NCAA Division II Baseball Championship

Pressure doesn't burden Reddies

Back in January, Cody Hooten felt good about the roster he had assembled for his fifth season as Henderson State's baseball coach.

The Reddies were picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the Great American Conference, but Hooten liked the returning experience, two key newcomers and a certain edge he noticed following a disappointing 2014 finish.

At a glance

WHEN Today-Thursday

WHERE USA Baseball National Training Complex, Cary, N.C.

TEAMS Tampa (39-13), Catawba (N.C.) (44-13), Mercyhurst (Pa.) (39-9), Cal Poly-Pomona (43-15), Angelo (Texas) State (41-16), Henderson State (31-19), Wilmington (Del.) (37-13), Truman (35-20)

SCHEDULE

All times Central

TODAY’S GAMES

Henderson State vs. Angelo State, 2 p.m.

Catawba (N.C.) vs. Wilmington (Del.), 6 p.m.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Mercyhurst (Pa.) vs. Truman (Mo.), 2 p.m.

Tampa vs. Cal Poly-Pomona, 6 p.m.

Optimistic, yes. But realistic, too.

"At no point did we sit in the locker room at the beginning of the season and say, 'Hey, our be-all, end-all goal is to make it to Cary,' " Hooten said.

But he and his Reddies (31-19) have been in Cary, N.C., since Wednesday, and that is where they will be at 2 p.m. today when they play Angelo State (41-16) to open the NCAA Division II baseball championship, an eight-team double-elimination tournament that will crown the Division II national champion.

It's Henderson State's first appearance in the event, the first for a team from the GAC, and the first for a team from Arkansas since Ouachita Baptist lost in the final in 2008.

At no point this season did anyone expect this group to be the next Arkansas team to return to Division II baseball's premier event.

"Everyone knows it's the first time for us, the first time for a team from the GAC to win a regional," first baseman Hunter Mayall said. "I think everyone is doing a great job of balancing. Everyone seems focused and ready to go. Whatever happens, happens."

Hooten said that go-with-the-flow attitude has allowed Henderson State to reach this weekend.

The Reddies finished fourth in the GAC regular season, lost to Southern Arkansas in the final of the GAC Tournament final and squeaked into the NCAA Central Regional as the sixth seed in the six-team field.

The Reddies upset then-No. 1 ranked St. Cloud State twice on its home field to capture the regional title, but Hooten and Mayall said they don't expect expectations to get any grander this weekend.

Henderson State broke into the national rankings this week at No. 15 in the Collegiate Baseball poll, but the University of Tampa is making its 18th appearance in the event. Catawba (N.C.), Mercyhurst (Pa.) and Cal Poly-Pomona were No. 1 seeds in their respective regional tournaments, and each of the other three teams -- Angelo State, Wilmington (Del.) and Truman (Mo.) -- have more victories than the Reddies.

"There's not a human being in the country picking Henderson State going in to win this," Hooten said. "We kind of feed off of that. We have a veteran group that takes things personally. We're almost in a worse position when we think we're going to win."

It worked last weekend after Henderson State earned an at-large berth to the national tournament but faced St. Cloud State, which was 51-3 at the time. But after rain pushed the opening game back one day, the Reddies beat the Huskies 10-4. That was followed by a 4-2 victory later in the day over Emporia State, then a 9-6 victory over Minnesota State-Mankato and another victory over St. Cloud State 8-7 in the final.

Mayall, who went 12 for 17 in the tournament, said the Reddies tried to use St. Cloud State's favorite role against them.

"Honestly, we felt no pressure," Mayall said. "All the pressure was on St. Cloud. They were 51-3, they were expected to win. We came out early and jumped on them, and we were hoping they would be a little bit worried that they would lose at home."

Where did that mentality come from?

Hooten said it began to take hold following last year's disappointing 17-31 finish, one that prevented the Readies playing in the GAC Tournament. Then came the ninth-place prediction from the league coaches.

It didn't produce a great regular season, as Henderson State finished 24-17 and fourth in the league standings, but it's 7-2 since the start of the GAC Tournament.

Hooten doesn't expect his team to be daunted this weekend by the collection of talent joining them in Cary. Tampa's average of 8.8 runs per game ranks third in Division II, while Cal Poly-Pomona has the third-lowest ERA (2.63) and Catawba's Will Albertson hit .473 to lead the nation.

"You look at the teams we're playing and their records and their individual statistics, and it's just video game numbers," Hooten said. "It'll drive you crazy thinking, 'How are we going to beat these teams?'

"We're just going to go play. We're going to put our heads down and play hard and look up at the end and hope we're better."

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Sports on 05/23/2015

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