SHERMAN, Texas – The Austin College baseball team fell 11-7 in the first game of its doubleheader against Rust College, but bounced back with a 12-2 game two victory on Tuesday afternoon at Baker Field. The 'Roos are now 12-20 overall this season with the split.
In the first game, Rust plated two runs in the second to take an early lead but the 'Roos came back with two runs of their own in the third, with Scott Gelbart and James Arguello each driving in a run to square things up at 2-2. However, three errors in the fourth opened the door to a seven run inning for Rust to put the Bearcats on top 9-2. Only one of the seven runs was earned in the inning.
Austin College battled back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut it to a 9-6 game, with Thomas Oberg bringing home a run, followed by sacrifice flies from Gelbart and Trey Croft. Austin Dudley added an RBI single for the final run in the inning for the 'Roos. However, Rust would add two runs in the seventh to go ahead 11-6. Austin College plated one more run in the bottom half of the inning but left the bases loaded to end the game.
Arguello and Dudley each went 2-for-3, and Oberg went 2-for-4 to lead the 'Roos offensively. Trevor Anderson took the loss, surrendering five runs – only one earned – on two hits in 0.1 innings in relief.
Rust once again took an early 2-0 lead in game two, scoring once in the first and again in the third, but Austin College erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-2 lead. Arguello notched an RBI double and Gelbart and RJ Melton each had run scoring singles to highlight the big inning for Austin College.
Four more runs came across in the fourth to make it a 9-2 game, with Oberg ripping an RBI double and Dudley and Melton each driving in a run. The 'Roos plated three more runs in the fifth, with a two run single by Dudley ending the game via the mercy rule as Austin College went on top 12-2.
Arguello went 3-for-3 and Dudley went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the win, while Melton went 2-fo-3 and drove in a pair. Brett Moody picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.0 shutout innings and allowing just two hits while striking out a pair.
Austin College heads on the road this weekend to get back into Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a three game set at Schreiner University, and will close out the regular season with a home series against Trinity next weekend.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.