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| Senior Garrett Nelson reached base seven times in the ASC tournament, including a three-run homer that put UT-Tyler in the championship game. Photo by Joe Fusco, d3photography.com |
Follow this regional |
By Ralph Turner
for D3baseball.com
The 2015 Regional hosted by Texas-Tyler brings some familiar faces to a new location. All six teams have playoff history, but Linfield and La Verne are the only ones to bring home the Walnut and Bronze.
The No. 3 seed in conference tourneys was charm for La Verne from the SCIAC, for Trinity (Texas) from the SCAC and for Whitworth from the NWC. The 2012 edition of the Pirates won the west regional and those freshmen from 2012 get a chance to return as seniors. Former SCAC member Millsaps comes back to Texas with hopes of returning to Wisconsin, having representing the South Region in 2013.
A West Region fan should enjoy seeing how much depth the conferences really have by the performances of the teams converging on Tyler, Texas. The last regional in Texas, the 2013 Austin Regional at Concordia (Texas) featured a margin of victory of 1-2 runs for all games and a bunch of tight games are expected again.
The subplots in this regional are many. Linfield is 4-1 against Trinity in this decade in tourney games as the Wildcats eliminated the Tigers in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Linfield beat La Verne in two games in Arizona in February.
Tyler Regional schedule
All times Central
Wednesday, May 13
Game 1 - No. 1 Texas-Tyler (34-10) vs. No. 6 La Verne (24-18), 12 p.m.
Thursday, May 14
Game 2 - No. 2 Linfield (30-13) vs. No. 5 Trinity, Texas (33-12), 10 am.
Game 3 - No. 3 Millsaps (28-12) vs. No. 4 Whitworth (28-13), noon
Friday, May 15
Game 4 - Texas Tyler vs. Linfield, 10 am.
Game 5 - La Verne vs. Whitworth, 12:30 pm.
Game 6 - Trinity, Texas vs. Millsaps, 4:15 pm.
Game 7 - Trinity vs. La Verne, 7:00 pm.
Game 8 - Millsaps vs, Linfield, 9:30 pm.
Meet the teams |
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Saturday, May 16
Game 9: Linfield vs. La Verne - 1 p.m.
Game 10: Trinity, Texas vs. Linfield, 3:30 p.m.
Favorite
Texas-Tyler was awarded the “West” regional championship earlier in the spring, and Coach Chris Bertrand’s Patriots would love to win the whole thing at home. After being swept at Texas-Dallas, Tyler won 20 of its last 22 games and swept the American Southwest Conference tournament, bringing in momentun into their regional. Tyler lost a pair of games to Trinity in the 2013 West Regional in Austin and revenge is on the minds of the Patriots.
Most likely to disappoint
Back in February, Trinity was the third highest ranked West Region team in the D3baseball.com poll at No. 16, behind Linfield at No. 4 and Cal Lutheran at No. 10. The 2015 Tigers did not come together as their fans had hoped. They struggled through the SCAC regular season and had to win the SCAC tourney as the No. 3 seed. Trinity “always” makes the tourney, but always as a bridesmaid. (The last time Trinity did not make the NCAA Regionals was in the previous decade!) They have the SCAC tourney banner, but the Tigers really want their first trip to Wisconsin.
Cinderella
With three third-seeded conference tourney seeds in the regional, there are plenty of candidates from which to choose. The 2012 Whitworth freshmen getting to finish their careers at Appleton is a nice story, but the No. 3 seed magic falls on Millsaps. Two years ago head coach Jim Page learned how hard it is to win in your first trip to the D-III World Series, but if the slipper fits, expect a more focused Majors in the D-III World Series.
Players to Watch
C Drew Butler, Trinity (.387; 43 games; 44 RBI; .507 Slg Pct; FA .987)
1B Ben White, La Verne (.389; 33R; 58 H6 3B. 48 RBI, FA .997)
IF/P Keith Shumaker, Millsaps (.395; 51 R; 28 RBI; W-L 8-2; 79 IP; 2.39 ERA; 6 CG)
3B Jakob Thomas, La Verne (.306; 32 R; 45 H, 11 HBP, 39 RBI)
SS Chris Van Domelen, Linfield (.360; 63 H; 37 RBI; 12 2B)
OF Jeremy Druffel, Whitworth (.378; 16 2B, 59 H; 30 RBI)
OF/P William Chenoweth, Millsaps (.366; 56 H; 37 RBI; 5 HR; SLG .634; W-L 1-0; 3 saves)
RHP Dan Scheibe, Whitworth (9-2; 75.2 IP; 100 K; ERA 1.55; OBA .195)
RHP Jaime Paxton, UT-Tyler (10-2; 84.2 IP; 91K; ERA 3.10; OBA .221)
RHP Zach Speer, Trinity (6-2; 10 GS, 64.2 IP; 65K; OBA .290)
RHP Chris Haddeland, Linfield (7-2; 99.0 IP; 1.64 ERA; GS13; 4 CG; OBA .227)
RP Chad Hayes, UT-Tyler (0-1; 13 saves; ERA 0.90; 20 innings; OBA .162)