Reddies looking forward

CARY, N.C. -- Apparently this NCAA Tournament thing isn't as easy as the Henderson State baseball team was making it look.

The Reddies opened their first NCAA Division II tournament appearance by breezing through the Central Regional with four consecutive victories before opening the Division II College World Series with a shutout of Angelo State.

But just when it seemed as though Coach Cody Hooten's team could do no wrong, its postseason joyride came to a halt with Monday's 5-1 loss to Catawba at the USA Baseball National Training Center.

The good news is the national championship tournament is a double-elimination event, so HSU will have a chance to bounce back in an elimination game rematch against Angelo State at 2 p.m. Central today.

"You just forget about this one," left fielder Lance Fields said after the Reddies' first loss in three weeks. "We've got guys that always come out, have fun, joke around all the time. We're not going to let [one loss] get us down."

Although the Reddies' confidence still seems intact, they were knocked back on their heels Monday after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning. The deficit was an unfamiliar position considering HSU (32-20) had scored in its opening at-bat in all of its previous NCAA Tournament games.

Instead of staying with the patient approach at the plate that had worked so well, Fields and his teammates admittedly changed their approach by getting overly aggressive and swinging at too many first pitches. They also made a key base-running blunder that took them out of a potential big inning.

Hooten said the mistakes may have been the first sign of nerves after HSU came to Cary with low expectations. But according to Chris Hunt, who allowed all five of Catawba's runs in the first three innings, there was a simple solution to the problems that led to Monday's loss.

"We've got to come back next game and play the way we've been playing and jump on them early," he said.

At least the Reddies will be familiar with their next opponent, having defeated Angelo State 4-0 three days earlier when Colton Lorance, Jordan Taylor and Nick Vanthillo combined to throw a shutout. Angelo State (42-17) advanced in the loser's bracket with a 5-0 victory against Wilmington on Monday.

It's a similar scenario to the one they faced in the regional when they took on and beat top-ranked St. Cloud State twice in a 72-hour span.

The difference this time is that instead of having two chances to win one game, HSU is in its first win-or-go-home situation.

"At this point it doesn't matter who you play," Hooten said. "You've got to play well regardless of who it is. Everybody is good. There's no real breaks in the schedule. I don't know if there's any advantage or disadvantage that we played them three days ago."

Sports on 05/27/2015

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