Sunday, June 1
Baton Rouge Regional
BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of New Orleans had its season come to an end on Sunday, as Southern Mississippi hit three home runs in an 8-2 win at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional at Alex Box Stadium.
Keith Winstead hit two home runs, and Kyle Maxie launched a three-run blast as the No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (42-21) advanced to a 6 p.m. elimination game against top seed LSU.
Winstead finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored, and Maxie had two hits and four RBIs. The USM 5-8 hitters (Drew Carson, Maxie, Chris Matesich and Winstead) combined to go 11-for-16 with seven runs scored.
The Golden Eagles recorded 14 hits on the day and had 30 hits in the two wins over UNO this weekend.
USM starter Josh Billeaud (4-4) got the win after giving up just three hits in seven innings. He tallied a season-high seven strikeouts in his longest start since March 25. The right-hander had an 8.56 ERA in his last seven starts but managed his first win since April 25 against Houston.
Bryan Cryer (12-2) got the loss after giving up a season-high eight runs – including three home runs – in 7 1/3 innings.
The Privateers could get little going offensively, tallying just one hit in the first five innings. Jeff Lanning did hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, which was his team-best 15th of the year.
UNO, which was held to a season-low three hits, tied the 1996 squad for the program’s most wins since 1987.
“I am proud of everything this team has achieved,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “We are walking out of here with our heads held high.”
Things were going fine for UNO early after Joey Butler scored on a passed ball to give the Privateers a 1-0 lead in the first.
But the game changed in the top of the second. With runners on first and second and one out, Cryer got ahead of Winstead 0-2. Winstead then hit a towering fly ball that was originally ruled a foul ball.
After the umpires conferred, though, the crew ruled it a fair ball – handing USM a 3-1 lead. Maxie then gave the Golden Eagles a 6-1 lead with a three-run home run in the third inning, and Billeaud made the lead hold.
“The two home runs were definitely the difference in the game,” Walter said. “Give Billeaud a lot of credit. The scouting report said he had control problems, and we were trying to be patient early. But he was throwing a lot of strikes, and we had to change things. We only hit a couple of balls hard all day.”
UNO set a single-season school record for home runs (97), hits (743), runs (581), and RBIs (524).
Cryer, meanwhile, finished his career ranked first on the school’s career list with 340 strikeouts and 82 career starts. He finished second on the career list with 411 innings pitched and tied for second with 33 wins.
“It’s going to be very tough to not be able to put Bryan Cryer back out on the mound for us,” Walter said. “He has meant so much to this program. We have a lot of talented players coming here next year, but we will miss this group of seniors. They all made this program better.”
Saturday, May 31
Baton Rouge Regional
Texas Southern 5, New Orleans 18
BATON ROUGE, La. – So far, the University of New Orleans has experienced déjŕ vu at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. And the Privateers are hoping it will continue for a few more days.
For the second straight weekend, UNO found itself in a tournament loser’s bracket, and the Privateers continued their solid play in the sudden death format following an 18-5 win over Texas Southern on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium.
Johnny Giavotella and Josh Vander Hey combined to go 5-for-5 with five RBIs and six runs scored, and Jeff Lanning hit a grand slam as the Privateers (43-20) advanced to a 1 p.m. elimination game on Sunday against the LSU-Southern Mississippi loser.
Jim McGonigle (2-2) notched his first win since March 1 thanks to seven strong innings, and the Privateers tallied 16 hits – their most in 13 games.
UNO, which fell into the loser’s bracket following a 13-6 loss to USM on Friday, ran off four straight wins when facing elimination last week. They will need to do the same thing this week to claim the regional championship.
“It’s a blueprint of last week,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter, whose program won an NCAA Regional game for the second straight season. “One thing I’ve learned about this team is when we get cornered, we play our best baseball.”
Ryan Eden and Joey Butler combined for four hits and five runs scored, and Jay Morris went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Privateers had their leadoff hitter reach base safely in six of their first seven at-bats, and UNO scored at least three runs in four different innings.
“Hitting is contagious and that’s the way our offense is,” Walter said. “If one of our guys starts slumping, he generally starts to press, but hopefully a day like today will get everyone going.”
Rashad Ford (3-6) took the loss for TSU (16-34). The right-hander was plagued with control problems, walking six and hitting one in four innings of work. The Tigers walked nine batters overall.
“We saw a lot of pitches early, and we were able to get into their bullpen,” said Vander Hey, who is 3-for-6 with five RBIs in the regional.
After TSU took a 1-0 lead in the first, UNO came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning despite just one hit. Ford walked three of the first four batters he faced, and Vander Hey got UNO on the board with an RBI single to left.
The Privateers scored two runs on a hard ground ball by Nick Schwaner that was booted by TSU second baseman Michael Norris. The Tigers scored a run in the third, but UNO scored three more runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-2 advantage.
UNO put it away with a six-run fifth inning, the Privateers’ fourth six-run frame in their last six games.
Lanning added a grand slam in the eighth.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Vander Hey said. “Last week was an impossible situation, and we came out of it. We expect to play well the rest of the way.”
Stillwater Regional
Western Kentucky University 5, TCU 10
Stillwater, Okla. — TCU scored five times in the bottom of the seventh to break a 5-5 tie and pick up a 10-5 win over the Western Kentucky University baseball team Saturday afternoon at Allie P. Reynolds in the first elimination of the 2008 NCAA Regionals.
The loss ended the season for WKU, and they closed a championship season with a 33-27 record.
Starting pitching struggled for both clubs, as TCU hurler Sean Hoelscher did not record an out before being lifted in the first inning. Hoelscher walked the first three Hilltopper batters of the game before Chad Cregar hit a grand slam over the right-field wall for his 21 homer of the year to put WKU in front 4-0. The four runs driven in on the play gave Cregar 82 for the season, breaking the Hilltopper single-season record of 79 set by Mike Williams during the 1980 season.
Trent Appleby relieved Hoelscher immediately after the home run, and proceeded to retire the first eight men hie faced and hold WKU scoreless over his first 6.1 innings of work.
TCU (44-18) took advantage of the good relief work, and started their comeback right away in the bottom of the first. Leadoff batter Ben Carruthers was hit by a pitch from Rye Davis, then came home to score on a one-out double by Clint Arnold to get the Horned Frogs on the board. Chris Ellington was then able to cut the WKU lead in half with two out single that drove in Arnold and make it a 4-2 game.
The Frogs threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the second when they put two on with one out. Carruthers then hit a deep fly ball to left, but Jeremy Coleman was able to go up on wall and take away a home run to preserve the two-run lead. However, WKU was not as fortunate in the third as Matt Vern hit a three-run homer off Davis to give TCU its first lead of the day at 5-4.
While Appleby was quieting the Hilltopper bats, Colby Beach did the same for WKU after relieving Davis with one out in the third following the Vern home run. Beach held the Horned Frogs scoreless over the middle three innings, allowing just two base hits over that stretch to keep it a one-run deficit for WKU.
The Toppers used the long ball again in the seventh to pull even as Matt Hightower hit a solo homer off Appelby to make it a 5-5 game. However, back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the seventh for TCU ended the day for Beach. Evan Teague came in and got Matt Carpenter to bunt back to the mound as WKU was able to get the lead runner at third for the first out of the inning. Ellington was able to bloop a single to right off of reliever Bryce Jenney to load the bases. Bryan Holaday followed with a two-run double to right that gave TCU a 7-5 lead. A balk by Jenney forced in the eighth run of the game for the Horned Frogs. Bryan Kervin then singled down the left-field line to bring in two more and stretch the TCU lead to 10-5.
WKU was unable to put up any runs in its final two at bats as the season came to a close.
Cregar led the Hilltopper offense with three hits and four RBI to close out his record-breaking offensive season. Ellington went 4-for-5 for TCU, while Vern drove in a team-high three runs with his third-inning homer. Beach (3-4) suffered the loss as he allowed two runs on four hits in his 3.2 innings of relief. Andrew Cashner (9-3) got the win as he was the pitcher of record when the Frogs put up their five-run inning.
Friday, May 30
Stillwater Regional
Western Kentucky University 3, Oklahoma State 5
Stillwater, Okla. — A ninth-inning rally by the Western Kentucky University baseball team fell just short as fifth-ranked Oklahoma State held on for a 5-3 win over the Hilltoppers Friday night at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The Hilltoppers (33-26) will now have to fight through the losers bracket as they face TCU at 1 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday in an elimination game. The Cowboys (43-16) will meet Wichita State tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Toppers put runners on the corners with out against OSU starter Tyler Lyons. Jake Wells then drove in Chad Cregar with a fielder’s choice grounder to make it a 5-2 game. Matt Payton followed with a single to again put runners at the corner with two away. Matt Peck relieved Lyons and gave up a double to pinch hitter C.J. Wamsley to make it a 5-3 game and move the potential tying run into scoring position. However, Jordy Mercer came in and struck out Scott Kaskie to end the game and pick up his ninth save of the season.
The Hilltoppers threatened right away in the top of the first, getting three hits and loading the bases with one out. However, Lyons was able to get a double-play groundball to get out of the jam. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Matt Hague hit an opposite-field solo home run to give OSU an early 1-0 lead.
The double-play grounder in the first started a string of 11 consecutive Hilltoppers retired by Lyons before Wells delivered an infield single with one out in the fifth. WKU starter Matt Ridings was able to settle in as well after giving up the first-inning homer, blanking the Cowboys on just two hits over the next three innings. However, Oklahoma State got three straight one-out singles in the fifth as Mercer’s base hit drove in Tyrone Hambly to give the home team a two-run advantage.
Oklahoma State blew things open on the sixth with a three-run inning that proved to be the difference in the game. After putting runners at second and third with one out before Thomas Belza doubled in both runs with a chopper past a drawn-in infield. Then, with two outs in the inning Donnie Webb doubled home a run with a triple to make it a 5-0 game and end the day for Ridings.
Wade Gaynor finally got the Toppers on the board in the seventh when he led off the inning with his 13th home run of the season.
Ridings (10-3) suffered his first loss since April 12 — a span of seven starts. He allowed five runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings of work, finishing with five strikeouts. Lyons (12-2) threw 8.2 innings, finishing with six strikeouts as he gave up three runs on 10 hits.
Offensively, Terrence Dayleg and Payton led the Hilltoppers with two hits apiece to lead the 11-hit attack. Luis Flores was one of four Cowboys with two hits, and he also drove in a pair of runs.
Baton Rouge Regional
New Orleans 6, Southern Mississippi 13
BATON ROUGE, La. – Southern Mississippi gave up a six-run lead in the sixth inning but fought back with seven unanswered runs to take a 13-6 win over New Orleans in NCAA Baton Rouge Regional action on Friday at Alex Box Stadium.
Michael Ewing went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, and USM had 16 hits as the No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (41-20) advanced to a 6 p.m. winner’s bracket game against top seed LSU.
Josh Vander Hey had a three-run home run for the Privateers (42-20), and Johnny Giavotella added two RBIs. But the Privateers managed just seven hits to fall into a 1 p.m. elimination game against No. 4 Texas Southern on Saturday.
Justin Garcia (6-2) picked up the loss after surrendering 10 hits and eight runs (five earned) in 5 1/3 innings. USM’s Wade Weathers (4-1) was credited with the win, though the left-hander did give up a game-tying, three-run home run to Vander Hey in the sixth.
USM, however, picked up the reliever with two runs in the bottom of the sixth before erupting for five runs in the seventh.
“We obviously felt like we were back in the game after the home run,” said Vander Hey, whose blast was UNO’s 94th of the year – extending a single-season school record. “We wanted to put up a zero and score some more runs, but it just didn’t work out that way.”
Early on, it did not seem like the Golden Eagles would have to stress at all.
USM starter Barry Bowden held UNO hitless through the first five innings, and the Golden Eagles scored five runs in the fourth to grab a 6-0 advantage.
But UNO finally got to the first-team All-Conference USA standout in the sixth. After Mark McGonigle drew a one-out walk, Tyrone Wethers got UNO’s first hit with a double down the right field line.
Ryan Eden followed with an RBI infield single to get UNO on the board, and Giavotella made it 6-3 with a two-run single two batters later. USM head coach Corky Palmer pulled Bowden in favor of the southpaw Weathers, and Vander Hey made the move backfire with an opposite-field blast to right field.
USM, though, responded with an RBI triple from Bo Davis (3-for-5, two runs) and Brian Dozier (3-for-5) followed with a run-scoring single off reliever Jake Henderson to make it 8-6.
USM then hit three home runs in the seventh inning to ice it.
“We just made too many defensive mistakes early in the ball game,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “Justin did not pitch bad, but we let him down defensively. We were too passive and trying not to make a mistake.”
The Privateers will start right-hander Jim McGongile (1-2, 6.08 ERA) against TSU on Saturday.
