CLEBURNE, Texas -- Texas Lutheran baseball gave up two runs in the top of the ninth and dropped a 5-4 decision to University of St. Thomas in the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Baseball Championships on Saturday at The Depot at Cleburne Station.
Texas Lutheran took an early 2-0 lead on two hits and a St. Thomas error. Joe Jimenez (San Antonio/Johnson) drew a leadoff walk then advanced to second on a balk before Alec Sanchez (Waxahachie/Waxahachie) hammered an RBI single up the middle. Sanchez would score with two outs in the inning as Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central) would reach on an error from the St. Thomas third baseman, allowing Sanchez to come around from second and score.
St. Thomas responded in the fourth, scoring on a bases loaded walk, but starter Zach Longshore (Richmond/Fort Bend Travis) did well to limit the damage to just one run. Longshore pitched four innings and allowed the lone run on one one hit and struck out six batters.
Texas Lutheran extended their lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning on two hits and another Celts error. Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) led off the inning with a single and Payton Dahl (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge) would hit a one-out single to put two runners on before Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill) would reach on a throwing error from the Celts pitcher following a sacrifice bunt attempt - allowing Vasquez to score from second.
Cappadona would add another run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single that would score Strzelczyk to push the Bulldogs lead to 4-1.
Brendan Beard (New Waverly/Coldspring-Oakhurst) was stellar out of the bullpen, allowing two runs on one hit while striking out five batters in four innings. He allowed just three base runners in his four innings of work. All runs and base runners would come in the eighth inning as the Celts shrank the Bulldogs lead to 4-3.
St. Thomas retook the lead, 5-4, in the top of the ninth on a one-out RBI double and a two-out RBI single against reliever Blade Strzelczyk who would take the losing decision.
The Bulldogs - a team picked to finish first in the SCAC preseason poll - conclude the 2022 season with a 28-14 record, going 17-4 in the SCAC to claim second place in the conference in the regular season. The Bulldogs will graduate three seniors - Nick Gardoni (Salinas, Calif./Ruiz (CA)), Hayden Mundy (Deer Park/La Porte), and Logan Fisher (Thorndale/Thorndale). We thank them for all of their contributions to the Texas Lutheran baseball program.
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).
