Pac-12 Networks announces on-air talent & programming for sophomore season of baseball coverage
MLB veterans Geoff Blum, Eric Byrnes and Aubrey Huff join JT Snow and Kevin Stocker to voice Pac-12 Networks’ baseball telecasts
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – Former Major League Baseball veterans Geoff Blum, Eric Byrnes and Aubrey Huff join JT Snow and Kevin Stocker, bringing their expertise and wealth of experience on 75 collegiate baseball telecasts on Pac-12 Networks. Pac-12 baseball on Pac-12 Networks kicks off Friday, February 14 at 1:30 p.m. PT when No. 19 Arizona State hosts Baylor.
With 45 more collegiate baseball games than last year, a 150% increase, the Networks’ second season of baseball telecasts includes 15 appearances from 2013 College World Series champion UCLA , as well as five teams ranked in the Top-25 of the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll.
Blum, the former California Golden Bear, joins Pac-12 Networks after a 14-year career in the MLB. During his stint with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, Blum hit the game-deciding homerun in the 14th-inning of Game 3 to help the Sox earn the World Series Championship. Prior to Pac-12 Networks, Blum has served as an analyst on Astros telecasts for CSN Houston since 2013.
Byrnes joins Pac-12 Networks after successful collegiate and professional baseball careers and nine years of broadcasting experience. The UCLA graduate and recent UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame inductee finished his career as one of the most successful hitters in Pac-10 history with a .331 career average and a conference record 75 doubles. He also clocked 11 seasons in the major leagues. The Bay Area native’s lengthy broadcasting includes working the booth at the 2010 College World Series, providing analysis on MLB Network, and offering insight as a radio host on KNBR.
Pac-12 Networks is the first stop for newly-retired Aubrey Huff following a successful playing career that included two World Series rings with the San Francisco Giants and a Silver Slugger Award in 2008. A fifth-round selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 1998 MLB Draft, Huff went on to play 13 seasons in the majors with five different clubs, hitting .278 with 242 home runs and 904 RBIs over his career.
Former Pac-12 and MLB standouts J.T. Snow (University of Arizona) and Kevin Stocker (University of Washington) return for their second season to round out this year’s analyst team, while the play-by-play roster includes veteran voices Ted Robinson, JB Long, Jim Watson, Paul Sunderland and Jason Knapp. NCAA defending champion UCLA enters the season ranked No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches’ preseason poll and will face stiff competition in conference play with Oregon State and Oregon ranked ahead of the Bruins at No. 3 and No. 7, respectively. While unranked, the Arizona Wildcats know what it takes to be CWS Champions after earning the crown in 2012. Arizona State is ranked No. 9 and Stanford comes in at No. 15.
Among the top returning players this season are reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Michael Conforto of Oregon State and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year David Berg of UCLA. Conforto and Berg were both named to the 2014 Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American First Team. Ryan Kellogg and Ryan Burr from Arizona State and Andrew Moore, Ben Wetzler and Dylan Davis of Oregon State were selected to the second team.
Each Pac-12 program will be featured at least nine times: Arizona (17), Arizona State (9), Cal (13), Oregon (17), Oregon State (17), Stanford (13), UCLA (16), USC (10), Utah (9), Washington (12) and Washington State (10). Of the 75 total games, 16 will be traditional rivalry games including Arizona-Arizona State, Cal-Stanford, Oregon-Oregon State, UCLA-USC and Washington-Washington State.
In late March, Pac-12 Networks will air enhanced replays of the last two College World Series championship clinching games. Fans can relive UCLA’s dominating 8-0 performance over Mississippi State from 2013 and Arizona’s 2012 triumph against South Carolina, uncrowning the two-time reigning champion.
The complete 2014 Pac-12 Networks baseball television schedule can be found on Pac-12.com.