The Austin College baseball team dropped both halves of its doubleheader against Willamette University on Saturday, falling 14-2 in game one before a huge eighth inning blew open a close game and gave the Bearcats a 10-1 win in game two. The 'Roos are now 1-6 on the season.
In game one, the Bearcats took advantage of an early error to plate three runs in the first and added two more in the third to grab a quick 5-0 lead, and the lead doubled when another error opened the door to a five run fourth to make it 10-0. Eight of the first 10 Willamette runs were unearned.
Four more runs came across in the fifth to push the Bearcat lead to 14-0 before Todd Takabuki came on in relief shut down Willamette over the final four innings. Austin College plated a pair in the seventh when Travis Gibson and CJ Adame each drove home a run to make it a 14-2 final.
Austin Vaughan and Colt Herron each had two hits and Blaine Tew took the loss after giving up nine runs, only two earned, in 3.2 innings of work. Takabuki went 5.0 innings giving up one run on four hits.
In game two the 'Roos jumped on top early when Jeremy Halford scored in the bottom of the first, but the Bearcats would square things up in the second inning. The score remained 1-1 until the sixth, when Willamette took advantage of an error to go on top 2-1, which was how the score would remain until the top of the eighth, when the Bearcats would explode for eight runs to push their lead to 10-1.
Halford, Herron, and Josh Coughennower had the only hits in the game for the 'Roos while Mychael Parrish absorbed the loss despite surrendering just one earned run and two runs overall in 7.0 innings of work while striking out four.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
About Austin College
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope's influential book Colleges that Change Lives.
