Bulldogs Take Series Against No. 19 Trinity With 9-7 Win

SEGUIN, Texas -- Niko Garcia (Houston/Langham Creek) launched a first inning grand slam Saturday afternoon to lead Texas Lutheran to a 9-7 win over No. 19 Trinity at Katt-Isbel Field.

The Bulldogs improved to 11-12 overall and 3-2 in the SCAC, while the Tigers dropped to 12-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

Saturday's win clinched the series for TLU following Friday night's 11-4 win.

The series concludes at 12 PM Sunday at Katt-Isbel Field. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

Garcia was 1-for-4 at the plate Saturday with the grand slam, increasing his RBI total to 22 on the season. Following Saturday's contest, Garcia only trails teammate Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) in the category in the SCAC. He is hitting .444 (4-for-9) in the weekend series with a home run, seven RBI, and two runs scored.

Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central) got the start, allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits and three walks in 4.1 innings. Zach Longshore (Richmond/Ft. Bend Travis) earned the win in relief, limiting the Tigers to two hits in 4.2 shutout innings with one walk and three strikeouts.

Trinity scored two runs to open Saturday afternoon's ballgame, but Texas Lutheran responded in a major way with six runs on two hits in the bottom of the inning. A Trinity fielding error allowed Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) to score TLU's first run of the game before a two-out RBI single from Alec Sanchez (Waxahachie/Waxahachie) scored Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian). Niko Garcia would step up with the bases loaded and clear the left center field fence to give TLU an early 6-2 lead.

A TLU throwing error allowed Trinity to shrink the Bulldog lead to 6-3 in the third. TLU would immediately respond in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from Alec Sanchez. Sanchez would come around and score on a Trinity throwing error as TLU extended their lead to 8-4.

The 19th-ranked Tigers chipped away in the fourth and fifth innings - scoring three runs in the fourth and another in the fifth - to shrink the TLU lead to 8-7.

An Alec Sanchez sacrifice fly added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh increasing the TLU lead to its final score of 9-7.

Zach Longshore would hold the Tigers hitless over the final two innings, only allowing one base runner on an eighth inning walk.

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).