@UDallasBaseball Sweeps Saturday’s Doubleheader to open Non-Conference Series
SHREVEPORT, La. – The University of Dallas Baseball team utilized strong pitching performances to limit Centenary College of Louisiana to a single run in a 4-1 and 2-1 doubleheader sweep on Saturday. Playing at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) foe's home field, Sheehee Stadium, The Crusaders moved to over .500 for the first time since winning on opening day at 6-5. The Gents fell to 3-5.
Game 1 Recap
The Crusaders engineered a three-run inning during their first at bat of the game, and held on as Centenary only crossed once in the third inning despite outhitting its foe 8-7. Dallas jumped in front with junior Trevor Keele (Edgewood, Texas) singling in a pair of runs with one out. He advanced to second on the throw and moved over to third on a single by sophomore Denton Martin (Denton, Texas). Sophomore Alex Benza (Lewisville, Texas) knocked Keele in on a sacrifice fly to round out the trio of runs.
Centenary cut the margin to 3-1 in the third inning as Taylor Reed singled in Chris Jones. Jones was perfect at the plate going 3-for-3. He and Reed combined to go 5-for-7, but UD's hurler Martin Cronin (The Woodlands, Texas) limited the damage but making the home team strand eight. Cronin pitched a seven-inning complete game and improved to 3-1. Centenary's Layton Tromba (1-1) was saddled in three innings. Holden Novak allowed a hit and walk through the remainder.
Overall UD was led by senior Mark Carlson (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) with a 3-for-4 display and the team's lone extra base hit with a double. Martin also had a 2-for-3 showing and scored a run. Four of the top five hitters in Dallas' lineup all came home this game, including the heart of the order.
Game 2 Recap
In the second contest of the day, both Dallas and the Gents scored once within the first five innings. Senior Alex Thornton (Fort Worth, Texas) provided the game-winning single in the sixth inning to lift the Crusaders in front 2-1.
Four pitchers for Dallas combined to limit the Maroon and White to a run on seven hits in nine innings. This included three relievers finishing the last three frames after freshman Evan Eubanks (West, Texas) remained perfect on his record with three wins in six innings of work. His final line included five hits, a run, three walks, and a strikeout. Keele earned the save (2) by retiring all four batters he faced to lock down the ending.
The one blemish for Eubanks was hitting Christian Sebastien to start the fifth. He stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Brooks Williams singled him home to tie the game at one.
The Crusaders had led all the way up to that juncture since they scored in the first inning. It was the fourth run overall on the day the Crusaders scored in their first at bat. After taking the early advantage, Centenary got back even for the first time in the series. In the top of the sixth, Thornton picked up his only hit of the game, and only one-of-four from the team as sophomore Rene Vargas Jr. (San Antonio, Texas) came home after starting the inning by reaching on an error. Centenary had three miscues overall, and two were costly as both UD runs came unearned.
Keele had half of the road team's hits going 2-for-4. Michael Schimpf for the Gents had a 3-for-4 and the only spark for their offense in Williams went 2-for-2.
The Crusaders go for the sweep on Sunday.