It’ll save you aggravation.