CLEBURNE, Texas -- SCAC Player-of-the-Year Tyler Post had two home runs and eight runs batted in as the junior led top-seeded Texas Lutheran University to a 10-5 come-from-behind victory over fourth-seeded Southwestern University in the opening game of the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Baseball Championship on Friday afternoon. Official Website l Tournament Stats l Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview
Southwestern jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the first, but TLU battled back with two of its own in the bottom half of the inning before Post's grand slam in the second gave the Bulldogs the lead for good.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Southwestern scored four first-inning runs off TLU starter Blade Strzelczyk, which included four straight singles to open the game, with the last by Christian Melillo scoring two. The Pirates scored two more runs off an error and a sacrafice fly.
- Texas Lutheran responded with two runs in the bottom of the first, with RBI doubles by Post and Alec Sanchez providing the run-producing blows.
- The following innning, and after Southwestern recorded the first two outs of the inning, TLU loaded the bases and Post came through with a grand slam opposite field shot to give the Bulldogs their first lead at 6-4.
- After the initial fireworks, the game turned into a pitching dual for the next four innings as neither team was able to muster another run. Southwestern finally broke through with one run in the seventh to cut the lead to 6-5 as Jacob Tanner came across to score on an RBI ground out by James Vaquero.
- TLU put the game away in the bottom of the eighth as a RBI double by Blake Cappadona made it 7-5 and a three-run shot by Post provided the final 10-5 margin.
TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Tyler Post: 3-5, 3 runs, 1 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI
- Blake Cappadona: 1-3, 3 runs, 2B, 1 RBI
- Alec Sanchez: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
- Aric Vasquez: 2-5, 1 run, 1 2B
- Blade Strzelczyk (WP): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 K, 3 BB
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Maxwell Mims: 2-5, 1 run, 1 2B
- Christian Melillo: 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI
- James Vaquero: 1-4, 1 run, 1 RBI
- J.J. Slack (LP): 6.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 12 K, 6 BB
NOTABLES
- The eight RBIs from Post are the most by one player in a single tournament game in SCAC history. The eight piece also ties for the third-most in any game in league history. The last time a SCAC player had an eight RBI game was Josh Gilliam of Schreiner, who had eight against Dallas on April 13, 2019.
- Post now has a league high 70 RBIs on the season, which is already tied for the seventh-most in a single season in league history.
- Texas Lutheran improves to 4-3 all-time in SCAC tournament history against Southwestern.
- Strzelczyk improved to 4-2 with the victory while Southwestern's Slack, who struck out 12, slipped to 5-3. Slack now leads the SCAC in strikeouts with 76. The Bulldogs' Brendan Beard picked up his fourth save of the season, which ties for the league lead.
UP NEXT
Texas Lutheran will move on to face the winner of No. 2-seed Trinity and No. 3-seed Centenary at Noon CT on Saturday afternoon, while Southwestern takes on the loser of the match in the following game.
