April 30, 2005

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' baseball team advanced to the American Southwest Conference Tournament with a pair of wins over UT-Dallas 2-1 and 6-1 on Saturday afternoon at Hunter Field in Abilene.

The Cowboys jumped on the board with a single run in the second. Elliot Strader had a single with two outs and moved on to second on a throwing error. Bo Vaculik then came up with a base hit to score Strader.

HSU added three more unearned runs in the fourth. Michael Popino led off with a walk and moved up on a sac bunt by Michael Simpson. Strader reached on an error and Vaculik reached on a fielder's choice. Brad Coleman came up with an RBI single and Scott Drake followed with a two-run single.

UTD picked up a run in the fourth when Justin Price reached on an error and scored on a Mark Perez single.

HSU added single runs in the sixth and seventh. Coleman led off the fifth with a single and moved up on a sac bunt by Drake. He came around to score on a Barry Janisse single. Michael Simpson hit a home run to left center in the seventh.

Dalton Rucker threw a gem for the Cowboys. He allowed only five hits, all singles, and no runs to improve to 3-2 on the year. Trey Schurr took the loss for the Comets.

In the first game, Vaculik gave the Cowboys the lead with an RBI double in the 10th inning. He drove in freshman Ryan Stepp, who had doubled to lead off the 10th.

The Cowboys had tied the game with an unearned run in the eighth when Strader popped up a ball to shallow right that was dropped by Comet second baseman Gage Davis. Taylor Gibbs scored for the Cowboys. He had pinch ran for Popino, who had singled. Gibbs moved up on a wild pitch and scored on the error.

UT-Dallas had scored its only run in the fourth. Johnny Espree led off with a single and Rob Spencer had an RBI double. It was the only run allowed by Josh Bishop in seven innings of work. He struck out five and only gave up five hits. Craig Foreman came in and did not allow a hit in three innings of work for the win to even his record at 4-4.

Kevin McKnight did not allow a run and only four hits in six innings of work for the Comets. He was replaced by Randy Black who was solid in relief but took the hard-luck loss. He struck out six in three and one-third innings. Troy Kiesling worked the final two-thirds of an inning.

The Cowboys improved to 26-17 on the season. UT-Dallas closed its season at 22-21. HSU will play East Texas Baptist at 11 a.m. on Friday in Marshall.