RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team kicked off its 2012 season with the 11th annual Diamond Legacy Dinner on Sunday night in the Keen Johnson Ballroom. Derek Holland, a World Series hero for the Texas Rangers, served as the guest speaker at the event.

Holland, an easy-going southpaw from Newark Ohio, entertained the crowd of over 200 EKU baseball supporters with humorous anecdotes from his junior college and minor league days, and then enthralled the crowd with stories from his Game 4 start in the 2011 World Series, a start in which he baffled the St. Louis Cardinals (especially slugger Albert Pujols), pitching 8.1 scorless innings and allowing just two hits while striking out seven. Holland, sporting long, curly locks and a mustache, also stessed the importance of "being yourself" and the significance of education.

Select members of the EKU baseball team were recognized at the event, as junior right-hander Chase Greene and junior outfielder Shaun Ball were given Champion's Quest plaques, honoring their play and dedication to conditioning over the fall.

Attendees were also treated to a silenct auction, featuring EKU gear and coveted baseball memorabilia including a baseball bat autographed by nearly every living member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame from 1939-1989.

The EKU baseball team opens the 2012 season at East Tennessee State on the weekend of February 17-19.