All-Tournament team
C _ Cody Lassley, Wichita State
1B _ Brian Jett, Indiana State
2B _ Vicente Cafaro, Creighton
SS _ Elliot Soto, Creighton
3B _ Jimmy Swift, Creighton
UT _Chance Sossamon, Wichita State
DH _ Ryan Jones, Wichita State
OF _ Ryan Engrav, Wichita State
OF _ Chris Playter, Missouri State
OF _ Robbie Knight, Creighton
P _ Brandon Koenigstein, Creighton
P _ Jordan Cooper, Wichita State
Most Outstanding Player _ Engrav
4-2 final.
WSU 4, CU 2 (top 8th) - Jays have two on with no outs. Flynn is out. Sossamon will move from third to pitch. We knew this game couldn’t finish smoothly. Sossoman ends the inning with a 1-6-3 double play. I’m not sure Grimes touched the base on the front end. The throw was high and he had to leap. But I’m far, far away.
WSU 4, CU 1 (bottom 7th) – Jones and O’Brien drive in runs. McKeever, who is 3-4, started it with a one-out single.
Creighton leaves them loaded again. The Jays are 0-6 with the bases loaded in four innings.
WSU 2, CU 1 (top 7th) - Lassley drives in Sossamon with a two-out double. The Jays threw out Grimes at the plate in a close play. After seeing the replay three times, I think it was a bad call. Grimes got his hand down before the tag. Great relay by the Jays, but a hair late. Close call. Very close.
Jones hits it well, but right to Carfaro. Still 1-1.
WSU loads the bases with two outs. Ryan Jones to face Jeremy Hauer, who excels at getting lefties out. He started against SIU on Wednesday and the lefties went 0-13.
CU wastes another bases-loaded gift. Flynn strikes out Ian Dike to end it.
Sossamon grounds out on the first pitch. Both teams waste a bases loaded situation.
I now look like a dummy for writing that the benefit of pod play would be good pitching in the title game. Hellhake gave up a two-out single and two walks. He is out after falling behind 2-0 to Sossamon.
Johnson gets Soto on a pop fly and Ruf on a foul ball that Baez chased down.
Lowell walks the bases loaded. He is out. Remington Johnson is in.
Highlight play by Jays LF Nick Becker to rob Sossamon of a home run.
WSU 1, CU 1 (bottom 2nd) – A throwing error on Lassley helps the Jays tie it. Lowell still isn’t sharp. It’s a lot like his earlier outing against Creighton. He is falling behind. Both leadoff batters reached, a sure path to problems.
WSU 1, CU 0 (top 2nd) - McKeever drives in Tyler Grimes with a single. I would think CU will have a short leash with Hellhake, who didn’t make it out of the second inning a week ago against WSU.
WSU will probably feel the same with Lowell. I would think Brian Flynn is an option for long relief tonight.
We’re underway. Rough start by Charlie Lowell. He walks three before getting out of it unscathed. Remington Johnson went to the bullpen.
- Brandon Koenigstein is on my all-tournament ballot. Most other spots are open.
- Garrett Gould draft talk.
- All season, WSU baseball has been similar to the way things unfolded for the basketball team. Circumstances forced both teams into lineups full of players new to WSU or new to the demands of playing big roles every day. Both teams struggled along for a good chunk of the season, sinking to embarrassing lows along the way. The basketball team turned things around earlier in the season and redeemed itself in the eyes of fans with a strong finish. The baseball team hasn’t finished quite as strong, but the Shockers look better over the past 10 days. Win or lose, WSU made some progress. A win helps even more. Nobody will expect the Shockers to do much in a regional, but the experience will be important.
- CU-WSU is the best matchup from a drama standpoint. There are some negative feelings between the two teams after the past four meetings. WSU’s Ryan Jones said the Shockers wanted another shot at the Jays after Thursday’s no-hitter. They got it.
- I’m with the people who enjoy watching the Jays play. They have a flair on defense and they make all the routine plays. They hustle and seem to do most of things the right way. I can also see where some of their attitude rubs people (and not just the Shockers) the wrong way. Love watching Vincente Carfaro play, but the fist pumps after beating out an infield hit early in a game is a bit much. It works for him, so go for it. But don’t be surprised if it bugs the other team. WSU has a long tradition of getting on other team’s nerves. For the fans tonight, that should be fun.