LAFAYETTE, La. 鈥 After entering the postgame interview room Monday afternoon, Jay Johnson was asked to make an opening statement about his team鈥檚 6-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. The normally loquacious 蜜柚直播 coach didn鈥檛 have much to say beyond these two words:
鈥Nathan Bannister.鈥
The senior right-hander had just helped the Wildcats win a second consecutive elimination game in the NCAA鈥檚 Lafayette Regional with a heroic performance. Three days after throwing 96 pitches in 蜜柚直播鈥檚 regional-opening victory over Sam Houston State, Bannister pitched into the eighth inning in sweltering heat and under extreme pressure.
He exited with a three-run lead and with another 102 pitches having been thrown. His teammates greeted him outside the dugout with handshakes, glove taps and fist bumps. The crowd at M.L. 鈥淭igue鈥 Moore Field 鈥 mostly consisting of Ragin鈥 Cajuns fans 鈥 gave him a standing ovation.
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鈥淭his guy鈥檚 the national pitcher of the year. I don鈥檛 care what anybody says,鈥 Johnson said of Bannister, who improved to 11-2 and was named the regional鈥檚 most outstanding player.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not one person in the country that is more valuable to their team鈥檚 success in 2016 than Nathan.鈥
It took four years at the UA 鈥 and a newfound devotion to conditioning 鈥 for Bannister to become the Wildcats鈥 staff ace.
It took until the seventh inning of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 elimination game against Sam Houston State on Sunday night for Johnson to decide Bannister would start on two days鈥 rest.
鈥淚t was a pretty easy decision once we knew he was OK and willing,鈥 Johnson said.
Bannister said Saturday鈥檚 rainout helped him get ready. He was able to lift and condition at the team hotel.
He had done something like this once before, as a senior at Liberty High in Peoria. But as Bannister noted: 鈥淭hat was four years ago. A lot can change.鈥
The way teams handle pitchers has changed over the years. Many baseball analysts and medical experts would consider Bannister throwing 198 pitches in a four-day span an unnecessary risk 鈥 even a reckless act.
鈥淚 would never compromise anything with him or his future unless we had 100 percent conviction and commitment to completing this task,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淭he other thing is, he鈥檚 a little bit bigger than me, and if I didn鈥檛 let him pitch, I might get pummeled into the ground.鈥
Bannister said he wasn鈥檛 sore after the game. He didn鈥檛 have an ice pack on his arm.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty much going off adrenaline now,鈥 Bannister said.
It carried him through seven-plus innings of three-run, winning baseball.
Small ball
In many ways, the second game between the teams was the opposite of the first.
In their first meeting, on Sunday, the Ragin鈥 Cajuns jumped to a 3-0 lead, played from ahead throughout and kept the pressure on the Wildcats with persistent small-ball execution.
蜜柚直播 flipped the script in Monday鈥檚 early game.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the first and two in the second. They executed six sacrifice bunts in the game, including three successful squeeze bunts. Shortstop Louis Boyd had three sacrifices and drove in two runs with safety squeeze bunts up the first-base line.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very good bunting team. We knew that,鈥 Ragin鈥 Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux said. 鈥淭he problem with the bunt is when you start to mishandle it. That鈥檚 when an inning can spin out of control on you.鈥
On two of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 bunt attempts, Louisiana-Lafayette failed to get outs. ULL got two outs to end the first inning when the Wildcats attempted the double squeeze that the Ragin鈥 Cajuns pulled off Sunday. Bobby Dalbec got the bunt down to score Alfonso Rivas III, but ULL second baseman Joe Robbins threw out Ryan Aguilar at the plate.
Inside pitch
鈥 Four other Wildcats made the all-regional team: Aguilar, Dalbec, outfielder Zach Gibbons and catcher Cesar Salazar.
鈥 Bannister became the first 蜜柚直播 pitcher to reach 11 wins in a season since 2012, when Kurt Heyer (13) and Konner Wade (11) did it.
鈥 Junior Kevin Ginkel earned his third save of the season in Monday鈥檚 first game, pitching 1潞 scoreless innings. He entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth and got ULL鈥檚 Kennon Fontenot to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
