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Concordia Chicago hands TLU its first World Series loss

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Concordia Chicago scored the first six runs of the game, and Keaton Conner and Mike Formella combined on a four-hitter Saturday night in defeating the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs 8-3 at the NCAA Division III World Series.

The Cougars produced one run in the first inning, another in the second and four in the third to take charge at 6-0. The Bulldogs rallied to within 6-3 but couldn’t get any closer.

When TLU scored a run in the third and two in the fifth, Concordia tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh to put the game out of reach.

Bryan VanDuser, Joe Silva, Andrew Massey and Kevin Coppin each had two hits for the Cougars, who snapped the Bulldogs’ 11-game winning streak. Silva and Coppin each had a couple of RBI.

Conner (5-2) earned the victory by working six innings on the mound for the Cougars. He gave up three runs on three hits in outdueling TLU starter Dylan Drgac.

Drgac (11-2) suffered a tough outing, yielding six runs on five hits in two and 2/3 innings.

The tournament is being played at Appleton (Wis.)

Records

Concordia Chicago 40-13
Texas Lutheran 39-10

In the aftermath

It was a pivotal game for both teams in the tournament.

With the win, Concordia Chicago ran its record to 2-0, needing only one victory to win Pool B and advance to the championship series.

The loss drops TLU to 1-1 and into the losers’ bracket, from which it must win three games to reach the championship series.

TLU is scheduled to play Swarthmore (Pa.) on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. in an elimination game.

If TLU can win, it would play Concordia again on Sunday night.

Two wins on Sunday for TLU would force another matchup against Concordia on Monday for the Pool B title and the right to play in the championship series.

Charlotte wins 10-4 to end UTSA’s season

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Todd Elwood stroked two hits and produced three RBI Saturday as the Charlotte 49ers beat UTSA, 10-4, at the Conference USA tournament.

The setback ended the season for the Roadrunners.

Charlotte put the game away with five runs in the seventh inning.

Drew Ober capped the rally with a two-run double.

Trent Bowles hit a grand slam to give the Roadrunners a 4-2 lead in the third.

Records

UTSA 32-24
Charlotte 33-24

TLU sizzles in DIII World Series debut, defeating Wooster, 7-0

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Tyler Cauley slammed a three-run homer in the first inning Friday night, propelling the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs to a 7-0 victory over the College of Wooster (Ohio) at the NCAA Division III World Series.

In TLU’s first ever D-III World Series game, Cauley produced three hits in four at bats for five RBIs to back the pitching of Nathan Malinovsky, who went the distance and shut down the explosive Fighting Scots on four hits.

The Bulldogs started fast, scoring three runs in the first, one in the second and two in the third.

In the process, they knocked out starter Chandler Dippman after four innings and forced the Fighting Scots to use five pitchers on the night. In all, the Bulldogs raked Wooster pitching for 14 hits.

Malinovsky, a junior from New Braunfels, pitched a masterpiece against one of the best offenses in the nation. He struck out nine and walked three in improving his record to 12-1. Dippman took the loss and fell to 8-1.

“Obviously, Nate was pretty awesome tonight,” TLU coach Greg Burnett said in comments posted on the school’s website. “He didn’t walk many guys, and that was important against (Wooster), who puts up a bunch of runs.

“Tyler’s home run in the first inning was big because like a lot of teams we had jitters, and that allowed us to settle down.”

Records

Texas Lutheran 39-9
Wooster 40-9

Friday’s scores

UT Tyler 10, Oswego (New York) 5
Misericordia 4, Randolph Macon 2
Concordia Chicago 9 Swarthmore 4
Texas Lutheran 7, Wooster (Ohio) 0

Saturday’s schedule

Oswego State vs. Randolph Macon, 10 a.m.
UT Tyler vs. Misericordia, 1:15 p.m.
Swarthmore vs. Wooster, 4:30 p.m.
TLU vs. Concordia-Chicago, 7:45 p.m.

UTSA-Charlotte elimination game set for Saturday morning

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Officials announced Friday night that an elimination game between UTSA and Charlotte at the Conference USA tournament has been postponed because of weather concerns and will be played at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Southern Miss defeated UTSA 5-3 earlier in the day, sending the Roadrunners into the losers’ bracket.

UTSA is 1-1 in the tournament after beating Charlotte 11-1 on Thursday and then losing to Southern Miss, the top seed.

After losing to UTSA, Charlotte defeated UAB 2-0 in a game that started late Thursday night and finished early Friday mornning.

The tournament is being held at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss.

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles choked off a ninth-inning UTSA rally Friday and downed the Roadrunners 5-3 in a winners’ bracket game at the Conference USA tournament.

With the loss, UTSA was sent tumbling into the losers’ bracket, where they will face the Charlotte 49ers tonight. Estimated game time is 9 p.m. The tournament is being played in Biloxi, Miss.

Slugging Matt Wallner hurt the Roadrunners with a home run and a single and two RBI. Hunter Slater also contributed three of the Golden Eagles’ 12 hits.

Tony Beam ripped a two-run homer for UTSA. But Southern Miss pitching held UTSA in check most of the day, allowing eight hits.

Lefthander Stevie Powers (5-1) earned the victory with seven innings of work. He left the game leading 4-2. Trent Driver pitched the last two inninngs for the save.

The Roadrunners made it interesting by scoring a run off Driver in the bottom of the eighth to pull within 4-3. The Golden Eagles retaliated in the top of the ninth with a run to account for the final margin.

In the bottom half, UTSA put two runners on base, only to ground into a game-inning double play. Southern Miss third baseman Luke Reynolds fielded a ground ball, tagged a base runner, executed a spin move and threw to first for the final out.

Starting pitcher Steven Dressler (5-4) worked five innings and took the loss for the Roadrunners.


Southern Miss third baseman Luke Reynolds, the C-USA Player of the Year, executes a sensational game-ending double play.

Records

UTSA 32-22
Southern Miss 41-15

Notebook

UTSA stroked 18 hits in defeating Charlotte 11-1 to open the tournament on Thursday. The bats weren’t quite as hot against Southern Miss.

Golden Eagles pitching limited the Roadrunners to eight hits.

UTSA senior and team RBI leader Ben Brookover hasn’t played in either game. No word yet on the reason for his absence.


UTSA second baseman Aldo Buendia, a former standout at Laredo Alexander, robs Matt Wallner of a hit with a leaping catch in the eighth inning. At the plate, Buendia is 3 for 8 in two games in the tournament. He is 6 for 16, hitting safely in his last four games overall.

Texas A&M pitching dominant again in 4-2 victory over Auburn

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Texas A&M held on Thursday night for a 4-2 victory over the Auburn Tigers to remain undefeated at the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The Tigers scored once in the ninth against A&M closer Nolan Hoffman to pull within the eventual final score.

But with two runners on base, Hoffman got Luke Jarvis on a ground ball to end the game.

A&M starter John Doxakis (7-5) outdueled Auburn star Casey Mize (9-5) for the victory.

Doxakis, a lefty, carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before yielding a couple of hits and a run.

Armed with a big curve ball, he struck out 10 and walked none.

Mize, projected as a possible No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft next month, also worked into the eighth.

But he left the game after giving up four runs on eight hits.

Hoffman, a side-winding, righthander, pitched the final 1 and 2/3 and earned his 14th save.

Texas A&M is now 3-0 in Hoover with victories over Vanderbilt (3-1), Georgia (7-0) and Auburn in the past three days.

In an interview with the SEC Network, Doxakis shrugged off the feeling of coming so close and then falling short of the no hitter.

“All good things come to an end,” he told the SEC Network. “Everybody wants to throw a no-hitter but you know how hard it is.”

With the win, A&M advances to the tournament semifinals. The Aggies will play Saturday against either Auburn or Ole Miss.

The Aggies won the SEC tournament in 2016, and coach Rob Childress likes his team’s competitiveness this time around.

“I’m just proud of the way we play when we come to Hoover, for the most part,” Childress “You know, there’s a ring and a trophy on the line, and everybody’s being competitive.

“I know there’s an (NCAA) regional next week, but to stay in the moment and try to play our best this week is awfully important.”

Records

Texas A&M 39-19
Auburn 39-20

SEC baseball tournament

Thursday’s scores

Ole Miss 5, Georgia 4 (10 innings)
LSU 6, South Carolina 4 (12 innings)
Texas A&M 4, Auburn 2

Friday’s schedule

Florida vs. Arkansas, 10 a.m. (winners bracket)
Ole Miss vs. Auburn, 3 p.m. (elimination)
LSU vs. Florida-Arkansas loser, to follow (elimination)

Saturday’s schedule

(Semifinals)
Texas A&M vs. Auburn or Ole Miss, 2 p.m.
TBD, to follow


(Texas A&M right fielder Allonte Wingate robs Auburn of extra bases and possibly a home run with a leaping catch at the wall in the third inning.)

UTSA starts fast, rolls past Charlotte 11-1 in Biloxi

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The UTSA Roadrunners backed Chance Kirby’s dominant pitching with 18 hits — including five by Bryan Arias — in rolling to an 11-1 victory over the Charlotte 49ers Thursday morning at the C-USA baseball tournament.

With the victory, UTSA advanced into the winners’ bracket.

The fifth-seeded Roadrunners are scheduled to play the top-seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Southern Miss advanced with a 2-0 victory over the UAB Blazers.

Quotable

“You never know what’s going to happen at 9 a.m. You don’t know if you’ll be asleep or if you’ll come out swinging.” — UTSA coach Jason Marshall.

Details, details

Bryan Arias is tearing it up at the C-USA tournament.

The UTSA junior from Marshall High School has five hits in five at bats in the tournament opener for both teams.

Highlights include a two-run homer in a nine-run third inning and a single and a stolen base in the seventh.

Kirby’s day

UTSA righthander Chance Kirby exited the game in the seventh inning, but not before he completely befuddled Charlotte’s offense.

Kirby worked 6 and 2/3 innings, giving up only a run on two hits. He no-hit the 49ers from the second through the seventh.

In the beginning

UTSA opened a 9-1 lead on Charlotte with a nine-run third inning.

Arias capped the explosion with a two-run homer over the left field scoreboard, his team-leading eighth of the year.

Charlotte took the lead on Kirby in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Tommy Bullock.

Weather delays

UTSA and Charlotte were scheduled to play Wednesday night, but because of numerous weather delays, the game was scrapped and pushed back to Thursday morning.

Notes

Ben Brookover, who has a team-leading 47 RBI, did not play for UTSA.

Before the schedule change, lefthander Steven Dressler was the expected starter for the Roadrunners against Josh Maciejewski for Charlotte.

Neither player saw action.

Florida holds off LSU 4-3 at the SEC tournament

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Top-seeded Florida defeated No. 8 LSU 4-3 Wednesday night at the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament.

With the win, Florida advances into the winners’ bracket, into a Thursday night slot to face either fourth-seeded Arkansas or No. 5 South Carolina.

SEC baseball tournament

At Hoover, Ala.

Wednesday’s games
(With tournament seeds)
(11) Texas A&M 7, (3) Georgia 0
(7) Auburn 9, (2) Ole Miss 3
(1) Florida 4, (8) LSU 3
(5) South Carolina vs. (4) Arkansas

Thursday’s schedule
Ole Miss vs. Georgia, 9:30 a.m.
LSU vs. South Carolina or Arkansas, to follow
(11) Texas A&M vs. (7) Auburn, 4:30 p.m.
Florida vs. South Carolina or Arkansas, to follow

Kansas holds off top-ranked Texas 3-2 at Big 12 tournament

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Jackson Goddard pitched into the seventh inning Wednesday to lead eighth-seeded Kansas past No. 1 Texas 3-2 on opening day at the Big 12 baseball tournament at Oklahoma City. Kansas piching held the regular-season champion Longhorns to only four hits.

Records

Kansas 27-28
Texas 37-20

Baylor blanks Oklahoma

Earlier in the day, Cody Bradford struck out 11 batters in 7 and 2/3 innings as fifth-seeded Baylor shut out No. 4 Oklahoma, 4-0. It was Baylor’s first victory at the Big 12 tournament under third-year coach Steve Rodriguez. Baylor hadn’t won at the tournament since 2015.

Records

Baylor 33-29
Oklahhoma 34-20

Big 12 baseball tournament

Wednesday’s scores

Kansas 3, Texas 2
Baylor 4, Oklahoma 0
Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia
Texas Tech vs. TCU

Thursday’s games

Texas vs. Oklahoma, 9 a.m.
TBA, 12:30 p.m.
Kansas vs. Baylor, 4 p.m.
TBA, 7:30 p.m.

A&M shuts out Georgia, 7-0; Lacy pitches six scoreless innings

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Texas A&M and Georgia sat through a lightning delay early in a Wednesday morning game at the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament.

All the while, the Aggies were conjuring up some lightning of their own in the form of left-handed pitcher Asa Lacy.

Lacy, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Kerrville Tivy, threw six scoreless innings as the Aggies defeated the Georgia Bulldogs, 7-0, remaining undefeated in the SEC’s postseason event at Hoover, Ala.

Powered by two late home runs from Chris Andritsos, A&M improved to 2-0 after wins over Vanderbilt and Georgia. The Aggies are scheduled to play either Auburn or Ole Miss Thursday afternoon.

“Georgia played really well against us at their place (in March),” A&M coach Rob Childress told SEC Network broadcasters. “(They) got after us in two of those three games. I felt like Asa Lacy was a great matchup for ’em, and he didn’t disappoint.

“Even in the midst of another rain delay, he just had a fabulous performance.”

Lacy was backed by Cason Sherrod, who pitched three scoreless innings of relief, and also by Andritsos, who hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and followed with a solo shot in the ninth.

But Lacy’s performance emerged as the surprise of the day.

In only his second start of the season, Lacy shut out Georgia on three hits. He walked three and struck out eight. Georgia entered its first game of the tournament batting .286 as a team and averaging 6.35 runs.

“I felt pretty locked in, trusting the pitches that are being called, and knowing if they hit it, it’s going to our defense and we’re going to make the play,” Lacy said.

Broadcasters had some fun with Lacy in the post-game interview.

“Do you know how many strikeouts you had today?” one asked.

“No I don’t,” Lacy responded.

“How many do you think you had?” he was asked.

“I think like six,” Lacy said.

Oblivious to the statistical details, Lacy admitted that he was just focused on the task at hand.

“Just locked in on the glove, and it worked out today,” he said.

In his 23rd appearance, Lacy entererd the game with a 2-1 record and a 3.24 earned run average. His only previous start came on May 1 at home against Prairie View A&M.

He has made several appearances in the past few weeks out of the bullpen, including outings against SEC foes Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Last Friday, pitching at home against South Carolina, he worked two innings against the Gamecocks, yielding two hits and a run (none earned), while walking two. He also struck out two.

Lacy grew up in the Texas Hill Country, where he lettered three years for the Kerrville Tivy Antlers.

Last year, he won a school-record 13 games en route to earning Class 5A all-state honors.

He was 13-1 with an 0.93 ERA as a high school senior. Lacy was drafted on the 31st round by the Cleveland Indians, but he elected to attend A&M, where he is majoring in university studies.

Lacy was coached in high school by Chris Russ, who played at A&M from 1998-2001.

SEC baseball tournament

At Hoover, Ala.

Wednesday’s games
(With tournament seeds)
(11) Texas A&M 7, (3) Georgia 0
(7) Auburn 9, (2) Ole Miss 3
(1) Florida 4, (8) LSU 3
(5) South Carolina vs. (4) Arkansas

Thursday’s schedule
Ole Miss vs. Georgia, 9:30 a.m.
LSU vs. South Carolina or Arkansas, to follow
(11) Texas A&M vs. (7) Auburn, 4:30 p.m.
Florida vs. South Carolina or Arkansas, to follow