Highlights

Campus News

Wildcat Weekly Minute for Nov. 17, 2011

A look at what's happening on campus this week.

Faith

Cleansed through the Cross

Dr. Quarles speaks on the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice at weekly chapel

Sports

LC hoops teams wrap up homestand with pair of wins

Off to Ozarks, UT-Dallas next

Organizations

LC media student give to Toys for Tots

More than 100 toys will help local charity

Campus Life

February is Heart Health Awareness Month

Stay healthy and 'God Red'

Culture

All the Shakespeare you could laugh at… and more!

tlc's adaptation of 'Shakespeare Abridged' pulls out all the stops

Special Coverage

LC brings another successful ‘Follow the Star’

'Christmas on the Hill' and 'Gala' add to festive weekend

Wildcats sweep UTD to reach ASC playoffs

by Al Quartemont

LC finishes as 3rd seed in East

It was Senior Day at Billy Allgood Field. But it ended up being much more than that.

In a series that LC absolutely had to play well in if they hoped to make the American Southwest Conference playoffs, the Wildcats put together perhaps their best performances of the season, completing a sweep of UT-Dallas with a 6-3 win in game three of the series Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats had swept a doubleheader from the Comets Friday and came into Saturday's game knowing that another win would clinch a playoff spot and that a loss would mean they would need some help to still get in. By virtue of taking the three-game set with UTD, LC winds up 10-8 in conference play and the number three seed for the playoffs. They will face the number two seed from the West - Hardin-Simmons with a single game on Friday and games two, and if necssary, three on Saturday. But, a loss would have left the Wildcats needing ETBU to beat the University of the Ozarks in at least one game of their series to still get the number four seed.

The Wildcats decided to take care of business themselves Saturday, combining timely hitting, solid defense and gritty pitching to end their regular season with a seven-game winning streak. All this from a team picked to finish at the bottom of the ASC before the season started and began the conference with an 0-4 start.

“I talked to the guys earlier this year about adversity and hitting the wall,” said LC coach Mike Byrnes, who has guided the Wildcats to the postseason in eight of his 10 seasons in Pineville. “We hit the wall hard and I told them that they could either try to climb over the wall, go around it or run right through it. They took a few steps back and ran right through the wall.

“They never lost their confidence, never stopped working, never stopped believing in each other. Now we’re going to the playoffs which nobody … nobody … expected.”

Freshman Grant Cox made the start for LC and wound up getting the win to improve to 2-0. Cox redefined the phrase by "scattering" 15 hits over 6.2 innings. Despite repeated jams, Cox gave up just two runs as the Comets stranded 11 runners who reached base against him. LC also handed the Comets' Marvin Prestridge his first loss of the season as he dropped to 4-1.

UTD got off to a quick start in the game with five hits in the first inning. A run-scoring double by Joseph Killgore and and RBI single from Kyle Guest gave the Comets a 2-0 led, but it could have been much worse had not LC senior right field John Michael Kidd not gunned down Guest on a throw to Anthony Benoit at home to end the inning.

The Wildcats responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Senior Walt McGee, a four-year starter from Pineville, delivered a two-out hit to score Steven Bowman and fellow-senior Jonathan Ettinger to tie the game at 2-2.

LC would take its first lead in the third inning. Bowman singled with one out and then scored on a double by Ettinger, his 36th RBI of the season, to lead 3-2.

As Cox danced in and out of trouble, the Wildcats got a little breathing room in the 6th when Benoit hit his first home run of the season - a line drive to left that carried over the wall. Later, freshman Steven Davis scored on a double to left-center by junior Brandt Daigle as the Wildcats built their lead to 5-2.

LC's final run came in the 8th when Davis led off with a double and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Kidd. That made it 6-2, LC.

The Comets made one final charge in the 9th against Josh Foster, who had relieved Cox in the 7th inning. Randy Lorber led off with a home run to deep center field. Drew Hallford then walked and that was it for Foster. Senior Steven Jones came on to nail down the save. The submariner retired Killgore, Guest and Matt Kelly in order to earn his second save of the season as the Wildcats hung on to win 6-3.

“That’s what you want, the ball in your hands at the end of the season with a chance to get your team into the playoffs,” Jones said. “It was a great feeling to get it done. My last four or five appearances were the worst of my career so to get us into the playoffs was huge.”

The LC bench and players on the field erupted into celebration knowing they had made the playoffs. That, in itself, is quite an accomplishment for a team that really struggled early in the season.

“You know, things did get tough here at the beginning of the season,” said Kidd. ”We started out getting swept by (eventual ASC East champion) Mississippi College, but we hung with them in two of the three games. We never had a doubt that we could compete with the teams in our conference. We just stuck with it, kept working and got on a roll here at the end of the season."

And so now, for a team that is now as hot as any in the ASC, those early-season losses are gone. It's on the playoffs. And the LC Wildcats are a team no one would seem eager to face.

(Editor Note: LC Sports Information contributed player reaction in this story)

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