The greatest season in University of Central Arkansas baseball history, and one of the best runs ever in the Southland Conference, came to an end last week when the Bears lost in the Starkville Regional championship game to Mississippi State and were stopped just short of the league's first-ever Super Regional appearance.
Though the Bears were denied a spot in the round of 16 and a chance at their ultimate goal of getting to Omaha for the College World Series, the Starkville Regional provided an incredible setting for the end to an improbable journey, one in which the Bears faced elimination nine times in 12 days and prevailed each time until the final showdown with the Bulldogs.
And while the Bears were sent home that night, they left with a host of records and firsts, many accolades, a newfound following and the respect of one of the top programs and fan bases in college baseball.
A look back at some of the happenings at the Starkville Regional:
DUDY NOBLE FIELD
The Bears could not have asked for a better regional draw, not only because they were paired with a top-seeded opponent they'd beaten two of three times during the regular season, but also because they'd be going back to one of the country's great environments, giving UCA fans a taste of the college baseball experience at the highest level.
Dudy Noble Field, affectionately known as "The Dude" by many, is well known for its large, vocal crowds – much of which is contained beyond the outfield fence in rows of portable structures filled with fans who gather hours before game time for what is, essentially, a giant tailgate party. Though it now wraps around the entire outfield, it began in left field decades ago and the Left Field Lounge has continually grown into an atmosphere so great that
Sports Illustrated once made it No. 15 on its list of 100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate.
During the season, the Bulldogs were 5th nationally in average attendance at 7,294 (trailing only SEC rivals LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss and South Carolina). During the regional, The Dude did not disappoint as more than 61,000 fans came through the gates for the seven games – an average of 8,776. In the three games between the Bears and Bulldogs, an average of just at 10,000 were in attendance with 11,102 on hand for the first night. In their five games total at the regional, the Bears played in front of 43,623 fans. In 26 home games this season, they played to a total of 7,312 – less than 300 per game.
It was the second highest-attended regional among the 16 trailing only the Baton Rouge Regional, hosted at regular-season national attendance leader LSU, with 67,741.
BEAR FANS
Given Starkville's proximity to central Arkansas – only an approximate 5-hour drive from Conway – many Bear fans were able to easily make the trek to Mississippi State for the program's first regional appearance.
"When we got this regional, I was real thankful – number one for our fans," head coach Allen Gum said prior to the start of the tournament. "It's close enough that a lot of our fans can come over and watch. It's not too far away, on the east coast or west coast. … and it's one of the best places for college baseball and has been for a long time."
Of the three visiting teams, the Bears' fan base was the most visible and vocal throughout the regional – never more so than on Sunday night when the Bears led from the 3rd inning on in a 5-2 win over the home standing Bulldogs to force the final game. During the 8th inning many MSU fans began to file out of the stadium, in the midst of one of the many "U-C-A" chants throughout the evening.
"Our fans are great," shortstop Justin Treece said in the post game press conference. "There at the end, it seemed like we were the home team. It got loud for us – I think the loudest we've heard it all year for us. It's good when they get behind you, gives you a little extra motivation."
Even in defeat, the UCA fans made an impression. On a night when the Bears fell behind in the first inning and were shut out for 8.2 innings, both the team and fans stayed in it until the very end as the Bears scored their lone run in the 6-1 loss with two outs in the 9th.
"They kept competing all the way through," said Mississippi State's Chad Girodo, the starting pitcher in the final game. "There wasn't a moment where we thought we could let up. They're a great team and kept competing – you heard the fans still into it when we were up five."
THE WHISTLER
No Central Arkansas fan was louder – or at times more reviled – than Tom Harris (father of left fielder Ethan Harris), who gained some level of infamy amongst the Bulldog faithful for his whistling proficiency and became known simply as "The Central Arkansas Whistler".
He was featured both on video and in print, being interviewed both for the Mississippi State athletics YouTube Channel and the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
Fans can’t recognize his face. They don’t know his name. But those at Dudy Noble Field and at home alike, know his sound.
Tom Harris arrived in Starkville the father of Central Arkansas left fielder Ethan Harris, and he leaves as the “Central Arkansas Whistler.”
“‘The Whistler’ that’s really funny,” Harris said while laughing at the news of the moniker. “I don’t really like nicknames. I don’t like the limelight.”
Read more at the Clarion-Ledger
RESPECT
Before the regional even began, the Bears had the attention of much of the college baseball world, as many pundits considered the Starkville Regional to be among the most competitive regionals, if not the absolute toughest. The Bears entered as the only team in the regional outside the top 30 in RPI, and are 32nd in the Warren Nolan Power Index ranking system (Missisippi State is 14th, South Alabama 20th and Mercer 22nd), and were the only 4 seed in the tournament to have won a series against that region's 1 seed during the regular season.
Given the teams' prior meetings, Mississippi State and the Bulldog fans were very familiar with the Bears coming into the regional and the Bears had, by all accounts, their full respect. What transpired during the regional did nothing to change that, as the Bears took the Bulldogs to the wire in the opening game, won at Dudy Noble for the third time of the season and fourth over the last two, and forced the winner-take-all game before ultimately succumbing to the Bulldogs – who went on the road to sweep No. 6 national seed Virginia in the Super Regional.
During the Bears' games with Mercer and South Alabama, several otherwise neutral Mississippi State fans in attendance were overheard hoping for a Central Arkansas elimination as the Bears proved to be the toughest out for the Bulldogs. In fact, Mississippi State enters its 9th CWS appearance 25-0 in non-conference games this season against teams other than the Bears.
Among the many around Starkville with praise for the Central Arkansas program was Mississippi State coach John Cohen. Following the Bulldogs' championship win, Cohen spoke of the difficulties that come with facing the Bears.
"Central Arkansas is such a difficult team to pitch against," he said. "They take so many pitches and do a great job with the strike zone. Their hitters do, and I've said this 10 times, they do as good a job with the strike zone as any team we've played this year in the Southeastern Conference or out of the Southeastern Conference. Coach Gum and his staff have done an amazing job of creating an offense that is very difficult to pitch to. Our hats are off to those guys. They're going to make you throw the baseball in the strike zone. If you don't, they're going to put up some huge innings. They're a very good club."
JACKIE ROBINSON
In the press conference following the Bears' win over Mercer on the second day of the Starkville Regional, UCA head coach Allen Gum talked about blazing a new trail and accomplishing unprecedented things.
"When I started at Central Arkansas three years ago, I put a picture of Jackie Robinson in the locker room to represent doing things that have never been done before," he said. "I'm proud of our guys because they're continually doing things that have never been done in our program."
Among those things were earning a national ranking both during the regular season and after their run in the regional; getting their first-ever wins in the Southland Conference tournament; following with their first tournament championship and, subsequently, first berth in an NCAA regional; then picking up their first NCAA postseason wins and playing for what would have been the first Super Regional appearance for a Southland Conference team.
And when it was all said and done, the Bears had broken the program record for wins in a season, finishing with, coincidentally, 42.
THE DELAY
In the middle of the 5th inning of the Bears' game with Mercer, inclement weather rolled through the Starkville area, bringing a halt to the Bears vs Bears matchup. Though the tarp was rolled out as a precaution, only a few scattered sprinkles fell upon The Dude, and it was nearby lightning that forced a 75-minute stop in play.
During the extended break in action, UCA starter Jeffery Enloe – who took the mound again when play resumed – took a break from consciousness.
"I fell asleep for a little while," he said. "I took a little 15-minute nap. It's hard to stay focused for that long, so I just stepped out of it for a second, then stepped back into it and had to get warm again like it was the first inning."
Enloe returned to retire the side in order in the bottom of the 5th and sat Mercer down again with no runs in the 6th before giving way to Bryce Biggerstaff.
Between the delay and the teams needing 11 innings to determine a winner, the game lasted more than five hours and ran beyond the scheduled 7pm start time for the Missisippi State-South Alabama game. With a mandatory 55-minute period and stadium-clearing between games, many of the 11,124 in attendance for the late game were left standing in line outside the stadium for hours.
(click on video to pause/play)
IMPORTANCE OF ARKANSAS
Homegrown products were vital to the Bears' success throughout the season, and that trend continued throughout the regional.
The winning pitcher in each of the Central Arkansas victories was from the state, with Bryce Biggerstaff (Sherwood) getting the win over Mercer after throwing five innings of relief and allowing just one hit; Connor Gilmore (Little Rock) throwing a four-hit, complete-game shutout against South Alabama; and Ethan McKinzie (Gravette) tossing his first career complete game in the win over Mississippi State.
Ethan Harris (White Hall) had a team-high .368 batting average during the regional, reaching base 11 times with seven hits and four walks, scoring four runs and stealing three bases. Jonathan Davis (Camden) scored the winning run in the Mercer game, and for the regional had three runs and a pair of stolen bases in addition to flawless defensive play in center field. Shortstop Justin Treece (Sherwood) broke the Sunday game with Mississippi State open with a two-run double and had a pair of sacrifices.
"Our staff has made a conscious effort," Gum said of securing local talent. "We're going to start in the central part of the state, find the best, work hard to get those players and build out from there. It's big for us, for UCA, our community, and all of central Arkansas – the 501 area code – but big for the state also. That's been a conscious effort. There are a lot of guys in our area, good players there."
THE DRAFT
It wasn't just the Arkansas talent that helped the Bears to and during the regional, but a host of guys from outside the state as well, including Forrestt Allday (Friendswood, Texas) and Jeffery Enloe (Gonzales, La.), who were both selected in the MLB draft along with teammate Jonathan Davis.
Allday was selected in the 8th round by the Boston Red Sox, Davis went in the 15th round to the Toronto Blue Jays and Enloe went in the 37th round to the Padres. It was the first time that three Bears were taken in the same draft, and was the most draftees among any Southland Conference team in 2013. Allday was Central Arkansas' highest pick since 1992.
In all, there were 14 players drafted who appeared in the Starkville Regional, including seven from Mississippi State and four from South Alabama. Mississippi State's Hunter Renfroe was the first collegiate outfielder selected in the draft.
THE RUN
With the threat of their season ending in bitter disappointment with a second straight two-and-'cue showing at the Southland Conference tournament, the Bears rediscovered the formula that had made them so successful early in the season, disposing of Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Roberts (twice) and Southeastern Louisiana en route to the Southland tournament title. They then followed with another opening-game loss in the regional to Mississippi State, but bounced back with wins over Atlantic Sun champion Mercer and Sun Belt champion South Alabama, and then recorded their third win of the season against the Bulldogs to force the championship game.
It was a wild end to a roller-coaster year that saw the Bears win 18 of their 21 games before conference, stumble to a 12-15 conference record, then rally once again in the postseason. Over the course of the season, the Bears played 27 games decided by one or two runs, with 15 of their 22 losses on the season falling within that group.
"More than half our conference games were one run games or extra innings – our whole year… I don't know how I have hair left," Gum said following the 11-inning, 6-5 win over Mercer. "I'm aging in dog years. I bet we played half our games just like that. No doubt, in our dugout, we're used to it. One-run, tight games, is standard. Having those elimination games (at the Southland tournament) no doubt helped us. There wasn't panic or anything like that. We've been there, been in a lot of those, and the guys have held strong and been resilient and grinded it out. We've won some big ones, lost some big ones, but we've experienced everything this season."
THE END
After dodging elimination for five games in the Southland Conference tournament and then three games in the Starkville Regional, the Bears' good fortunes finally ran out on their ninth life, marking the final game for the greatest team Central Arkansas has ever put on the field.
"No question it's the best team," Gum said in the press conference following the final loss to the Bulldogs. "I don't know about the best talent, but it's the best team. And the toughest guys. That's how we got to this point. We didn't pitch our way here, hit our way here or defend our way here. We toughed our way here. We've got tough guys who love each other. They grinded it out, that's how we got to this point. The best talent? I don't think so. But the best team? No doubt about it."
While Biggerstaff has a season of eligibility remaining, Allday's short stay in a Central Arkansas uniform is done. And though the journey ended earlier than they wanted, he – along with fellow seniors Ethan Harris, Blake Marchal, Ethan McKinzie, Clint Green, Garrett Brown, Michael Marietta, Caleb McClanahan, Jeffery Enloe and John Kordsmeier, plus junior draftee Jonathan Davis – departs having taken the program to places many thought beyond possible … Allday himself included.
"Honestly, no," he said when asked by a reporter if he ever imagined being in a position to play for a regional championship. "I thought we had a chance to win the conference, but we brought it and did things nobody thought was possible – even myself. It's been eye-opening and really great.
"It's been a ride – the best team in school history," he said in the post game press conference. "It's been a great season, the team's like a family. It's kind of hard right now, I'm holding tears back, but it was a great season. No regrets."
"It was a great season for us," added Biggerstaff. "Like Coach Gum says, doing things that have never been done before. We did a lot of things never done in UCA's history, and looking back many years later, there are going to be great memories from this season for sure. I'll remember how we fought so hard and won eight straight elimination games. We dug ourselves a hole early in the conference tournament and fought back to win five straight, that was awesome – a memory I'll remember the rest of my life. Same in the regional - we lost the first game but fought back to the championship game. This team fought so hard. Every season comes to an end, but it was a good year."
