PREVIEW: Baseball vs. Millikin University (3/15)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
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FIRST PITCH
The University of Dallas baseball team will play Millikin University on Wednesday to conclude a season-long, nine-game homestand. The Crusaders are 7-11 this season overall and 6-9 against non-conference foes. First pitch against the Big Blue will be at 12 p.m. Game one is seven innings, while the second contest of the double dip is scheduled nine.
Dallas is coming off a pair of setbacks Sunday against Texas Lutheran University. The Crusaders fell in a tightly contested 3-1 final before being blanked 11-0 through seven. Despite dropping the three-game series, the Crusaders won 5-4 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opener on Saturday.
UD NOTES
- Seth Hanson (Apache Junction, Ariz.) continues his hot start with a .352 batting average. Even though he was hitless Sunday, the sophomore added four hits and combined to score five runs in the last two games prior on this home stretch.
- Hanson and Mark Peterson (Cincinnati, Ohio) each homered recently to deadlock in a tie on the team. Slotting three and four in the lineup the past couple outings, the tandem rank tied for 2nd in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and tied 3rd in SCAC for their trio of dingers.
- Hanson also leads the squad in hits (19), doubles (4), and runs batted in (15).
- Jordan Stickler (Grand Rapids, Mich.) is second in base knocks with 16 and is hitting north of .300 (.314) for a personal best. He has swiped 10 stolen bases for 2nd in the USCAA and 3rd in the SCAC.
- JP Fasone (Englewood, Colo.) has smacked 15 hits to round out the top three. Josh Abalos and he (Lewisville, Texas) have been blazing on the basepaths with eight and seven steals, respectively.
- Fasone had reached base safely in seven straight before the series finale Sunday.
- Abraham Griesbauer (Troy, Mo.) has been effective his last 5.2 innings over three appearances. All of those occurred in a row during this homestand. The lefty has also fanned five. He picked up a win during those first two decisions in a row to give him a team-high three. That amount is tied for 2nd in the USCAA and 3rd in SCAC.
- Cole Morden (Arlington, Texas) surrendered his first run since his first appearance of the campaign over a month ago. Still he threw 2.2 innings of relief and maintained an earned run average under 2.00 (1.86).
- Zachary Taylor (Humble, Texas) has combined for seven strikeouts in his last five innings. This included retiring the side via punch out on Sunday.
SCOUTING MILLIKIN UNIVERSITY
- Big Blue sits 7-3 on the campaign.
- They have won four straight, with the most recent two games on this Texas road trip featuring 16 runs. On Tuesday Millikin prevailed 16-5 at LeTourneau University, and then Wednesday the bats edged Hardin-Simmons in a high scoring final (16-11).
- So far the team from Decatur, Illinois, has yet to play a home contest.
- Jake Drada and Mason Bruce each have 18 base hits. Seth Coffey and Devin Crews are the other players with double-digit knocks at 12 and 11, respectively.
- Julian Gutierrez racked up six RBI on Tuesday to propel him into a tie for the team lead (13) along with Bruce.
- Millikin has combined for 27 hits in the last two games.
- The pitching staff has combined for a 4.69 ERA.
- Four pitchers have surpassed 10 innings with one of them being a primary reliever (Ben Peters).
- The staff has struck out 63 while walking 37.
- Wednesday's twinbill is the first ever meeting between these programs.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Dallas resumes SCAC play the next two weekends away at Austin College (18-19) and Centenary College (25-26).