GEORGETOWN, Texas — Cleanup hitter Preston Witt blasted a 397-foot, three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth as part of an eight-run inning on the way to a 14-4 Southwestern baseball victory over the North Park University Vikings.
Returning all-conference pitcher Ben Ludwig was solid in his debut, throwing six innings and striking out 10 hitters while surrendering eight hits and only two earned runs.
Southwestern struck first on a double steal in the bottom of the third inning. Ted Lobkowicz opened the inning with a leadoff single. After Lobkowicz stole second, Maxwell Mims singled to centerfield, putting runners on the corners with no outs.
The Pirates executed a double steal with Lobkowicz scoring on the throw to second. The errant throw from the North Park catcher advanced Mims to third. Christian Melillo reached on a throwing error, scoring Mims. Sam Castillo followed with a walk but was put out at second on Jacob Tanner's fielder's choice. Durdin walked to load the bases, ending North Park starting pitcher Bobby Bartlett's evening,
Zach Lingk replaced Bartlett and walked Wyatt Kuhlow with bases loaded to score Melillo, and Trent Raschke cleared everyone else with a three-RBI triple to left-center for the 6-0 lead.
North Park responded with two runs on three hits in the top of the fourth inning. Justin Swanson opened the inning with a double through the left side, and Maurer singled through the right, putting runners in the corners. Marion followed with an RBI single to left field, and Brad Maurer later scored on a passed ball. The Vikings added another run on a Swanson RBI double to left-center to pull to within 6-3.
The Pirates blasted the game wide open in the sixth inning. Lobkowicz and Mims reached on a single and walk, and Witt followed with his towering shot over the right-field fence. Three hitters later, Landon Durdin hit a two-RBI double to left-center. Then, in his second at-bat of the inning, Lobkowicz hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Durdin. Next, Mims drew his second walk of the inning, and Witt singled through the right side to bring his RBI total to five for the inning, giving Southwestern a 14-3 lead.
Relief pitcher J.J. Slack took the mound to start the seventh inning, walked the first two hitters, and advanced them to scoring position on a passed ball. Stevanovic grounded out, scoring Fauth, Swanson went down swinging, and Maurer popped up to third to end the game.
Witt hit 2-for-5 with five RBIs. Durdin finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Lobkowicz was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Mims was 1-for-2 with three walks and two runs scored.
Southwestern improves to 2-0 after sweeping North Park. The Pirates will host the University of Dallas at Texas Comets on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6:00 p.m.