GEORGETOWN, Texas — Southwestern baseball ended its four-game slide, scoring with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Susquehanna River Hawks 10-9 in the wildest of endings.
The Pirates were clicking on all cylinders through the first three innings, taking an early 7-0 lead. Southwestern starting pitcher Ben Ludwig and the defense retired the Susquehanna lineup in order, going nine-up, nine-down through the first three innings, ending the first and second innings on double plays.
Southwestern caught a break in the first inning with leadoff hitter Ted Lobkowicz reaching on an error. After Lobkowicz stole second, Maxwell Mims moved him over to third on a groundout, setting up James Vaquero's sacrifice fly to right field to score Lobkowicz.
Southwestern got great production out of the 5-8 spots in the lineup, combining to hit 10-for-17 with four RBIs and eight runs scored.
Hitting out of the No. 5 spot, Preston Witt opened the bottom of the second inning with a leadoff single through the right side. Witt advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a Trent Raschke groundout, scoring on a Henry Fisher double to left-center.
Christian Melillo followed with a double to left field, putting runners on second and third. Then, after Jacob Tanner went down looking, Lobkowicz hit a two-RBI single to center field to give Southwestern a 4-0 lead after two innings.
Southwestern started the bottom of the third with two consecutive outs before Witt sparked the Pirates with a single to center. Witt stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, scoring on Raschke's infield single to the edge of the dirt in the gap between shortstop and third.
Susquehanna replaced starting pitcher Kyle Sears with Aidan Piccioni, who advanced Fisher to third on a wild pitch. Melillo followed with an RBI single to left field but sustained an injury, leaving the game 2-for-2 with an RBI and run scored.
The River Hawks finally broke through against Ludwig in the top of the fourth inning. Brock Veit opened with a single through the right side. Ludwig struck out Kris Morrow and induced an Evan Knapp groundout to the shortstop to give Susquehanna two outs with a runner on second. Adam Shreck scored Veit with an RBI double to right-center.
In the fifth, Dominic Yeager replaced Piccioni on the mound for Susquehanna, and Southwestern left three runners stranded over its next two innings. Then, Susquehanna put together a big sixth inning, scoring four runs on Ludwig to pull within 7-5.
Veit led off with a walk, stealing second and third by getting great jumps on Ludwig's delivery to the plate. Morrow followed with a walk, and Knapp grounded out to second, scoring Veit.
Schreck went down swinging for Susquehanna's second out, but Tony Rossi, pinch-hitting for designated hitter Thomas Romanelli, singled up the middle to score Morrow. Corrado followed with a two-run blast to the left-field scoreboard. Ludwig surrendered one more single to Sean McCulloch before striking out Book to get out of the inning.
Ludwig finished his day with six innings pitched, allowing six hits and five earned runs with six strikeouts and two walks.
Gregory Ferguson took the mound for Southwestern to start the seventh inning and retired the side in order, striking out Veit and Morrow to end the inning.
Susquehanna plated a run against Ferguson in the eighth inning. Knapp led off with a double to left-center, then advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a Schreck infield single to bring the River Hawks to within one.
Southwestern added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Fisher started with a double through the left side, ending Yeager's afternoon with Susquehanna closer Aidan Martin replacing him. Martin induced a groundout from Werchan and struck out Tanner before Lobkowicz hit an RBI single up the middle, advancing to second on the throw to the cutoff at the mound. Lobkowicz advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball, giving Southwestern a 9-7 lead.
Susquehanna tied the game in the top of the ninth. McCulloch opened the inning with a walk, and Thomas Borum, replacing Book, followed with a single to right field, putting runners in the corners.
After Ferguson struck out Biuso for the first out of the inning, Veit hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score McCulloch. Morrow followed with an RBI triple to score Borum, and Knapp tied the game on a double to deep center field before Schreck flew out to center to end the inning.
The bottom of the ninth inning started ominously with Durdin and Witt striking out back-to-back. Then, Raschke drew a walk, and Fisher hit an infield single to put two on with two outs with Werchan at the plate.
A wild pitch from Martin put runners on second and third, then a second wild pitch scored Raschke, ending the game and breaking Southwestern's losing streak.
Southwestern improves to 3-4 with a busy week ahead. The Pirates will host DeSales on Monday at 6:00 p.m., travel to play Texas-Dallas on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., and close the week with a three-game series at Hardin-Simmons with a Friday game at 6:00 p.m., followed by a Saturday doubleheader.