The Mustang Baseball Program continued this 2019 Spring Break road trip as they traveled from Wayland Baptist to Alexandria, LA to take on the LSU-A Generals. The Mustangs were swept in the 3-game series and the offense continued their struggles. The sweep brings USW's record to 17-17 with a 2-10 record in conference play.
GAME 1 (7 innings)
LSU-A 10----USW 2
The Mustang offense jumped out and pushed the first two runs across in the top of the 1st inning.
Brian Rodriguez led off the inning inning with a single to right field and advanced to second via a passed ball.
Micah Tambur then laid down a sac bunt that was thrown away by the LSU-A 2nd basemen.
CJ Aviles then came to the plate and showed bunt, which resulted in another passed ball which allowed Tambur to reach 2nd. Aviles would then move Tambur to 3rd base on another sac bunt. Othon Delacruz then scored Tambur on a single to right, giving the Mustangs an early 2-0 lead.
Those two runs would end up being the last time the Mustangs crossed the plate.
Alex Goodman, making his 4th start of the season in Game 1, allowed more runs in the 1st inning of Game 1, than he had allowed in any appearance all season. The Generals scored 6 runs on 7 hits and 1 error. The Generals batted around in the inning, which was highlighted by a 2-run home run by third basemen Adam Cook that curved just inside the right field foul pole according to the home plate umpire.
Goodman settled down after the 1st and allowed only 4 runs the next 5 innings. The Gilbert, AZ native went 6 innings and allowed 10 runs on 16 hits and 1 walk.
Brian Rodriguez continued his strong season by going 2-2 with a run and double and 2 walks. Rodriguez was responsible for half of the Mustangs hits in Game 1. Rodriguez was the only Mustang started to not have a strikeout in the game.
GAME 2 (7 inning---10-run rule)
LSU-A 11---USW 1
The offense continued their woes in Game 2 as they were only able to scratch 2 hits and 1 run. LSU-A starter Clayton Doyle was magnificent as he went the distance in the 7-inning run-rule shorted game. Doyle struck out 14 Mustang hitters.
Brian Rodriguez was once again the only Mustang started to not strike out in the game.
JJ Kruzel got the start for the Mustangs and continued his strong sophomore campaign despite a lack of offense in many of his starts. Kruzel went 6 innings and allowed 6 earned runs, but struck out 7 General hitters along the way. Kruzel still leads the team with a 4.63 ERA and K/9 with 9.54 strikeouts per 9.
GAME 3 (9-innings)
LSU-A 7---USW 2
Game 3 may have been the most frustrating for the Mustangs all weekend. The Mustangs got a 1-0 lead in the 5th courtesy of a
Ben Tingen single, followed by a sac bunt and groundout which put Tingen on 3rd. Freshman shortstop came up an popped a ball up to LSU-A 2nd basemen Seth Patin who lost the ball in the sun and allowed Tingen to score.
The Mustangs had several opportunities to score along the way, but a lack of execution kept them from scoring. In the top of the 6th,
Micah Tambur led off with a single and was moved to 3rd via a
Ismael Brenes single to right field. Dom Baca then came up and attempted a safety squeeze which was bunted right back to the pitcher, causing
Micah Tambur to get caught in a rundown between 3rd and home. The missed scoring opportunity may not have made a difference on the scoreboard, but it ended up being a huge swing of momentum in favor of the Generals.
Marvin Galarza made the start on the hill for the Mustangs and provided USW with his gutsiest performance of the year. Galarza held the Generals scoreless through 6 innings, but a grand slam by Zach Herbert with 1 out, propelled LSU-A to a 5-1 lead, knocking the wind out of the Mustangs sails.
Galarza lasted 6 1/3 innings allowing 4 earned with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts.
UP NEXT
The Mustangs host Houston-Victoria this weekend in another RRAC 3-game conference series with a 4th game on Saturday being a non-conference contest.
