SUN BELT BASEBALL

Monroe celebrates, ASU contemplates

Louisiana-Monroe players celebrate in the infield after defeating Arkansas State 4-2 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game on Sunday in Bowling Green, Ky. The Warhawks scored three runs in the eighth to take the lead.
Louisiana-Monroe players celebrate in the infield after defeating Arkansas State 4-2 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game on Sunday in Bowling Green, Ky. The Warhawks scored three runs in the eighth to take the lead.

— Logan Uxa’s actions after popping up for the final out Sunday illustrated the frustrations held by him and his Red Wolves’ teammates.

As Uxa’s infield pop-up landed safely in the glove of Louisiana-Monroe shortstop Jeremy Sy, the left-fielder slammed his bat to the dirt as the Warhawks celebrated their 4-2 victory in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game with a dog pile near the pitcher’s mound at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Uxa and teammate Michael Faulkner, who was on third base to end the game, walked slowly off the field after the Red Wolves left 12 runners on base, including five in the final three innings, gave up three runs in the eighth after taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh and had two late-inning mental errors that contributed to Sunday’s loss.

It ended ASU’s season with a 34-23 overall record, the best in Coach Tommy Raffo’s four seasons, but it came one victory short of the Red Wolves earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

“There’s no question it hurts,” Raffo said. “You’ve got to earn it to be rewarded. We just weren’t able to get the last game done.”

The Red Wolves appeared to be on their way to a tournament title when ace Jacob Lee allowed only one run - coming from Les Aulds’ home run to lead off the game - over 6 innings on three day’s rest and Dustin Jones scored on Zach George’s sacrifice fly in the seventh to take a 2-1 lead.

But Lee, who threw 91 pitches four days after pitching 7 innings in the first game of the tournament, exited after the sixth. Reliever Brandon Farley got through the seventh fine, but faced Louisana-Monroe’s two hottest hitters to start the eighth.

Joey Rapp, who had seven hits in the tournament’s four games, led off with a double, then Brandon Alexander, who had a hit in each of the games, followed with another to tie the game at 2-2.

Judd Edwards then tried to move Alexander to third with a bunt, but when ASU third baseman Alex Potts took a throw and began running him back to second, Alexander slid safely into second base without a throw from Potts. That left runners on first and second with no outs.

“Those are outs you got to get,” Raffo said.

Instead, Taylor Abdalla bunted runners to second and third, Corben Green was intentionally walked, and, after Bradley Wallace was brought in to pitch, Justin Stawychny gave the Warhawks (31-28) a 3-2 lead with a single and Wallace hit Logan Fiasco with a pitch to make it 4-2.

“That has kind of been our story all year long,” Warhawks Coach Jef Schexnaider said. “Nothing has been easy for these guys. ... There was not change in the dugout. They just went out and got the job done and I am proud of them and proud for ULM.”

Raffo gave credit to Louisiana-Monroe’s lineup rather than placing blame on his bullpen for the eighth inning.

“They didn’t bust it open,” he said. “But they did enough to do damage.”

Raffo was pleased with the performance of Lee, the senior who was named last week the Sun Belt’s Pitcher of the Year.

After he delivered the Red Wolves a 12-1 victory over Middle Tennessee in a game shortened by the runrule Wednesday, Lee told his coach he’d be ready to pitch if they reached Sunday’s title game.

After ASU’s victory Saturday over Florida International, Raffo asked Lee for “nine to 12 outs,” which translates to three or four innings. Lee did them two better, even after Aulds sent the fourth pitch Lee threw - a fastball that Lee said caught too much of the plate - over the wall in right field.

“I just tried to let that be my worst pitch of the day,” Lee said.

It appeared it was. He gave up four more hits, and struck out 7 while walking 3 in 6 innings, but no more runs as he exited with the game tied at 1-1.

“[Raffo] said we need nine to 12 outs, and I just did my best job to keep going after that,” Lee said. “But, at 1-1, we were in the spot to win the game.”

But stranded runners and an eighth-inning base-running error helped prevent that.

Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, Kaleb Brown led off with a single to left-center field and then pinch-hitter Ryan Emery lined a ball off the left-field wall. But Brown tagged up near first base, and by the time he realized it wasn’t caught, he couldn’t advance to third.

So when Ryan Roberts grounded out to the second baseman, a run didn’t score, and when Dustin Jones popped out and Zach Maggio grounded out, the Red Wolves failed to score.

“That’s another opportunity,” said Raffo of Brown not getting to third base. “... Little things show up in big games. And we weren’t able to overcome little things today.”

Claude Johnson, who was Sunday’s designated hitter, Faulkner and Lee were named to the all-tournament team.

Sports, Pages 17 on 05/28/2012

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