Five-run 5th lifts Baseball on Friday over Hardin-Simmons

FRISCO, Texas – The University of Dallas baseball team (2-1) held on to a 7-6 victory versus Hardin-Simmons University (0-1) on Friday afternoon at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. A five-run fifth inning erased a 2-0 deficit as junior Rene Vargas Jr. (San Antonio, Texas) pounded three hits and notched three RBI for a game-high.

The massive scoring frame for UD began with seven-straight singles as sophomore Alex Stack (Keller, Texas), senior Nolan Kipp (Folson, Calif.), freshman Patch Healy (Plano, Texas), junior Tug McRoberts (Beaumont, Texas), Vargas Jr., and senior Trevor Keele (Edgewood, Texas) all collected base knocks.

Keele matched Vargas Jr. with a trio of hits to tie a team-most, with one counting as a triple. Vargas Jr. contributed the other extra base hit with a double.

McRoberts drove in a pair of runners and also matched that total for times the junior left fielder crossed the plate. Stack and Healy totaled the other multiple hit contests with two apiece.

Hardin-Simmons got on the board early with a run in the bottom of the second. A homer by Colson Craddick lifted the Cowboys to a 2-0 edge through four innings.

After the Crusaders pulled in front for good in the fifth, the road squad posted two insurance runs in the next inning to build a 7-2 lead. It would be Vargas Jr. and Keele again slapping consecutive singles to bring Healy and McRoberts in to score.

HSU would not disappear countering with two in the bottom of the sixth, and would nip away by scoring in three of the final four frames. A run in the seventh and eighth closed the gap to a single-run, but sophomore Cole Morden (Arlington, Texas) stranded the tying runner at first base.

Keele would make his first appearance on the mound of the campaign in the ninth and retire the side in order, including a pair of punch outs.

Sophomore Ryan Hammonds (1-1) picked up his first win of the year with six innings pitched. The right-hander from Cedar Hill, Texas, allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits and added four strikeouts.

STAT OF THE GAME

Dallas would topple its previous season-high nine hits on the year by tallying 14 in the big day at the dish.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Dallas resumes its stretch of four games in three days with a doubleheader in Irving, Texas against Whitman College. First pitch of the twin bill will be at 12 p.m.