SCAC Tournament Preview: No. 1 Seed Bulldogs Face Southwestern in SCAC Tournament Quarterfinals

CLEBURNE, Texas -- Texas Lutheran Baseball, who enters the 2023 SCAC Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed after winning the SCAC regular season crown, begins postseason play Friday afternoon at the SCAC Tournament held at The Depot at Cleburne Station in Cleburne, Texas.

GAME & BROADCAST INFO

Event: 2023 SCAC Baseball Tournament

Dates: May 5-7, 2023

Location: Cleburne, Texas

Venue: The Depot at Cleburne Station

Watch: Friday's game will be available here. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

Tickets are available here.

Printable Bracket

After sweeping Southwestern to conclude the 2023 regular season, Texas Lutheran gears up for a rematch with the fourth-seeded Pirates at 1 PM on Friday in Game 1 of the 2023 SCAC Baseball Tournament at The Depot at Cleburne Station. The game will be broadcast here. Check tlubulldogs.com as well as the SCAC's tournament website for the most up-to-date information regarding game times this weekend.

The Bulldogs enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed after claiming the SCAC regular season title outright for the first time in program history. TLU is the No. 1 seed in the SCAC tournament for the first time since 2019.

The tournament is double-elimination. The winner of Friday's game will played in the semifinals scheduled for 12 PM CST on Saturday, May 6.

BULLDOGS SCAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Overall Record: 11-13

In Cleburne: 8-5

Other Sites: 3-8

Last 10 games: 5-5

Last Appearance: 2022 (0-2)

Tournament Appearances: 9

Tournament Titles: 2 (2018, 2021)

Texas Lutheran is making its ninth straight appearance at the SCAC Tournament after joining the conference in 2014. The Bulldogs are seeking the magic from two years ago that saw them leave Cleburne as Tournament Champions in 2021.

NOTABLE

Success in the SCAC

For the second consecutive season, Texas Lutheran has finished with a 17-4 record in the SCAC. With the 17-4 mark, TLU matched its best single-season conference winning percentage since joining the SCAC, going 17-4 (.810) for the second consecutive season.

Party at the Plate

Texas Lutheran has the conference's highest scoring offense, scoring 198 runs in conference play and 327 runs in total in the regular season. The Bulldogs would outpace the next team by 39 runs in conference and 79 runs for the entire regular season.

Fight at the Bat Rack

Texas Lutheran leads the SCAC in home runs (31), on-base percentage (.409), hits (408), triples (15), walks (196), and slugging percentage (.434) and tie with Centenary for first in team batting average (.304). Texas Lutheran is led offensively by junior first baseman Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson), who leads the SCAC in home runs (12), RBI (62), runs (39), total bases (104), and slugging percentage (.727).

Strzelczyk Named Pitcher of the Week

Texas Lutheran Baseball's Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central) was named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.

Strzelczyk threw a 133-pitch complete game as he picked up the series opening 13-1 win versus Southwestern, running his record to 3-2 on the year. The senior right-hander allowed six hits, four walks, and one unearned run while striking out eight batters and never allowing the Pirates to take the lead in the game. The San Antonio native is the SCAC's leader in complete games with three (3). The weekly honor is his second weekly honor of the season and of his career.

Philippus Named to D3Baseball.com Team of the Week

Texas Lutheran senior catcher Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian) was named to the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week for the first time in his career, the site announced Wednesday morning.

Philippus started three out of four games last week, with all three starts coming in conference play against the Southwestern Pirates, helping power Texas Lutheran extend their win streak to 12 games and secure the first outright SCAC regular season championship in program history. Across nine at-bats, Philippus paced the Bulldogs with six hits and hit .667 at the plate with a triple, a homer, three RBI, and two stolen bases. Philippus would also draw five walks to obtain a .786 on-base percentage for the weekend. Philippus is now hitting .306 with a .459 on-base percentage and .387 slugging percentage with 43 total bases. Philippus is third in the SCAC in walks and fourth in on-base percentage.

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 Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).