Bulldogs Storm Back For 6-5 Extra Innings Win to Even Series

KERRVILLE, Texas -- Trailing by one with one out in the ninth inning, Texas Lutheran rallied for four late runs to defeat Schreiner, 6-5, to even the series at Bob Henry Field in Kerrville, Texas.

Senior outfielder Asher Bonnell (Round Rock/Stony Point) was the hero, plating the tying run with a one-out sacrifice fly in the ninth inning before blasting an RBI double in the 11th to put the Bulldogs ahead 6-5.

Zach Longshore (Richmond/Ft. Bend Travis) was solid out of the bullpen, pitching 1.2 shutout innings in relief to earn the win and improve to 5-2 on the year.

The Bulldogs were held without a hit through three innings before cranking out two hits to score two runs to shrink the Schreiner lead to 3-2. After a leadoff double from Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) that broke up the no-hitter, a single from Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis), and a Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian) hit by pitch loaded the bases, Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Cappadona to get TLU on the board. Niko Garcia (Houston/Langham Creek) would follow with a sacrifice fly of his own to score Vasquez to bring the game to a 3-2 score.

Texas Lutheran would carry the one-run deficit into the ninth as Diego Vinton (Richmond/George Ranch), Riley Backs (Cypress/Cypress Falls), and JT Taylor (Houston/Fort Bend Christian) would combine to hold the Mountaineers scoreless after a three-run first inning.

After a rough start, Diego Vinton battled to keep TLU within striking distance. The Richmond, Texas, native, allowed three runs on nine hits in seven innings before making way for Riley Backs and the bullpen.

Backs and Taylor held down the fort combining to toss 2.1 innings of relief, only allowing two hits combined and two runs off of Taylor in the tenth before Longshore took over.

After a scoreless eighth, Tyler Post got the ninth inning rally started with a leadoff single. Following a walk and Alec Sanchez (Waxahachie/Waxahachie) moving runners over to second and third, Asher Bonnell would hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to score Post to tie the game at three.

Schreiner threatened in the ninth, getting the winning run to third with two outs, but JT Taylor was able to get a groundout to escape the jam and send the game to extras.

Holden Philippus would hit a sacrifice fly and Aric Vasquez would score on a wild pitch to take a 5-3 lead in the 10th before the Mountaineers would respond with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.

In the 11th, R.J. Carrillo (Alice/Alice) drew a leadoff walk and Sanchez would move him over with a sacrifice bunt to set up Bonnell's eventual game-winning RBI double. Longshore would retire the Mountaineers in the 11th to secure the game.

The second game of Monday's doubleheader was halted due to lightning in the area with Texas Lutheran leading 7-1 in the top of the fifth inning. The two teams will resume play on Wednesday at 3 PM in Kerrville. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com. TLU's match-up with McMurry - originally scheduled for Tuesday at 4 PM at Katt-Isbel Field - has been pushed back to April 25th due to the unfinished business in Kerrville.

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).