The improbable run by the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagle baseball team came to an end amid the Texas heat Monday afternoon as the Cookeville university was eliminated by the home-standing Longhorns one game shy of making the College World Series.
Tech fell in game three of the Super Regional best-of-three by a count of 5 to 2 after going down early, trailing by three runs for most of the game.
Their elimination came despite their leading the series 1-0 after traveling to Austin and claiming the first game 5-4. The Longhorns drew even with a 4-2 win Sunday afternoon, forcing Monday’s rubber match. Prior to going to Texas, they swept number-four Old Miss in Oxford, 15-5 and 3-2 in a best of three that went just two games.
Their deep run into the national tournament came after they were defeated by Morehead State in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament late last month. Tech finished the season 53-12 overall and 27-3 in OVC play. They were 24-4 at home and 22-4 on the road. The team proved to be an offensive dynamo as players scored 637 runs and slugged 135 home runs during the season. They had wins at the University of Tennessee and highly-ranked Vanderbilt during the regular season, the Commodores going down in the same round, losing 10-6 in extra innings against Mississippi State, and one game short of the College World Series in Omaha.
Individually, Tech set all-time schools records, sending eight members of its squad into the Major League Baseball Draft. The first Golden Eagle selected was a middle Tennessee product. Ethan Roberts of Sparta was the 24th selection of the fourth round, going to the Cubs. He pitched in the Tech loss Monday afternoon at Texas, pulled in the seventh inning after injuring his foot in a fielding play a few pitches before. He led the nation in saves with 14.
Also going in the draft was Chase Chambers, who led the NCAA in RBIs with 84. He went to the Mets.
Travis Moths went to the Diamondbacks in the seventh round while Trevor Putzig went to the Orioles in the 17th. Teammate John Ham, who went in the 31st round, 925th overall, will join him in Arizona. Meanwhile there will be a couple Yankees coming from Tech as Alex Junior, in the 19th round and Marcus Evey, in the 20th round were selected by the Bronx Bombers to wear pinstripes in the majors. David Garza rounded out the draft in the 38th round, taken by the Diamondbacks at 1149 overall.
