Crusaders Lose Slugfest to Hardin-Simmons
ABILENE, Texas - The University of Dallas baseball team lost their non-conference matchup against Hardin-Simmons on Tuesday. They fall to 14-16 overall on the year.
Dallas 15, Hardin-Simmons 16
WP: Wyatt Tumlinson (1-0)
LP: Caleb Hohman (0-1)
It didn't take long for the offense to kick into gear for both teams. The Crusaders strung four straight hits together to take a 4-0 lead in the first, and the Cowboys answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with three hits of their own to bring home a run, scoring two more on a wild pitch and a groundout to make it 4-3 after just one inning of play.
The Cowboys' starter, Kolten Kitchens, was taken out of the game after just 1.1 innings of work after back-to-back walks in the second, but Brandon Girod didn't fair much better, immediately surrendering three hits to Dallas to make it 7-3 after one and half innings.
The game changed with one swing of the bat, however, when Jett Forrest hit a one-out grand slam to tie the game.
After a mostly quiet fourth inning, one of only two scoreless innings in the game, Dallas exploded for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth and could have had more if not for a perfect throw from right field to nail Caleb Hohman at the plate to end the inning on a would-be sac fly.
Hardin-Simmons held Dallas scoreless in the top of the sixth and managed to tie the game with two runs in the fifth and three runs on four hits in the sixth, making it a 12-12 game.
A walk, and error, and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs for Hardin-Simmons in the bottom of the eighth. They took a 13-12 lead on a sac fly, but Caleb Hohman managed to get out of the jam allowing just the one run. A lead-off triple by Austin Birkhoff set the tone for the ninth inning. He was quickly brought home on a single by Jame Amoroso to tie the game, then Hohman helped his own cause with an RBI double to give Dallas the 14-13 lead. Fernando Davila came up clutch with a two-out RBI single to give the Crusaders a much needed insurance run to go into the ninth up 15-13.
But just as quickly as they had taken the lead, so too did it disappear. Two batters into the inning, and the ball game was tied 15-15 after a two-run homer by Tristin Laughlin. Two batters later, and the winning run was on second base with no outs. Colby Fuller was two strikes from being the savior for Dallas, coming in and getting his first two batters out. But Sam Buchhkowski poked a single to right center, bringing home Colby Seltzer for the walk-off win.
Their 19 hits was the most hits in single game for Dallas this season, and their most in a game since defeating Austin College 15-5 last March.
Brett Castillo led all players with five hits, going 5-for-6 with three RBI and a stolen base. Amoroso led the team with four RBI, going 4-for-6.
Up Next
The Crusaders will resume conference play this weekend. They hit the road to play three games against St. Thomas, with game one scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. first pitch on Friday, April 14.