'Roo Drops Pair to Blackburn

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team dropped both halves of its doubleheader against Blackburn College on Sunday, falling 16-3 in game one before suffering a 6-3 heartbreaker in 12 innings in game two. The 'Roos are now 3-4 overall this year.

In game one, Blackburn plated two runs in the first with the second coming via a throwing error, and after Tripp Thoms brought home a run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 2-1, the Beavers knocked in eight runs in the second to make it a 10-1 game. That remained the score until the fifth, when the Beavers tacked on six more runs, with the final three coming by way of balks to make it a 16-1 game.

Austin College got a run back in the bottom of the fifth when Thoms brought home another run, and Ethan Lowery plated another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to make it a 16-3 final. Sam Wilson took the loss for Austin College, surrendering two runs in an inning of work. Five players each had a hit for Austin College, while Blackburn's RJ Arredondo went 4-for-5 with four RBI and Jason Hedges earned the win for the Beavers.

Blackburn once again struck first in game two with a run in the opening frame, but Austin College squared things up in the second when Asher Thompson came home on a failed pickoff attempt. The Beavers pushed two runs across in the third to make it 3-1, but Thompson drove in a run in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 3-2 game. The 'Roos would eventually tie things up in the bottom of the seventh when Thompson brought home another run on a sacrifice fly to force extra innings.

Neither team was able to manage any offense until the 12th, when Blackburn took advantage of a pair of Austin College errors to get three runs across and make it a 6-3 game. Austin College was unable to counter in the team's final at-bat. Kurtis Gustafson absorbed the loss in relief for the 'Roos, giving up two unearned runs. Brandon Hill went 2-for-3 and drew three walks, and Branson Vrazel went 2-for-4. Mitchell Binder went 3-for-6 with two RBI to pace Blackburn offensively.