Bryce Hayes
For Immediate Release
SEGUIN, Texas — The newly 25th-ranked Texas Lutheran Baseball team (11-2) earned the first win over the No. 1 team in the country since April 2016, defeating the No. 1-ranked Trinity Tigers (5-3), 10-8, at Katt-Isbel Field. With the win, Texas Lutheran has tallied three Top 25 wins so far this season.
The last win against a No.1 team also came against Trinity on April 9, 2016 in San Antonio.
Backed by a six-run surge across the middle innings, the Bulldogs built a four-run lead and were able to withstand late rally attempts from the top-ranked Tigers to secure the statement win.
Chase Bourgeois (League City/Clear Falls) finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, triple, and four runs scored, while Cooper Jen (Kyle/Hays) finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Brayden Sprencel (Robstown/Calallen), who made his first career start on the mound with TLU on Tuesday, helped himself by going 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored.
Sprencel went 3.2 innings in his second appearance of the season, allowing six runs on nine hits and three walks. Parker Schutte (Arlington/Lamar) earned the win in relief, pitching two flawless innings. True freshman Cody Andrade (Calallen/Calallen) closed out the game for TLU, securing his third save of the season. Andrade pitched the final two innings, allowing one run, and striking out three of the final four batters faced in the ninth inning.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the first but TLU would respond in the bottom of the first with three runs of their own before tacking on a fourth in the second inning. Chase Bourgeois scored on a balk to tie the game at one before a a two-RBI single from Cooper Jen gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. Sprencel helped himself in the second with an RBI single to give the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead.
The Tigers answered in the fourth with five runs on five hits including a two-run homer to take a 6-4 lead. Moments later, TLU scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead via an RBI triple from Bourgeois and an RBI groundout from Michael Barrera (San Antonio/East Central).
After a leadoff double from Adam Peavy (Houston/Memorial) in the fifth, the Bulldogs were able to load the bases but were only able to come away with one run that scored on a double play.
TLU widened the gap in the sixth with three more runs starting with an RBI double down the right field line from Sprencel. Michael Barrera scored on a wild pitch before Peavy drove in Sprencel with an RBI groundout for the Bulldogs final run of the night.
The Tigers got two runs back in the eighth as the TLU lead shrunk to 10-8. The Tigers went quietly in the ninth, striking out for all three outs before the Bulldogs rushed the field in jubilation to celebrate with Andrade who shut the door on the rival Tigers.
The Bulldogs will now return their attention to SCAC play as they welcome Austin College to Katt-Isbel Field for a three-game series. The series opener is tentatively scheduled for 6 PM on Friday, Mar. 6. Both teams are currently monitoring the potential weather this weekend as all game times are tentative and subject to change. 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).