Crusaders Baseball wins SCAC Series at Schreiner University with 10-inning Final
KERRVILLE, Texas - The University of Dallas Crusaders baseball team concluded their first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) series against opponent Schreiner University. Dallas took the series by winning the tie breaking game on Sunday by the score of 10-8. After falling behind 5-1 after three innings, UD had a critical six-run fourth inning. Dallas would go on to win in the 10th as Max Costello (Anchorage, Alaska) and Tyler Darnell (Southlake, Texas) drove in the winning runs.
(Game Information (F/10 Innings))
Team Scores: Dallas (10) Schreiner (8)
Team Records: Dallas (4-8) Schreiner (6-10)
Pitcher Records: W) Jon Talley (1-1), L) Isaiah Hernandez (0-1)
Schreiner started off the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first. After three straight walks, Reece Hohhertz hit a sacrifice fly to left followed by back-to-back singles by Jeff Williams and Devin Hooper.
Dallas got their first run of the game in the second inning as Costello doubled to drive in Zach Taylor (Humble, Texas) to make the score 3-1.
Schreiner answered back in the bottom of the inning, as with two on and one out Josh Gilliam grounded into a fielder's choice to score Chance Goins to put Schreiner back up by three, 4-1.
Schreiner added another run in the third as after a single by Williams, a balk and a single by Hooper, Steve Gomez hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Williams.
Dallas rallied back in the fourth inning as Taylor led off the inning reaching base on an error by first baseman Hohhertz. Grady Birmingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) then doubled and Matt Celentano (Keller, Texas) singled to score Taylor. Birmingham then scored on a passed ball during the next at-bat. Costello then struck out, Darnell singled and Joe Vondrachek (North St. Paul, Minn.) singled to score Celentano. Michael Anderson (Denver, Colo.) then reached base on an error by second baseman Gomez and Darnell scored. Nathan Patton (McKinney, Texas) then doubled in both Vondrachek and Anderson to give the Crusaders a 7-5 lead.
Dallas tacked on another run in the seventh as Birmingham hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Ross Lowe (Lewisville, Texas).
Schreiner then closed the gap in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth inning, the Mountaineers scored one run on a sacrifice to third by Joseph to score Raine Uecker. In the ninth inning, Schreiner loaded the bases with no outs on a hit batsman, a walk and single. Hooper then hit a sacrifice fly to foul territory in right field to score Gilliam, and after Isaiah Hernandez struck out and Williams stole second, Gerardo Cardoza singled up the middle to score Keller Driskill. Schreiner was denied the win on the same play as shortstop Darnell knocked down the ball behind second to keep the ball in the infield. Williams aggressively tried to score and was thrown out at the plate on the throw by Darnell to Lowe.
After the game moved to the 10th inning, Birmingham led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and Zach Saloman (Oklahoma City, Okla.) walked. Costello then sacrificed to first to score Birmingham, and after Saloman advanced to third on a balk Darnell drove in Saloman on a single.
In the bottom of the 10th, Jon Talley (Pineville, La.) who came on in relief in the ninth made short work of the Mountaineers with a three up, three down inning. He earned his first career save in Saturday's win, and would be creditied the win to move to 1-1.
Ethan Mann (Southlake, Texas) threw the most innings for UD on a day that six pitchers were used. The freshman hurled 3.1 innings and did not allow a run while striking out three.
UD had big numbers by several Crusaders in the series, led by Lowe who played in all three games and went 8-13 with a duble, a triple, four RBIs, four runs scored and two walks as well as catching a runner stealing in game one.
Vondrachek continued his hot hitting with a series high six RBIs.
Michael Jaquez (Irving, Texas), who played in just the first two games of the series, went 6-10 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and five runs scored.
Birmingham played in games one and three and went 5-8 with two doubles, five RBIs, four runs scored and two walks.
Dallas won their conference opening series for the first time since 2015 when they won two out of three against Schreiner, doing so in the same fashion as this year by winning games two and three.
Dallas also won their first extra inning conference game on the road since 2014 when they won 9-8 in 10 innings against Trinity.
UD's 30 series' runs in the most UD has scored in a conference series since UD scored 39 against Austin College in 2019.
Also, UD's 15 runs in game two ties for the most amount of runs scored against a conference opponent since UD joined the SCAC in 2012. The other time was against Austin College in 2012 at Sherman in which UD won in 7 innings 15-0.
Dallas will be back home this weekend as they take on the Pirates of Southwestern in a three game series. Game times will be at noon and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 27 and noon on Sunday, March 28.