February 21, 2020

Waxahachie, TX- Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) Baseball team kicked off a three-game series with a doubleheader on Friday afternoon against Huston-Tillotson University (HTU). The Lions (13-5, 0-0) had their nine-game winning streak snapped as they dropped both games to the Rams (6-7-1, 0-0). HTU took the first game by the score of 4-2 and the second game 9-4.

Game 1

Top Performers

• Hunter Watson ( SO/Whitney, TX ) did a little bit of everything for the Lions as he had one RBI, scored a run and led the team in hits with 2.
  

  

• Joseph Vazquez ( SO/Katy, TX ) knocked in the other SAGU run on his lone hit of the game.
• JV Verdin ( FR/Dallas, TX ) added a hit and a run of his own.
• Ben Bills ( JR/York, PA ) pitched 7.0 inning, struck out 7 while giving up 6 hits and surrendering 4 runs (3 ER).
• SAGU hit .230 for the game.

Lions Review

• Bills retired the Rams in order in the top of the first. Vazquez doubled in the bottom of the first and Kyle Coolidge ( SR/Newberry Park, CA ) added a walk to threaten HTU. Unfortunately for the Lions, they couldn’t capitalize.
• Bills found himself in trouble in the top of the 2 ^nd inning. Two hits and a passed ball led to 3 runs for HTU.
• Watson singled in the bottom of the 3 ^rd inning and Vazquez eventually got him home on a sacrifice fly as HTU led 3-1 moving to the 4 ^th inning.
• The first two Rams batters struck out in the top of the 4 ^th inning, but Bills gave up a walk that eventually led to another HTU run.
• SAGU had their first two batters reach on hits and eventually scored a run off of a Watson single.  The Lions trailed 4-2 going into the 5 ^th inning.
• There was only one more hit throughout the course of the game as the Rams eventually took the opener 4-2.

Game 2

Top Performers

• JV Verdin led the way with 2 RBI for the Lions
• Ben Bills managed two hits, the most for a SAGU player during the second game.
• Joseph Vazquez scored 2 runs and had the lone extra-base hit for the Lions.
• SAGU hit just .166 for the game
• Kolby Clark ( FR/Waco, TX ) was saddled with the loss, but SAGU had a collective pitching effort that featured Dennis Smith ( JR/Jewett, TX ), Augustin Martinez ( SR/Sugarland, TX ), Damian Garcia ( SR/Palmer, TX ), Justin De Los Santos ( FR/Corpus Christi, TX ) and Logan Mann ( JR/New Bloomfield, PA ). That group combined to give up 12 hits, 9 earned runs, surrender 7 walks and strike out 11 batters.

Lions Review

• The first two innings didn’t feature much offense as the teams combined for just one hit.
• Three straight hits by HTU broke the scoreless tie, but the Rams weren’t done. SAGU hit two batters and surrendered another hit. The Lions found themselves down 4-0 after a big HTU inning.
• The Rams posted 4 more tuns in the 4 ^th inning thanks to 4 hits. The biggest of which was a two-run home run. Rams were up big 8-0 moving to the bottom of the inning.
• Ryan Cole ( JR/Longview, TX ) scored for SAGU after a Vazquez double. Verdin knocked in Vazquez later in the inning to cut the lead to 8-2.
• The Lions added 2 more runs in the bottom of the 6 ^th inning but did it with no hits. A combination of hit batters and walks saw the HTU lead shrink to 8-4.
• The Rams added 1 more run in the 7 ^th with SAGU failing to put anything together and losing 9-4.

What’s Next

SAGU and HTU will play another doubleheader in Austin, TX on February 25th beginning at 1:00 pm.

As a leading Christian university, SAGU educates and prepares individuals who want to serve Christ and others. SAGU helps students discover and develop their God-given callings in a Spirit-empowered, learning community.

We believe in affordable tuition, made possible in part through the financial support of donors who embrace the mission of SAGU and the importance of affordable, accredited programs to train Christians for leadership in ministry, business, education, and service.

Most majors are available in-person in Waxahachie, TX, and online through a wide range of associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.