Texas Lutheran Wins Southwestern Series; Clinches SCAC Tournament Berth

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- After dropping the series opener on Thursday, the Texas Lutheran Baseball team rallied to win both ends of Saturday's doubleheader against Southwestern to win the series and clinch the fourth and final spot in the 2024 SCAC Tournament in Cleburne. Texas Lutheran rallied late to win both games on Saturday, taking game one 9-5 and game two 5-4.

The Bulldogs (23-15, 12-9 SCAC) trailed 5-4 going into the seventh inning and scored five runs over the final three innings to win the game.

JT Taylor (Conroe/Fort Bend Christian) pitched his second career complete game, allowing five runs (three earned) on 15 hits and striking out four batters to pick up his fifth win of the season.

Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) went 3-for-5 with a double and a solo homer adding to a huge weekend for the senior. Xavier Arias (La Vernia/Nixon-Smiley) went 1-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs, while Hayden Kesselring (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) went 3-for-5 with a run scored.

Vasquez led off the game with a leadoff home run to give TLU an immediate 1-0 lead as the Bulldogs, who were fighting for their postseason lives on Saturday, came out hungry.

The Pirates got the run back in the third but an RBI single from Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) would allow the Bulldogs to retake the lead, 2-1, in the fourth. The momentum would continue to swing back-and-forth as the Pirates tied the game at two in the bottom of the inning.

Xavier Arias would hit his team-leading sixth homer of the season, a two-run home run, to give TLU a 4-2 lead in the fifth before the Pirates would respond with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-4 lead.

An infield single from Asher Bonnell (Round Rock/Stony Point) would score Adam Peavy (Houston/Memorial) to tie the game 5-all in the seventh.

The Bulldogs would keep scratching runs across in the eighth as Vasquez would score on a wild pitch to give TLU the lead while Mason Goudeau (Liberty/Liberty) would add an insurance run with a sacrifice fly as TLU would take a 7-5 lead in the eighth.

The Bulldogs scored two more runs in the ninth via two bases loaded RBI hit by pitches by Kesselring and Arias to extend the lead to 9-5.

Texas Lutheran would learn their SCAC Tournament fate by the second inning of Saturday's second game as St. Thomas lost their series to Austin College clinching the Bulldogs spot in the tournament.

With their fate sealed, Texas Lutheran would take the series with a 5-4 win in game two.

Johnny Garza Jr. (San Antonio/McCollum) pitched his second consecutive complete game, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three batters.

With the game tied 4-4 after eight innings, Tyler Post hit the game-winning home run in the ninth inning. The home run is the 42nd of his career - giving him sole possession of second place on the TLU all-time home run list, breaking his tie with former teammate Tyler Cauley.

Aric Vasquez went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, while Asher Bonnell went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.

The Pirates scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning.

Texas Lutheran took their first lead of the game in the fourth with an RBI single from Chase Bourgeois (League City/Clear Falls) and a two-RBI single from Vasquez. Southwestern quickly regained their lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

Vasquez drove in another run in the eighth to tie the game at four. The Bulldogs regained the lead in the ninth via Post's solo home run.

Texas Lutheran will now turn its attention to the SCAC Baseball Championship Tournament, which starts Friday, May 3 at The Depot at Cleburne Station in Cleburne, Texas. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs will open the tournament with the No. 1 seed the rival, 9th-ranked Trinity at 1 PM on Friday. 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).