Texas Lutheran Continues Offensive Barrage to Sweep Southwestern

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran combined to score 40 runs in Saturday's doubleheader to complete a series sweep of the Southwestern Pirates at Rockwell Family Field in Georgetown on Saturday. The two wins move their road winning streak to eight games as the Bulldogs improve to 15-7 on the season.

Every time Texas Lutheran needed an answer in game one they delivered in their high scoring, resilient 15-14 victory in the first game of their doubleheader. The Bulldogs responded to a three-run deficit in the sixth with a seven-run seventh inning and would hold off a ninth inning rally to secure the win.

Randy Huerta (New Braunfels/New Braunfels), Joe Jimenez (San Antonio/Johnson), Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson), and Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central) all homered and Texas Lutheran totaled 15 hits in the four hour slugfest. Jimenez and Post both posted three hits for the Bulldogs. Strzelczyk hit his first home run of 2022, a two-run shot in the first inning.

Texas Lutheran jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind Randy Huerta stealing home, an RBI single from Post, and Strzelczyk's home run. Southwestern would score five runs in the third to take their first lead of the ball game.

Texas Lutheran would score two runs in the fourth to immediately retake the lead, 6-5. Southwestern would score on a passed ball in the bottom of the frame to tie the ball game 6-all.

The Pirates would take a 9-6 lead after crossing three more runs in the sixth.

The Bulldogs offense would explode for seven runs in the seventh on five hits and two walks. Tyler Post would lead off the inning with a solo home run before the Bulldogs would bat around in an inning that saw three Bulldogs home runs. Huerta and Jimenez would hit back-to-back home runs to score the final three runs of the inning. Payton Dahl (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge) and Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) would also add RBIs in the inning as the Bulldogs took a 13-9 lead.

A two-run Southwestern home run would shrink the Bulldogs lead to 13-11 entering the eighth inning, but RBIs from Cappadona and Post in the eighth and ninth innings would extend the Bulldogs lead 15-11.

Despite a ninth inning three-run home run from Southwestern, the Pirates comeback attempt would fall short - falling 15-14.

Matthew Hickey (Klein/Klein Collins) would pick up the win in relief - his first of the season.

Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) drove in seven and posted four hits as the Bulldogs rolled past the Pirates 25-3 in game two.

JT Taylor (Sugar Land/Fort Bend Christian) took that support and matched his career-high of six strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season.

Vasquez came one RBI short of tying the single-game record held by five different Bulldogs - done most recently by Jeremy Macklin in 2009 against Mississippi College. Vasquez hit a grand slam, his first collegiate home run, in the top of the fourth to go along with a two-RBI single in the first and an RBI single in the sixth. By the time Vasquez drove in his final run, the Bulldogs had taken a 24-3 lead.

Ten of the Bulldogs 13 position players who saw action scored at least one run, with Randy Huerta and Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian) posting a team-best four. Nine of the 13 finished with at least one walk as the Pirates staff combined for 15 walks in the game. Eight Bulldogs would register an RBI with Vasquez (7) and Jimenez (4) leading the way. Texas Lutheran scored in five of the eight innings it batted it in, including four runs in the first, five in the second, twelve in the fourth, and three in the sixth.

Texas Lutheran currently leads the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) in runs scored (194), RBIs (170), and home runs (26) - eleven more than second place Trinity.

Texas Lutheran is back at Katt-Isbel Field next weekend as they continue conference play against University of St. Thomas, April 1-2. The three-game series begins Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6 PM. 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 Twitter, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).