Monday, April 09, 2007

Patriots Baseball Like the Energizer Bunny

Just like the Engergizer Bunny, the UT Tyler baseball team just keeps winning, and winning...

The Patriots swept a weekend series against UT Dallas, to extend their unbeaten streak to 30-0. For their efforts, the Patriots have swept the conference honors this week. Ryan Campbell was named the American Southwest Conference East Division Pitcher of the Week, and Andrew Damewood received the ASC East’s Hitter of the Week honor. Campbell (JR/Tomball, TX) started the series against nationally ranked UT Dallas with another tone-setting performance, pitching a complete-game shutout. Campbell threw nine scoreless innings, scattering seven hits and striking out four. The Comets, who entered the day with a total .373 batting average, were shut out for the first time on the season. Damewood (JR/Plano, TX) batted .600 with eight RBI for the week, going 9-for-15. Damewood also had a triple and scored three runs. He also drew three walks. This is the first ASC Player of the Week honor for both players. Already this season, UT Tyler has had Brett Amyx named Hitter of the Week, and Nate Jennings and Blake Booher both receive Pitcher of the week honors.

It crazy looking at the conference standings, seeing Texas Lutheran 25-5-1 (12-2) ranked #12 and UT Dallas 23-9 (11-4) ranked at #29, yet the Patriots at 30-0 (12-0) are not ranked. Texas Lutheran's two conference losses and three of UT Dallas' conference losses have come at the hands, and bats, of the Patriots. According to the NCAA, the Patriots have to be on probation for 4 years to be considered full time members. As a result, they can't be nationally ranked, and they can't participate in postseason play. That's a shame. Quite possibly the best NCAA Divison III baseball team of the decade is being left out in the cold. It's gotten so bad, D3Baseball, which ranks the teams, has included a special note at the bottom of the rankings explaining why UT Tyler isn't listed.

The Patriots return home against Jarvis Christian on Tuesday night at six.

No comments: