Bulldogs, Tigers start postseason action this week
, buddy@rustonleader.com
05-19-2009
Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University aren’t ready for their baseball seasons to end just yet.They will get a chance to extend their campaigns later this week at their annual conference postseason tournaments.
The Bulldogs (28-20, 13-11) will begin action in the Western Athletic Conference tournament Thursday at 12 a.m., against host University of Hawaii (31-23, 11-12) in Honolulu.
In Birmingham, Ala., beginning at noon Wednesday, the Tigers (14-35, 10-13) have a first-round assignment against Jackson State (35-19, 15-9) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.
“You just want to keep your season going as long as you can now,” said GSU coach Barrett Rey. “Every game you play from here on is a bonus for your players and program.”
The two Lincoln Parish teams wrapped up their regular seasons this past weekend.
Tech split a four-game conference series against New Mexico State at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park. The Bulldogs took victories of 6-5 and 17-9 and suffered defeats of 16-0 and 8-3.
At Florida State, Grambling State held its own against the No. 1 seeded club in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Tigers forced the Seminoles to use a two-run, walkoff home run to take a 9-7 victory in the first game of a doubleheader and also had losses of 14-6 and 9-1.
After failing to reach the WAC tournament in 2008 while serving as the host school, Tech put on a super finish during the second half of this season to finish No. 2 in the standings behind champion San Jose State.
It was the highest finish for the Bulldogs since entering the league in 2002.
“Our guys have never stopped battling this year,” said coach Wade Simoneaux of Tech. “We had a slow start and things didn’t look too well for us, but this team held together and showed tremendous confidence and belief in themselves to be one of the six teams making it to the tournament. It says a lot about their character.”
Tech’s confidence was working against New Mexico State following the 16-0 thumping to the Aggies.
The Bulldogs bounded back with a 17-9 victory that featured three players registering four hits: outfielder Patrick Thomas and infielders Kevin Winn and Mark Threlkeld.
The latter player was a perfect four-for-four, including a solo home run and a career-high four runs scored.
Winn blasted a grand slam home run and recorded a personal-best in runs batted in with six, while Thomas barely missed out on an all-time high RBI performance with four.
The offensive explosion was plenty to support the mound work of Dylan Moseley, a senior righthander who got the win with a solid performance that included no bases on balls.
“He didn’t walk a single batter and that’s something you have to be able to do against a fine hitting team like New Mexico State,” Simoneaux said.
“Our defense also played well and gave Dylan good support.”
Grambling rallied back from a 6-2 deficit in the second inning to trail only 6-5 after five innings before Florida State got a game-winning home run in inning No. 9 by outfielder Ohmed Danesh.
The Tigers equaled FSU in hits 11-11 and had five players with two hits each: third baseman Arthur Mazierski, outfielder-first baseman Mike Roby, outfielder Joseph Gill, designated hitter Sam Keller and infielder Brandon Williams.
In the 14-6 loss, Grambling got a grand slam homer, run and five runs batted in from Roby and two hits each from outfielder Anthony Clifton, infielder Milt Barney and Mazierski.
Barney had a solo home run to provide the Tigers’ only run in the 9-1 loss.
A victory by Grambling against Jackson State will result in a 6 p.m., Thursday contest against the winner from Wednesday’s first-round matchup of Alabama A&M and Southern.
If Tech defeats Hawaii, a Friday contest is slated against the survivor out of Thursday’s first-round duel between defending champion Fresno State and New Mexico State.
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