PREVIEW: Baseball at Texas Lutheran University (4/7 -4/8)
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GAME INFORMATION
Dates: April 7th (9 innings) (DH) | April 8th (9 innings)
Times: April 7th starts at 12 p.m. | April 8th starts at 1 p.m.
Opponent: Texas Lutheran University
Records: Texas Lutheran (21-7, 3-3 SCAC) | Dallas (9-17, 1-7 SCAC)
Location: Seguin, Texas, Katt-Isbel Field
FIRST PITCH
The University of Dallas baseball team opens a three-game road series with Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opponent Texas Lutheran University this weekend. A twinbill starts the series on Saturday with the finale on Sunday.
Dallas has reached the halfway point of conference play, and is seeking its first series wins. After falling in its second extra-inning contest this year (both 11 inn.) to Austin College, the Crusaders late comeback was not enough in a 7-6 final during game two. The Crusaders did cruise to an 11-1 victory in the latest outing. Seth Hanson (Apache Junction, Ariz.) belted two home runs and drove in a career-high five runs.
UDCRUSADERS HEADLINES
- Nathan Patton (McKinney, Texas) remains the top batting average in the SCAC with a .454-clip. He surpassed his personal-high from 2017 (39) over the last series with seven total to increase his team-high total to 44. The third baseman also has eight doubles, 32 RBI, and 28 runs scored.
- Jordan Stickler (Grand Rapids, Mich.) continues his amazing on-base streak with 57 now overall since last season. Last weekend he recorded a hit in all appearances, and hit safely in 11 out of 16 contests in March. He maintained his league lead in steals (21), walks (28), and hit by pitches (9).
- Hanson pair of homers on Saturday increased his total to six, which ranks second in the conference. That mark surpassed last season's team leader Paul Scioli (Lubbock, Texas) by one. Trevor Keele is the last player for UD to clobber six long balls in a campaign ('13).
- Zachary Taylor (Humble, Texas) and Josh Abalos (Lewisville, Texas) are tied for third on the squad in total hits with 23 apiece. Taylor is also third behind Hanson's 18 runs-batted-in with 16.
- Since returning to the lineup two weeks ago, Luke Boylson (Fairview, Texas) has combined for nine hits, a pair of doubles and home runs, and eight RBI.
- On the mound, Dallas is led by Conrad Voss (Corona, Calif.) with 31 strikeouts. Tyler Montemayor (Boerne, Texas) is second with 28, and fellow starter Jamie Wallace (Crocket, Texas) has fanned 25 to round out the trio with at least 20 punch outs.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Photo Gallery vs. Austin College (Games 1 and 2 on March 30th)
- Photo Gallery vs. Austin College (Game 2 on March 31st)
BY THE NUMBERS
- Overall Series: Dallas is 8-17
- The Crusaders walked off on TLU in Irving during the SCAC Opener (5-4) in 2017 before dropping the next two games.
- In 2016, the Bulldogs swept the three-game conference series in Seguin. UD won a non-conference series at home earlier in that season.
A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS
- Texas Lutheran reached No. 12 in the D3baseball.com Poll two weeks ago.
- The Bulldogs were edged by No. 1 Trinity University last weekend in two-of-three games to move down to .500. They since also dropped a 6-5 game on Wednesday to UMHB.
- TLU holds a 15-6 record at the friendly confines.
- As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting a .304 batting average.
- Riley Schaefer paces the team with 52 hits, eight doubles, two triples, and five RBI. His slash line is .448/.492./.681
- Tyler Cauley is the league leader in home runs with eight. He also is the top run producer with 38 runs driven in. A quartet of players have achieved at least eight doubles, led by Eric Rabinowitz with nine.
- The pitching staff has been effective with a 2.90 earned-run-average. Nathan Malinovsky and Dylan Drgac have combined to go 12-2 in 20 appearances (15 starts) with five complete games. Malinovsky adds two saves and owns the best ERA at 0.67. Drgac also has been great with a 1.92 ERA.
UP NEXT
Dallas takes a break from conference play on April 13th-14th. The Crusaders face local non-NCAA opponent, Dallas Christian College. Friday the teams will play a single game at Crusader Field, and then a twinbill will be played the following day up the road.