SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team split its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference-opening doubleheader against visiting Schreiner University on Sunday afternoon, dropping game one 12-8 before bouncing back with a 5-3 victory in game two. The 'Roos are now 7-9 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Schreiner jumped on top 1-0 in the top of the second in game one, and added an unearned run in the third to make it a two-run lead. The margin grew to 4-0 in the fifth, before Brandon Hill got Austin College on the board with a solo homer in the bottom half of the inning. Schreiner pushed the lead to 7-1 in the top of the sixth, but Austin College started to rally in the bottom half of the inning with Jake Trapani doubling home a pair of runs, while Hill belted a triple that plated two more to cut it to 7-5.
The Mountaineers extended their lead to 9-5 in the seventh, but later in that inning, RayShawn Riley singled home a pair of runs and later came around to score on a passed ball to make it 9-8, but that's as close as things would get with Schreiner tacking on three more runs in the eighth to make it a 12-8 final. Trystan Mallory took the loss for Austin College, surrendering four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work with six strikeouts. Fito Mendez pitched 6.0 innings and gave up five runs to earn the win for Schreiner. Riley finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Hill went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs in defeat.
Game two saw Schreiner take a 2-0 lead after the first inning, before Austin College got on the scoreboard in the third on an RBI single by Riley. Schreiner made it 3-1 in the fifth, but in the bottom of the inning, Trapani and Asher Thompson each drove in a run to even things up. The score remained knotted at 3-3 until the eighth, when Thompson hit what would prove to be the game-winning homer to put the 'Roos on top 4-3, and Mason Woodhouse added a solo shot of his own two batters later to make it 5-3. That's how things would end, with Jonas Ceballos picking up the win after tossing 8.0 innings, giving up three runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts. Brant Stuber earned his fourth save of the year, striking out the side and giving up one hit in the ninth.
Thompson went 3-for-4 with two RBI to pace the 'Roos offensively, and Riley and Trapani each had two hits. Gerardo Cardoza went 4-for-5 with three RBI and a homer to lead Schreiner at the plate, and Max Sauceda got the loss after giving up two runs in 3.0 innings of work in relief.