Lions tagged in pair of setbacks
Bacone uses big innings for sweep
SAGU hosts solo noon game on Saturday
WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- Except for three innings, the Southwestern Assemblies of God University men's baseball team held teir own against Oklahoma's Bacone College. The visiting Warriors, however, took advantage of defensive mistakes and a handful of walks to fuel a trio of scoring bursts in a doubleheader sweep on Friday.
The Lions began both contests with sharp pitching, by sophomore John Savis (Canton, Tx / Canton HS) and freshman Robert Elles (Red Oak, Tx / Red Oak HS) before things turned sour.
A six-run second frame in the first game was the difference as the Warriors rolled to a 10-3 victory. SAGU trailed 7-3 after RBI hits off the bats of Riley Hensel (Maypearl, Tx / Maypearl HS), Zach Worrell (Ft. Worth, Tx / L.D. Bell HS) and Dustin Jett (Patterson, La / Patterson HS).
Unofficially, Savis struck out nine batters, but costly errors and four hit batters took their toll. The Warriors (19-11, 9-5 in RRAC) pulled away with three late runs.
Elles built a 5-1 lead in the nightcap behind a moving fastball and control that effectively sat down a Bacone (BAY-kohn) team that has reached ten or more runs in six of their last eleven games. They won eight of the eleven.
Jared Denton (Mission, Tx / Sharyland HS), Donovan Vess (Ft. Worth, Tx / Eastfield College, Lake Worth HS) and Mario Mendoza (Ft. Worth, Tx / Grambling State Univ, Polytechnic HS) ripped clutch, run-producing hits as a split in the
twinbill appeared in progress.
Until a six-run fourth gave the Tribe a 7-5 lead. They tacked on a seven more in the fifth and added four more against a porous bullpen and defense to win, 18-5.
The Lions will play the third game in the series at high noon on Saturday at the Waxahachie Sports Complex. Freshman righthander Rockie Davis (Sante Fe, Tx / Sante Fe HS) starts against the Warriors.
In dropping their tenth consecutive game to Bacone, SAGU fell to 11-18 overall. They are 0-14 against foes in the Red River Athletic Conference. The Warriors are 19-11 in all games and are fourth in the RRAC at 9-5.
The high-scoring conference has been a challenge in recent seasons, where SAGU has gone 6-49 in the Red River. Three nationally-ranked teams are perennial powers, making it a tough road to hoe for the young and rebuilding Lions.
Their next series, March 30-31, will be a 3-game set against LSU-Shreveport. The Pilots (23-3, 11-3 in RRAC) are #6 in the country. They are in Austin this weekend for a trio of games with Huston-Tillotson University (3-15, 0-6).
Southwestern's home series with Tillotson was rained out, February 17-18. Make-up dates have yet to be announced.
Contact: Mark "Link" Warde, Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.
