TLU Baseball Advances to SCAC Championship Game

CLEBURNE, Texas -- Texas Lutheran Baseball kept their momentum rolling from Friday as the fourth-seeded Bulldogs defeated the No. 2 seed Centenary College Gents, 5-2, in the semifinals of the 2024 SCAC Championship Baseball Tournament on Saturday at La Moderna Field. The Bulldogs (25-15) advance to the championship game for the fifth time in six seasons taking on the winner between Centenary and the No. 9 Trinity Tigers at 3:30 PM on Sunday. The final game in the loser's bracket was suspended with the Gents leading the Tigers 3-0 in the bottom of the first Saturday night. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

The championship is the first appearance under first year head coach Kyle Palmer '09.

The Texas Lutheran pitching staff found a way to survive with runners on throughout on Saturday as they combined to hold the Gents to only two runs on 10 hits and strand 14 base runners on the afternoon.

JT Taylor (Conroe/Fort Bend Christian), who was named All-SCAC Honorable Mention on Friday, started and pitched six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits and four walks to earn his sixth win of the season. Diego Vinton (Richmond/George Ranch) gave the Bulldogs three shutout innings out of the bullpen to earn his first career save.

Several Bulldogs had big games at the plate as the Bulldogs seniors stepped up to lead the squad to the championship game. Senior Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs, Hayden Kesselring (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) tallied a career-high four hits going 4-for-5 with an RBI. Carson Draehn (Brenham/Brenham) finished 3-for-5 with a run scored while Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) recorded a 2-for-5 day with a two-run home run and two runs scored. With his first hit on Saturday, Post recorded his 200th career hit.

Texas Lutheran jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a bases loaded, two-RBI single from Aric Vasquez as he continues to swing a hot bat for the Bulldogs - driving in 17 runs over the Bulldogs last eight games. An RBI single from Hayden Kesselring in the sixth increased the Bulldogs lead to 3-0 as Taylor kept the Gents at bay on the mound.

After back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the seventh, the Gents got on the board following a Texas Lutheran throwing error. The Gents would follow with an RBI fielder's choice to cut the TLU lead to 3-2. Diego Vinton was able to get out of the jam he inherited, stranding a runner.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 5-2 with a two-run home run from Tyler Post in the ninth inning. Post's home run was the sixth of his career in SCAC tournament play, making him the league's all-time leader in that category. He had previously been tied with Jeff Gabbert of Southwestern, MJ Metz of Trinity and Garner Wetzel of Millsaps.

Vinton would come out in the bottom of the ninth and, despite the Gents threatening with a runner in scoring position, would shut the door for the save.

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 X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).