LONGVIEW, Texas -- #RV Texas Lutheran Baseball led 6-0 early but was unable to hold on to the lead as five errors doomed the Bulldogs, dropping the series opener to LeTourneau, 8-6, on Friday night at Conrad-Vernon Field in Longview.
The Bulldogs (8-2, 5-2 SCAC) will look to bounce back and take the series on Saturday as the two team's face off in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 12 and 3 PM. Both games will be streamed on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
Caleb Small (Round Rock/Gateway College Preparatory) had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three RBI - finishing a home run short of hitting for the cycle to lead the Bulldogs offensively.
Brayden Sprencel (Robstown/Calallen) also had a three-hit day, going 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Isaiah Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall) got the start and allowed five unearned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out five.
A pair of RBI singles from
Michael Barrera (San Antonio/East Central) and
Brayden Sprencel pushed two across for the Bulldogs in the first inning. The Bulldogs added to the lead with a bases loaded, bases clearing double from Small in the third. A
Cole Cravens (Round Rock/Round Rock) sacrifice fly was responsible for TLU's final run of the night in the fifth as TLU took a 6-0 lead.
LeTourneau ended TLU's shutout attempt in the sixth as they were able to get a single run across in the sixth before seven runs across the seventh and eighth innings to take the lead - taking advantage of a number of defensive miscues from TLU.
TLU stranded two runners in scoring position in the final four innings.
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).
