March 22, 2007

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons will hit the road for an American Southwest Conference series with Mary Hardin-Baylor, beginning Friday at 2 p.m. at Red Murff Field in Belton.

The Cowboys, one of the two favorites in the preseason poll, have to battle to get back into contention for an ASC Tournament spot.

HSU is 12-10 overall and 1-4 in league play and currently are in sixth place in the standings. Mary Hardin-Baylor is 11-10-1 overall and 5-1 in league play. HSU has played the only two teams in the West with single-digit losses on the year in Texas Lutheran and McMurry. UMHB has played Sul Ross State (0-6) and Howard Payne (4-2).

If the Cowboys can win the series, they will be right back in the hunt for one of the four playoff berths, if they don't the Cowboys will have to be almost perfect the rest of the way to get into the tournament.

HSU will go back to its original starting rotation for this weekend. Nathan Copeland (0-4, 9.69), Dalton Rucker (2-2, 9.12) and Jeff Walker (1-0, 9.59) have all pitched better of late and if the Cowboys are going to make a push in the ASC race it is no secret they will have to pitch better than their current 8.71 team ERA. Relief ace Josh Alcorn will go back to the bullpen after a couple of starts.

Luckily for the pitching staff, the Cowboys have continued to hit for the most part. HSU is averaging 9.09 runs per game and is hitting .349 as a team. HSU has scored double-digit runs in 12 games this season. Michael Simpson leads the Cowboy offense with a .429 average with six home runs and 30 RBIs.

All three games can be heard on KSLI 1280-AM or on the internet at www.hsuathletics.com.