GEORGETOWN, Texas – Southwestern split Sunday afternoon's doubleheader with the University of Dallas by winning the first game 4-3 and losing the second 7-4.
In the top of the first, Carlson reached on an error and advanced to second base on a single by Shelburne. Allred reached on an error by the shortstop which allowed Carlson to score. Caluda singled to left field to load the bases with two outs. Shelburne scored on a balk to give the Crusaders the 2-0 lead.
Charlie Garrett hit a leadoff single to right field for the Pirates in their first at bat. Garrett stole second with Cruz Luna at the plate. Then Luna hit a single to right field and advanced Garrett to third. Jeff Glasgow looped a one out single to shallow center field to score Garrett. Cray Betts followed with a RBI single of his own to score Luna and tie the game at 2-2.
Ross Meyer led off the second inning for the Pirates with a single to right field. Garrett reached first on an errant throw by the third baseman with Meyer advancing to third on the play. Then Garrett stole second base with Nate Shipp at the plate. Shipp tripled to right center to score both base runners and give Southwestern the 4-2 lead.
Allred got on base with a leadoff walk for the University of Dallas in the top of the third. Starting pitcher, Chris Webber got an infield pop out and struck out two consecutive Crusaders to end the side.
In the top of the fifth, Shelburne hit a one out double to left center. Bossert hit another double with two outs to score Shelburne. Caluda hit a sharp ground ball down the third base line. Shipp made a great diving stop and put the tag on the advancing Bossert to end the inning at 4-3.
The Pirates would hold on to the 4-3 lead and get the complete game win for Pirates pitcher Chris Webber. Webber struck out seven Crusaders and allowed only one earned run in game one of the afternoon. Offensively, the Pirates were led by Nate Shipp, who went 2-4 with a two RBI triple and Cruz Luna, who went 3-4 and scored a run.
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In the first inning of the second game, Garrett reached on a one out single to left field for the Pirates. Shipp followed with a double down the left field line that advanced Garrett to third. Then Glasgow hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field to score Garrett and put Shipp on third. A batter later, Gottardy hit a RBI single to right field to bring home Shipp and give the Pirates the early 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Carlson led off with a triple to deep left center field. Carlson scored on a RBI ground out by Shelburne to cut it to a 2-1 game. Allred followed with a single to right center. He later stole second with Bossert at the plate. Bossert walked to give the Crusaders runners on first and second. Then Caluda lined out on a great catch by right fielder Ross Meyer for the second out in the inning. Ford hit a two RBI single to center field and advanced to third on an error by Betts. Villanueva brought home Ford on a double to left center field. Then Villanueva stole third and later scored on a single through the left side by Costello to give the Crusaders the 5-2 lead.
Meyer led off the bottom of the fourth for the Pirates with a single to center field. Spencer followed with another bloop single to center to give the 'Bucs runners on first and second base. Next, Luna hit a single to right center to score Meyer and move Spencer to third. Garrett hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Spencer and cut it to a 5-4 game.
That would be as close as the Pirates would get in game two, as the Crusaders added an insurance run in each of the fifth and sixth innings for the 7-4 final score. Southwestern had offensive balance in the second half of the doubleheader, earning eleven hits between eight different players.
At the end of the day, the Pirates move to 5-12 (2-2 in conference play), and the University of Dallas goes to 11-4 (3-3 in conference play).
The Pirates next face Cardinal Stritch on Wednesday, March 7th, at 7:00pm in the friendly confines of Rockwell Field on the Southwestern Campus in Georgetown, Texas.