Gaspar Drive in Six in Loss to St. Thomas
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas baseball team lost their conference series opener with St. Thomas on Friday. They fall to 3-13 in conference play and 9-22 overall on the year.
Game Information - Dallas 9, St. Thomas 12
WP: Landon Murray (4-4)
LP: Graeme Williams (2-2)
SV: Josh Middleton (1)
Things got off to a bumpy start for Dallas. With two outs, the Celts brought in a pair of runs on two walks and two hits to take an early 2-0 lead in the first. That lead then ballooned to 5-0 when a pop fly that should have ended the inning fell between three fielders, none of whom called for the ball, and cleared the bases, bringing home three more runs. The Crusaders pulled one back with a sac fly by Andrew Womack in the bottom half of the inning.
The action screeched to a halt after that, as both Graeme Williams and Landon Murray settled into a groove, neither one allowing a hit over the next three innings. The Celts did more damage with two outs in the fifth, as Erik Garza hit a three-run home run to make it 8-1. A hit batter and three straight hits brought in three more runs for St. Thomas in the sixth, seemingly putting the game out of reach for Dallas with an 11-1 lead.
However, in the bottom of the sixth, it was Dallas' turn for a two-out rally. Jonathan Morales brought home the Crusaders' second run with a bases-loaded single, but it was Andrew Gaspar who turned the game on its head with a two-out grand slam, making it an 11-6 game. He wasn't done either, as he brought in two more runs with an RBI single up the middle as part of a three-run eighth inning, bringing his total on the day to six runs batted in and making it an 11-9 game going into the ninth.
That would be it for Dallas, though, as Knight Newcomb made it 12-9 with a solo home run and the Crusaders were set down in order.
Gaspar went 3-4 with six RBI's, tying Jon Talley for the most RBI's in a single game by a Crusader this season. The solo homer by Newcomb was also the only hit allowed by Seth Medley, who put in a solid 3.2 innings of relief.
The series concludes with a double header on Saturday, with game one slated for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch. The Crusaders will be celebrating their 2022 senior class at 11:30 a.m., and their alumni in between games one and two.