Richardson, Texas-No. 8 Texas Lutheran University took a come-from-behind 8-7 win over the Eagles on a two-out bases loaded hit by pitch in the bottom of the tenth inning in Saturday's championship round of the American Southwest Conference tournament in Richardson, Texas.
<#IMAGE:1#>The Eagles (24-20) will face McMurry University (27-16) on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Ozarks took a 7-5 lead in the top of the ninth on a pair of RBI singles by Bruce Cameron and Jimmy Pannell before the Bulldogs (33-8-1) stormed back in the bottom half of the inning to send the contest into an extra frame. Bulldog Jake Kaase recorded an RBI double and Jason Foley recorded a two-out RBI single to push the game to the tenth. Ozarks then struck out three straight times in the top of the tenth to put the Bulldogs in position to complete the comeback. In the bottom of the tenth, Ozarks relief pitcher Jon Scheuring got Josh Moreno to groundout. The following batter doubled and Kyle Harvey was then intentionally walked. A wild pitched advanced both runners, but Scheuring got the next batter to groundout to second, holding both runners in place. Bulldog Scott Matocha then walked to load the bases for Kaase. With two strikes, Kaase picked up the game-winning RBI on a questionable hit by a pitch call. Texas Lutheran out scored Ozarks 3-0 in final one and one-half innings. Ozarks started the first inning with a 2-0 advantage behind a four-hit attack on Bulldog starter Adam Enloe. John Glenn, Logan Kizer and Bruce Cameron each collected a hit to open the game. Cameron’s single to right field scored Glenn from second. Todd Koch later singled in Kizer to give the Eagles a two-run cushion. Texas Lutheran eventually took a 4-2 lead after five. The Eagles got one run back in the top of the sixth when Pannell recorded a sacrifice RBI. But the Bulldogs tacked on another run in the bottom half of the sixth to increase their lead to 5-3. The Eagles bounced back the next inning to tie the contest at 5-5. David Smith led off the inning with a walk, and Glenn followed with a single up the middle. Kizer then recorded a sacrifice hit to put both runners in scoring position. With two outs, Robby Finnell drew a walk to load the bases. Koch then delivered clutch double to score both Smith and Glenn. The Bulldogs, however, wouldn’t go away as they answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to send the game into one more frame. D.J. Braswell worked four and two-third innings as the starter. He gave up four hits and one walk. Brett Wood pitched three and two-third innings in relief. John Scheuring (3-3) took the loss after pitching one and one-third innings. Texas Lutheran’s Brad Wesson (1-0) picked up the win after going the final one and one-third inning. The Bulldogs out hit Ozarks 15-12. Koch paced the Eagles at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance. He finished with 3 RBI. Glenn, Kizer and Cameron all had two hits. Pannell and Cameron each had 2 RBI.
Topics: Athletics