'Roos Split with Southwestern

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team split its doubleheader with Southwestern University on Saturday, taking game one 7-1 behind a dominant pitching performance from Ryan Culp before falling 8-5 in 11 innings in game two. The 'Roos are now 7-17 overall and 2-7 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

Culp tossed 8.0 innings to get the win in game one, striking out nine batters while allowing one run on just three hits. After giving up a run on two hits in the top of the first, Culp didn't allow another hit until the eighth inning. Austin College evened things up at one run apiece in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Jake Webster, and the 'Roos put five runs on the board in the third, with four of those runs coming after an error kept the inning alive. Logan Ballard doubled home the first run, while Beau Beshires and Sergio De Paoli each knocked in a run. Mason Woodhouse capped off the scoring with a two-run single to make it 6-1.

Brandon Hill scored on a passed ball in the fourth to make it 7-1, and that's how things would finish. Hill went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and De Paoli and Beshires each had a pair of hits in the victory.

Southwestern got on the board first in game two, putting one run across in the opening inning, and the lead grew to 3-0 in the top of the third. Austin College got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a base hit by Scott Hosmer, and Mahoney and Walker Davis each brought home a run in the fourth to even things up. Southwestern went on top 4-3 on a wild pitch in the fifth, and the lead grew to 5-3 in the sixth.

Mahoney brought the 'Roos back with an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth and an RBI single in the eighth to make it 5-5 and force extra innings, but in the top of the 11th the Pirates would push three runs across and Austin College was unable to answer.

Mahoney finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and Ballard and Woodhouse each had two hits, while Trystan Mallory absorbed the loss in relief, giving up one run on zero hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work.