July 5, 2008

Former University of Dayton pitching standout Jerry Blevins has been called up for his second stint in the major leagues. The 6-foot-6 lefty reliever joined the Oakland A's from Triple A Sacramento to take the roster spot of right-handed pitcher Keith Foulke, who is on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 3 with a right shoulder inflammation.

A's manager Bob Geren wasted no time getting Blevins on the mound, as the former Flyer threw a scoreless seventh inning (two strikeouts, one hit) against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Blevins was 2-2 with a 2.78 ERA and a team-leading 10 saves in 28 games with Sacramento. He allowed a .244 opponents batting average and struck out 36 while walking just six in 32.1 innings. The 24-year old left-hander compiled a 1.50 ERA over his final 16 games with the River Cats.

Blevins is making his first appearance with the A's this season after six relief appearances in his Major League debut with Oakland last year. He joined the A's last season after dominating during the Cats' 2007 championship run, striking out 20 of the 33 batters he faced in four postseason appearances while posting a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and two saves.

A former walk-on at the University of Dayton, Blevins pitched for the Flyers for three seasons (2002-2004). After throwing just 17.1 innings over eight appearances as a sophomore, Blevins stepped into the weekend rotation as a junior and shined. He led UD in ERA at 3.79 while fashioning a 7-3 record with 70 strikeouts and only 38 walks in 73.2 innings pitched. Blevins also holds the distinction of being the pitcher of record for Dayton's first-ever win at Time Warner Cable Stadium on Feb. 28, 2004 in the second game of a doubleheader against Bowling Green.

Earlier in the week, Blevins was selected to represent Sacramento at the 2008 Triple-A All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 16th at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville. It was the second time this season a former Flyer had been selected to his league's all-star game, only to be moved up between the all-star announcement and the actual game. Right-hander Craig Stammen was named a Carolina League All-Star before being moved up to AA Harrisburg in the Washington Nationals system.

Dayton tallied a 31-25 overall record in 2008 to finish seventh in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference. UD posted its fifth 30-win season in program history, which have all come since 2001 under the direction of ninth-year head coach Tony Vittorio. Dayton also became just the second team in NCAA history to be hit by pitch more than 100 times in consecutive seasons as it was plunked a school-record 107 times in 2008. The Flyer pitching staff was also one of the best overall in the nation with a 4.24 ERA that ranked among the Top 50 in the nation.