SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran and Schreiner University split a Saturday doubleheader at Katt-Isbel Field, with the Bulldogs dropping game one, 8-5 before rallying to take game two, 13-9.
Texas Lutheran won the series, however, with a 3-0 victory on Friday night over Schreiner (16-24, 7-14 SCAC) concluding their regular season with a 28-12 overall record and 17-4 record in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) competition.
Prior to Saturday's doubleheader Texas Lutheran honored its three seniors: Nick Gardoni (Salinas, Calif./Ruiz (CA)), Hayden Mundy (Deer Park/La Porte), and Logan Fisher (Thorndale/Thorndale) in senior day festivities celebrating their contributions to the program as two-time SCAC Champions.
Texas Lutheran would drop game one, 8-5.
Schreiner would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and would add a fourth run in the third to take a 4-0 lead - chasing TLU starter Zach Longshore (Richmond/Fort Bend Travis) after two and one-third innings.
Texas Lutheran would be held without a hit their first turn through the lineup before an RBI single from Carson Draehn (Brenham/Brenham) broke up the no-hit bid and got the Bulldogs on the board in the fourth inning to bring the score to 4-1.
Schreiner would add four more runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 8-1.
A three-run home run from Joe Jimenez (San Antonio/Johnson) would be the TLU response in the bottom of the fifth - shrinking the Mountaineers lead to 8-4. A seventh inning RBI triple from Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) would bring the game to its final score of 8-5.
Texas Lutheran would only have three hits in game one but would flip the script in game two with 15 hits in their 13-9 win in the regular season finale.
Powered by Tyler Post's three-run home run and three RBIs from Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central), the Bulldogs powered past the Mountaineers in game two.
Texas Lutheran pounded out four extra base hits, including two triples.
After Schreiner hung five runs on the Bulldogs in the first, Texas Lutheran clawed back in the bottom of the second inning. A two-RBI double from Payton Dahl (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge) got Texas Lutheran on the board. Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) hit an infield RBI single to first base to keep the rally going. Alec Sanchez (Waxahachie/Waxahachie) would cross the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, shrinking the Schreiner lead to 5-4.
Blade Strzelczyk drove in Joe Jimenez in the third inning to tie the game five-all. Schreiner would retake the lead in the top of the fourth, 8-5 before immediately relinquishing the lead following Payton Dahl scoring on a throwing error from the Mountaineers catcher and a three-run home run from Tyler Post as TLU took their first lead of the day, 9-8.
Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) would score on a wild pitch to extend the TLU lead to 10-8 in the fifth. With two stolen bases in the sixth inning, Randy Huerta (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) matched the Texas Lutheran single season stolen base record of 35 stolen bases - previously held by Dax Kiefer in 1995.
Blake Cappadona and Blade Strzelczyk would drive in the final runs for the Bulldogs with an RBI single from Cappadona in the seventh and a two-RBI triple in the eighth from Strzelczyk.
Neither starter figured in the decision. AJ Briscoe (Blanco/Blanco) picked up his first victory of the season in relief - allowing one hit in two and two-thirds innings of work. Blade Strzelczyk would come in from right field to collect the save in the ninth inning - his SCAC-leading ninth of the season. He currently ranks in the top 10 in all of Division-III in saves - going nine-for-nine in save opportunities.
The Bulldogs will open postseason play at the SCAC Championship Baseball Tournament at The Depot at Cleburne Station in Cleburne, Texas, May 6-8. No. 2 seed Texas Lutheran will match up with No. 3 seed Centenary on Friday. The start time of first pitch is to be determined. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
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 Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).
