IRVING, Texas – Reigning SCAC Pitcher of the Week Austin Smith followed his dominant performance against No. 4 Trinity University with his first no-hitter of the season to defeat the University of Dallas Crusaders 15-0 in seven innings.
Cole Kelly put the Pirates on the board with a RBI-double to center field in the bottom of the first, scoring Hayden Craig, who reached on a leadoff infield single. Colby Schmidt followed with a two-out single through the left side, Bryce Debbs walked to load the bases, and Ethan Hallmark was hit by a pitch to give Southwestern a 2-0 lead.
Smith hit the first batter he faced but struck out the next two and induced a groundout to shortstop. He retired the side in order in the second and third innings, striking out four of six. The Pirates added another run in the top of the third, getting a leadoff ground-rule double to right-center from Dowdell and a RBI-double from Debbs down the left-field line.
The Pirate defense retired the Crusaders in order again in the fourth with a pop out, strikeout and groundout and Southwestern blew the game open in the fifth with a six-run inning.
Dowdell hit a solo homerun to open the inning and Schmidt and Debbs each reached after getting hit by a pitch and Hallmark hit a RBI single to center field. After two consecutive outs, Craig hit a two-RBI double to right-center and Daniel Montgomery Jr. hit a RBI-triple to center field.
Kelly followed with a walk and Dowdell hit a RBI-single to left field, making him responsible for the first and last runs of the inning.
The Pirates added four more runs in the top of the sixth, punctuated by Kelly's two-run homerun to left center, scoring Chase Thinger, who reached on an error.
Southwestern added two more in the seventh, scoring on back-to-back walks with bases loaded. Smith walked two and struck out two in the bottom of the seventh before inducing a pop out to end the game and complete his no-hitter, finishing with 10 strikeouts and three walks.
Kelly finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, Dowdell was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Hallmark was 2-for-2 with two RBI and three runs scored.
With the win, the Pirates improved to 20-14 on the season and 7-6 in conference play. Dallas dropped to 16-18 and 3-10.