Texas Lutheran Sweeps RPI in Midweek Doubleheader

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran baseball swept a doubleheader against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that went late into the Texas night with a 3-2 win in nine innings and an 8-5 win on Wednesday at Katt-Isbel Field to open a four-game series against the Engineers.

Texas Lutheran opened the series in dramatic fashion, opening the doubleheader scheduled for two seven inning games with a walk-off win in nine innings Wednesday afternoon.

After the game remained tied at 2-2 after the scheduled seven innings, the two teams remained deadlocked until the ninth inning where the Engineers walked the bases loaded before a pinch hitting Carson Draehn (Brenham/Brenham) was able to walk it off with a pinch hit RBI bunt single, scoring SCAC Hitter of the Week, Mason Goudeau (Liberty/Liberty).

Engineered a win. ��

Carson Draehn walks it off with an RBI bunt single as @TLU_Baseball walks it off for a 3-2 win in Game 1 against RPI!

��: @brylieRnedd #TooLiveU | #PupsUp pic.twitter.com/BJGFcYvFuM

— TLU Bulldogs (@tluathletics) March 7, 2024

Chase Bourgeois (League City/Clear Falls) finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) finished 1-for-4 with a clutch two-RBI triple in the sixth inning.

Nolan McInvale (Poth/Poth) picked up the win in relief to improve to 1-1 on the season.

JT Taylor (Conroe/Fort Bend Christian) started and allowed two runs, both in the first inning, on three hits while striking out six batters in six innings of work.

The Engineers hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give themselves an early 2-0 lead and that's where the game would remain until the sixth inning.

Vasquez tied the game with a two-out, two-RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth.

Texas Lutheran would leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh but would redeem themselves with the bases loaded bunt in the ninth.

In game two, Carson Draehn went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Hayden Kesselring (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.

Carter Conroy (Tomball/Klein Cain) pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts to earn his first career win. He pitched in fifth, sixth, and seventh innings and got a big strikeout to end his night.

For the second straight game, RPI scored in the first inning before the Bulldogs responded with an RBI single from Vasquez to tie the game 1-1.

RPI scored another run in the second inning before the Bulldogs took the lead in the bottom of the inning after Carson Draehn scored on a wild pitch and Cole Cravens (Round Rock/Round Rock) gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead with an RBI single.

The Engineers came right back with three runs across the fourth and fifth innings to retake the lead 5-3 after five innings.

Texas Lutheran came back and took the lead in the sixth with a single from Hayden Kesselring tying the game 5-5, before a fielding error from RPI following a Trevor Cones (Stagecoach/Tomball) bunt gave the Bulldogs a 6-5 lead. TLU would add two more unearned runs in the sixth to make the score 8-5.

The Bulldogs (10-6) will be right back at the ballpark on Thursday against RPI at 6 PM at Katt-Isbel Field. All games will be streamed on TLU's YouTube Channel, TLU+. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).