GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Fourteenth-ranked Texas Lutheran Baseball opened their three-game conference series against Southwestern University with an 8-4 road-victory over the Pirates Friday evening. 

At SU's Rockwell Baseball Field, TLU senior right-hander Dylan Drgac (Caldwell/Caldwell) pitched 6-2/3 strong innings and moved to 9-1. Drgac scattered six hits, allowed four runs (two earned), and struck out five.

The Bulldogs improved to 27-8 overall and 9-4 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Pirates dropped to 15-19 overall and 6-10 in the SCAC. 

TLU clinched their spot in the upcoming SCAC Baseball Championships with the conference-win. The top four teams in the SCAC advance to the conference tournament.

Riley Schaefer (Thorndale/Thorndale) and Tyler Cauley (Baytown/Barbers Hill) each drove in three. Schaefer finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored.

Dylan Murrell (Tomball/Memorial), a junior right-hander, tossed the final 2-1/3 innings for the Bulldogs. Murrell surrendered just one hit and struck out three.

The Pirates took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Bulldogs quickly recovered with two RBI-singles in the second to tie the game.

Schaefer nailed a two-RBI single in the fourth, allowing TLU to take the lead. Cauley drove in two more TLU runs with a single through the left side also in the fourth, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 advantage. 

In the sixth, the Pirates cut the lead to two with an RBI-double from Austin Smith followed by a RBI-single from Daniel Montgomery. The Bulldogs posted another two run inning in the eighth to close out the game for the 8-4 win. 

TLU second baseman Ben Marvin (Kingwood/Kingwood) delivered three hits, a run and an RBI. Marvin was one of four Bulldogs to register at least two hits.

Thomas Varner (Austin/Bowie) collected two hits, a double and an RBI, and Chad Curtis (Wolfforth/Midland JC) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for TLU. 

The Bulldogs and the Pirates will finish off the three-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. at SU's Rockwell Baseball Field.