IRVING, Texas – Southwestern lost to the University of Dallas 6-5 in extra innings on Sunday. The 'Bucs rallied in the seventh inning to tie the score and extend the game. However, the Crusaders broke the stalemate in the bottom of the eleventh inning for the win.
The Pirates opened up the scoring in the top of the fourth inning. Cray Betts singled to center field and later stole second base. A batter later, Tyler Herriage hit a single to drive in Betts. Then Colby Dutton walked and Cruz Luna singled to left field to load the bases for the 'Bucs with two outs. The Crusaders worked out of the jam by getting Heath Spencer to line out to the second baseman to keep it a 1-0 ball game.
The University of Dallas tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning on a Carlson solo home run.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Southwestern bats heated up again. After Betts led off with a walk, Jay Sterling hit a single to left field while pinch hitting for Jeff Glasgow. Betts advanced to third on a fly out by Herriage. Next, Dutton hit a RBI single and moved Sterling up to third base. The second run in the inning scored on a single by Luna. Then Spencer loaded the bases with a single to center field. The Crusaders recorded the second out on Nate Shipp's fielder's choice with Dutton out on the force play at the plate. Zach Lynch singled home the third run of the frame to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Crusaders fought back again in the bottom of the sixth. The home team took advantage of a Pirate error and recorded three hits, including a two run homer by Bossert, to score four runs and capture the 5-4 lead.
Southwestern rallied in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game up once again. Betts led off with a single to right field. Then Sterling followed with a walk. The Pirates were aggressive on the base paths and pulled off a double steal with Betts taking third and Sterling moving to second. Betts tagged up and scored on a Dutton sacrifice fly to left field to even the score at 5-5.
The game stayed level through regulation and moved into extra innings. The 'Bucs were unable to produce base runners in the tenth and eleventh innings.
The Crusaders led off with a single and a walk in the bottom of the eleventh. Following a sacrifice bunt, the home team had men on second and third. The Pirates elected to walk the next batter and create force out situations at every base. Berry drew a bases loaded walk to bring in the winning run and ended the game with a 6-5 score in favor of the University of Dallas.
The Pirates were led by Cray Betts, who went 2-5 with a walk and scored three times and by Colby Dutton, who went 1-3 with a walk and drove in two runs.
Following the game, Southwestern's record moves to 10-24 on the year and 6-11 in conference and the University of Dallas advances to 20-15 overall and 10-10 in conference.
The Pirates play their last series at home, hosting Hendrix in a doubleheader on April 21st, with the first game beginning at 1:00pm at Rockwell Field in Georgetow