Pirates Take Series as Crusaders Drop Two

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas baseball team lost both games of their conference double-header against Southwestern University on Sunday.  They fall to 10-9 overall on the year and open conference play at 1-2.

GAME 1 - Dallas 5, Southwestern 6

WP: Stephen Rutherford (1-0)

LP: Adrian Montenegro (0-2)

The Pirates were off to their buccaneering ways early, as Josh Endo led off the game with a single and promptly stole second.  But he effetively ran the Priates out of the inning, getting tossed out trying to steal third by Teagan Mansfield.

Dallas nearly got on the board first, with runners on first and third and two outs in the bottom of the first, but would make nothing of it.

After three scoreless innings, Southwestern broke the deadlock with a two-out RBI single to make it 1-0.  They added two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh to take a 5-0 lead, having held the Crusaders scoreless and allowed just five hits in that time.

Southwestern made it 6-0 with a run in the eighth when the bats finally came alive for Dallas in the bottom half of the inning.  Three straight hits to start the inning put the Crusaders on the board, as Austin Birkhoff drove in Caleb Hohman with a single.  Now with runners on first and third, the next two batters struck out.  Brett Castillo was then allowed to cross the plate on a balk, and Fernando Davila drove in Birkhoff with an RBI single to make it a 6-3 game.

Scoring on a balk is typically a rare occurrence, but lightning struck twice for the Crusaders as Jake Amoroso scored on a balk in the ninth to make it 6-4, then a sac fly by Castillo brought the Crusaders within one with the winning run one second base and one out.  But the Pirates got out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts to halt the comeback and secure the win.

GAME 2 - Dallas 0, Southwestern 9

WP: J.J. Slack (3-1)

LP: Dominic Gill (3-2)

The Pirates were on the board quick with a triple and a sac fly in the first, and that would be all the scoring they needed in this game.

Southwestern's J.J. Slack held the Crusaders to just one hit in a complete game shutout.  The Pirates added runs in the third, sixth, and eighth innings for good measure.

Graeme Williams came in to relive Dominic Gill and put in five solid innings on the mound.  He retired six of his first seven batters and held Southwestern to one run across his first four innings.

Up Next

The Crusaders are back on the road for their next conference series.  They will face Centenary College on Saturday, March 25 at 1:00 p.m.