CARY, N.C. -- Henderson State was beaten at its own game Monday at the NCAA Division II College World Series.
The Reddies fell behind early after giving up two runs in the bottom of the first inning and never recovered in a 5-1 loss to Catawba at the USA Baseball National Training Center.
At a glance
All times Central
MONDAY’S GAMES
Angelo State 5, Wilmington 0
Catawba 5, Henderson State 1
TODAY’S GAMES — All times Central
Truman vs. Cal-Poly Pomona, 2 p.m.
Mercyhurst vs. Tampa, 6 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Henderson State vs. Angelo State, 2 p.m.
It was the first defeat in six NCAA Tournament games for the Central Region champs, relegating them to the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
HSU now faces an elimination game Wednesday against Angelo State, the same team the Reddies beat 4-0 on Saturday.
"It's been awhile since we've felt this feeling," Reddies Coach Cody Hooten said after his team's first loss since losing to Southern Arkansas in the Great American Conference Tournament final May 6. "They kind of flipped the script on us.
"We've been used to jumping up on people in the playoffs and kind of carrying through there. They kind of bum-rushed us a little bit and by the time we settled down, it was a little too late."
The Reddies (32-20) had scored at least one run in the first inning of each of their five previous tournament games, but went down quietly against the Southeast Region champion Indians after a leadoff walk to first baseman Hunter Mayall.
They then found themselves in an even more unusual position after Catawba jumped on starting pitcher Chris Hunt with an early display of power.
Blake Houston and Austin Stilley, the first two batters to face the HSU right-hander, hit doubles into the gap to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. A single and an RBI groundout later in the inning pushed across another run, knocking the Reddies back on their heels.
"Some fastballs they hit pretty good," Hunt said, "and I just couldn't get the curveball in for a strike to keep them off-balance a little."
It took until the fourth inning before Hunt finally settled in. By that that time, however, Catawba had already struck for five runs on eight hits, including a three-run double to left center by Chance Bowden in the bottom of the third.
But the deficit wasn't insurmountable, considering that HSU was able to dig its way out of a similar early hole to beat top-ranked St. Cloud State in the regional final last week. However, the Reddies made things difficult on themselves this time, they said, by trying too hard to get back into the game too quickly.
"I feel like we were too anxious," left fielder Lance Fields said. "We were swinging at first pitches and not seeing enough pitchers to be in timing with it. Our timing was a little off today."
Or as Hooten described it, "We couldn't get out of our own way offensively."
That not just an exaggeration.
In the top of the sixth, when HSU scored its only run, the Reddies literally stumbled over themselves on the bases to run out of a potential game-changing rally.
The inning started with a solid single by Mayall, who is now 15 for 23 (.652) in the tournament. Claude Johnson then reached on an error to put runners at first and second with only one out. Following a flyout by Jordan Taylor, Fields laced a single to center.
Mayall scored on the play as instead of throwing home, Catawba center fielder Houston threw behind the runner and caught Johnson off second for the third out.
"We finally had some momentum and had a chance to put a crooked number up there and start putting some pressure on them," Hooten said. "That could have allowed us to relax a little if we'd have gotten two or three there. We just didn't do a good job of chasing."
Sports on 05/26/2015