Patriots remain undefeated in ASC, sweep Wildcats

Corey Henderson runs toward second base to beat out the throw in the game played Friday against Louisiana College. The Patriots won 19-4. They went on to defeat the Wildcats 8-1 and 19-8 on Saturday. Photo by Jessica Sibbing.

The University’s baseball team kept its American Southwest Conference record unscathed with a sweep over Louisiana College on the weekend. The Patriots defeated the Wildcats 19-4, 8-1 and 19-8.

Southpaw pitcher Chase Willard pitched seven innings in game one against the Wildcats on Saturday. He only surrendered four hits and the single run of the game.

The Wildcats scored their only run on a sacrifice fly by Cody Laprarie in the first inning. The Patriots, however, stiffened up on defense and silenced Wildcats’ bats for the remainder of the game.

Corey Henderson started the scoring for the Patriots by stealing third base and putting himself in a scoring position for Cody Jones’ sacrifice fly.

Once Henderson broke the seal, the batting-rally for game one began with seven of the nine Patriots registering hits and four registering scores.
Willard earned his seventh win of the season and remains undefeated.

Game two started off promising for the Wildcats, scoring a run in the first

That run, however, would be erased very quickly as the Patriots rallied behind their bats to quickly put the heat on Wildcat pitcher Walt Mcgee, who could not go anywhere near the strike zone without seeing the ball whiz in the opposite way.

McGee’s defense offered little help as the Wildcats committed a couple of errors to help the Patriots take the lead with a five run inning.

The Wildcats mustered up a comeback in the second inning. putting together a five run inning.

Louisiana received some help from Holt when he overthrew what should have been an easy out at first base. The error allowed two runs to score and things did not get better for Holt, who surrendered the mound after 1.1 inning allowing six runs on five hits.

Fortunately, the Patriots erased the Wildcats’ lead just as fast as they gained it. Back-to-back two-RBI singles from Tyler Clakley and Justin Juneau pushed the Patriots back in front 9-7. Jake Ashley’s RBI hit up the middle finished a five-run frame and gave the Patriots a 10-7 lead after the second inning.

The Patriots surrendered only one score to the Wildcats before putting an entourage of hits that made the game unreachable and unplayable for the Wildcat defense. The game was called during the eighth inning by a 10 run rule.

The victory not only sealed the season series over the Wildcats, but also began one of the farewell tours for the departing seniors and head coach James Vilade.

Aside from the great hitting and defense from the Patriots, the real highlights came at the beginning of both of the baseball games on Saturday.

This year, the University will not only suffer the loss of the seniors, but also their head coach. Vilade, who turned in his resignation in March as baseball coach and athletic director, was honored at the beginning of the double header against the Wildcats. Vilade has accepted the position of vice president with the Premier Baseball Academy in Plano and to serve as an associate scout with the Florida Marlins.

Vilade ends his eight-year tenure at the helm of the Patriots baseball team with 312 wins as a head coach at the beginning of the season, 192 with the University.

The Patriots have four ASC East Championships, an ASC Championship and a NCAA Regional appearance under Vilade, who won three ASC East Coach awards.

The University made Vilade’s departing ceremony a real special one, recognizing him of all his accolades, and with his oldest son, Ryan, throwing out the first pitch of the game.

Before the final game of the double-header, the Patriots took the time to honor seven of their seniors, who played in their final home game of the regular season at Irwin Field in front a mass of fans, friends and family members.

Craig Fandel, Keenan Duke, Matt Thiesen, Cody Jones, Matt Sparks, Nathan Skeen and Austin Newell all walked across the field with their chosen supporters to say farewell to their coaches, fans and the diamond at Irwin Field.

Their accolades were also recognized before each farewell introduction, including Jones’ 36 game start streak, Sparks’ 38 strikeouts on the year, Skeen’s .410 batting average, and Newell’s 12 stolen bases.

The wins over the weekend improved the Patriots to 26-8 overall, 14-0 in ASC East play, winning its sixth consecutive series in conference play.

The Patriots hit an impressive .473 as a team during the three games, tallying 46 runs off 52 hits, including a season high 23 hits in the series finale.

The Patriots one conference series left before the postseason can begin. They are scheduled to travel to Clinton, Miss. to face division rival Mississippi College on April 16 and 17. One victory over the Choctaws will solidify the Patriots as the ASC East Division champions.