Cowboys Set For ASC Championship Series
By: Chad Grubbs
Updated: April 27, 2012
ABILENE, Texas -- Hardin-Simmons'
baseball team will continue its 2012 season in the American Southwest
Conference Championship Series on Friday evening at 6
p.m. against Texas-Tyler at Irwin Field in Tyler.
The
Cowboys needed a three-game sweep last weekend against Howard Payne to
secure their eighth straight postseason bid and HSU came up huge with
two extra inning wins
and a 2-0 win in the third game. It was the first time HSU had won three
games in a row all season. The Cowboys go into the series with a record
of 19-18 and are the three seed in the ASC West.
Texas-Tyler
comes into the game with a 31-9 record and the Patriots tied with
Texas-Dallas for the ASC East title but lost the tiebreaker to be the
No. 2 seed.
HSU
is 4-3 all-time in ASC Championship Series. Five of those seven have
been at home. HSU is 0-2 when it has to travel in the ASC Championship
Series.
"We
have to pitch and play defense, that has been our strong point all
season," said HSU head coach Steve Coleman. "We have done a better job
of late of timely hitting
and that is what we will need. We have to play small ball and come up
with some clutch base hits. Everything up to this point is wiped out and
we have seen in this tournament the teams with the best records don't
always win. It is about being hot and playing
your best baseball at the right time."
The
Cowboys will rely on a strong pitching staff and a timely offense in
the weekend series. Stewart Person, Blake Sieck and Troy Nicholson are
the slated Cowboy starters
and HSU has one of the top bullpens in the league. Junior relievers
James Simmons and Tyler Brunnemann have combined to go 8-3 with six
saves and a 1.88 ERA. They have struck out 93 batters in 67 innings of
work.
Troy
Tarrant leads the Cowboy offense with a .356 average with six home runs
and 28 RBIs. HSU hits .267 as a team, which is the lowest in team
history.
Texas-Tyler will provide free video and audio of the game at www.uttylerpatriots.com.
