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| Caltech opened their season with a 2-1 walkoff win but fell in the nightcap to Miramar 4-7. Caltech athletics photo |
Three games in and three wins for Texas Lutheran. On Friday the TLU Bulldogs won the opening game of the D-III Season 8-1 over visiting Sul Ross State, followed that up with a 12-3 win on Saturday night and a run-ruled win on Sunday. Caltech and Occidental earned early wins on Saturday with Caltech dropping the nightcap and Occidental sweeping the day.
On Sunday Texas Lutheran hammered Sul Ross State, 20-7, to secure the Opening Weekend sweep with a run-rule win on Sunday at Katt-Isbel Field. The Bulldogs swept their opening weekend for the first time since 2019.
Texas Lutheran clinched the series win over Sul Ross State with a 12-3 win over the Lobos Saturday night at Katt-Isbel Field. Brendan Beard pitched five shutout innings in his first start since the 2021 season. He struck out five batters, allowed five hits and no walks. Adam Peavy and R.J. Carrillo swung hot bats on Friday and continued Saturday. Peavy would go 2-for-4 with a three-run home run, his second home run in as many days, while Carrillo would go 2-for-4 with a three-RBI double and two runs scored.
On Friday Texas Lutheran blew by Sul Ross State on Opening Day, beating the Lobos 8-1 at Katt-Isbel Field. The win was the first under first-year head coach and TLU Baseball alum, Kyle Palmer. Diego Vinton gave the Bulldogs a quality start, pitching six innings with two strikeouts. He allowed only one unearned run on three hits and one walk in the game. Nolan McInvale pitched 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and Johnny Garza Jr. finished off the game in the final 1.1 innings. Adam Peavy went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run, the first of his career. R.J. Carrilo finished 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and one run driven in. Asher Bonnell finished 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and a run driven in. The Bulldogs, who were held without a hit through 5.2 innings, fell behind 1-0 but their offense came alive in the sixth inning as TLU took a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning. TLU scored three more runs in the seventh courtesy of a sacrifice fly from Tyler Post and Peavy's two-run home run. The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the eighth inning to go up 8-1.
Occidental got their season officially underway in a doubleheader with the Providence Christian Sea Beggars, taking game one 3-2 and the nightcap 12-4.In the opener with one out in the eight inning, Ryan Cacatian singled to left field and Garrett Palme followed with a single of his own to put two runners on. Alex Henderson then came up with 2 outs and got the clutch go-ahead single through the left side of the infield to bring home Cacatian and give Oxy a 3-2 lead. Chris Martinez came in and secured the 3-2 win in the first game of the year. Occidental scored in five of the six innings to overwhelm the Sea Beggars in the second game to cuise to the sweep.
In the opener on Caltech's campus, the Beavers needed more than the regulation nine. It took two extra innings, but Caltech notched a victory in its first game of the 2024 regular season, defeating the California Miramar University Fighting Falcons in the first game of Saturday's opening day doubleheader. Knotted 1-1 junior Garrett Knuf came within 90 feet of ending the game in the bottom of the ninth, but would end up scoring the winning run in the 11th after drawing a walk followed by back-to-back singles by junior Edward Speer and Guatam Chawla. Finally, with the bases loaded and two out, Toreson Kristufek refused to let a third strike go by him, fouling off pitches and battling to a full count and ultimately drawing a game-winning RBI walk to bring Knuf home for the 2-1 win. The visitors ended up splitting the day with a 7-4 win in the second game of the day, which was called in the eighth inning due to darkness.