FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Cole McConnell struck out swinging, Ethan Bates was caught looking at a pitch he felt was outside and probably was, Adarius Myers reached on an error and Michael Ballard lined out to left and that was it.
Maybe three minutes passed, handshakes and all with Southeast Missouri, and then Louisiana Tech Coach Lane Burroughs was in the dugout with his 45-19 team, champs of Conference USA's regular season, around his neck a towel the Bulldogs refused to throw in.
But this was it. End of the road. Not a shock at all, really. If you've been paying attention lately, you might have gotten the feeling that the road was going to be just a little too long for what little gas the Bulldogs had left in the tank.
Saturday, for sure, was the last gasp. It ended in the Fayetteville Regional after the 9-3 loss to Southeast Missouri (35-26), and in the opening round game, a 19-4 shelling by Kansas State (33-24). Nothing left for the coaches to do but remind this bunch, the program's first outright league champs since 1987, that they had nothing to be ashamed of, that getting doubled up happens, that it took nothing away from a 45-win season and a title, this spring a leap and then some from last year's 28-31 disappointment.
Plus, the program's third regional in four seasons.
Four months to remember.
You could make the argument that the spring ended before Fayetteville, that Tech ran out of coal to stoke the fire last Sunday in Ruston in the CUSA Tournament Finals, a 17-10 clawed-back loss to Dallas Baptist after the Dogs had fallen behind 6-0 in the first with no outs, 9-0 before the home team had even come to bat. It might have even ended the night before when a two-RBI double by Jorge Corona tied the game in the eighth and a Grant Comeaux RBI single won it in the 10th to complete a doubleheader sweep of Liberty, 8-7 and 6-5, just to get to the finals on a blistering weekend of sun and baseball, and more baseball.
"The days have sort of run together, as much baseball as we've been playing," Myers, the oldest of the old Dogs, said after Saturday's Regional loss to SEMO. "We didn't come here expecting to lose.""We picked a bad weekend," Burroughs said, "to not play good."
The 9-4 lead after five innings that Kansas State went to bed with when rain suspended Friday night's game quickly ballooned to 11-4 in the sixth and 14-4 in the seventh; that game was resumed at 11 a.m. Saturday, which meant SEMO, a loser in the regional opener to Arkansas, was waiting at 2. The Redhawks scored seven in the fourth and Tech stranded 11 runners.
One of the best fielding teams in the nation, Tech made four errors in the two regional games. Slow bats, slow feet, running on fumes. A league champ, the Bulldogs put themselves in the unenviable position of needing to hit seven-run homers in each of their last three games.
It was a fun ride, but all the checks had been cashed by what would be the season's final weekend. The K-State game, when it was resumed Saturday, marked the sixth game this season the Bulldogs had started play at 11 a.m. or earlier, the 11th time this season the Dogs had gotten on a bus at 8 a.m. or earlier to go to either a ballpark or an airport.
The Dogs lacked one more big arm and one more big bat to make a serious run at Omaha this season, but they got all out of what they had. Forty-five wins — few of them were easy — is a lot, lot of wins. And 45 always makes you think you can get 46, and maybe 47, and who knows?
Sure was fun while it lasted. Speaking of …
In his final game after 50 seasons as the Voice of the Diamond Dogs, Dave Nitz called his final double play in the bottom of the seventh, 6-4-3, Kasten Furr to Michael Ballard to Dalton Davis. And at 5:08 p.m. Central Standard Time, he signed off a Tech broadcast for the final time in his sterling career, and neatly tucked the season in for all of us.
"For Jay Nitz this is Dave Nitz, bidding you a very pleasant evening from Fayetteville, Arkansas. So long, everybody."
