April 24, 2008

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' baseball team tied for its first American Southwest Conference West Division title, but its reward is to go on the road to play fifth-ranked UT-Tyler this weekend at Irwin Field in Tyler.

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HSU is riding a 12-game winning streak heading into the game one with UT-Tyler. HSU is 26-14 on the year and finished in a four-way tie for the ASC West title with a 14-7 record. UTT is 33-7 and the Patriots went 15-3 in ASC East action to capture the title. The two teams split a pair of games in the regular season.

For the Cowboys to win the series, they are going to need to get to the two aces of the Patriot staff. Blake Booher is 10-0 with a 1.39 ERA and Brett Holland is 9-0 with a 2.66 ERA. HSU will counter in the first two games with James Sweatman (4-2, 5.56) and Nathan Copeland (4-1, 2.73). HSU also have one of the top bullpens in the conference as Josh Alcorn and Kyle Barton have combined to go 11-3 on the year with seven saves.

The series will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday night and the first game on Saturday will start at 1 p.m. with a third game to follow if necessary.

HSU has some hot bats going into the series. In the 12-game winning streak Regan Dixon is hitting .526 with three home runs and 21 RBIs, Wayne Pimpton is hitting .390 with a home run and 14 RBIs and Tre' Sellari is hitting .380 with two home runs and 18 RBIs.

For the year, Dixon leads the team with a .462 average with four home runs and 32 RBIs. Five Cowboy regulars are hitting over .345.

The series can be heard on the radio in Abilene at KYYW-1470 AM and on the internet at www.hsuathletics.com.