Crusaders Come Back to Take Series Opener from Nebraska Wesleyan

March 8, 2024

MELISSA, Texas - The University of Dallas baseball team won their series opener against Nebraska Wesleyan University on Friday, improving to 11-1 on the season.  With inclement weather making Crusader Field unplayable, game one of the series was played at the Z-Plex Texas Sports Village in Melissa, Texas.

Dallas 6, Nebraska Wesleyan 3 

WP: Collin Johnson (1-0)

LP: Theo Hughes (0-1)

Both teams struggled to hit on a dark and blustery Friday night, with winds reaching speeds of nearly 30 miles per hour at times and visibility reportedly quite lacking at field level.

It was quite the anomaly, for two reasons, that the Prairie Wolves scored three runs on four hits in the third inning.  First, because through the first seven innings, neither team had managed to record more than one hit in any half inning.  And second, because it was Adrian Montenegro on the wrong end of the offensive outburst.  The junior southpaw came into the game having allowed just two earned runs through 27.2 innings this season, as he has been nigh untouchable.

He was virtually unhittable in every other inning, racking up a career-high 14 strikeouts in seven innings of work.

It seemed any pitcher who took the mound on the night was unhittable, with both pitching staffs combining for an astonishing 31 strikeouts in the game.

The Crusaders took advantage of a pair of miscues by NWU to scrape a couple of runs across to make it a 3-2 game after four innings.  Dallas loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, but left them loaded.

Finally in the eighth inning, Dallas managed to put enough offense together and take advantage of a less than stellar defensive half inning by the Prairie Wolves to get the job done.  They tied the game up when a bunt single by Nate Curtis turned into a double thanks to a wild throw by the third baseman, allowing Caleb Hohman to come around from second base and score.

A wild pitch brought home Tyler Darnell, and a single by Andrew Gaspar scored Curtis to make it a 5-3 game.  David Laranjo singled home Gaspar to make it 6-3, but was gunned down at second trying to stretch to a double to end the inning.  

Another scoreless inning by Collin Johnson in the top of the ninth secured the comeback win for Dallas.

The series will conclude tomorrow, March 9 with a double header at Grapevine Faith Christian School.  Game one is scheduled for a 12:00 pm first pitch.