Texas Lutheran Sweeps Dallas Doubleheader

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran combined to outscore University of Dallas 16-2 in Friday's doubleheader to clinch the series against the Crusaders, winning game one, 9-1, before taking game two, 7-1, at Katt-Isbel Field. The two wins move their winning streak to 13 games and gives the Bulldogs their eleventh straight SCAC win as the Bulldogs improve to 24-7 (13-1 SCAC) on the season.

Joe Burch (Geronimo/Navarro), making his ninth start of the season, struck out five and scattered seven hits across seven innings of work - only allowing one run. Burch picked up the win to pick up his SCAC best sixth win of the season - moving to 6-2 on the season.

The Bulldogs got to Dallas starter Adrian Montenegro early, scoring five runs in the second inning. RBI singles from Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) and Payton Dahl (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge) and a sacrifice fly from Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian) highlighted the breakout second inning.

The Bulldogs would score insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings to surge past the Crusaders. Joe Jimenez (San Antonio/Johnson) would drive in a run courtesy of a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. An RBI triple from Arci Vasquez, a sacrifice fly from Alec Sanchez (Waxahachie/Waxahachie), and an RBI double from Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) put the game away in the sixth.

Payton Dahl would tie the program record with four stolen bases in the game - matching the week old record set by Randy Huerta (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) last weekend against Austin College.

Diego Vinton (Richmond/George Ranch) would work two shutout innings to close the game.

Zach Longshore (Richmond/Fort Bend Travis) was outstanding in game two, pitching seven shutout innings - striking out six and only allowing four hits and two walks. He improved to 5-0 on the season with the win.

Holden Philippus went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Randy Huerta went 2-for-5 with one RBI, one run scored, and two stolen bases to increase his total to a SCAC-leading 31 stolen bases for the season. Alec Sanchez was also productive at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Texas Lutheran got on the board first with a six run third inning. Wade Tittle (Caldwell/Caldwell) would get the inning started with a double to deep center field, Payton Dahl would be hit by a pitch and Blake Cappadona would move both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Holden Philippus would single to right center scoring both to get the Bulldogs on the board. Philippus would score on a dropped third strike on Joe Jimenes to push the lead to 3-0. Randy Huerta would score on a wild pitch extending the lead to 4-0. Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) would double down the right field line to score Joe Jimenez to make the score 5-0. Alec Sanchez would single through the right side to score Post and put the Bulldogs ahead 6-0 to cap the inning.

Randy Huerta would tack on another run with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

The Bulldogs would hold the Crusaders scoreless until the ninth inning when they managed to score their only run of the game.

Texas Lutheran will go for the series sweep on Saturday at noon at Katt-Isbel Field. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on Twitter, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).