Magical Ride Ends For Musketeers In Nashville
By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
It was a few minutes after UC Santa Barbara had ended Xavier’s season with a 14-5 victory in the Nashville Regional championship game. The Gauchos had already enjoyed their on-field dog pile celebration and the two teams had finished exchanging congratulatory handshakes when Xavier seniors Daniel Rizzie and Andre Jernigan gave each other a hug before exiting the field for the final time in their collegiate careers.
It was about two close friends saying thanks and good-bye at the same time.
“I’ve been living with Andre for four years now” said Rizzie, the Musketeers senior catcher. “It was a great time and he’s been a great roommate and teammate and we just said we enjoyed doing every minute of it together. It was a fun ride and a special group to be around.”
And a special Xavier team.
These Musketeers accomplished something no other Xavier team had as it won not only the BIG EAST regular-season crown, but then went on to win its second BIG EAST tournament title in three seasons before winning two NCAA Regional games and advancing to the Nashville Regional championship round.
So even in a season that ended with a loss, there were plenty of positives along the way.
“The first thing I told them after the game was how proud I was of them for what they accomplished this year,” said Xavier coach Scott Googins, the leader of the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year this season. “We started the year 0-7, but the seniors held it together and we battled through some things, but to win the regular season title and the tournament, that was big. And then to win two games and get to the regional final, I was really proud of them. It was a great year. I wish we would have won a couple of more games but we persevered through a lot and I think it made us better ballplayers and better people for it.”
Xavier began the tournament with a 15-1 victory over No. 1 seed Vanderbilt, which was also dealing with tragedy over the loss of sophomore pitcher Donny Everett, who drowned during a fishing trip last Thursday. Then following a 5-4 loss to Santa Barbara, the Musketeers rebounded by eliminating Washington, 7-5, before finally being eliminated by the Gauchos Monday afternoon. But despite not moving on to the Super Regionals, it was an unforgettable experience for Xavier players and coaches alike.
“It was awesome. Vanderbilt did an unbelievable job running a first-class regional,” Googins said. “They had great crowds. They were very accommodating and they helped us out with a lot of things. It was a great experience, not only for our guys but for me too. (Vanderbilt coach) Tim Corbin was unbelievable even while dealing with the tragedy. He still ran things the right way. He’s unbelievable for sure.”
“It was awesome. A little better this go around from the time we went in 2014 because we knew what to expect and we felt we were a better team this time,” Rizzie said. “We’re definitely going to enjoy the championships and the two regional wins. It’s the first time a Xavier team has won two regional games. It’s kind of a nice legacy to leave behind for the younger guys and hope that they can continue that in their years to come.”
The Musketeers had to defeat Santa Barbara twice Monday in order to advance to the Super Regional in Louisville and when they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, it had the look of a promising afternoon, at least until the fourth inning hit and the Gauchos erupted for nine runs. Xavier could never recover.
“It was a plus to be ahead for sure early in the game, but we had a long way to go,” Googins said. “But we didn’t see that fourth inning coming. We had been playing pretty good baseball and we felt pretty good coming into the game. But when you give up a nine-spot it’s pretty hard offensively to chase a team with that lead. If they put up a five-spot it’s a little bit different, you’re down just 5-2 and you have a good chance of getting back into the game. But I was proud of our guys. They came to play.”
Rizzie said despite the hole Xavier found itself in, there was no quit in the Musketeers.
“It definitely takes the wind out of your sails a little bit, but we just had to keep fighting, scratch and claw and do anything you can to get back into the game,” Rizzie said. “We had some opportunities but we just weren’t able to capitalize. But we never gave up, we just tried to lay it all out on the line.”
After Xavier’s magical run ended Monday, Googins said there was the expected sadness in the Musketeers’ locker room but that his team, with all it had accomplished this season, was not devastated by the defeat.
“Obviously it was mixed emotions. It hurt and in the end they were disappointed but we have three great seniors who provided great leadership,” Googins said, speaking of Rizzie, Jernigan and David Morton. “But it was tough. It was a bitter pill to swallow but it’s part of the game. I thought they handled it well. I don’t know because of the score if there was a an emotional letdown like what you get if you get beat by a walk-off or if you lose a close game. But I thought they handled it well.”
Now Googins is left with the chore of trying to find replacements for Rizzie, his stellar catcher, and Jernigan, the BIG EAST Player of the Year while his two seniors will head home to see where they will be selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft which commences Thursday night.
“Those are some big shoes to fill,” Googins said. “We lose our starting catcher and he did a lot of stuff on the field in terms of defense. And we lose out shortstop who turned a lot of hits into outs for us. They will be big shoes to fill but that’s what every ballclub faces, that’s the challenge.”
Rizzie had just gotten off the bus ride home to Cincinnati Tuesday afternoon when he was asked if it had sunk in yet that his career was over. It was kind of yes and no.
“It’s sunk in a little bit but I don’t think it will sink in fully until we turn our uniforms in and you clean out your locker and clean out your apartment,” Rizzie said. “But it’s been an awesome, awesome four years. Now I’ll head home Thursday and try to be home by the time the draft starts (6 p.m. ET). But I’m going to enjoy these regional tournament wins for a couple of days and then I’ll focus in on the draft.”
And what if both he and Jernigan, his teammate and roommate, are selected on the same day?
“We talk about it,” Rizzie said. “We say it’s pretty cool that we both came in as freshmen not knowing each other and we go out potentially getting drafted on the back end.”