By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
UTSA coach Pat Hallmark says he believes his team is deserving of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Whether the Roadrunners receive one of those bids is another matter altogether.
Hallmark and the Roadrunners will have to wait another 18 hours or so to find out after the East Carolina Pirates beat them 1-0 in the American Baseball Championship finals Sunday in Clearwater, Fla.
With the victory, the second-seeded Pirates won their second straight postseason title in the conference and an automatic bid into the NCAA’s field of 64.
The No. 1 Roadrunners, in turn, will be left waiting until 11 a.m. on Monday to learn whether they will be included in the NCAAs for the second year in a row.
If UTSA fails to qualify to play in a regional, it would make history as the first time that a regular-season champion in the American has been left out.
Both UTSA and East Carolina tied for first in the regular season.
“I really hope we get to play next weekend,” Hallmark said. “(Our players) deserve it. We are (an NCAA) tournament team.”
Regardless of what happens with the NCAA baseball committee evaluations, there should be no arguing that the Pirates had the best player on the field Sunday.
Two days after throwing 41 pitches of relief in a tournament victory over the Rice Owls, Pirates lefthander Ethan Norby tossed another 99 in the championship game against the Roadrunners at the BayCare Ball Park in Clearwater, Fla.
He entered in the bottom of the second and pitched into the eighth to shut down an offense that averaged nearly nine runs a game this season.
Norby (7-3) pitched five and two thirds innings, allowed four hits, walked two and struck out eight in his second victory over the Roadrunners this season.
During the game, Hallmark said on ESPN that he wanted his players to relax more at the plate against Norby, who is regarded as the conference’s top prospect for selection in this summer’s Major League Baseball draft.
“We were tense (against) Norby because he’s good,” Hallmark told the media later. “He’s 92 or 93 (mph) and it plays up with some of the metrics. He can tick that inside corner. That’s what he does. He’s not getting lucky. Norby knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s good at it.
“So, the tension was provided for the right reasons. You’re facing a good pitcher who’s presenting a good pitch that’s tricky. If you swing at ball zero, the one that’s in, he’s going to chew you up. He’s just flirting with 1-0 and it’s 92-93 (mph).
“He’s good. That’s all it was. You tip your hat to Norby as much as anything.”
Held back by injuries to a few of its best pitchers this season, East Carolina started righthander Brett Antolick and then went with Norby and, finally, Gavin Marley and Charlie Hoagland.
Together, they held the Roadrunners to four hits. The Pirates walked four and struck out 13.
It was a miserable day at the plate for UTSA, which hit for a .129 average (on four of 31), including 0 for 19 with runners on base and 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
Even more frustrating, the Roadrunners put the leadoff hitter on base five times, including a four-inning stretch from the fifth through the eighth, and failed to score.
In the ninth inning, East Carolina put the ball in the hand of Hoagland, a freshman lefthander with a side-arm delivery.
Jordan Ballin led off with a solid at bat, fouling off several pitches, before he lined a ball to the opposite field.
East Carolina left fielder Gavin Whitaker initially charged in, before he corrected, stepped back and then made the catch falling down.
“Not the best read,” East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin said. “But I’ll take it.”
Hoagland retired Brandon Bishop and Aidan Eshelman on fly balls to end the game, with Godwin joining the Pirates’ postgame dog pile on the infield.
“First off,” Godwin told reporters later, “hats off to UTSA. They deserve to be in an NCAA regional. They are a really good program. Coach Hallmark is not fun to coach against because they’re super prepared and have really good players.
“They’re a force in the league. For us to beat ’em 1-0, it’s just … we played really good defense. We pitched great. Antolick got out of a jam in the first. Norby got us out of a jam in the second.
“He rolled for a little bit, and then we just kept passing the ball. Marley did what he was supposed to do and then Charlie … that (first batter, Ballin) he’s a tough out.
“It’s 3-2 and he’s fouling off pitch after pitch. A lot of guys would have just walked him. Then Gavin had a little bit of a mis-read but made the play. He just finished the ninth.
“He probably learned from watching Norby pitch.”
Records
East Carolina 36-22-1
UTSA 38-20
Coming up
The NCAA’s 64-team postseason field will be revealed Monday on ESPN2 at 11 a.m.
Regional play will begin on Friday, with 16 sites each hosting a four-team, double-elimination bracket.
UTSA hopes to make its second straight appearance after winning the Austin Regional last season and reaching the Los Angeles Super Regional, one step shy of the Men’s College World Series.
This year, the CWS opens on June 12 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.