ABILENE, Texas â€" Texas Lutheran split Saturday's doubleheader at Hardin-Simmons, winning the first game 5-2 before being felled by a walkoff homerun in extra innings in the series finale.
 
The split moved the Bulldogs' record to 8-4 on the season, as they dropped two of the three games over the weekend against the Cowboys.
 
The opening game on Saturday was decided in the sixth inning, when the Bulldogs scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
 
The inning started with a leadoff double from Lincoln Baylor. Matt King followed that up with a double of his own, scoring Baylor. With still nobody out, Austin Frick came up with a pinch-hit single, scoring King. The Bulldogs eventually loaded the bases, and Alejandro Gutierrez was hit by a pitch to score the third run of the frame.
 
Texas Lutheran finished the game with eight hits, five of them being of the extra-base variety. King (Barbers Hill, Texas) came up with two of those extra-base hits, finishing 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, scoring two runs and driving in one.
 
Freshman Dylan Drgac (Caldwell, Texas) earned the win on the mound, improving to 2-0. He finished one out shy of the complete game, tossing 6 and 2/3 innings and allowing two runs on five hits.
 
He got stronger as the game went along. After allowing two runs in the second inning, he shut the Cowboys down the rest of the way, allowing just two more hits.
 
The only trouble he ran into the rest of the game came in the seventh inning. A fielding error by TLU with two outs kept the inning alive, as the Cowboys eventually loaded the bases. Freshman Nathan Malinovsky (New Braunfels, Texas) came in to get the final out, facing one batter and inducing a groundout to end the game.
 
The Bulldogs opened the game by racking up a couple hits and taking advantage of a couple Cowboy errors to load the bases in the top of the first. They couldn't push a run across though, as the inning ended with a Lincoln Baylor groundout.
 
The game's first runs were scored by the Cowboys in the second inning. Elijah Perez opened the scoring with an RBI single. The Cowboys followed that up with a two-out RBI double by Tanner Hollinger.
 
The Bulldogs got on the board in the fifth inning with a Justin Law (Houston, Texas) RBI double that scored Gutierrez (Pharr, Texas).
 
After taking that 4-2 lead in the sixth, the Bulldogs would scratch one more run across in the seventh to extend their lead. King scored on a wild pitch after ripping a triple to right center.
 
The second game ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Bulldogs, as Cody Berryman's leadoff home run in the 10th inning gave the Cowboys the walkoff win.
 
Texas Lutheran carried the momentum they garnered from the first game into the series finale, scoring twice in the top of the first inning to jump out in front.
 
A leadoff single from Tony Gennusa (Kingwood, Texas) and a one-out double from Gutierrez put runners on second and third for the Bulldogs. Law grounded out, scoring Gennusa. The Bulldogs scored again Riley Schaeffer's single through the right side scored Gutierrez.
 
Thomas Harwell (Humble, Texas) got the start for the Bulldogs in the rubber match and took a one-hitter in the sixth inning. The senior got out of a bases-load jam in the sixth to keep the shutout going.
 
The next inning though, Hardin-Simmons tied things up with a two-run home run from Zack de Luna. The Cowboys followed that up with a one-out single, ending Harwell's day on the mound.

The senior tossed 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up the two runs in the seventh. He allowed five hits and two walks, striking out three.
 
Logan Domino (San Antonio, Texas) entered the game for Harwell and got the Bulldogs out of the inning, stranding runners on first and third.
 
The Bulldogs got out of another jam in the eighth inning. Hunter Roberts (Montgomery, Texas) entered the game at the start of the inning and allowed a leadoff double by Jared Berryman. He reached third on a wild pitch with nobody out.
 
Roberts, a freshman, buckled down and stranded Berryman at third, notching a strikeout and a lineout to get the first two outs. After allowing a walk to put runners on first and third, Roberts ended the inning with a groundout second base.
 
The Bulldogs got a leadoff single in the top of the 10th from Justin Law, but nothing came of the early threat. Roberts came out to pitch the bottom of the frame, giving up the leadoff homer to Berryman.
 
The Bulldogs finished with 11 hits, but they hit just 2-of-10 with runners in scoring position.
 
Texas Lutheran will be back in the friendly confines of Katt-Isbel Field next weekend when they play host to SCAC foe Centenary in a three-game series. The three games will not count as conference contests. The series starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27.