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Tiger baseball swept by Mules
5/3/2009
By CONOR NICHOLL
cnicholl@dailynews.net
In the final at-bat of his baseball career, Fort Hays State University senior first baseman Dusty Washburn flied out to center field in the ninth inning Saturday at Larks Park. As he jogged back to the dugout, the entire Tiger team gave Washburn, one of the best players in school history and a former All-American, a standing ovation.
"A great show of respect by our team to Dusty," Fort Hays coach Rick Sabath said.
Three batters later, a tough season finished for the Tigers in a 6-4 loss to University of Central Missouri at Larks Park. The No. 19-ranked Mules won the first game 18-3, the worst home loss since Fort Hays switched to NCAA in 1992. Central Missouri took all four games, the first time the Tigers had been swept at home since 2005 against Colorado State-Pueblo.
"A very disappointing weekend for us and disappointing for me personally," Sabath said.
Saturday meant the final contests for a Tiger team that will graduate nine seniors, including Washburn, catcher and leading hitter AJ Levanduski, ace left-hander Eric Gilliland and third baseman Alex Harvey.
Fort Hays finished the season 30-26 and sixth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association at 20-20.
Picked fourth in the preseason, they will not play in the postseason for the first time since 2004.
"It's been a team that's faced a lot of adversity," Sabath said.
"I need to do a better job and find a way to get this back to where it needs to be. Someone told me at one time that a little adversity makes you work a lot harder and that is what we are going to have to do as players and coaches."
The Tigers, which had been eliminated from the four-team conference tournament before the weekend, were down 8-0 after the first two innings of Game 1. Central Missouri, which has won eight in a row and 24 of its past 26, had nine hits (seven singles) for eight runs against juniors Matt Augustine (4-5) and Garrett Morgan. Down 17-0 in the fifth, junior outfielder Greg Bieker and Harvey hit homers for Fort Hays.
"It was hard," Levanduski said. "It was a tough thing to swallow, but as a baseball player, we expect to finish off the right way. Coming out with losses isn't ideal."
Central Missouri took a 5-0 lead in Game 2 before junior Sean Bartholomew (3-1) settled down and worked into the eighth inning.
"I thought his fastball height was great," Sabath said. "He kept it down around the knees and was able to mix in a changeup in some hitters' counts, 2-0, 1-0, 3-1-type, to keep them off-balance and started throwing his breaking ball for a strike. His best outing I think since he has been here."
Fort Hays picked up two runs in the third and sixth innings, including one off an RBI double to right-center from Washburn. The Thomas More Prep-Marian graduate went 2-for-6 with two doubles in his final doubleheader and finishes tied for second with Brian Keck on the all-time Fort Hays list with 56 doubles.
Washburn is also fifth in homers and top 10 for at-bats and hits, production his teammates honored with the ovation.
"That is just a team thing," Levanduski said. "We all love each other. We are a family here. Just having a great season like he has had, a great career like he has had, putting up numbers, he is a great player. I think in one of his last at-bats, he deserved that."
After the contest, several players were emotional, including Washburn, who sat on a bucket in the dugout and looked out to the field for several minutes. Multiple players, including Augustine, came over to shake hands with the first baseman. Levanduski paused several times to collect himself before leaving the field.
"As a senior, I think we all are going to miss it," Levanduski said. "I think I speak for all of the seniors. We are going to miss coming to the ballpark every day."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |