Cowboys Host TLU With First Place on the Line

ABILENE, Texas — It has been debated if this weekend for Hardin-Simmons baseball is the biggest weekend ever in the regular season, whether it is or not just to be in that mix makes Hardin-Simmons three-game series with Texas Lutheran a big one for sure.

“There is no doubt it is a big series, you get a chance to win the ASC West and you also are fighting to play at home next week,” said Hardin-Simmons’ 12th-year head coach Steve Coleman. “We will have to play well, because Texas Lutheran has traditionally been one of the best teams in our conference. I think our team will be ready to go and it should be a fun atmosphere.”

What is on the line is simple. If the Cowboys win two of three games in the series they will be the ASC West No. 1 seed. If they sweep the series, they would be the outright champion in the West. McMurry, who is currently a game back in third place hosts last-place Sul Ross State this weekend. If they get the expected sweep, they have a good chance to be the No. 2 seed. McMurry has the tiebreaker on Texas Lutheran and HSU with two wins would have the tiebreakers over both teams.

The teams appear evenly matched going into the weekend. Texas Lutheran comes in with a record of 26-11 overall and 14-4 in West play. The Cowboys are 23-14 overall and 13-5 in conference action. The Bulldogs have won seven games in a row and the Cowboys just had their seven-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday against UT-Dallas.

Sophomore lefthander Sam Walker (5-1, 4.13 ERA) will get the start for the Cowboys on Friday opposite of TLU standout freshman Brad Orosey (8-1, 3.39). Kyle Barton (8-0, 3.55) will start against Jeremiah Steinert (3-1, 3.86) in the first game on Saturday and Tim Kriegel (6-3, 4.03) will face Jeremy Macklin (4-1, 1.77) in the final game of the series.

Both teams come into the series with prolific offenses. The Cowboys are hitting .325 as a team and rank second in the nation in home runs with 54. Texas Lutheran is hitting .333 and is third in the nation with 49 home runs.

The Cowboys have a balanced attack. All nine starters have at least three home runs and seven players have scored 25 or more runs. Brian Weeks needs to score three more runs to have the single-season non-scholarship era school record of 53.

The Cowboys also have six batters with 28 or more RBIs and four starters hit .370 or better. J.T. Armstrong is hitting .385 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs. Regan Dixon owns the single-season home run record with 14 home runs and he also leads the team with 45 RBIs. Matt Roam has nine home runs and 41 RBIs.

Texas Lutheran has a balanced lineup as well led by Macklin, who plays third base when he is not pitching. He is hitting .471 with 11 home runs and 63 RBI. Ryan Nokelby is hitting .420 with five home runs and 35 RBIs and Kyle Harvey is hitting .374 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs and he also has 25 stolen bases.

It will also mark senior day for the Cowboys four players finishing their careers. James Gage, Kevin Ellison and Kyle Barton are all-four-year lettermen and Michael Morgan has another year of eligibility but he will graduate this season. They will be honored in between games of the Saturday doubleheader.

The series will begin Friday night at 7 p.m. and conclude with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. All of the games can be heard on www.hsuathletics.com.

NEWS AND NOTES
Kyle Barton needs one win to tie Shawn Bigham (2000) for the single-season wins record…Brian Weeks is closing in on several single-season school records. He needs 15 at-bats, three runs scored, eight hits and eight infield assists to set the single-season record for all four categories…Hardin-Simmons has won 24 straight conference games in the month of April and the Cowboys have won 13 of its last 17 ASC series.

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