The University of the Southwest Baseball Team was in Hawkins, TX for a three-game series against Jarvis Christian College on Friday and Saturday. This was the first conference series of the year for both clubs. The Mustangs entered the contest at (7-2) after a three-to-one series victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State the previous weekend. The Bulldogs of Jarvis entered at (2-10) but have historically been a tough matchup for the Mustangs, taking three of four games from the Mustangs last year. The Mustangs were able to ride excellent pitching and timely hitting to a three-game sweep over Jarvis. 
 
Following the weekend's performance, Head Coach Steve Appel said "I thought our guys showed up ready to play this weekend. We always know it's going to be a tough battle at Jarvis, and we found ways to sweep the series and most importantly win a couple of one-run ballgames on the road early in the year."
 
Game 1: The opening game of the series on Friday afternoon was a pitcher's duel that went 10 innings in what was scheduled to be a nine-inning game. The Mustangs surrendered a run in the bottom of the third inning on a passed ball to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The Mustangs would answer right back in the top of the fourth when Gabriel Perez-Torres lead off the inning with a double, advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw, and Tariq Levesque drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The score would remain tied at one until the 10^th inning, where Freshman Hayden Woods hit a pinch-hit double to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt from Kevin Rase would move Woods to third and pinch-hitter Steven Martinez hit a ground ball to third base and Woods was able to beat the throw home giving the Mustangs the two to one lead. Isaac Baeza came on for the Mustangs to close out the game in the bottom of the 10^th and earn the save. Sophomore AJ Cordova was dominant from the start of the game going nine innings, allowing one hit, one unearned run, striking out nine, and earned his second win of the early season. Gabriel Perez-Torres was on fire going four for five with a double and Tariq Levesque was two for four with an RBI. 
 
Game 2: Saturday afternoon, the Mustangs found themselves in another pitcher's duel in game two of the series. The game was scoreless through three and a half before Jarvis was able to get on the board with a solo homerun taking a one-to-nothing lead. The Mustangs would tie things up in the top of the sixth inning on a solo home run from Jesus Baldonado. Southwest would add on two more on a couple of defensive miscues in the top half of the seventh to give them a three-to-one lead. The Bulldogs were able to score one in the bottom of the seventh but the Mustangs were able to hold on for a three to two victory in the seven-inning contest. Freshman Rocky Sanchez was excellent once again going five innings, allowing one run on two hits, and striking out three. Caden Davis earned the victory by throwing a scoreless sixth inning in relief and Cade Contreras earned the save working the seventh. Omar Baldenegro was two for four with a run scored, Gabriel Perez-Torres was one for two with two walks and an RBI, and Jesus Baldonado was two for four with the home run. 
 
Game 3: The Mustangs were looking for the sweep in game three and were able to get the offense going to get that done. The Bulldogs were able to score a run in the first but the Mustangs were able to answer with three runs of their own in the second thanks to a solo home run from Tariq Levesque and a couple of defensive miscues by the Bulldogs. Southwest would add two more runs in the fourth on a two-run double from Gabriel Perez-Torres to take a five to one lead. The Bulldogs would add a run in the fifth before the Mustangs added an insurance run on a solo home run from Perez-Torres. Hayden Woods would drive in two more insurance runs in the eighth and the Mustangs would win by the score of eight to two. Starter Cody Stone earned the victory going five innings, allowing three hits, two walks, two runs, and striking out five. Jacob Chavarria earned the save by throwing four scoreless innings after Stone, allowing three hits and striking out four. 
 
Coach Appel shared some more thoughts after the game saying "Our guys on the mound did a nice job keeping their lineup off-balance throughout the weekend. When you can get quality starts in game one of each series, it allows us to relax a bit more and allows us to just play our game. We had pretty good defense throughout the weekend and some guys in the lineup came up with some big clutch hitting." He also added "Overall I am pleased. USW has never really done much at Jarvis in the past, so this was a nice step in the right direction. We have to stay hungry, be humble, and work harder this next week to keep making the strides we want to make.
 
The Mustangs now sit at (10-2) overall and are (3-0) in RRAC play. Their next challenge will be a three-game series at home at Jake Williams Field this Friday and Saturday against Wiley College.