Texas Lutheran Splits Sunday Doubleheader Against UMHB

BELTON, Texas -- Texas Lutheran earned a split of their road doubleheader at Mary Hardin-Baylor Sunday at Red Murff Field in Belton, Texas, - dropping Game One, 3-2, in seven innings before winning Game Two, 8-7, in nine innings.

In Game One, Texas Lutheran scored two runs in the first inning but would ultimately fall 3-2 as the Crusaders walked it off in the bottom of the seventh. Texas Lutheran struck first with Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central) and Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) scoring in the first inning.

Joe Burch (Geronimo/Navarro) got the start on the mound for the Bulldogs and, after allowing two runs in the first inning, would keep the Crusaders from scoring again striking out three batters in three and two-thirds innings of work on the mound. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, Matthew Hickey (Klein/Klein Collins) would relieve Burch and immediately work out of the jam with one of his three strikeouts on the evening.

Both offenses would remain dormant until the bottom of the seventh as an RBI single from Mary Hardin-Baylor gave the Crusaders a walk-off victory.

In Game Two, Texas Lutheran overcame a 5-4 deficit to clip UMHB.

Just like game one, TLU would gain an early lead with a run scored from Blade Strzelczyk as the Bulldogs carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the first. UMHB would respond with two runs in the bottom of the first and tacked on another in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead entering the third inning.

The Bulldogs would strike for three runs in the top of third with Cappadona scoring on a passed ball and a 2-RBI single from Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) as the Bulldogs would regain the lead 4-3 entering the bottom of the third. UMHB would once again respond with offense of their own, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead entering the top of the fifth.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the top of the fifth and after Joe Jimenez (San Antonio/Johnson) walked in a run a single from Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian) would score two runs for the Bulldogs to give Texas Lutheran a 7-5 lead. Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) would give the Bulldogs extra run support in the top of the seventh scoring Randy Huerta (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) on a sacrifice fly to extend the Bulldogs lead to 8-5.

The Crusaders clawed back within 8-7 via runs in the seventh and eighth, but Blake Cappadona would work out of the eighth inning - leaving the potential tying run on first base.

Brendan Beard (New Waverly/Coldspring-Oakhurst) picked up the win in relief for Texas Lutheran and Blade Strzelczyk would pick up his first save of the season - striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth.

The Bulldogs non-conference schedule continues as they travel to Alpine for a matchup with the Sul Ross State Lobos in a three-game series starting with a doubleheader on Friday, March 4. First pitch is scheduled for 4 PM. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.