Jimmy Comerota Class: Senior Hometown: Missouri City High School: Hightower Height / Weight: 6-1 / 185 Position: if Experience: 3L B/T: R/R

Always ready for any role he's called to play... Nicknamed "Jimmy Baseball" by his teammates for his passion and dedication to the game, a moniker that caught on around the country after another trip to the College World Series.

Wayne Graham said -- "Arguably the most improved college player over the last two years. Jimmy's an improved hitter, who can play anywhere on the field except pitch. Extremely valuable. Great attitude."

At Rice -- 2008: All-NCAA Houston Regional... NCAA District VI All-Academic Team... Conference USA All-Academic Team... C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll... Appeared in all but one game since opening day and started 51 times... Made 48 starts at second base and three at shortstop... Batted .429 at the College World Series (3-for-7) with a walk and run scored... Shared the team lead in hitting (.417) with Chad Mozingo for the seven NCAA Tournament games... Was the Owls' leading hitter of the Regional, going 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubles, five RBI and three runs scored... The Regional weekend was a career-best, topping an East Carolina series where he was 6-for-12 with three two-hit games... Went 4-for-11 (.364) with six runs scored in a sweep of Marshall... Eight starts were as the leadoff batter, 31 were batting either eighth or ninth... Hit .338 against teams that were nationally-ranked, .317 with runners on base and .306 with runners in scoring position... Led the team and finished third in C-USA with 11 sacrifice bunts... Collected two or more hits in a game 15 times... Slugged a career-high three hits three times, including the Regional win over St. John's... One of three Owls with more walks (24) than strikeouts (17)... Longest hitting streak was a career-best six games (Apr. 26 to May 10)... Played a 20-game stretch with just one error in the field in 124 chances... Made a career-high eight defensive assists against Fresno State in the opening game of the College World Series... Tallied seven defensive assists from the middle infield three other times... Turned or started 48 of the team's 63 double plays... Was in on five double plays in one game against Southern Miss (Mar. 29)... The final game of the Tulane series was the first time he started a game and did not record a defensive assist (he did have two put outs)... 2007: Played in 11 games with four starts, including two at shortstop and two at third base... Three of the four starts were against teams that went on to play in the NCAA Tournament (twice vs. East Carolina and once against St. John's)... Batted .294 with a pair of walks and two sacrifice hits... Slugged a double and scored in a start against Texas Tech at the Whataburger College Classic in Corpus Christi... Scored a season-high two runs in a game twice, including the regular season win over Baylor... Made four appearances as a pinch runner... Was error-free in the field in 13 chances (10 at shortstop and three at third)... Made a career-high three defensive assists in a single game at East Carolina... Played in the Texas Collegiate League (Duncanville) in the summer of 2007... 2006: Did not see any game action... Worked hard to be a member of the team's official roster for the College World Series, super regional and regional games, and was ready to play when called upon... Played in the Texas Collegiate League (Weatherford) in the summer.

High School -- 2005 graduate of Hightower High School in Missouri City... Four-year starter for the Hurricanes under coach Eddie Youngblood... All-state honoree as a junior and senior... First team all-Greater Houston selection by the Houston Chronicle in 2005... Played in the Texas high school all-star game... Named the District 20-5A most valuable player after batting .450 with 38 RBI, 24 runs scored and five home runs... Posted 15 career wins as a pitcher... Three-time team MVP and 2003 sophomore player of the year... Maintained a 3.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale and graduated magna cum laude.

Personal -- Full Name: James Anthony Comerota. Born: Dec. 1, 1986, in San Antonio. Parents: Dave and Mary Comerota of Missouri City (one sister). Father played baseball for Springfield College (1975), and grandfather, Tony Comerota, played in the minor leagues (1950). Majors: Kinesiology / Economics. College: Jones.

Rice Statistics

Year	Avg	GP	GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	GDP	OB%	SF	SH	SB	ATT
2007	.294	11	4	17	5	5	1	0	0	0	6	.353	2	0	4	0	.368	0	2	0	0
2008	.291	61	51	196	45	57	6	1	0	28	65	.332	24	4	17	2	.374	3	11	12	15
Totals	.291	72	55	213	50	62	7	1	0	28	71	.333	26	4	21	2	.374	3	13	12	15

Jones College