GEORGETOWN, Texas – Southwestern defeated Cardinal Stritch University in the first night game of the year at Rockwell Field. The bats came alive for the Pirates as they scored nine runs on ten hits to earn the victory.
The Wolves' Herberg hit a one out single to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Simon. Bahm and Henkel drew two consecutive two out walks to load the bases. Then Herberg scored on a wild pitch from Pirates starter Jason Stading. Cook followed with a walk to load the bases again for Cardinal Stritch. Then Lewandowski reached on an error by the shortstop which scored two more runs to give the Wolves the 3-0 lead to begin the game.
Cruz Luna hit a first pitch single to center field to start things off for the Pirates. Zach Lynch followed with a single of his own through the left side to put runners on first and second. Then Nate Shipp hit a double to the center field wall to score Luna and move Lynch to third. Jeff Glasgow hit a RBI single, scored Lynch and moved Shipp over to third. Max Smith walked with one out to load the bases for the 'Bucs. Zac Cleveland was hit by a pitch to score another run to tie the game at 3-3.
In the bottom of the second inning, Luna led off with a double down the left field line. Nate Shipp brought Luna in with a one out double of his own. Next, Jeff Glassgow hit a RBI triple to deep right center field to give the Pirates the 5-3 lead.
Lynch hit a one out single through the left side in the bottom of the fourth. He moved to second after Shipp was hit by a pitch. Then Glasgow hit a three run homer to left field to extend the 'Bucs cushion to 8-3.
The Wolves led off the top of the sixth with a walk by Chengary. He advanced to second on a single to right field by Andresen. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch by Mueller. Then Simon hit a RBI single through the right side to cut it to an 8-4 game.
Max Smith, Ryan Doane, and Brett Ebers earned walks to load the bases to begin the bottom of the seventh inning. Luna followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Smith and make it 9-4 in favor of the Pirates.
Dykema walked to lead off for Cardinal Stritch in the top of the eighth. Andresen pushed Dykema to second on his single through the right side. Dykema tagged up and advanced to third on a fly out to right field by Herberg. Then Dykema scored and Andresen moved to second on a balk by pitcher Tyler Joyner. The next batter, Simon reached on a ground ball error by Joyner. Then both runners advanced on a wild pitch with Bahm at the plate. Bahm later earned a one out walk to load the bases for the Wolves. The Pirates' Derek Fleischman entered the game at pitcher and struck out the next two batters to escape the inning with the 9-5 score.
Cardinal Stritch made it interesting in the top of the ninth. Chengary and Dykema reached on back to back walks with one out in the top of the ninth. Andresen followed with a single through the left side to load the bases for the Wolves. With the tying run at the plate, pitcher Fleischman got Herberg to hit a ground ball back to him. Fleischman threw to Colby Dutton for the force out at home, who then threw to Glasgow at first for the double play to end the game at 9-5.
Jeff Glasgow led the 'Bucs offense by going 3-5, with five RBI, a triple, and a home run. Nine pitchers saw action for Southwestern on Wednesday night with Cody Lovas getting credit for the win. Coach Shelton rotated a new pitcher in almost every inning to prepare the staff for their upcoming five game road trip over Spring Break.
The Pirates travel to San Antonio, Texas to face rival Trinity on March 10th and 11th with both games beginning at 1pm.