College Sports

By SHANE STARK
Staff Writer

Dallas Baptist has turned many college baseball fans into rubbernecks this season.

The Patriots hope to produce even more.

Only in its third year in NCAA Division I, DBU will debut in the national tournament this weekend. The second-seeded Patriots (37-17) will meet third-seeded Houston (39-22) in the College Station regional today at Texas A&M’s Olsen Field.

Dallas Baptist is the first independent school to reach the NCAAs since 1992.

“To earn an at-large bid to an NCAA regional is an incredible achievement for the DBU baseball program,” coach Dan Heefner said on DBU’s athletic Web site.

The other regional opener has top-seeded Texas A&M (43-16) meeting fourth-seeded Illinois-Chicago (34-20).

A berth in the super regionals will be on the line Monday, a rode that promises to give East Texas familiar faces to follow.

During his senior year at DBU, former Robert E. Lee catcher Drew Pirtle has been a major part of the historic run.

In addition to hitting .313 with five home runs and 31 RBIs, he’s recorded a game-winning homer in the 12th inning to defeat fifth-ranked Rice.

Meanwhile, the Texas A&M roster has five East Texans on it.

The list includes sophomore pitcher Carson Middleton (Lindale), senior pitcher/outfielder Kirkland Rivers (Henderson), freshman catcher Andrew Nettune (Athens/All Saints), sophomore outfielder Brody Greene (Bullard) and junior outfielder Joey Register (Lufkin).

Greene, Middleton and Rivers have seen playing time this season:

Lufkin Hudson’s Wes Musick is a sophomore pitcher at Houston, for which he earned freshmen All-America in 2007.

Meanwhile, Dallas Baptist has notched many impressive victories on an improbable, but possible, run to Omaha. Ranked No. 29 in the national power rankings, the independent has wins against Big 12 schools such as A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech.

All told, the Patriots have five wins against teams that were ranked at the time — two against Rice. Each of the five came either on the road or at a neutral site.

“Our players earned it; they practiced at a high level from day one and played well all season against many of the top teams in the country,” coach Heefner said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our players — they deserve all the credit.”