Winning Streak reaches 5 as @UDallasBaseball sweeps Doubleheader over Pirates
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas baseball team (9-5) continued its surge over Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opponents by taking two wins to claim the non-conference series over Southwestern University (1-12) on Saturday. The Crusaders scored five unanswered runs, with four coming in the first two innings to start the three-game set with a 5-2 triumph. Dallas snagged a 4-1 result in the second contest.
Game 1 Recap
Both teams got a run in the first inning. Southwestern went ahead on a Zach Lynch single to left field that plated Jake Pawelek. Junior Trevor Keele (Edgewood, Texas) erased the deficit in the home half with a single down the left field line to score senior Mark Carlson (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.). Carlson finished with a team-high two hits (2-3), RBI, and run scored.
A trio of runs in the bottom of the second for the Crusaders proved to be the difference. Freshman Patrick Stratton (Grand Prairie, Texas) broke the tie affair with a single through the left side to score sophomore Alex Benza (Lewisville, Texas). An error on Stratton's knock allowed junior Zack Boylson (Fairview, Texas) to score on the same play. Boylson had doubled after Benza led off the frame with a walk. That two-bagger was UD's only extra base hit of the game. Senior Alex Thornton (Fort Worth, Texas) plated the final run of that inning with a single to center field.
The Crusaders added a run in the fourth to extend the edge 5-1. Southwestern cut the margin with a run in sixth. Despite being outhit 9-7, Dallas rode the momentum of that second inning and errorless defense to secure its fourth win in a row.
Junior Martin Cronin (The Woodlands, Texas) improved to 4-1 in six innings of two-run ball. The starter scattered seven hits, walked two, and struck out three. Freshman Blake Palmer (Coppell, Texas) picked up his first career save. Southwestern's Jacob Kendra took the loss in one inning of the start. Jeremy Rice allowed an unearned run on two hits in the last five frames.
Game 2 Recap
The Crusaders scored the first four runs of the ballgame and cruised to a 4-1 win that secured the series win at home. Both of UD's home three-game sets have been won with the squad winning the first two games of each slate. The Crusaders winning streak is now also five straight.
It was a scoreless game until the third. The Crusaders got a hit from Villanueva to score Pierce and break the knotted result. Boylson doubled for the second time on the day and first of the game increase the edge by two. Benza scored on that play. Carlson had the pivotal base knock in the seventh that scored Boylson and Benza to open a 4-0 edge. Both runs were unearned as the Pirates committed both of their errors in that frame.
Ketchum Marsh got the guests on the board in the eighth to avoid the shutout but even with nine hits, that was all the Pirates mustered.
Boylson produced a 2-for-3 showing with an RBI and run scored. He had the only multiple hit game for the Navy and White. The first five hitters all had a base knock for Dallas. Freshman Evan Eubanks (West, Texas) stayed perfect and tied the team-lead for wins with Cronin at four. Eubanks tossed six shutout frames and allowed four hits and a walk. He struck out two. Keele earned his third save despite allowing two hits in the ninth.
Dallas will go for another three-game sweep over an SCAC opponent in consecutive weekends on Sunday.