Bethune-Cookman, Prairie View tough outs in NCAA baseball
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Both squads faced top seeds in their respective regions and, as is starting to become a pattern in such affairs, they didn't do so badly.
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| B-CC head coach Mervyl Melendez |
After grabbing a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, B-CC dropped an opening round game to the region's top-seed and host, SEC champion Mississippi, 3-2 on Friday afternoon in Oxford, Ms.
Prairie View held a 5-1 lead early on Conference USA champ Rice, the No. 1 team in the nation, the tournament's No. 2 overall seed and host of the Houston Region, but the Owls got a big break on a controversial call in the eighth and scored in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a dramatic 6-5 win Friday night.
Both B-CC and Prairie View went on to lose in elimination games Saturday but not before shaking things up a bit with their Friday performances.
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| PVA&M head coach Michael Robertson |
"Today (Friday) was our opportunity to show the world that we can play that caliber of baseball in a tough environment against the No. 1 team in the nation," said Wrandall Taylor, the Prairie View starting pitcher vs. Rice in a quote to the Houston Chronicle. "And we just missed it by one run." Taylor allowed seven hits and three runs over six tough innings.
B-CC coaches and players felt the same way.
"To be honest with you, I totally expected to win this game, and I believe you all saw that we very well could have," said B-CC head coach Mervyl Melendez after the loss to Ole Miss. "I love this group of guys, and we never back down to competition. Our motto since I took over this program has always been 'We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.' We love being the underdog because there is absolutely no pressure, and we played like that tonight."
RECAPS
Ole Miss 3, Bethune-Cookman 2
Trailing 1-0 before a crowd of over 7,000 at the Ole Miss home field, B-CC (30-26) scored their runs with one out in the seventh.
Alejandro Jiminez singled through the left side and then advanced to third on a single to right field from Rob Caruso. Jiminez then scored on a single through the right side by Colin Irvine to even the score at one and leave runners at the corners. Spencer Hill then doubled to left center to drive in Caruso, as Irvine was thrown out at third trying to advance from first on the play. Ole Miss starter Will Kline (5-2) then struck out Jose Almonte to end the inning.
B-CC reliever Francisco Rodriguez shut down the Rebels on three hits after Rodriguez, who gave up five hits and three runs in six innings, gave up the home runs. Garrett White struck out the side in the ninth to get his ninth save for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss outhit B-CC eight to six and both teams played errorless ball.
In the elimination game Saturday, B-CC (30-27) fell behind 6-0 after two innings and despite rallying late in the game could not get past the Green Wave (42-20).
The 'Cats scored two third inning runs but then gave up a single run in the fourth and five more in the sixth to trail 12-3. After getting a single run in the eighth on a one-out RBI-single by Caruso, they made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth when centerfielder Jose Ortiz reached on a leadoff error, Chris Henault walked and Nabil Sagbini hammered a three-run homer to right center off of Tulane reliever Matt Goebel to cut the led to five. Goebel walked the next two batters he faced, but bounced back to get Caruso to hit into a 3-6-1 double play and Irvine to fly out to left to end the game.
B-CC used seven pitchers who gave up 13 hits. Starter Dustin Blackwell (7-7) who surrendered four hits and five runs in just an inning and a third, took the loss.
A controversial double-play call with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning with Prairie View leading 5-3 was crucial in the Panthers' (33-21) opening round loss to top-ranked Rice (51-10).
PVA&M third baseman Wilford White grounded to Rice shortstop Brian Friday, who fired home to erase Roshard Shorter. Catcher Danny Lehmann threw to first, but the ball clipped White on the left foot and rolled into right field. First-base umpire Danny Everett called White out for running inside the baseline.
Two Panthers were sent back to their bases, and after a pitching change, Bryce Cox (4-1) struck out Michael Richard to keep the deficit at two runs.
"The key play of the ballgame was that critical call by that umpire," Panthers coach Michael Robertson told the Chronicle of Everett's call. "I didn't go to umpiring school, but I believe that's the home plate umpire's call. I know these officials are well trained, and they did a good job up until that point. It was critical, because it gave Rice the momentum."
Rice tied the game at 5 on a two-run homer in the eighth and won in on an RBI single in the ninth.
Prairie View DH Arthur Christal had the big blow cracking a three-run home run in the Panthers' five-run third. PV starter Wrandal Taylor wiggled out of several jams on the mound and surrendered seven hits and three runs in six innings. Reliever Joshua Terrell took the loss.
Prairie View was trying to match the shocker SWAC champ Texas Southern pulled when they knocked off Rice in an opening round game in 2004.
In the Panthers' elimination game, Arizona State (37-20) batted around in the second and third innings scoring five runs in each to build an insurmountable lead and send Prairie View (33-22) home.
Panthers starter Matthew Chase (6-6) took the loss, allowing 10 runs - six earned - and 10 hits in three innings. Prairie View got on the board with two runs in the fifth thanks to an error by Sun Devils' first baseman. Panthers reliever Adrian Canales restored some order to the game, retiring 12 straight from the fourth through seventh innings. The Panthers closed the gap to 11-4 in the seventh with an RBI double from Brandon Whitby and a run-scoring groundout from Wilford White. Arizona State responded with two more in the eighth for the final margin.
© 2006 Azeez Communications, Inc.