HOUSTON – The Celts of the University of St. Thomas snapped their recent losing streak and claimed a much-needed, 4-3 victory in 10 innings Saturday over visiting Southwestern University.
Knight Newcomb's two-out triple and Austin Schwarz' RBI infield single capped UST's comeback victory as the Celts (12-21, 6-9 SCAC) narrowed the gap between them and the Pirates for fourth place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference standings.
At Husky Field on the campus of Houston Baptist University, the Celts took advantage of a record-setting performance from pitcher Chris Parsons. The junior from Katy, Texas (Seven Lakes HS), struck out 14 Southwestern batters over nine innings of work.
Parsons' 14 strikeouts were the most by UST pitcher since the varsity baseball program was revived in 2020. The only other UST player to reach double-figures in strikeouts in a single game was Jason Brown, who struck out 10 batters over five and two-thirds innings of relief in a 12-11 loss at McMurry in 16 innings on Feb. 15, 2020.
Southwestern appeared to have no answer for Parsons early, as he struck out the first batters he faced. The Pirates (15-15, 7-8 SCAC) got their offense going in the third when they plated two runs; they added one more in the fifth.
The Celts finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tristan Pitkin and Leo Galvan reached base with one out and gave the Celts runners in scoring position. Aeneas Enriquez' RBI single that scored Pitkin cut Southwestern's lead to 3-1.
Jacob Carriere then pinch-ran for Enriquez, and though he was picked off and caught stealing trying to take second base, the play allowed Galvan to score from third base.
UST finally tied the game in the seventh inning on Cameron McClure's RBI single that scored Knight Newcomb from second base. Newcomb led off the inning with a walk and then moved to second base on Schwarz' sacrifice bunt.
Meanwhile, Parsons was continuing to baffle Southwestern hitters. Though the Pirates were having a bit more success making contact with the ball, it was going right to UST's fielders. After ceding a single to Henry Fisher in the sixth, Parsons retired the next 10 batters in row, giving up only a two-out walk to James Vaquero in the ninth in his final three innings of work.
Brandon Madden pitched the 10th inning for the Celts and picked up his first victory of the season. He walked the first batter he faced before retiring the next three.
With the win, the Celts pulled to within a game of fourth place and the final berth into the postseason SCAC Tournament.
Saturday's win helped the Celts avoid a three-game sweep by the Pirates, who took both games of Friday's doubleheader. Southwestern won game one 6-3 in 10 innings, before taking game two 18-4 in seven innings.
Friday's opening game (Box Score) followed a similar pattern to Saturday's game as the Pirates took a 3-0 lead before UST came back to tie the contest in the later innings. Cameron McClure's RBI single in the eighth was part of a two-run inning that saw the Celts tie the score at 3-3. Jason Brown went 3-for-4 in the game.
In the second game Friday (Box Score), the Pirates used a 12-run third inning to take control of the contest and ended the game early with a lead of more than 10 runs after seven innings had been completed. UST's Dylan Lamb hit two triples in the game and accounted for three of the team's four RBIs.
The Celts return to action Tuesday when they visit East Texas Baptist for a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
