HOUSTON, Texas — Texas Lutheran Baseball crushed St. Thomas 15-7 and followed up with a 7-4 victory to complete the series sweep at Reckling Park on Saturday in Houston. The Bulldogs (8-1, 5-1 SCAC) tallied 11 extra base hits across Saturday’s two games.
Houston native Adam Peavy (Houston/Memorial) had an incredible game, going 3-for-5 with two home runs – his first two of the season. Peavy had four runs scored and four RBI. For the weekend, Peavy had six hits with five being extra hits and drove in eight runs.
Cooper Jen (Kyle/Hays) went 4-for-5 with his first home run of the season, four RBI, and two runs. Cole Cravens (Round Rock/Round Rock) went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, while Brayden Sprencel (Robstown/Calallen) was 2-for-6 with three RBI.
A two-run home run from Jen got the Bulldogs on the board first in the second inning. The Celts came back quickly with three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead.
After a one-out RBI single from Sprencel, Adam Peavy hit a two-run home run to give TLU a 5-3 lead. St. Thomas tacked on two more runs in the third and fourth to take a 7-5 lead.
Cole Cravens hit the first home run of his career in the sixth ahead of an RBI groundout from Michael Barrera (San Antonio/East Central) as TLU took an 8-7. An RBI single from Aiden Spires (Fort Worth/Arlington Heights) added another run in the seventh.
Texas Lutheran scored two more runs on a two-run homer from Peavy in the eighth. TLU added four more run on two-RBI singles from Sprencel and Jen.
Jack Grames (Elgin/Elgin) pitched five innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits. Grames struck out seven batters and picked up his third win of the season. Parker Schutte (Arlington/Lamar) pitched the final four shutout innings with four strikeouts.
Texas Lutheran finished off the series with a 7-4 win. Four Bulldogs (Chase Bourgeois (League City/Clear Falls), Adam Peavy, Mathew Elizondo (Eagle Pass/Eagle Pass), and Caleb Small (Round Rock/Gateway College Preparatory) all finished with two hits in the series finale. Elizondo, Peavy, and Small all drove in a run while Bourgeois scored two runs.
Triston McGowan (Vidor/Vidor) pitched 7 1/3 innings with three strikeouts to earn his second win of the season.
Texas Lutheran struck first with an RBI single from Peavy in the first before the Celts responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.
The Bulldogs regained the lead on an RBI triple from Caleb Small in the second and added another in the third off an RBI single from Elizondo.
The Bulldogs broke the game open in the fourth behind a two RBI triple from Michael Barrera and an RBI single from Cooper Jen as the TLU lead grew to 6-1.
The Celts scored two runs in the sixth on a two-run homer to cut the TLU lead to 6-3. TLU got an insurance run in the 7th as Jake Gilbreath (Glen Rose/Glen Rose) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the Bulldogs final run of the game.
The Celts hit a lead-off homer to start the eighth inning before Cody Andrade (Calallen/Calallen) came in to close the game. Andrade earned his second save of the season, pitching 1 2/3 innings shutout innings with one strikeout while not allowing a hit.
The Bulldogs continue their six-game SCAC road trip next weekend as they travel to Longview to face the LeTourneau YellowJackets in a three-game series. The series opener is scheduled for 6 PM on Friday, Feb. 27. The entire three-game series will be streamed on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on X (Twitter), @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).