Ryan Strieby; Photo via Flickr by mwlguide

Latest links and notes from around Kentucky baseball:

• The University of Louisville confirmed to BluGrass Baseball that redshirt junior outfielder Stewart Ijames is not playing this weekend due to a violation of team rules.
• According to University of Kentucky baseball SID Brent Ingram several UK players, including Sunday starting pitcher Alex Meyer, had their equipment bags stolen from the bullpen during Saturday’s loss to Marshall.
• Sheldon S. Shafer of the Courier-Journal reports the Nations Park project, which would have built a state-of-the-art youth baseball complex in Louisville, appears dead after the lead developer dropped an option on a parcel of land in southeast Jefferson County.
• Jason Beck of MLB.com reports that so far this spring former UK first baseman Ryan Strieby has been hitting without any sign of the wrist problems that have plagued him in recent seasons.
• Nick Baumgardner of the Bowling Green Daily News recaps Western Kentucky University’s walk-off win over BGSU, noting WKU head coach Chris Finwood was surprised BGSU intentionally walked Kes Carter and Ryan Hutchinson to face Matt Rice.
• Brad Stephens of the College Heights Herald notes WKU sophomore first baseman said of BGSU’s decision to face Rice, “He’s an All-American catcher. I don’t know what they were thinking pitching to him.”
• In a rare out-of-state matchup between two Kentucky starting pitchers, Valparaiso senior right-handed pitcher Damon McCormick, a St. X alum, and Austin Peay redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Jack Snodgrass, a Bowling Green High School alum, both pitched well though neither pitcher ended up with a win. McCormick surrendered four runs on 11 hits in seven innings while Snodgrass surrendered one run on two hits in four innings. Austin Peay won the game in extra innings.