April 12, 2008

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' baseball team won its eighth straight game with a doubleheader sweep over Sul Ross State, 4-1 and 4-3, Saturday afternoon in American Southwest Conference action on Senior Day at Hunter Field.

The Cowboys pitching staff was solid in both games, allowing only one earned run in 16 innings of work. HSU had to rally for the second time in the series to complete the sweep.

HSU trailed 3-0 through six and one-half innings. The Lobos scored two unearned runs on a pair of Brian Weeks errors in the third inning as James Johnson made the Cowboys pay with a two-run single with two outs to center field. Ricardo Vera had a sacrifice fly in the third to scored another runner who had reached on an error. The Cowboys had five errors in the first four innings.

Josh Alcorn (3-2) came on in the sixth in relief of Tim Kriegel. Kriegel was solid as he scattered four hits in six plus innings, allowing three unearned runs. Alcorn came on with runners on first and third with no outs and he struck out Ryan Kassner and James Johnson and then made Isaiah Rayos to ground out back to the mound. He worked a scoreless eighth and ninth and struck out six in his three innings of work to earn the win.

Sul Ross State starter Michael Otero had it going through six innings as he had shut the Cowboys out. However, he lost control in the seventh inning with two outs. Weeks reached on an infield single and Otero walked James Gage and Regan Dixon and was lifted for reliever Lucas Garza who walked in a pair of runs with the bases loaded. Wayne Pimpton and Taylor Berlin drew the walks and Harvey Cardiel came on an got Tre' Sellari to fly to right to end the inning with the bases loaded.

In the HSU eighth inning, the first two batters were retired by Cardiel but he walked Ryan Stepp with two outs. He stole second and scored on an RBI single by Weeks to tie the game at four. Weeks stole second base and then scored when James Gage hit a comebacker to Eddie Vela who had come on in relief. Vela bobbled the ball and then threw wide at first allowing Weeks to score the go-ahead run.

The Cowboys only had six hits in the game with the wind blowing in at Hunter Field, but took advantage of 10 Sul Ross State walks.

In the first game the Cowboys received a dominating complete-game performance from Nathan Copeland. He struck out nine batters in the game and allowed just one run.

HSU jumped out a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and nobody on Gage and Dixon drew walks. Pimtpon hit a double to center to score Gage and after a walk to Berlin Sellari had a two-run single to left. The Cowboys made it 4-0 in the third on an RBI single by Berlin.

Sul Ross State scored a run in the fourth when Adrian Zepeda walked, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a throwing error by Berlin. After that Copeland cruised to move to 3-1 on the year.

HSU is now 22-14 on the season and 11-7 in league play. They are in a three-way tie for second place in the ASC West with Concordia and Mary Hardin-Baylor. HSU will play at Wayland Baptist on Tuesday and close the regular season with a three-game set at Texas Lutheran.