SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team swept its doubleheader against Dallas Christian College on Wednesday evening, getting a walk-off 8-7 extra innings win in game one before taking a 12-5 game two victory. The 'Roos are now 3-1 on the season.
In game one, the teams traded sacrifice flies in the opening frame to make it 1-1 after the first, with Justin Alphonse bringing home the first run for Austin College. Dallas Christian plated two runs in the third to go up 3-1, but Austin College got an RBI double from Logan Ballard and a two-run single from Brandon Evans in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-3 lead.
The Crusaders plated three runs in the fourth to regain the lead at 6-4, with Zack Mahoney bringing home a run in the bottom of the inning to pull the 'Roos to within one at 6-5. Sergio Di Paoli doubled home a pair of runs in the fifth to give Austin College a 7-6 lead, but DCC would square things up in the sixth. That's how things remained through seven, forcing extra innings, and in the bottom of the ninth Mahoney would get around to third base and ultimately score on an error to give the 'Roos the win.
Jake Thomas picked up the win in relief, while Mahoney went 3-for-4 with two doubles to pace Austin College at the dish.
In game two, the 'Roos took a 1-0 lead after the first when Jake Webster scored on a grounder up the middle, and two more runs came across in the second on an RBI base hit by Ballard and a sacrifice fly by Jake Webster. The 3-0 lead was short-lived, however, as DCC pushed four runs across in the third to make it a 4-3 game. However, the 'Roos exploded for seven runs in the fifth to go on top 10-4 and they would not look back the rest of the way. A two-run homer by Webster highlighted the big inning for Austin College, along with an RBI triple by Brandon Hill.
Dallas Christian got one run back in the top of the sixth, but Austin College scored two more in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 12-5 final.
Ryan Culp earned the win for the 'Roos, surrendering four unearned runs on five hits in 4.0 innings of work, while Webster went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Alphonse, Hill, and Garrett Gray also each collected a pair of hits in the win.