TLU Baseball Beats East Texas Baptist, 9-1

MARSHALL, Texas -- Texas Lutheran Baseball scored four runs in the second inning and rolled to a 9-1 win over East Texas Baptist on Friday at Woods Field in Marshall, Texas.

Joe Burch (Geronimo/Navarro) pitched a complete game and allowed just one run on three hits. Burch would carry a no-hit bid through 4.1 innings before allowing a solo home run in the fifth inning. He struck out a season-high 10 batters to pick up his first win of the 2023 campaign.

Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) went 2-for-4 and drove in a career-high five runs Friday night. Alec Sanchez (Waxahacie/Waxahacie) led the Bulldogs with three hits while Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian), Mason Goudeau (Liberty/Liberty), and Niko Garcia (Houston/Langham Creek) had two hits apiece.

After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldogs (6-7) jumped all over the Tigers with four runs on four hits in the second inning. A Goudeau hit by pitch and Sanchez single would start the inning before Niko Garcia would drive Goudeau home with an RBI single. A Kyle Gates (La Vernia/La Vernia) single would load the bases, setting the stage for a bases-clearing double for Cappadona.

TLU would continue to pour it on in the third inning - scoring two more runs on a throwing error by the ETBU second baseman.

The Tigers brought Joe Burch's no-hit bid to an end in the fifth inning with a solo home run to center field to trim the Bulldogs lead to 6-1.

The Bulldogs added three runs to the lead in the sixth inning to go up 9-1. Blake Cappadona would double down the right field line to drive in the first two runs of the inning. Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) would then single to center field to score Cappadona.

The Bulldogs will close the non-conference series with the Tigers with a Saturday doubleheader tomorrow, March 11, with first pitch scheduled for 1 & 4 PM. All streaming and live stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.