March 16, 2008

Box Score

The Southwestern University baseball team hit four home runs and scored 20 runs in a game for the second time this season in a 20-1 victory over Concordia University, Nebraska in Georgetown, TX on Sunday (Mar. 16) afternoon.

Senior Richard Falcone (Houston, TX/Westside HS) increased his conference-leading RBI total to 34 on the season in the win. The Pirates struck in the bottom of the first when Falcone struck his second home run of the season to make the score 1-0.

Junior Michael Murphy (Houston, TX/Austin HS) led off the second inning with a home run over the left field wall to make it 2-0. Todd Boone (Huntsville, TX/Huntsville HS) also recorded an RBI single while sophomore John Wooten (Columbus, TX/Columbus HS) hit a two-out double down the left field line to clear the bases and drive in three runs for a 6-0 Pirate lead. Eric Gonzales (Austin, TX/Bowie HS) added a run in the bottom of the third when he scored on a wild pitch. SU increased the lead to 10-0 in the fourth with a two-run double off the bat of Blake Williams (Lufkin, TX/Lufkin HS) and he later scored on a wild pitch.

The Bulldogs got on the board with a single run on three hits in the fifth. Matt Clark (Spring, TX/Klein HS) recorded a sacrifice fly in the sixth to score a run, followed by an RBI double from Boone and then a two-run single off the bat of Falcone. The Pirates added five more runs on four hits, including a Mark Noggle (Houston, TX/Clear Lake HS) home run that scored three, in the seventh for a 19-1 lead. The Pirates added their 20th run in the bottom of the eighth as pinch hitter Zach Copeland (Dallas, TX/W.T. White HS) stroked his second home run of the season.

Falcone was 3-3 at the plate with three runs batted in and three runs scored. He reached base in every at bat, also drawing two walks, and raised his season batting average to .493. Falcone now has 11 multi-RBI games and 10 multi-hit games in 20 SU contests this season.

The other SU player with three hits was Boone who collected his hits in five at bats, along with one walk while scoring three runs and driving in three. Wooten was 1-3 but drove in three and scored one while extending his current hitting streak to 12 games. Williams had two hits in three at bats, scoring once and driving in a pair. Catcher Nick Ashford (Red Oak, TX/Red Oak HS) scored three runs for the Bucs.

On the mound, Wes Willis (Austin, TX/Austin HS) earned the win for the Pirates in three innings of work. He got the win as a result of a pre-determined pitching schedule for the game. Willis allowed three hits, struck out three and walked one while keeping the Bulldogs from scoring. He is now 4-1 and has lowered his earned run average to 3.13 for the year.

Southwestern pounded out 18 hits in the win, connecting on nine extra-base hits. The Pirates' season-record is now 9-11.

SU plays again on Monday (Mar. 17) against Concordia University-Austin at 2:00 pm at the Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express, in Round Rock, TX.