VICTORIA, Texas – The Louisiana Christian University baseball team kicked off a key Red River Athletic Conference series by picking up a split with #20 Texas A&M-Victoria, defeating the Jaguars 5-3 in game one before dropping game two 11-1 in seven innings Friday evening at Riverside Stadium.
 
Game 1 – Louisiana Christian 5, #20 Texas A&M-Victoria 3
 
Louisiana Christian (19-3, 4-1 RRAC) struck first and quickly in game one. Braden McLin led off the game drawing a walk before moving to second on Brady Huffman's ground ball to second, which was mishandled. Braden Trull's sacrifice bunt moved both base runners up for Matthew Cody, who came through with a ground ball to third which scored McLin for a 1-0 lead.
 
The lead was extended in the fourth as Caleb Brown led off with a walk, was sacrificed to second by Sterling Sims, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another infield base hit, this time by McLin to shortstop, making it 2-0 Wildcats.
 
Texas A&M-Victoria (12-8, 3-2 RRAC) came right back in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring three times in the inning to claim the lead, 3-2, when it finally ended.
 
The Wildcats had one last rally in them in the sixth inning, and it was enough to spring the upset in the series opener. Jake Messina opened the frame with a walk. With Cayden Cuti now on base for him, McLin beat out a base hit to the pitcher, putting runners on first and second with no outs.
 
Gavin Vordick then stepped up in a pinch hit role and came through with another infield single, but in the rush, the Jaguar shortstop threw the ball away, allowing both Cuti and McLin to score, putting LCU back in front.
 
With Vordick moving to third on a fly ball, Cody did his job with a fly ball to center which was deep enough to let Vordick tag up and score for the 5-3 lead. Pitching and defense did the rest from there, fighting off two Jaguar rally attempts in the final two innings to preserve the win.
 
Cody got hits in all three official at bats he had, knocking in a pair of runs.
 
McLin was 2-for-3 at the plate and was hit by a pitch, knocked in run and scored twice himself.
 
In his one pinch hit opportunity, Vordick got a hit that knocked in two runs and later scored himself.
 
Brown was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
 
Kade Linn (4-0) got the win on the mound, going 5.2 inning and allowing five hits and three runs, all earned, walked two and struck out 10 Jaguar hitters.
 
Colton Williams threw the final 1.1 innings, allowing just one walk and struck out three of the five batters he faced to pick up his first save of the season.
 
Game 2 - #20 Texas A&M-Victoria 11, Louisiana Christian 1 (7 innings)
 
Early missed opportunities paved the way for TAMUV to come alive and enact the run rule in the nightcap.
 
With one out in the top of the first inning, Huffman singled and Trull doubled to threaten right off the bat, but nothing would come of that threat as the game remained scoreless.
 
The Wildcats would load the bases with one out in the second inning with Vordick leading off with a single, Sims getting a one-out base hit, and Logan Lobell drawing a walk. However, a double play ended the threat with again no damage done.
 
In the third inning, the Jaguar offense came to life with a two-run home run. They doubled that lead in the fourth with a two-RBI single to make it 4-0.
 
LCU got one back in the top of the fifth. McLin dropped a base hit into left with one out. Huffman then doubled down the right field line, moving McLin to third. With the bases now loaded and two down, a wild pitch allowed everyone to move up, including McLin to come home, to make it 4-1.
 
But TAMUV then blew the game open in the bottom half of the fifth by putting up six runs in the inning for a 10-1 lead. With the Wildcats unable to threaten again, the Jaguars put the game away via the run rule with a walk-off, two-out RBI single to right-center to end the contest.
 
Huffman was the only Wildcat with multiple hits in the nightcap, going 2-for-4 with a double.
 
McLin was 1-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Trull was also 1-for-4 with his lone hit being a double.
 
Brandon Carter (4-1) threw 4.1 innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs, all earned, with four strikeouts and one walk.
 
Thomas Collins threw 0.2 innings, giving up four hits and three runs, all earned, with one walk and one strikeout.
 
Seth Whitney closed out the contest by throwing the final 1.2 innings, giving up one hit and one run, which was earned, with two walks and one strikeout.
 
The Wildcats and Jaguars play the rubber game of their three-game conference series on Saturday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Riverside Stadium.