SHERMAN, Texas – The Austin College baseball team exploded for 26 runs in a 26-0 game one victory before falling 12-5 in game two, wrapping up the weekend series having taken two of three from Schreiner University. The 'Roos are now 7-14 overall and 3-6 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
In game one, the 'Roos broke the program record for most runs scored in a SCAC contest, which they set last year with 21 in a win at Schreiner. Austin College got the scoring started with a pair of runs in the second inning as Jake Webster drew a walk with the bases loaded, and Michael Winterrowd then scored on a balk. Cody Goggins brought home a run with a sacrifice fly and Clay Gilbert drove in a run in the third to make it 4-0, and Austin College would put the game away in the fourth when the 'Roos erupted for 13 runs in the inning.
Oscar Gonzalez got things started with an RBI single, and after Brett Taff knocked in a run, Gonzalez scored on a throwing error. Nick Flynn added an RBI single, and another balk brought home one more run. Justin Alphonse singled home a run to make it 10-0, and Webster followed with a two-run double. Gonzalez drove in two more runs, and Goggins would cap the scoring with a three-run homer to right field to make it 17-0.
The 'Roos weren't done with their offensive output, plating six more runs in the fifth to make it a 23-0 game. Five players each drove in a run during the inning, and the 'Roos would score three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, including an RBI triple from Taff and a sacrifice fly by Goggins to make it a 26-0 final.
Webster went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI, and Goggins went 2-for-3 with six runs batted in. Gonzalez added a 3-for-5 performance, driving in four runs in the victory. Cody Johnson earned the win on the mound, throwing 5.0 shutout innings, surrendering just two hits in the game.
Game two saw Schreiner grab an early 1-0 lead, but Austin College drew three walks with the bases loaded to go ahead 3-1. However, this time it would be Schreiner that would use a big inning to take command, plating nine runs in the second to go on top 10-3. The Mountaineers added another run in the third and one more in the sixth to make it a 12-3 game.
Winterrowd drew a walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, and Alphonse singled home a run to cut it to a 12-5 game but that's where the scoring would stop for both teams, with the Mountaineers holding on for the victory.
Gonzalez took the loss for Austin College, surrendering 10 runs – eight earned – on six hits with four walks in 1.2 innings of work. Webster, James Wyche, and Bennett Reagan each had two hits for Austin College, while Alphonse drove in a pair of runs in the loss.
Austin College heads out on the road next weekend to take on No. 3-ranked Trinity University, with game one of the three-game set scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on April 5 in San Antonio.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.