CLEBURNE, Texas -- Senior right-hander Brandan Beard went the distance for the fifth time this season and pitched fourth-seeded Texas Lutheran to a 6-3 victory over top-seeded and ninth-ranked Trinity in the opening game of the 2024 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Baseball Championship on Friday afternoon. Official Website l Tournament Stats l Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the second, but the regular season champs battled back to cut the margin to 4-3 after five. TLU, however tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to provide the final margin.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Texas Lutheran scored four unearned runs in the top of the second off Trinity senior starter Joseph Chavana, with senior Aric Vasquez providing the major blow with a two-out, two-run single to center that scored the second and third runs of the inning for the Bulldogs.
- Trinity bounced back in the bottom of the fifth, plating three runs on three hits, which included back-to-back home runs from junior Nicholas Lazzara and senior Cristian Holloway. Lazzara's blast was a two-run shot and Holloway's was a solo blast - his league-tying eighth of the season.
- Beard settled down from that point, allowing just two hits the rest of the way, to lock down the win for TLU.
- The Bulldogs tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, with RBI singles by senior Tyler Post and sophomore Chase Bourgeois doing the damage.
TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Carson Draehm: 2-3, 2 runs
- Adam Peavy: 2-5, 1 run
- Aric Vasquez: 1-4, 2 RBI
- Tyler Post: 1-3, 1run, 1 RBI
- Brendan Beard (WP): 9.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 8 K, 6 BB
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Nicholas Lazzara: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 run, 2 RBI
- Cristian Holloway: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Maddox McDonald: 2-4, 1 2B
- Kaleb Woodward: 1-4, 1 run
- Joseph Chavana (LP): 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 4 K, 5 BB
NOTABLES
- Beard improved to 7-1 on the season with the win and earned his third career win in SCAC tournament play, which is tied with five other players for the second-most in tournament history. His eight strikeouts give him 30 career strikeouts in tournament play, the fourth-most in SCAC history.
- Beard had gone the distance the last time he faced Trinity, earning a 5-0 victory over the Tigers on April 12.
- The fifth inning home run by Cristian Holloway was his eighth of the season, which ties for the current regular season conference lead.
- TLU improves to 5-10 all-time against Trinity in the conference tournament,
- Trinity's loss as the No. 1 seed marks the first timce since 2018 the top seed has lost its first game in the tournament. Centenary dropped a 3-2 extra-inning game to Southwestern as the No. 1 seed that season.
UP NEXT
Texas Lutheran will move on to face the winner of No. 2-seed Centenary and No. 3-seed Southwestern at Noon CT on Saturday afternoon, while Trinity takes on the loser of the match in the following game.
