SHERMAN, Texas –The Austin College baseball team saw its season come to a close at the hands of No. 14-ranked Texas Lutheran University on Saturday, falling 13-1 in game one and 14-1 in game two. The 'Roos end the season just short of reaching the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, finishing with a record of 13-18 overall and 6-12 in conference play.
Texas Lutheran jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one, and the lead grew to 3-0 on a 2-run homer by Chad Curtis in the second. The 'Roos got one run back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by James Wyche, but the Bulldogs scored once in the third and took advantage of two Austin College errors in the fourth to go ahead 7-1.
The lead grew to 9-1 on a Tyler Cauley 2-run double in the sixth, and Riley Schaefer belted a 3-run homer in the seventh as TLU plated four in the inning to make it a 13-1 final. Ryan Culp took the loss for Austin College, surrendering seven runs – three earned – on four hits in 3.2 innings of work. James Arguello paced Austin College at the dish with a 2-for-3 performance.
Cauley smacked a 2-run homer in the top of the first to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0 in game two before Austin College countered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, as Arguello brought home Oscar Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly. Curtis homered for the second time in the doubleheader in the second, and four more runs would score in the third as TLU went on top 7-1.
After a scoreless fourth, the Bulldogs plated five in the fifth as Schaefer homered and Cauley added a 2-run triple. Two more runs came across in the sixth to make it a 14-1 final.
Brett Taff took the loss for Austin College, giving up seven runs on 10 hits in 3.0 innings, while Nick Flynn went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead Austin College offensively. Cauley went 3-for-4 with five RBI to lead Texas Lutheran.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.