Box Scores
Interview with Jordan Vierra
ABILENE, Texas -- Top-seeded Linfield handed The University of Texas at Tyler baseball team a 6-3 loss to send the Patriots home from the 2011 NCAA Division III West Regional Baseball Tournament at Walt Driggers Field. The Patriots end the season with a 33-8 record.
Senior right-hander Matt Schimpf suffered the loss after giving up five runs in the top of the first inning. Linfield lead off hitter Eric Evenson got things started with a single to short, and advanced to second a sac bunt by Dustin Smith.
Wildcat center fielder Tim Wilson then singled to left field that pushed Evenson to third base that was followed by a Cole Bixenman single to left that scored Evenson to put the Linfield on the board. After another RBI single by Nate McClellan, Clayton Truex doubled to right center field to score two more Wildcats and put Linfield up 4-0.
After a ground out, Kevin Coleman singled in Truex that made it 5-0 Linfield.
The Patriots' offense was yet again frustrated all afternoon by Wildcat pitcher Zach Manley who, through 4.1 innings, allowed eight hits and two runs. UT Tyler loaded the bases in both the bottom of the first and second but was unsuccessful in trying to push runs across the board.
UT Tyler finally scored for the first time in the tournament in the fourth inning when Jake Ashley grounded out to second base to score David Ring who started the inning off with a single through the left side.
The Patriots crossed home plate again in the fifth when Nick Clifton, who had walked, was brought in by a Jordon Vierra double down the right field line to make the new score 5-2.
Linfield scored again in the seventh inning courtesy of another McClellan RBI single..
After quick seventh and eighth innings for the Patriots, the offense started a rally in the bottom of the ninth when Clifton singled to left field and advanced to second on an error by the left fielder. With Hayden Chick batting, Clifton reached third base on an errant throw from pitcher Evan Hillberg.
Chick fouled out to right field but it was deep enough to score the tagging Clifton from third base. After a quick out by Jake Beam, Ring and Vierra had consecutive singles before the inning and the season finally came to a close when Ashley grounded out to second base.
Aaron McCain went 2-for-3 for the Patriots with two singles and .T.J Martin went 3-for-4 with three singles.
Linfield improves to 32-10 and stayed alive with one loss in the double elimination tournament. Until Thursday’s games are completed, Linfield does not yet know its opponent, but the Wildcats will play again Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Chapman Shuts Out Patriots on Day 1
Interview with Dustin Wyble
ABILENE, Texas -- The UT Tyler baseball team lost to the No. 2 seeded Chapman Panthers Wednesday afternoon at Walt Driggers Field in their opening game of the double-elimination 2011 NCAA Baseball Regional Championships, falling 7-0.
Chapman’s Brian Rauh got the win for the Panthers with a complete-game, two-hit shutout on his way to an 11-0 season record. Rauh struck out six Patriot hitters and offered no walks. Rauh kept the Patriot sluggers off their game all afternoon by only allowing two singles - one to Nick Clifton in the second inning, and another to Jake Ashley in the third.
After 1-2-3 innings for both teams in the first, the Panthers jumped on Patriots' starting pitcher Chad Sherman early in the second and never looked back. Adam Kordich started the inning off with a walk and quickly after that, Panther left fielder James Parr doubled to deep right center field and brought in Kordich to score the contest’s first run. Parr was brought in to score later in the inning by a single from Charlie Piro.
The Panthers scored again in the fifth inning courtesy of a Mark Saatzer single that brought in Steve Greenberg who had doubled earlier in the inning. After Saatzer stole second base, Kordich singled up the middle to score two more, stretching Chapman's lead to 4-0.
After Chapman (30-11) scored two more in the sixth inning via back to back RBI singles by Velez and Saatzer, the final blow for the Patriots was a Adam Kordich solo home run off of Chad Sherman that pushed the score to 7-0, and would prove to be enough for the Panthers to roll to the opening game victory.
Sherman suffered only his second loss of the season, moving his record to 8-2, while giving up seven runs, five of them earned. He allowed 11 hits to the 33 batters faced and walked three.
The Patriots' offense never could find a rhythm, as top sluggers Nick Clifton and Justin Juneau went a combined 1-8 and the offense collectively managing just a 2-29 effort against Rauh. Fifteen of the Patriots' 27 outs were ground balls to the Panther infielders.
UT Tyler (33-7) will have to rely on catching the breaks as they face elimination against No. 1 seeded Linfield. The Wildcats were upset earlier Friday by American Southwest Conference champion Concordia-Texas by a score of 5-2.
Game time for the Patriots and Wildcats is set for 12 p.m.
-Courtesy University of Texas at Tyler Sports Information Department