SEGUIN, Texas. – Vermont State University Castleton baseball swept by Texas Lutheran University in doubleheader action on Saturday.
VTSU Castleton (1-8) fell to TLU (7-6) in doubleheader action on Saturday in Seguin, Texas. Highlighting the day was
Jackson Cardozo (5-9) and
Mikey Raby Jr. (5-8) collecting hits in both games and
Alex Bingham (3-4) having a strong hitting performance in game one.
GAME 1: TLU 12, VTSU Castleton 4 (7 Inn.)
TLU came out swinging in the first contest with 14 hits, combined with solid pitching from starting arm Brendan Beard, who pitched all seven innings and had eight strikeouts.
Adam Winchell took the loss for Castleton in a 5.1 inning outing.
The Bulldogs set the tone with a three-run home run in the second inning to open the scoring. Trying to find a spark would
Brandon Ramirez (1-4), who banged a two-run home run to get Castleton on the board and be down only by three.
Tyler McLain (2-4) popped a double to left center field which allowed for
Dylan Hedler to score late in the game.
Another three-run home run by the Bulldogs and seven runs in the sixth inning became too much for Castleton to comeback from, allowing TLU to take game one 12-4.
GAME 2: TLU 17, VTSU Castleton 13
After reflecting on the first game, Castleton came out hot in the first inning. With bases loaded early, Raby Jr. (4-5) connected on a drive that was sent up the middle to advance Cardozo and
Hunter Perkins to open the scoring.
Nick Lescarbeau was given the nod to start on the mound in game 2 and came out of the first inning with no damage dealt.
With one inning settled, the Bulldogs began to pick up where they left off from game one. They tied the game up with two home runs in the second inning and didn't look back after that. TLU collected 10 runs in the middle innings to give themselves a double digit lead over the Spartans heading into the sixth
With the bases loaded, McLain smashed a grounder to the second baseman making him force the out at first but allowing for
Kannon Dush and
Trey LaVigne to cross home plate and began the rally call being down nine.
The Spartans continued to load the bases and started putting together runs in the seventh inning. Perkins (1-4) popped a single through the right side to advance all runners a base and get their first run of the inning. Cardozo (4-5) stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded still and smashed a ball deep to right field for a triple and bringing in three RBIs to close the gap on TLU. Ramirez (1-4) brought Cardozo home with a single to center field, continuing the rally the Spartans were looking for. The Bulldogs fielding felt the pressure which caused a throwing error to advance two more Spartans to score, capping off an eight run inning and being down one, 12-11.
However, TLU's batters continued to stay hot. The Bulldogs hit their third home run of the game and scored five times in the eighth to extend their lead once again. Castleton made a last inning effort to tie up the game. Raby Jr. hit a single towards the shortstop to allow for Ramirez to come home for the score. Dush would be walked with the bases loaded, which brought in
Tommie Shaw to score. TLU would go on to stop Castleton's comeback and hold on to their lead to sweep the Spartans.
VTSU Castleton will return to action back in New England with a contest against Emerson College Thursday, March 7 at 4 p.m.
