TLU Baseball Takes Series Opener from No. 19 Trinity, 11-4

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran beat No. 19 Trinity, 11-4, to open the series on Friday night at Katt-Isbel Field. The Bulldogs improved to 9-11 overall and 2-2 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play.

Texas Lutheran pounded out 11 runs on 12 hits - holding the lead from the second inning on - with runs scored in every inning from the second to the sixth innings.

Mason Goudeau (Liberty/Liberty) hit his first career home run, a solo home run, and ended up going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Niko Garcia (Houston/Langham Creek) went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Joe Burch (Geronimo/Navarro) got the start, tossing 2.1 innings, but it would be JT Taylor (Houston/Fort Bend Christian) who would earn the win in relief. Taylor pitched 3.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out three batters.

The Tigers scored the first run of the game on a solo home run. The Tigers would leave the ballpark again in the second, this time a two-run homer, to take a 3-0 lead.

Texas Lutheran got on the board in the bottom of the second - scoring five runs all with two outs. An RBI single from Niko Garcia would plate the first run before a two-RBI single from Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) would tie the game 3-3. Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio/Christian) would follow with a two-RBI single of his own as the Bulldogs took a 5-3 lead, chasing the Trinity starter in the process.

The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the third in the form of the Goudeau solo home run to take a 6-3 lead.

Two more runs would cross in the fourth inning following a Trinity throwing error as the Bulldogs stretched out to an 8-3 lead.

Trinity would trim the lead to 8-4 in the top of the fifth, but the Bulldogs would immediately respond with a run of their own courtesy of an RBI single from Randy Huerta (New Braunfels/New Braunfels).

Niko Garcia would drive in two more runs with a single to left field to make the score 11-4.

Brendan Beard (Coldspring/Coldspring-Oakhurst) came out of the bullpen to pitch a scoreless seventh, eighth, and ninth - only allowing one hit over three innings of work.

Texas Lutheran will go for the series win over rival, 19th-ranked Trinity on Saturday at 2 PM at Katt-Isbel Field. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.