Austin College Sweeps Southwestern to Wrap Weekend Series

GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Austin College baseball team picked up a pair of wins at Southwestern University in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday, winning game one 12-9 and game two 12-8 to give the 'Roos the series win over the Pirates. Austin College is now 12-23 overall and 8-19 in conference play.

Austin College got on the board first in game one, with Desmond Squalls singling to plate Isaac Villa, but two runs came across for the Pirates in the bottom half of the inning to put Southwestern on top. The 'Roos answered back with three runs in the second, starting with a sacrifice fly from Maddox Prentice, and Ashton Cason had an RBI triple in the inning while Villa picked up a run-scoring double to make it 4-2.

The margin grew to 7-2 in the third after RayShawn Riley had an RBI base hit, and Cason drove in two runs following an error to help extend the lead. Southwestern scored once each in the fourth and fifth innings to cut it to 7-5 before Riley tripled and then came home on the same play thanks to an error, making it an 8-5 game. However, the Pirates evened things up in the bottom half of the inning, getting three runs across to tie the score, but Jayden Ayala-Hinojosa and Squalls each drove in runs in the eighth to give Austin College a 10-8 lead.

Southwestern got one run back in the bottom of the eighth, but the 'Roos pushed across a pair of insurance runs off the beat of Villa in the top of the ninth to make it 12-9 and that's where things would end. Jack Wilhelm picked up the win in relief, giving up a run on two hits in 0.2 innings of work, and Blake Skipworth got the save after throwing 1.2 perfect innings. Villa finished ghe game 4-for-5 with three RBI to lead the 'Roos, and Scott Hosmer was 3-for-5. Stephen Rutherford got the loss for Southwestern, while James Vaquero was 3-for-4 with four RBI for the Pirates.

The 'Roos got on the board first again in game two, with Squalls driving in a run in the opening frame before Southwestern answered back with four runs to make it a 4-1 game. The deficit grew to 6-1 in the second, but Tino Ramirez doubled home a run and another run came across on a double play to cut it to 6-3. Ramirez brougth home another run in the fourth, and a base-clearing RBI triple from Squalls in the same inning put Austin College ahead 7-6. Riley capped off the big inning by bringing home squalls to make it 8-6.

Vaquero pulled Southwestern even with a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth, but that was the final run of the game for the Pirates, while Riley and Cason both brought home a run in the sixth to make it 10-8, and Riley added an RBI in the seventh and one more in the ninth to make it a 12-9 final.

Riley finished the game 3-for-5 with four RBI, while Ayala-Hinojosa was 4-for-5 and scored twice. Squalls was 2-for-5 and drove in four runs, while Cason, Ramirez, and Greg Smith each had two hits. Asher Thompson got the win after throwing 7.1 innings of relief work, giving up two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts. Joshua Werner took the loss for Southwestern, surrendering four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings in relief, and Vaquero once again led the Pirates by going 3-for-5 with four RBI.