LSC Roundup 5-14

ACU women reach national semis; men out
It was a day of mixed emotions for the Abilene Christian University tennis teams at the NCAA Division II national championship tournament on Wednesday.

The sixth-ranked ACU women swept Drury 5-0 in their first-round match, while the Wildcat men dropped a 5-3 decision to seventh-ranked Georgia College in their opener at Sanlando Park in Altamonte, Fla., near Orlando.


Pitching in
The Abilene Christian University baseball team had one of the best team earned-run averages in Lone Star Conference play this season. But Wildcats pitching staff was even better during the LSC tournament, allowing only seven runs in four games for a 1.75 ERA.

Not bad for a team that went into the tournament with a 5.09 ERA.

It's little wonder the Wildcats won the LSC title. Now, they need another stellar pitching performance at the South Central Region tournament.

ACU (43-17) plays Nebraska-Omaha (40-18) at 3:30 p.m. today in a first-round game at Central Missouri's Tompkins Field in Warrensburg, Mo. The winner plays the Angelo State (43-18)-Emporia State (42-12) winner Friday.



Rams baseball rotation armed, ready
Going into the 2009 season, the Angelo State University baseball team expected to rely on its pitching if it was going to have any success. After all, the No. 16 Rams (43-18) returned four hurlers that earned all-conference honors in either 2007 or 2008.

The pitching staff has evolved some over the course of the regular season, but the Rams believe it has lived up to its expectations. ASU will rely heavily on that pitching over the next few days at the South Central Regional tournament in Warrensburg, Mo. The No. 3-seed Rams will open the tournament against No. 4 seed Emporia State today at noon.

“We still feel like our pitching is what we thought it would be,” ASU head coach Kevin Brooks said. “When Kenny (Elkind), Joe (Key) and Sam (Janca) take the ball, we feel like we are going to win. We have had a lot of guys emerge that we weren’t really sure what their roles were going to be.”

ASU softball's Baker heats up at just the right time
The press conference appeared over. But Travis Scott had one more point to make. In a storage room turned media/interview center at the Angelo State Softball Complex Sunday, the ASU softball coach broke a few seconds of silence following almost six minutes of questioning with, “Let me just say, this kid here ...”

The Rambelles had just defeated Nebraska-Omaha to earn a berth in this weekend’s Super Regional against Southeastern Oklahoma and Scott had been joined by junior pitcher Chelsea Nelson and senior shortstop Macy Baker for postgame interviews. After answering questions ranging from the relationship between pitchers Nelson and April Haywood to the offensive performance by Baker (she had a pair of home runs against the Mavericks), the session looked to have come to an end.

Then Scott spoke up. It was immediately apparent as to which of the two players flanking him that he was talking about. Baker got a look on her face that bordered between surprise and confusion. It took him several more seconds to continue. As he wiped his eyes, the emotions he was feeling were obvious.

TexAnns in first after day one at nationals
FINDLAY, Ohio – The No. 7 Tarleton TexAnn golf team took advantage of the first day of competition at the NCAA Division II national championships and finished the day with a six-stroke first place lead.

“I didn’t expect to be in first place going into today, but I didn’t expect us to be last either,” Doyle said. “I am impressed with the way the girls played today. I would take these rounds by our girls for the next three days. One thing about leading is we can go out and play our game of golf and not have to force shots to try and gain strokes.”

Lady Buffs in 10th after opening round
West Texas A&M's quest for a national golf title will have to come in the form of a comeback as it sits in 10th place after the opening day of the NCAA Division II national tournament.

The Lady Buffs opened the four-day tournament by shooting a 41 over par 329 in the 12-team event held on the Findlay Country Club Course in Findlay, Ohio.

WT's Lone Star Conference rival Tarleton State leads the way with a 13 over par 301, followed by the University of Indianapolis at 307.