Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

Texas A&M coach shrugs off Clemens’ theatrics

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Texas A&M coach Rob Childress is trying to get his team ready to play the Indiana Hoosiers this afternoon at the NCAA’s Austin Regional.

The Aggies and Hoosiers are both 1-1 in the regional and facing elimination.

The winner would advance to play Texas tonight in the championship round.

Texas A&M fans would like nothing more than another shot at the Longhorns after what happened Saturday night.

Not only did the Longhorns beat the Aggies 8-3, but UT star Kody Clemens stirred it up with some theatrics.

After a first-inning, three-run homer, Clemens rounded third and stared briefly into the Aggies’ dugout.

During media interviews later, Childress brushed off a question about the incident.

“We are all competitors, and it’s the biggest moment, Saturday night in a regional, and he is in the moment and if you don’t like it, make a better pitch is the way I look at it,” Childress told reporters.

Added Childress: “They feed off him, and he is an incredible player, very competitive, very good approach as a baseball player and he loves the moment.

“He did a great job for them tonight, certainly the difference in the game.”

Clemens hit two home runs and produced four RBI in a three-hit performance.

As a result, the Longhorns improved to 2-0 in the regional, needing only a win tonight to advance.

For a full story on Texas A&M’s reaction to its loss to Texas, please see Richard Croome’s story in the Bryan Eagle.

Six teams in the state alive in NCAA baseball playoffs

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Six of the seven Texas-based teams in the NCAA baseball tournament remain alive through three days of regional play. Texas and Texas Tech are 2-0 in their regions. Here’s the breakdown leading into Sunday afternoon competition:

Texas — In the drivers’ seat in the Austin Regional. The No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA tournament is 2-0 and will play at home tonight against either Indiana or Texas A&M. This is a hot team. Might be tough to beat them two straight in Austin. So far, Texas has hammered Texas Southern 10-0 and beat up A&M 8-3.

Texas A&M — The Aggies are 1-1 in the Austin Regional and will play this afternoon to stay alive against the Indiana Hoosiers. A&M needs a quality start to steady the team. Will it be freshman lefthander Asa Lacy from Kerrville Tivy?

Texas Southern — The Tigers were swept out of the tournament in Austin, losing 10-0 to Texas 6-0 to Indiana. Texas Southern is a program on the rise, having played in NCAA regionals at College Station in 2015, at Baton Rouge in 2017 and now in Austin, all under coach Michael Robertson.

Texas Tech — The Red Raiders are 2-0 and playing for the regional title tonight in their own Lubbock Regional. Kent State and Louisville will meet this afternoon to determine Tech’s opponent. Either way, the No. 9 national seeded Red Raiders appear to be in good shape after beating New Mexico State 9-2 on Friday and Louisville 10-4 on Saturday.

Baylor — The Big 12 tournament champions are 1-1 and facing long odds in the losers’ bracket at the Stanford Regional. They’ll play the host and No. 2 overall seed Cardinal this afternoon in an effort to stay alive. Baylor needs to beat Stanford and Cal State Fullerton twice to win the regional. The Bears lost to surprising Fullerton 6-2 on Friday and then bounced back to defeat Wright State, 11-5, on Saturday.

Houston — The Cougars are 1-1 and facing elimination Sunday afternoon against Purdue in the Chapel Hill Regional. Houston must win three straight to advance. It must beat the Boilermakers and the host North Carolina Tar Heels twice. Houston started fast in the regional, knocking off Purdue 9-2 on Friday. The Cougars hit two home runs in their second game but fell to the Tar Heels 4-3 on Saturday.

Dallas Baptist –The hard-hitting Patriots slammed Oral Roberts 18-9 on Saturday to even their record to 1-1 in the Fayetteville Regional. They’ll take on Southern Miss, the Conference USA champions, on Sunday afternoon. If Dallas Baptist can win, it would move into the championship round against host Arkansas Sunday night. One of the hidden gems in NCAA sports in Texas, Dallas Baptist has played in four NCAA regionals since 2011.

Clemens powers Texas past Texas A&M in NCAA regional

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Kody Clemens set the tone with a three-run homer in the first inning, powering the Texas Longhorns past the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies 8-3 Saturday night at the NCAA Austin Regional.

Clemens, the Big 12 Player of the Year, hit two homers on the day and produced four RBI.

With the victory, the Longhorns moved into Sunday night’s regional championship game at Disch-Falk Field against either Indiana or Texas A&M.

Indiana and A&M will play Sunday afternoon, with the winner earning a shot against Texas Sunday night. If either Indiana or A&M beat Texas, a deciding game would be played Monday at Disch-Falk.

Regardless of the opponent, the Longhorns appear to have a good shot at winning the tournament and advancing to the NCAA Super Regional round for the first time since 2014.

UT fans were into the game from the beginning as Clemens, a left-handed hitter, greeted A&M righty and starter Mitchell Kilkenny with a three-run homer over the right field wall in the first.

In the third, the Aggies of the Southeastern Conference rallied against UT pitcher Nolan Kingham to pull within 3-1 on an RBI bunt single from Michael Helman.

But the Big 12 regular-season champions would explode for two runs each in the fourth and the fifth innings and another in the sixth for an 8-1 lead.

DJ Petrinski hit a solo homer in the fourth and Clemens added a solo shot in the sixth.

It was Petrinski’s second home run in two nights and his eighth on the season. For Clemens, the son of former UT and major league star Roger Clemens, he increased his team-leading total to 21.

Pitching against a team with a .285 batting average, Kingham (8-3) worked effectively through 7 and 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked one. Kingham yielded nine hits and three runs, two of them earned.

Zach DeLoach and Logan Foster, who both had three hits in Texas A&M’s 10-3 victory Friday over Indiana, produced only one hit between them. Helman, Chris Andritsos and Will Frizzell had two hits apiece.

Kilkenny, the first of five A&M pitchers, lasted only four innings. Even though he worked out of trouble a few times, he gave up five runs on seven hits.

Records

Texas 39-20
Texas A&M 40-21

Notes

Officials announced a sellout crowd of 7,046 for UT and A&M, longtime intra-conference rivals in the Southwest Conference and the Big 12. A&M left the Big 12 and joined the SEC for the 2012-13 season.

Kilkenny (8-5) took the loss. Kingham (8-3) was credited with the win.

Earlier in the day Saturday, Indiana of the Big Ten stayed alive in the tournament with a 6-0 victory over Texas Southern. The loss eliminates the Tigers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Texas rolls, sets up NCAA matchup against Texas A&M

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DJ Petrinski electrified a sold-out crowd with a three-run homer as the top-seeded Texas Longhorns routed the No. 4 Texas Southern Tigers 10-0 Friday night at Disch-Falk Field in the NCAA Austin Regional.

As a result, the Longhorns advanced into a Saturday night slot in the winners’ bracket against the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies. Texas A&M won earlier in the day, knocking off Indiana, 10-3.

Now that a playoff game against the Aggies has been assured — first pitch is set for 6 p.m. — Texas fans have seen just about everything in David Pierce’s second season as head coach.

To this point, the season has included a shaky start in the non-conference phase of the schedule, a surge that resulted in a Big 12 regular season title, and then a head-scratching stumble at the conference tournament.

But against Texas Southern, Texas showed that it may indeed have found its playoff footing.

The Longhorns, listed as a No. 13 national seed, beat the Tigers with pitching, defense and even with an offense that flashed both power and speed.

By the end of the sixth inning, Texas starter Chase Shugart had shut out Texas Southern on four hits, its defense had turned the 64th and 65th double plays of the season, and its offense had scored on both a long home run and a steal of home plate.

Petrinski hit his seventh homer to highlight a four-run third. In the fifth, David Hamilton caught Texas Southern relief pitcher Mason Furlong by surprise, stealing home for the third run of the inning and a 9-0 lead.

In the top of the sixth, Shugart showed his own athleticism, bare-handing a ground ball to start a double play.

He wheeled and threw to the bag at second and watched as Hamilton came across to take throw before firing to first to end the inning.

Shugart finished his day with six innings pitched. He allowed only four hits and struck out six. Petrinski was 2 or 3 with 4 RBIs.

Records

Texas 38-20
Texas Southern 27-27

Aggies storm past Hoosiers, 10-3, at the NCAA Austin Regional

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Zach DeLoach and Logan Foster produced three hits apiece in a 14-hit attack Friday afternoon as the third-seeded Texas A&M Aggies scored seven runs runs in the fourth inning and rolled to a 10-3 victory over No. 2 Indiana in the NCAA Austin Regional.

Nine different A&M players got hits during a game played in 100-degree heat at Austin’s UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the home of the Texas Longhorns. DeLoach drove in three runs and Foster had two.

Luke Miller led Indiana with a pair of solo home runs against the A&M bullpen.

But the Hoosiers never got into any sort of rhythm offensively against Aggies lefthander John Doxakis, who struck out a career-high 12 in six innings. Doxakis earned the victory by yielding only one hit and one run, which was unearned.

The Aggies broke the game open in the fourth against Hoosiers starting pitcher Johnathan Stiever.

They sent 10 batters to the plate and stroked six hits, including two by DeLoach, who led it off with a single up the middle and later cleared the bases with a triple to center field.

With the victory, the Aggies stayed in the winners’ bracket in the four-team regional and set themselves up to play against either the host and No. 1 seeded Longhorns or the fourth-seeded Texas Southern Tigers.

UT and Texas Southern played later Friday.

Records

Texas A&M 40-20
Indiana 38-18

Texas Tech rolls past New Mexico State, 9-2, at Lubbock Regional

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Zach Rheams smashed a two-run homer in a three-run first inning Friday afternoon, and the Texas Tech Red Raiders rolled to an easy 9-2 victory over New Mexico State in the NCAA Lubbock Regional.

It was the team-leading 14th home run of the season for Rheams, a senior from Brazoswood.

“That was huge,” said San Antonio’s Josh Jung, a Texas Tech infielder. “Rheams hitting that home run really helped us settle in, just have fun. You can come into these games a little antsy, a little back on your heels, but with that home run, it got us going.”

With the victory in the tournament opener, Tech remains in the winners’ bracket and will play Saturday against either Louisville or Kent State.

Asked if he felt any sense of relief as the top seed in the regional to win the first game, Jung brushed off that suggestion, saying, “I wouldn’t say it’s a sense of relief.

“We came in here pretty confident we were going to get after it today,” he said. “Just get through the first round, put up a good game like we did today, to get going, get it rolling.”

Caleb Kilian (8-1 2.30) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Red Raiders on Saturday.

Against New Mexico State, Tech suffered some adversity early when starting pitcher Dylan Dusek had to come out after two innings because of a blister on his throwing hand.

Ryan Shetter came in to relieve starting in the third.

After getting two out, he gave up a solo home run to Joey Ortiz, cutting the Tech lead to 3-1.

But he settled down to keep the Aggies scoreless on two hits the rest of the way in his five-inning stint.

The Red Raiders scored two more runs in the third, pushing the lead to 5-1. The No. 1 seeds and tournament hosts were never seriously threatened again.

San Antonio’s Josh Jung figured into Tech outbursts in both the first and third innings.

Jung, a sophomore from MacArthur who entered the game batting .381, singled and scored in both innings.

Connor Queen, a sophomore from Boerne, also figured into Tech’s victory. He pitched two innings scoreless innings to close the game.

Queen, Tech’s fourth pitcher of the day, yielded three straight singles in the eighth but he got out of a bases-loaded jam with a double-play ground ball.

TLU’s baseball team finishes as a national runnerup in Division III

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Crushed emotionally last fall with death of a former teammate, some members of the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs faced a struggle just to get mentally ready to play this spring.

But with youthful resilience and a lineup stocked with talented pitchers, hitters and defensive wizards, they conjured up the greatest season in school history.

The Bulldogs, playing in the NCAA Division III World Series for the first time, finished as the national runnerup.

UT Tyler claimed the title Tuesday afternoon by sweeping TLU 8-1 and 9-6 in the D-III championship round.

Clearly, it was the Patriots’ day in Appleton, Wis.

They powered to one big inning in the opener (a five-run explosion in the fourth) and two more in the second game to sweep the Bulldogs in the best-of-three series.

In Game 2, Blake Maddox and Alex Bishop both smashed two-run homers for the Patriots.

Maddox’s blow highlighted a four-run fourth, and Bishop’s shot off the right field foul pole keyed a five-run seventh.

Trailing by five runs after seven, TLU didn’t fold, scoring twice in the eighth to pull within the eventual final score.

But Patriots reliever Alexander Masotto blanked the Bulldogs in the ninth to set the victory celebration in motion.

TLU senior Keaton Boysen, playing his last college game, went down swinging. He was 3 for 5 at the plate and scored a run.

Sophomore catcher Cameron Wilson produced two hits and two RBI. Seniors Riley Schaefer and Eric Rabinowitz each had a hit and two RBI.

Sedillo dominates in Game 1

Simon Sedillo pitched a complete game in leading UT Tyler’s 8-1 victory in the first game.

The Patriots scored two runs in the top of the first against All-American Nathan Malinovsky, who shut out Wooster, Ohio, on the first night of the tournament last Friday.

But after the first inning against UT Tyler, that was it for Malinovsky, who was pulled with an apparent throwing arm injury.

In the fourth, UT Tyler broke through against the Bulldogs’ bullpen, scoring five runs for a 7-1 lead.

Jared Pauley smashed a two-run double and Josh Burns added a two-run single to highlight the outburst.

Records

UT Tyler 40-18
Texas Lutheran 42-12

Quotable

From TLU pitcher Dylan Murrell

“Well, we fell short of being the national champions today, but that doesn’t change how much we accomplished this season. This team was something so special, (and) I would go to war with any of these men. These are memories we will never forget. It’s been a hell of a ride.”

Notable

The Bulldogs won 14 of their last 15 games leading into the championship round against UT Tyler. That stretch included a 4-0 sweep for the NCAA Spokane Regional title and a 4-1 run to win Pool B at the World Series..

Playing for a friend

The Bulldogs dedicated their season to former TLU star Keaton Bohrmann, who died last October in an automobile accident.

Bohrmann was a four-year player and a three-time, all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference performer who played out his eligibility in 2016.

Henry Sanchez wins a title

UT Tyler second baseman Henry Sanchez, a junior from San Antonio, hit .476 in six games at the DIII World Series. Sanchez was 10 for 21 at the plate. The former standout at St. Anthony High School scored seven runs and had two RBI.

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UT Tyler beats TLU 8-1 in Game 1 of national title series

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Simon Sedillo pitched a complete game Tuesday in leading UT Tyler’s 8-1 victory over the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs in Game 1 of a best-of-3 series for the NCAA Division III baseball title.

Game 2 is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Tuesday. A third game, if necessary, would be played Wednesday. The tournament is taking place at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis.

The Patriots scored two runs in the top of the first against TLU starting pitcher Nathan Malinovsky, who left the game after the inning with an apparent throwing arm injury.

In the fourth, UT Tyler broke through against the Bulldogs’ bullpen, scoring five more times for a 7-1 lead. Jared Pauley smashed a two-run double and Josh Burns added a two-run single to highlight the outburst.

The Patriots played a near flawless game. While Sedillo pitched well, the defense also sparkled, turning three double plays. They also stroked 11 hits against three TLU pitchers.

Sedillo worked nine innings and gave up one earned run on six hits. He struck out five and walked none.

From here, it will be an uphill battle for a Texas Lutheran program seeking its first national title in baseball. But it’s not likely that the Bulldogs will go down without a fight.

After all, TLU bounced back from a Saturday night loss to Concordia to win three straight games en route to the Pool B championship.

In each of those games, the opponent scored first before the Bulldogs rebounded to win.

Records

UT Tyler 39-18
Texas Lutheran 42-11

Texas Lutheran wins, moves into Division III national title series

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Tyler Cauley belted a tie-breaking solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday, leading Texas Lutheran University to a 5-4 victory over Concordia Chicago and a berth in the championship round of the NCAA Division III World Series.

Seeking the first national title in TLU baseball history, the Bulldogs will play the UT Tyler Patriots in a best-of-three series starting Tuesday.

A doubleheader is scheuled to get underway at 11 a.m. in Appleton, Wis. A third game, if necessary, would be played Wednesday.

Showing up last week as a first-time entry in the DIII World Series, the Seguin-based Bulldogs have made themselves right at home at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton.

They have won four out of five games since Friday night to win Pool B and earn the right to play for the championship.

After losing 8-3 to Concordia Saturday night, the Bulldogs claimed three straight wins in elimination games.

First, they downed Swarthmore, Pa., 3-2 in 13 innnings on Sunday afternoon. Next, they beat Concordia 9-7 in a game that started Sunday night and lasted until about 1 a.m. Monday.

Next, they won their biggest game of the year in dramatic fashion late Monday afternoon, with Cauley breaking a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth on a solo homer off reliever Cody Caballero.

In the ninth, Dylan Murrell enterered as TLU’s fourth pitcher of the day following Dylan Drgac, Cade Killingsworth and Drew Waller.

Joe Silva greeted Murrell with a single to open the inning.

From there, the junior righthander fired strikes and let his defense do the work, first on a fly ball out, and, finally, on a spectacular, game-ending double play.

Second baseman Ben Marvin ranged to his left and gloved a ground ball, spun and whipped a throw to Eric Rabinowitz.

Rabinowitz, a senior from Schertz Clemens, fired a rocket to first base to beat Mitch Wilson by a half step for the last out.

Quotable

From TLU’s Tyler Cauley:

“Going into the at-bat I was kind of struggling throughout the day, barely missing balls and stuff. I talked to Riley Schaefer right before the (at) bat, and he said, ‘Just trust what you know, and see what pitch you can get right over the plate, and just let it fly.’ Right when I hit it, I knew it was gone.”

Notable

TLU athletics has not played for a team sport national championship in a one-on-one game setting since 1981, when the Bulldogs’ women’s volleyball team played for the AIAW-II national title. The volleyball team finished as the runnerup.

Records

Texas Lutheran 42-10
Concordia Chicago 40-15

UT Tyler’s journey

The Patriots have won three of four to win Pool A and move into the championship series. They defeated Oswego State (N.Y.) 10-5 on Friday and Misericordia (Pa.) 7-3 on Saturday.

Trying to sweep through the top bracket, they stumbled Sunday and lost 6-1 to Randolph Macon (Va.) But in bouncing back on Monday, UT Tyler exploded for six runs in the fifth inning to beat Randolph Macon, 8-6.

A rematch for the title

UT Tyler and TLU met in Seguin in February, and the Patriots swept the three-game series. In the second game, the Patriots beat TLU ace Nathan Malinovsky, handing him his only loss of the season.

Starters for Tuesday’s game haven’t been announced, but Malinovsky (12-1) has had three days rest since he shut out Wooster, Ohio, 7-0, on Friday night.

Trailing by three runs, TLU came to life in the fifth inning on an RBI double from Eric Rabinowitz and a two-run single by Riley Schaefer. Scoring off Schaefer’s hit, Rabinowitz slid head first at home to tie the game, 3-3.

UT’s NCAA Regional includes an old rival — Texas A&M

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The possibility of a playoff game — or games — between the rival Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies loomed Monday as the NCAA baseball tournament’s 64-team bracket was unveiled.

Texas will host a regional starting Friday that will include A&M, Indiana and Texas Southern University.

On opening night in the double-elimination format, No. 2 seed Indiana will play third-seeded A&M at 4 p.m. and top-seeded Texas will play No. 4 Texas Southern at 8.

If the Longhorns and Aggies both win — or, if they both lose — they would play Saturday.

The tournament games will be held in Austin on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and, if necessary, also Monday, at the UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Other teams from the state that made the tournament include Texas Tech, Baylor, Houston and Dallas Baptist.

Texas Tech is the only other program in the state that will host on opening weekend.

The TCU Horned Frogs, who have played in the past four College World Series, were left out of the 64-team field after they made it to the Big 12 tournament title game and lost to Baylor.

Sam Houston State and Rice were among other notable programs missing from the national bracket.

Last year, the Bearkats made a surprise run to the NCAA Lubbock Regional title and advanced to play Florida State in the Tallahassee Super Regional.

This year, they won the Southland Conference regular-season title but failed to win the SLC tournament.

Rice, under outgoing coach Wayne Graham, posted a losing record in the regular season and failed to win the Conference USA tournament title for the automatic bid.

Thus, Rice had its streak of 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances snapped. It was the third-longest streak in the nation.

In Austin, fans will get to see NCAA tournament baseball live for the first time since the Longhorns hosted a Super Regional in 2014.

It’s the first time Texas has hosted on the first weekend of the tournament since 2011.

Tournament time in Texas

Regional openers are set for Friday

Texas — No. 13 national seed, No. 1 regional seed, hosts in Austin and opens against Texas Southern

Texas Tech — No. 9 national seed, No. 1 regional seed, hosts in Lubbock and opens against New Mexico State

Baylor — No. 2 regional seed at Palo Alto, Calif., plays opening day against Cal State Fullerton

Texas A&M — No. 3 regional seed at Austin, opens with Indiana

Houston — No. 3 regional seed at Chapel Hill, N.C., opens with Purdue

Dallas Baptist — No. 3 regional seed at Fayetteville, Ark., opens with Southern Miss

Texas Southern — No. 4 regional seed at Austin, opens with Texas