Baseball drops Two at Texas Lutheran on Saturday
SEGUIN, Texas – The University of Dallas baseball team dropped two decisions on Saturday at Texas Lutheran University. Great starts from the Bulldogs in both games helped keep a usually high-scoring Dallas offense limited to four combined runs. Both hurlers allowed a run to the Crusaders and combined for 17 innings pitched.
TLU was able to give its arms plenty of support too, as the team reached double-digits in hits both games. Dallas stayed within striking distance in game one, but two frames that the Bulldogs scored at least three runs propelled them to a large advantage.
After an early lead was equalized in the third of game two, a four-run inning followed the next time that lifted the home team ahead for good to claim the series win.
(Game 1 Information)
Team Scores: Dallas (1), Texas Lutheran (8)
Team Records: Dallas (9-18, 2-8 SCAC), Texas Lutheran (22-6, 4-3 SCAC)
Pitcher Records: W) Drgac (7-1), L) Voss (3-6)
One of the big innings was in the bottom of the first inning, with Cole Irby and Matthew Lemon singling for big run-scoring plays. Irby followed a lead-off single and walk with his base knock to right center that scored Riley Schaefer. Two strikeouts with a walk in between brought Lemon up with the bases loaded. He dropped in a two-out hit in right to make it 3-0 on the two ribbies.
Dallas was able to escape the inning by squandering a double-steal attempt by the Bulldogs as Thomas Varner was caught stealing at home after a throw down to second.
Varner would double to center in the fifth to score Tyler Cauley and stretch that TLU lead to four.
The Crusaders were hitless through five innings, and opposing starter Dylan Drgac retired 15-of-16 battings at that juncture. The lone runner for UD during that span was Jessup Scott (Lewiston, Idaho), who reached on an error in the fourth.
Michael Ilardi (Atascocita, Texas) and Joseph Vondrachek (North St. Paul, Minn.) led off the sixth with back-to-back single to break up the no-hit bid. Two hitters later, Scott singled to center and ended the shutout chance as well. A walk to Nathan Patton (McKinney, Texas) loaded the bags, but a double play spoiled the Crusaders best inning of the contest.
Drgac finished a complete game, with three of his four hits yielded in that sixth inning. He only allowed one other with two outs in the ninth to Luke Boylson (Fairview, Texas). The rest of the starter's gem included: one run, one walk, and eight strikeouts.
Four runs in the seventh broke the game open for the Bulldogs, as a bases-clearing double by Andrew Whitten highlighted the inning. TLU was paced by Cauley (3-5) and Varner (3-4) with the most hits in the game. Varner (2), Schaefer, Whitten, and Eric Rabinowitz notched a combined four doubles, and Cauley contributed a triple.
Conrad Voss (Corona, Calif.) was saddled with the loss. In 5.1 innings, he allowed four runs on nine hits to go with four walks and five strikeouts. Andrew Magness (San Antonio, Texas) threw the remaining 2.2 innings of relief.
Jordan Stickler (Grand Rapids, Mich.) did not reach base for the first time this spring, which also snapped his 57 consecutive game to reach safely dating back to February 19th, 2017, in a neutral site game with LaGrange College in the Millsaps Tournament.
(Game 2 Information)
Team Scores: Dallas (3), Texas Lutheran (7)
Team Records: Dallas (9-19, 2-9 SCAC), Texas Lutheran (23-6, 5-3 SCAC)
Pitcher Records: W) Malinovsky (7-1), L) Anderson (1-4)
Stickler started things off with a walk and hustled to second on a fly out to center two hitters later. Mark Peterson (Cincinnati, Ohio) drove him in on a single to left to give the Crusaders their first lead of the series.
A bases-loaded walk to Cauley in the home half of the third knotted things up. TLU went on top an inning later as five hits helped boast the four-run frame. An error by relief pitcher Jamie Wallace allowed Spencer Brandt to score the leading run. Austin Colon followed with a single to left center to plate a pair. Cauley's sacrifice fly out plated Colon later to round out the big inning.
Two more runs in the bottom of the seventh extended the Bulldogs lead to six runs (7-1).
Dallas narrowly got outhit 10-9 in this game, but left 10 runners on base. Stickler singled to center to bring in Vondrachek in what would be a two-run ninth for the Crusaders. Peterson added his second RBI to finish off the final score.
Stickler, Peterson, and Vondrachek formed a trio that went 2-for-4 at the plate this game. Scott, Peterson, and Seth Hanson (Apache Junction, Ariz.) doubled, while Vondrachek legged out his first career triple. The top three hitters in UD's lineup: Stickler, Scott, and Patton (2) combined for all four walks drawn.
TLU's Nathan Malinovsky tossed eight innings. The starter scattered seven hits and worked around three walks. For the second time that day, a starting arm fanned eight. The lone run he allowed in the first was earned.
Varner led the Bulldogs offense with a 3-for-4 game, with one of the team's three doubles. Cauley ripped a two-RBI triple for his only hit, but reached twice via a free pass.
Austin Anderson (Waxahachie, Texas) logged three innings in the Dallas start. He was charged three runs (2 earned) in the loss. Jamie Wallace (Crocket, Texas) followed with four innings thrown, and William Bresnahan (Windham, N.H.) threw his third consecutive scoreless inning in the past two weekends.
UP NEXT
Dallas concludes the series with the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Sunday.