Crusaders Dominate Southwestern in Game One of Conference Play

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas baseball team opened conference play against Southwestern University on Saturday.  They defeated the Pirates 10-0 to improve to 10-7 on the year.

Dallas 10, Southwestern 0 (7 Innings)

WP: Dylan Krause (3-0)

LP: Carson Brown (2-1)

After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the bats quickly came alive for Dallas.  The Crusaders jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on five hits in the second inning, then doubled their lead with four runs on five hits in the third.

By the end of the third, Andrew Gaspar and Teagan Mansfield each had a pair of hits to their name; Gaspar drove in a pair, and Mansfield a trio of Crusaders.

The fourth and fifth innings were quiet, but Dallas made it a 10-run game with a pair of runs in the sixth. Tyler Darnell lead off the inning with a towering homer to left field, his first of the season and the second of his career.  Austin Birkhoff drove in Caleb Hohman with a single, now leaving Southwestern with just three outs to score off Dylan Krause to stay alive.

Krause got four outs in the top of the seventh; he struck out Preston Witt for what should have been the final out of the game, but his breaking ball in the dirt went to the backstop, allowing him to reach first.  An easy groundout ended the inning and the game.

Krause was near untouchable, holding the Pirates to just four hits and striking out 11 batters in seven shutout innings.  

This was the biggest conference win for the Crusaders since March 2022, when they also opened conference play with a 10-run margin of victory, doing so against Austin College.

The series will conclude tomorrow (March 19) with a double-header.  Game one is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch.