SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran Baseball picked up two wins on Friday night over No. 22/18 McMurry in their 2026 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opening series at Katt-Isbel Field.
In game one,
Isaiah Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall) pitched eight innings and struck out two batters to pick up his first win of the season. The Bulldogs turned to freshman
Cody Andrade (Calallen/Calallen) in the ninth who, despite loading the bases, escaped without allowing a run.
McMurry took advantage of TLU fielding errors in the first inning to scratch across their first run and take a 1-0 lead. It was more of the same as a throwing error from Ramirez on a failed pickoff attempt set up an RBI single for the War Hawks to double their lead to 2-0.
Texas Lutheran came right back in the fourth to cut the lead in half as one of McMurry's five errors on the night set up an RBI single for
Cole Cravens (Round Rock/Round Rock).
The Bulldogs turned to small ball in the sixth to take the lead as a string of four straight bunts led to two runs off an RBI fielder's choice bunt from
Brayden Sprencel (Robstown/Calallen) and a sacrifice fly from
Cooper Jen (Kyle/Hays).
The Bulldogs added two runs to their lead in the eighth inning on a two-RBI single from Cravens and an RBI double from
Chase Bourgeois (League City/Clear Falls) to make the score 6-2.
After loading the bases with two outs in the ninth, Andrade was able to force a fly out to left field to seal the victory.
Texas Lutheran took the series over the ranked War Hawks with an 11-1 run-rule win in game two.
The Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0 SCAC) tagged War Hawks pitching for 11 hits, including a double and two triples.
Caleb Small (Round Rock/Gateway College Preparatory), the SCAC Hitter of the Week last week, went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, and two runs scored, while
Brayden Sprencel went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
Cole Cravens led the Bulldogs with three RBI.
Freshman
Jack Grames (Elgin/Elgin) pitched his first collegiate complete game, tossing all seven innings and allowing just one unearned run on six hits. He struck out three batters to pick up his second consecutive win.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the first behind an RBI single from
Adam Peavy (Houston/Memorial) and an RBI double from Sprencel, the Bullldogs put together a six-run third inning to blow the game open. The Bulldogs loaded the bases before a sac fly from Sprencel scored the first run. A War Hawks error reloaded the bases for an infield single for
Cooper Jen before
Cole Cravens cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple before he would score on a passed ball.
An RBI single from Jen made the score 9-1 in the fourth. McMurry turned to the bullpen but the Bulldogs kept hitting as a two RBI single from
Caleb Small put the game in run-rule territory in the fifth to cap the scoring at 11-1.
With the 5-0 start, the Bulldogs are off to their best start since 2019.
The Bulldogs will return to Katt-Isbel Field on Saturday to close the series against the War Hawks. First pitch is tentatively scheduled for 4 PM. The game will be streamed on FloCollege. 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 X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).
