Crusaders Lose Offensive Clash with St. Thomas, Suffer First Sweep of the Season

April 7, 2024

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas baseball team lost their non-conference game against the University of St. Thomas on Sunday, falling to 16-11 on the year and 4-7 in conference play.

Dallas 10, St. Thomas 15

WP: Dominick Garza (1-0)

LP: Landon Phillips (1-1)

Things couldn't have started much better for Dallas in the series finale.  Cortez Saenz set the Celts down in order to start the game, then the Crusaders jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a sac fly by Simon Turner, a passed ball, and a single by David Saldana.

But that was only the start of an offensive flurry by both teams.  The Celts came right back with three runs on three hits to tie the game at 3-3, Dallas replied immediately, taking full advantage of  free bases by scoring three runs on just one hit to go up 6-3, then St. Thomas tied it right back up in the top of the third with a three-run homer by Timmy Mansell.

Then errors came back to bite the Crusaders.  In the fourth inning, a wild throw down to second on a stolen base let the runner get to third, then score on a sac fly.  And in the fifth, an error ultimately resulted in two runs scoring with two outs, allowing the Celts to take a 9-6 lead.  

They made it 12-6 with another three-run homer in the sixth, this one by Jarod Smith.  

Dallas will look back at the game and see a slew of missed opportunities.  They pulled a run back in the sixth, but left the bases loaded for the third time of the day; they plated another on a solo homer by Caleb Hohman in the seventh, but left two runners on; then lead of the eighth with a double and a walk, but could only score one run while stranding two more runners.

The Crusaders did their best to chip away, but the Celts added two runs in the eighth and one run in the ninth on a solo homer to pad their lead.  Dallas scored a consolation run in the ninth, but couldn't close the gap in time.

The loss makes it six in a row for the Crusaders, their worst such run so far this season, as well as suffering their first series sweep of the season.

Up Next

The Crusaders will hit the road for a non-conference tune up this week.  They will have a rematch with Hardin-Simmons University, who beat them in walk-off fashion on March 12, on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 pm.