Wildcats Deny UT-Tyler Perfect Season
April 20th, 2007
The Louisiana College baseball team burst the UT-Tyler Patriots bubble that was a perfect season with a 9-2 win in American Southwest Conference East Division action Friday night. The loss put Tyler at 35-1 and 15- 1 in the ASC East, while LC clinched no worse than the third seed from the East Division for the ASC Tournament.
“Our guys came out relaxed and played LC baseball tonight,” LC Head Coach Mike Byrnes said. “(Tyler) Brooks pitched a great game and we executed offensively. The pressure was on them to maintain their undefeated season,” added Byrnes.
Brooks (4-4) was nothing less than dominant on the mound for the Wildcats. He limited a Tyler team that entered the game hitting .375 to only two-hits, which produced only one run. He struck out four and walked five. “He’s got great stuff and he proved that tonight,” said Byrnes. “Our original plan was to just go through the order one time with him, but he was throwing so well, I couldn’t take him out.”
LC (21-16, 8-8) broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth when they plated three runs on three hits. They were aided by two Patriot errors. Gene Taylor, who finished three-for-four with a run scored and an RBI, led the inning off with a double. Tyler Bray then sacrificed Taylor to third, but on the throw to first, Tyler starter Ryan Campbell, threw wildly to first, allowing Taylor to score and Bray to move to second. After the next two hitters were retired, Jeremy Trahan belted his second double of the game to score Bray. The next two hitters, Hunter White and Walt McGee, reached on a hit by pitch and catchers interference respectively, setting up a two-RBI single from Bryan George.
LC added three runs in the bottom of the fifth and another run in the bottom of the sixth. Tyler didn’t get on the board until the seventh when Neil Christian scored Joseph Towns on a sacrifice fly. Tyler added another run on Brett Amyx’s solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. Three LC relievers combined to throw the final three innings, allowing only one run.
Campbell (8-1) was tagged with his first loss of the season. He allowed seven runs, only two earned, on five hits with two strikeouts. The two teams conclude their three-game series with a doubleheader starting at noon today.
Posted by Sports Information Director in General, Baseball, Wildcat
What a great run. Perfection in sports comes to a select few.
Congratulations to the UT-Tyler players, coaches & program for near perfection.
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