March 6, 2007
The SU Pirate baseball team lit up its brand new scoreboard with a 6-5 victory over the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets in Georgetown, TX on Tuesday (Mar. 6).
First-year Todd Boone (Huntsville, TX/Huntsville HS) led off the bottom of the first inning with a single in to center field followed by a Richard Falcone (Houston, TX/Westside HS) walk. Two batters later, senior Derek Berger (Houston, TX/Spring Woods HS) drove in a run with a single followed by a two-out RBI double from Brad Culling (Albuquerque, NM/St. Pius HS). Berger scored on an error by the shortstop on Culling's double.
With SU leading 3-0, the Yellow Jackets scored an unearned run in the top of the third. The Pirates added another run in the third thanks to a Jamie Herrmann (Houston, TX/Westside HS) RBI single, making the score 4-1. In the fourth, HPU got a run thanks to a lead-off single, a fielder's choice and a pair of wild pitches to pull within two. Howard Payne then tied the game in the top of the fifth with two runs on two hits and two walks.
With the game tied, the Bucs answered immediately in the bottom half of the fifth. Southwestern's first four hitters reached base, accounting for two runs and a 6-4 lead. An error and a double allowed Howard Payne to pull within one during the seventh. SU pitching then retired the Yellow Jackets in order in the eighth and ninth innings.
Sophomore Travis Sartain (Houston, TX/Klein HS) picked up his first win since the 2005 season, lasting five innings and allowing four earned runs. He struck out four, walked three and gave up five hits. He is now 1-0 on the season. First-year Austin Alvis (Houston, TX/Houston Christian HS) picked up his first career save by throwing a perfect ninth, striking out two.
Berger went 2-4 in the game, driving in two runs and scoring one. Herrmann also had a pair of hits in four at bats and recorded two RBI. First-year Matt Clark (Spring, TX/Klein HS) also had a multi-hit game the Bucs with two hits and a stolen base.
Bellomy scored two runs on a 1-3 day and also stole one base. Falcone scored two runs and Culling was the only Southwestern player with an extra-base hit.
SU finished with 11 hits and two errors while Howard Payne had seven hits and just one error. Both teams left seven runners on base.
The Pirates play again on Wednesday (Mar. 7) when they host the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. in Georgetown. The two teams have already met once this year with the Bucs coming out on top, 7-6.
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