BASEBALL THUMPED; SEVERAL STARTERS OUT
The second of three consecutive Texas weekends for the Lincoln University baseball team was another winless trip. The Blue Tigers were blistered 19-1 in game one on Feb. 23 and lost game two 4-1 to the Hilltoppers of St. Edward’s University. Lincoln University (1-11 overall, 0-8 Heartland Conference) dropped the Feb. 24 games, 4-1 and 13-7. St. Edward’s is currently ranked No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCAA Division II poll. The Hilltoppers are 13-2 and a conference best 8-0.
Feb. 23
GAME ONE
A lead off home run in the bottom of the first inning from preseason all-America, Bradley Goldsmith gave St. Edward’s a 1-0 advantage.
Phil Widel hit a Casey Plant delivery out of Lucian-Hamilton Field to begin the second inning that tied the score 1-1.
The Hilltoppers proceeded to jump on Ben Neuner, the Blue Tigers starting pitcher. Neuner (0-1) tossed 3.1 innings, giving up 13 runs (9 earned) on 11 hits. He also issued three walks, while facing 26 batters. St. Edward’s scored eight runs on five hits in the third inning. Lincoln University recorded three of their four errors in the third. The Hilltoppers plated four runs in the fourth and five in the fifth to lead 18-1. St. Edward’s opened the weekend with a 19-1 victory.
A bright spot for the Blue Tigers was the hitting of Troy Malesky. The sophomore from Strafford, Mo. went 3-for-3 (singles) in the game.
GAME TWO
The Blue Tigers left runners at the corners in the third inning. Tyrell Roseburrow (sr., OF) hit a two-out triple to centerfield and David Atkins followed by taking a walk from James Wright. Travis Kay hit a hit a fly ball to Goldsmith in leftfield to end the Blue Tigers scoring threat.
Goldsmith came up with one-out in the third and dumped an Adam Patch pitch over the right centerfield fence for a 1-0 Hilltopper lead.
St. Edward’s scored twice in the fourth inning. A leadoff walk to Brian Thomas cost the Blue Tigers a run. He ran to second on a wild pitch by Patch (0-3) and moved to third on a groundout by Yannick Bergeron. Thomas scored on a double into centerfield off the bat of Sean Hilbe. Another wild pitch allowed Hilbe to run to third. He scored on a single through the right side by Brian Jackson.
Lincoln University got one run back in the sixth inning. Atkins singled to centerfield. A single to right field by Widel got Atkins to third base. Sean Weber pinch hit for Mike Overman and picked up a Run-Batted-In with a sacrifice fly to Chris Dinges in centerfield that scored Atkins to trim the lead to 3-1.
Goldsmith whacked his second home run of the game and third of the day in the bottom of the sixth inning. He hit a ball that hugged the left field line and drifted over the fence for a 4-1 St. Edward’s lead.
The Blue Tigers had the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning, but failed to produce. A walk by Tyler Asche and single from Keenan Simon gave Lincoln University runners at first and second with one-out. David Wagner came on in relief of Wright. Wagner struck out Roseburrow, and then a pickoff of Simon at first base finished the game for the Hilltoppers, 4-1.
Atkins had two of the Blue Tigers six hits. The junior from Imperial, Mo. went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles.
Feb. 24
GAME ONE
Three runs on three hits to kick off the game were all St. Edward’s needed in a 5-1 victory.
The Hilltoppers added single runs in the fourth and fifth for a 5-0 lead.
St. Edward’s run in the fourth inning came as a result of an error by shortstop Mitch Lickey. David McKay reached when a throw by Lickey pulled first baseman Mike Hall off the bag. Dexter Moreno singled and a sacrifice bunt from Jackson pushed McKay to third base. A ground out to Lickey by Goldsmith plated McKay.
Lincoln University scored in the top of the sixth inning. Overman hit a single down the left field line and went to second on a wild pitch from Niel Smith. Troy Malesky singled to score Overman for the 5-1 score.
Widel was 2-for-3 with two singles.
Lickey committed both of the Blue Tiger errors in the game.
Blake Jones (0-1) took the loss in his first outing of 2007.
GAME TWO
Single runs in the first and third inning for the Hilltoppers earned them a 2-0 advantage. Lincoln University scored a run in the fourth to cut the lead in half. A bunt single by Roseburrow led off the inning. Malesky hit a groundout to pitcher Patrick Colgan that moved Roseburrow to second base. A single from Widel to left field scored Roseburrow to reduce St. Edward’s advantage to 2-1. The Hilltoppers smacked seven hits in the bottom of the fourth and scored eight runs. It took three Lincoln University pitchers to get out of the inning. St. Edward’s had 17 at-bats in the inning. The Blue Tigers tacked on five runs in the fifth to trail 10-6, but the Hilltoppers scored three additional runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 13-6 lead. After a leadoff single to left field, Chris Barrett scored for Lincoln University in the top of the sixth inning. Mike Rodgers singled up the middle and Roseburrow drew a walk to load the bases. Barrett tagged home plate as Atkins hit into a 5-4-3 (third base-second base-first base) double play. St. Edwards’s won the game 13-7.
Several student-athletes had good appearances at the plate for the Blue Tigers; Barrett and Widel were both 2-for-3, Lickey was 2-for-4, Rodgers and Roseburrow went 1-for-2. Each of those eight hits was a single.
Widel had two RBI, while Atkins, Malesky, Overman and Rodgers had one apiece.
Mat Bolzenius (0-1) was given the loss in his first collegiate start at a four-year university.
The Blue Tigers left six runners on base, five in scoring position.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Consistent with their statistic pattern, Lincoln University averaged 2 errors-per-game (8 total) in the weekend set. St. Edward’s committed only one error in the four games.
The Blue Tigers are still waiting for their bats to become fully alive. Lincoln University hit .270 (27-100) and improved their team average to .247. The Blue Tigers are fifth in the six-team Heartland Conference in team batting, 17 hits and .024 points behind fourth place Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
The Blue Tigers have only nine extra-base hits (three doubles, five triples and a home run), a conference low. Montana State University-Billings has 14 extra-base hits (10 doubles, four triples) to rank fifth in the conference.
Lincoln University is tied with St. Mary’s University at the bottom of the conference with only five stolen base attempts. Oklahoma Panhandle averages a conference leading 2.8 steal attempts per game, Incarnate Word (1.8) and St. Edward’s (1.7) both attempt to steal nearly two times per game.
ON DECK
The Blue Tigers return to Texas to take on No. 26 University of the Incarnate Word starting at 12:00 p.m. on Sullivan Field in San Antonio, Texas.
The Cardinals are 12-2 and tied for second in the conference at 7-1. Incarnate Word slugged their way to a sweep of Oklahoma Panhandle State University over the weekend. The Cardinals outscored and out-hit the Aggies 42-17 and 45-31, respectively. Lincoln University is looking to pick up their first Heartland Conference victory of the season over Incarnate Word. The Blue Tigers have not won a game (0-8) on the Cardinals home field. Only one of the eight losses was a defeat of two runs or less.
