April 21, 2007

Final Stats

ALPINE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons swept a doubleheader from Sul Ross State, winning 10-0 and 8-2, Saturday afternoon in American Southwest Conference play at Kokernot Field in Alpine.

The Cowboys once again were dominant on the mound as Dalton Rucker (5-3) went the distance for the second straight outing to earn the shutout in game one. He allowed only seven hits and struck out six.

HSU jumped out early with four runs in the first. All four runs came with two outs as Michael Simpson had a two-out triple to score Blake Koch, Ryan Stepp doubled to score Simpson, Danny Ruth singled to score Stepp and after Ruth stole second he scored on a Taylor Lamar single. Lamar made it 5-0 with an RBI double in the third inning.

The game moved rapidly until the seventh when the Cowboys scored five runs. Lamar had a bases loaded walk, Trevor Bunte had a two-run single and HSU scored a pair of runs on an error.

Simpson, Stepp, Ruth, Lamar and Bunte all had two hits each for the Cowboys.

In the second game, Nathan Copeland (2-5) went seven strong innings, allowing only one earned run and three hits for the Cowboys. Kyle Barton and Josh Alcorn each threw scoreless innings for HSU.

Bunte got the Cowboys on the board with a two-RBI single in the second inning. HSU scored on a double play ball and Bunte had another RBI single to make it 4-0 in the fourth.

Sul Ross scored a run in the fourth on a RBI ground put by Blake Parsons. HSU responded with a Ruth RBI single in the fifth. Blake Koch made it 7-1 with a two-run single in the sixth and SRSU scored an unearned run in the sixth. HSU scored a run in the ninth on a Ruth double, his fourth hit of the game.

HSU closed league play with 12 straight wins to improve to 13-7 in ASC West action. HSU is 25-15 overall. Sul Ross State closes its season with a 6-33 mark and a 1-20 record in league play. HSU will play UT-Dallas in a best 2-of-3 in the ASC Championship Series on Friday.