Cauley, Bulldogs rally past Schreiner for 9-7 conference win

KERRVILLE, Texas -- Texas Lutheran junior Tyler Cauley (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hills) tied the single-game record for triples (with two), went 4-for-5, and drove in three runs (including the game-winner) as the sixth-ranked Bulldogs rallied for a 9-7 road win Friday over Schreiner.

TLU fell behind in the bottom of the seventh but rallied for three runs in the eighth and one run in the ninth.

The Bulldogs improved to 28-9 overall and to 13-3 in the SCAC. Schreiner dropped to 12-26 overall and to 5-11 in the SCAC.

Cauley, a 2018 All-American, hit a bases-clearing, three-run single in the eighth to give TLU an 8-6 lead. The Bulldogs added another run in the ninth on a Joe Jimenez (San Antonio/Johnson) single.

Cauley tripled in the third and fifth innings. Both triples came with Cauley batting as the lead-off hitter in the inning. He added a single in the first and the game-winning single in the eighth.

Drew Waller (Bellville/Bellville) went two innings to earn his second win of the season. Waller struck out three.

Matthew Hickey (Houston/Klein Collins) retired the final Schreiner batter with the go-ahead run at the plate. Hickey, the freshman left-hander, notched his first collegiate save.

Nathan Malinovsky (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) went 6-1/3 innings and tied his career-high with 12 strikeouts. He moved past Brad Orosey for the TLU DIII-era career strikeouts record, but Malinovsky could not get his 33rd career victory, which would set the new TLU and SCAC career marks.

Malinovsky now has 336 career strikeouts. Orosey ended his All-American career with 332 career Ks. Maliinovsky is No. 2 on the SCAC career strikeouts list.

In the no-decision, Malinovsky allowed four earned runs, walked five, and gave up seven hits.

Cole Irby (Buda/Hays) also drove in three runs and had two hits for the Bulldogs. Thomas Varner (Austin/Bowie) went 2-for-6 with two runs scored.

TLU and Schreiner play a noon doubleheader Saturday in Kerrville.

The Bulldogs need one win to clinch at least a share of the SCAC regular-season title and clinch the top seed for the upcoming SCAC Championship tournament. If TLU wins two on Saturday, the Bulldogs will have the outright SCAC regular-season championship.