Baseball Hosts Hardin-Simmons This Weekend

3/23/2017 1:43:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information

After dropping two of three games last weekend to rival East Texas Baptist University, the Louisiana College baseball team returns to Billy Allgood Field this weekend for an American Southwest Conference series against Hardin-Simmons University. The series is scheduled for a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. and a single game Saturday starting at 12 p.m.

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Hardin-Simmons | 8-13 (3-6)

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The Cowboys come into the series with the Wildcats have won their midweek game with cross town rival McMurry, 5-1, on Tuesday evening. Prior to the win over the War Hawks, HSU had lost six games in a row including a three game sweep at the hands of Howard Payne University in their last conference series. On the year the Cowboys are hitting .292 as a team with 17 home runs and scoring 6.1 runs per game. They rank fourth in the conference in batting on the season and are second in the ASC in number of walks so far, and tied for fourth in total runs scored. Their top hitter is junior short stop Taylor Cooling, who has a .411 batting average and leads the team in runs with 21 and hits with 37. Dylan Sweeny and Cody Berryman have hit 11 home runs this season between them with a total of 32 runs batted in.

On the mound, the Cowboys have nine pitchers with more than 10 innings pitched this season. Garrett Johnston has the most with 30.0 in six starts this year, with a 1-2 record and a 4.80 ERA. Ty Engelhardt has a 3-2 record this year in five starts with an 8.14 ERA having allowed 19 earned runs this year, a team high. The Cowboys rank last in the ASC in pitching with a 6.41 team ERA.

Louisiana College | 14-7 (5-4)

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The Wildcats had an interesting week with a trip to Baton Rouge to play LSU and then coming out with 14 runs and 20 hits in the game one win against ETBU. In the doubleheader on Saturday the Cats lost on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh and then were shut down in the finale to go 1-2 against their rival from Marshall, Tx.

The Wildcats currently rank second in the conference in batting with a .319 average, one of just three team with a batting average over .300 on the year. They are second in runs scored and are averaging 7.8 runs per game. Seth Stevens continues to lead the team in batting with a .424 average, and leads LC in hits (36), runs scored (20), home runs (4), and RBI (26). Ashton Martin is the only other Wildcats that has an average better than .350 this year, but LC has seven total players batting over .300 including Martin and Stevens.

The conference best pitching staff took a hit last week with the game against LSU and the 13-0 loss to ETBU on Saturday. They still rank fourth in the conference in pitching with a 3.73 team ERA with the least amount of walks allowed and the most strikeouts this season. They are one of three teams yet to allow over 100 runs to score through 20 games this year. Charlie Waddingham picked up his fourth win of the season in his first complete game of the season. He leads the team in innings pitched (40.0), and ERA (2.03). Austin Thompson leads LC with 34 strikeouts and a .211 opponent batting average.

The three game series against Hardin-Simmons will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. with a doubleheader, and end with a single game Saturday at 12 p.m. All games will be live streamed via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/LCAthletics and stats will be available through the stat portal link on the athletics home page. Stay connected to Louisiana College baseball all season at www.lcwildcats.net, following @LC_bsb on Twitter and liking LC Athletics on Facebook.

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