GEORGETOWN, Texas - Not only was the weather nearly perfect but so were the Pirates as they took two games from Schreiner University on Tuesday afternoon to extend their win streak to seven. Southwestern now sits at 10-17 overall and is continuing to find their identity as a ball club.
Schreiner wasted no time making their presence known in game one, putting up two runs on three hits in the opening frame. SU responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning and then Johnny Gavrel’s lead-off homerun tied it in the bottom of the second. Garrett’s chopper up the middle brought in Chris Lowry to give the Pirates the lead with no outs. Southwestern tacked on two more runs to go up 5-2 at the end of two.
Starting pitcher Marc Brace settled in and held the Mountaineers scoreless after the opening inning and was relieved by Brice Bender in the fourth. Bender started out strong but allowed two more Mountaineer runs in the top of the fifth, pulling Schreiner within one run, 5-4.
With their backs against the wall the Mountaineers had one last inning to pull even and started with a single to centerfield by Valdez. Ibieta’s sacrifice bunt moved pinch runner Valdez to second and a single past diving second baseman Nate Shipp by Martinez put runners at the corners.
Relief pitcher Aaron Garza worked Pena to a full count and secured the second out of the inning with a fly out to right field, but it allowed Loza to score the tying run. A hustling Wooten in right field gathered the fly ball by Escobar to end the inning and Southwestern headed to the plate to seek out the win.
Kyle Belski led off the inning by drawing a walk and Cray Betts advanced pinch runner Ross Meyer to second with a well executed sacrifice bunt. Gavrel stepped to the plate with confidence and hit a bomb to centerfield that carried to the fence, allowing ample time to score Meyer from second for the 6-5 win.
Garza received the win while Nicholson had the loss for Schreiner.
In game two the Pirates got back to work in the bottom of the second inning, loading the bases with no outs on strong at bats and a couple of Mountaineer errors. Nick Ashford drove in the first run of the game with a single to right field, Garrett followed with a single to centerfield to drive in Gavrel and Boone kept things going with a 2 RBI single up the middle, putting the score at 4-0 Southwestern.
In the top of the fourth the Mountaineers attempted to pull closer with runners on first and second with no outs. Third baseman Chris Lowry turned a double play by stepping on third to get the lead runner and then gunning the ball across the field in time to put out the batter giving the Pirates two much needed outs. Stuart got the next batter to fly out to centerfield, ending the threat.
Southwestern extended the defensive momentum to offensive side, posting two more runs with no outs and forcing another pitching change. After four complete innings, the Pirates were up 6-0.
With a solid effort on the mound put forth by Stuart, the Pirates brought in Chris Churchwell to close things out.
The Mountaineers attempted a comeback, scoring two runs in the fifth on a Pirate error but Southwestern responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to retain a six point lead, 8-2.
In the sixth inning the Mountaineers posted three more runs on four hits, pulling within three, 8-5.
Belski finished up the game strong on the mound, closing out the sixth and seventh innings to give Southwestern the 8-5 win.
Stuart earned the win with four scoreless innings of work while Gonzales garnered the loss for Schreiner.
Garrett was consistently strong at the plate all afternoon going 5-6 from the plate for a .833 batting average with two doubles, one triple, three RBI's and scoring three times.
Southwestern continues their homestand with a single game against McMurry University on Tuesday, March 30th at 2:00 pm.