Late innings propel Texas Lutheran over Baseball; Dallas falls in doubleheader
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas baseball team (6-17, 2-6 SCAC) was unable to keep Texas Lutheran's offense in check late in the first two of a three-game set on Saturday afternoon. Dallas would be shutout the third time this campaign by a score of 4-0, before dropping a 9-5 affair in the second of twinbill.
Texas Lutheran (16-8, 5-2 SCAC) scored all of its runs in the seventh inning or later, including a five-run eighth in the latter contest to nip a 2-1 UD advantage.
Game one featured a pitcher's duel between both programs as the Crusaders' senior Martin Cronin (The Woodlands, Texas) and TLU's Aaron Aleman threw zeros on the board through the first six frames.
Cronin (1-5) delivered his best outing of the season, hurling eight innings in consecutive starts. The righty allowed four runs, seven hits, three walks, and struck out four. His first blemish occurred in the seventh, when the Bulldogs scratched a run on a single by Lincoln Baylor up the middle.
At one point, Cronin had retired nine-straight opposing batters from the third to the sixth inning. He also limited Texas Lutheran to three hits until the top of the seventh.
The Black and Gold were able to widen the margin in the eighth with a trio of runs. Keaton Bohrmann's two-run homer was the big knock that moved the momentum for the visitors.
On the offense for the Navy and White, seniors Luciano Villanueva (San Antonio, Texas) and Nolan Kipp (Folsom, Calif.) went two-for-three at the plate each. Junior Jake Pierce (Tucson, Ariz.) added a single to round out the Crusader's five knocks in the first contest.
Aleman (5-2), the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) defending Pitcher-of-the-Week, demonstrated why as he stymied Dallas hitters with eight strikeouts. The righty went the distance with a nine-inning shutout and walked one.
In Game two, Dallas would trail 1-0 in the fourth, but bolstered a two-run effort in the bottom half to gain its first edge of the afternoon.
After back-to-back hits ripped by sophomore Alex Stack (Keller, Texas) and senior Trevor Keele (Edgewood, Texas); his for a double, the Crusaders manufactured both scoring plays from freshman Patch Healy (Plano, Texas) and sophomore Zach San Roman (Miami, Fla.). The duo executed a ground out and a safety squeeze bunt, respectively to produce the lead.
For most of the match-up, it was another low scoring affair that featured strong pitching. UD's sophomore Ryan Hammond (Cedar Hill, Texas) maneuvered around jams throughout the day, but garnered a career-high 7.2 innings and matched a season-best seven punch outs. The starter gave up six runs on 11 hits while walking two.
TLU plated five runs in the eighth to retake the lead, and opened the contest with a three-run ninth.
The Crusaders battled back with two in the eighth and one in the ninth, but could not overcome the late offensive surge the road squad displayed. The Black and Gold also ripped 10 of its 18 hits in the final six outs.
UD left five runners on (including the bases loaded in the eighth), in the last two frames.
Stack and Keele, two of the top three hitters for Dallas entering, had solid performances in this one. The third baseman paced the team with three hits, while Keele also had a multi-hit outing with a pair. Both scored a run in the setback.
Healy contributed a hit and a team-high two RBI. Senior Hunter Berry (Keller, Texas) finished the hit category and crossed the dish once.
Three Bulldogs posted three-hit efforts, with Tony Gennusa driving in a trio. Zach Jacobs and Alejandro Gutierrez were part of the unit. Riley Schaefer added two RBI to match his hit total. Austin Frick and Bohrmann rounded out the multi-hit performers for TLU.
Thomas Harwell (4-2) logged 7.1 innings on the rubber and allowed four runs on five hits. He walked three to go with six strikeouts. UD did earn six free passes from the Bulldog's pitching staff.
UP NEXT
Dallas wraps up the series tomorrow afternoon versus Texas Lutheran at 1 p.m.