April 9, 2004

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' baseball team swept its American Southwest Conference doubleheader with Mary Hardin-Baylor, 4-1, 8-2, Friday evening at Hunter Field to move back into first place in the ASC West Division.

HSU got two solid outings on the mound and played solid defense to go along with some timely hitting. In the first game, HSU struck for three runs in the first inning and never looked back in the 4-1 win. Scott Drake led off with a walk, moved to second on a Barry Janisse single. Drake scored on an Andy Harrington double. Janisse scored on a RBI ground out by Michael Popino and Harrington scored on a Justin Wilson sacrifice fly to right.

Brian Whitworth went 4.2 innings for the Cowboys and did not allow a run, but left the game with the bases loaded in the fifth and two outs. Cory Summers came on and retired Caleb Damron on a ground out to end the rally. He allowed only one run in 2.1 inning to garner the win on the mound.

Michael Simpson added an insurance run for the Cowboys in the sixth when he scored on a Scott Drake sacrifice fly after reaching on an error. The Crusaders left 13 runners on base in the game. Justin Champion and Will Doyle had two hits each. Harrington had two hits to pace the Cowboys.

In the nightcap, Josh Bishop worked out of trouble in the first inning without allowing a run and he gave up two runs in the third but cruised the rest of the game to earn his fourth win of the season. He scattered five hits while striking out four.

The Cowboys got two runs on the board in the first when Harrington singled in Drake and Janisse, who had led off the game with a single and double. The Cowboys took a 3-2 lead in the fourth with perfect execution. Popino led off being hit by a pitch, was bunted over to second by Wilson and drove home by a Simpson single.

HSU iced the game with five runs in the fifth inning. Tim Donnelly led off with a bunt single. He moved over on a sac bunt by Drake. Janisse was intentionally walked and Harrington singled to load the bases. Popino then doubled in a pair of runs with a double down the line. Wilson drove in Harrington with a single and Simpson walked to load the bases. Coleman then drove in Wilson and Popino with a single to center.

Harrington, Popino and Brad Coleman all had two RBIs each to pace the Cowboy attack.

HSU moved to 19-11 overall and 11-4 in ASC West play. The Cowboys are tied for first in the ASC West with Concordia-Austin. McMurry is third at 10-5 and Texas Lutheran is 9-6 with two weeks remaining. HSU plays at Southwestern on Tuesday and travels to Kerrville for a crucial three-game set with Schreiner next weekend. UMHB fell to 14-15 overall and 7-8 in ASC West play.