Baseball late comeback not Enough to avoid Sweep against the Pirates
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas baseball team (6-15, 2-4 SCAC) fell in 7-5 fashion versus Southwestern University (11-8, 3-0 SCAC) on Sunday afternoon. Dallas has dropped three-straight, as the Pirates swept the series to begin league action undefeated.
The Crusaders were down early as SU's Will Cates blasted a lead-off homer in the ball game to right-center field. A four-run second was enough to lift the Black and Gold to big advantage, but the home team would rally in the latter part of the ballgame.
After a run from the visitors increased the edge 6-0, UD cut the margin in half with a three-run frame. Cranking the offense up for the Navy and Blue was freshman Patch Healy (Plano, Texas), who clobbered a two-run shot to left field.
Dallas finished the big scoring inning with a run scored by sophomore Avery Arnold (McKinney, Texas) on the wild pitch.
Cates, who led Southwestern with a three-for-five day at the dish, added to his four-RBI contest for a game-high in the eighth. The Crusaders threatened again by storming back in the bottom half with two of their own.
Dallas left a pair of runners on in the final two innings, and were unable to erase the early deficit.
The Navy and White were outhit 11-8, and senior Luciano Villanueva (San Antonio, Texas) finished strong in the finale with three knocks to tie a game-high. The left fielder was the lone UD member with more than one hit.
Also boosting the run production was Arnold with an RBI. Senior Trevor Keele (Edgewood, Texas), sophomore Alex Stack (Keller, Texas), sophomore Zach San Roman (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore JP Fasone (Englewood, Colo.) each tallied a base knock. Keele pushes his hitting streak to seven-straight and eight of the past nine.
Junior Denton Martin (Denton, Texas) was saddled with the loss in four innings for UD. He allowed five runs on four hits while walking three and striking out two. Freshman Abraham Griesbauer, Brian Donley, William Marshall, and Keele all saw time on the bump this afternoon.
Griesbauer tossed two frames and surrendered a run on a hit with a walk and a punch out each. Keele logged 1.2 innings, and worked around a pair of walks and hits. The senior fanned a trio of Pirates.
Southwestern had one other player with a multi-hit effort, which was Colten Shea, and he also was credited with the other run driven in.
Joseph Koch (1-2) earned the win with five innings of shutout ball. He scattered four hits while allowing no free passes and striking out four. Riley Wayland collected his fourth save on the campaign.
UP NEXT
Dallas continues its six-game home stand with a three-game conference series next weekend on March 28-29. The Crusaders host Texas Lutheran University and will play two on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. The finale is the next day at 1 p.m.