Sul Ross State head coach Bobby Mesker Sul Ross State athletics photo

ALPINE, Texas - A cold night in Alpine did not chill a hot offense for baseball in a Friday sweep of LeTourneau.

With the wins, head coach Bobby Mesker picked up wins 200 and 201 in his Sul Ross career.

"Just a time to reflect on my appreciation for all the players that have won these games," said Mesker. "I never made a play, got a hit or struck a guy out during any of these games. I'm more appreciative of all the players and assistant coaches than they'll ever know. Ely Gallego has been a part of well over 100 as a player and now assistant coach."

Game 1: Sul Ross 16, LeTourneau 1 (7 innings)

The Lobos wasted no time building a lead in the first. Tristan Karels doubled home Jorge Marquez before Jared Lorenz singled in Karels. Tye Lindsey stepped in and doubled home Lorenz for a 3-0 lead. Carsen Thor then hit the third double of the inning for the Lobos, bringing in Lindsey. A balk later brought Carsen in to score to give Sully a 5-0 lead after one.

Lindsey stayed hot, using a two-RBI single to score Karels and Lorenz in the second. Thor then added another insurance run with a single that plated Lindsey to give the Lobos an 8-0 lead after two.

LeTourneau grabbed a run back in the third with a home run to make it 8-1.

Sully did not let up though. Marquez smashed a double to left center to score Orlando Moreno, Estevan Ortiz and Jared Roiz in the third. Lindsey later hit another double to left center, to bringing in Marquez and Karels. Carsen then doubled home Lindsey to make it 14-1 after three.

In the fifth, Karels and Lorenz came around on a fielding error for a 16-1 lead that eventually went final.

Sam Russell got the start in game one, picking up his second win of the season. He went 5.2 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while tossing 6 strikeouts.

Jacob Salinas struck out the only batter he faced to finish the sixth inning.

Chris Ibanez closed things out in the seventh with a hitless frame.

Karels finished 3-for-3 with four runs scored and two walks.

Lindsey picked up three hits, five RBI and three runs scored.

Thor went 4-for-4 with three RBI.

Game 2: Sul Ross 5, LeTourneau 4

After four innings this looked like your ordinary low-scoring, defensive battle as both teams were scoreless.

In the fifth inning, the Yellow Jackets scored three to give them a 3-0 lead. LeTourneau added one more in the sixth to take a 4-0 lead.

Karels found an answer for Sully with a hard-hit triple to center to plate Marquez in the sixth. Lorenz then doubled in Karels to cut it to 4-2. A fielding error later allowed Lorenz to score and to make it 4-3 going to the seventh.

In the seventh, Lorenz hit into a fielder's choice to score Roiz for a 4-4 tie. Thor later hit into another fielder's choice that brought in Karels to give Sully a 5-4 lead after seven.

Aidan Mow relieved starter Ian Craigie and went 2.2 innings on three hits, giving up one earned run. He moved to 2-0 on the season.

Conner Archer went the final two innings, striking out one for his first save of the season.

Craigie went 4.1 innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs. He also recorded a new career-high in strikeouts with 10, breaking his previous mark of five on April 9, 2021 against Hardin-Simmons.

With the sweep, the Lobos improves to 6-2 (6-2 ASC). LeTourneau drops to 3-8 (1-6 ASC).

The Lobos will go for the series sweep today (Saturday, February 26) at 1:00 p.m. from Kokernot Field.

Story by Justin Corbett