SAN ANTONIO (May 2, 2024) - The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) baseball team will face the University of the Southwest (USW) in an elimination game at the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Championship Tournament on Friday. The Saints are the No. 6 seed and the Mustangs are the No. 7 seed. Both programs lost their first round matchups on Wednesday. 

The Saints lost to No. 3 seed the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) yesterday. The Jaguars started the scoring in the first inning with three runs. They plated another three runs in the second frame to lead 6-0. Brett Atkinson scored in the third inning when Diego Zuniga reached on an error. The Jaguars scored again in the fifth inning to increase the advantage to 7-1. OLLU started to tighten the game in the sixth inning. Vincent Banda scored when Alejandro Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, and Caimyn Holiday later singled to score Kobey Allison and Brandon Betancourt. UHV stole home in the following frame and led 8-4 heading into the eighth inning. Holiday picked up more RBIs in the eighth inning on another single that scored Betancourt. Zuniga singled to third base in the same inning and the Saints trailed 8-6. The Saints were unable to put a runner on base in the ninth inning and lost 8-6. Devin Benavides suffered the loss after going two innings with six earned runs. Matthew Sanchez pitched four innings in relief and Chase Dunn was on the mound for the final two frames.  

The Mustangs led by one run after the top of the fifth inning yesterday, but were unable to hold off No. 2 seed Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT). The Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the frame and two in the sixth inning. The game was scoreless in the final three innings and TAMUT won 9-6. Southwest allowed 10 hits and Miguel Olivas was handed the loss after giving up three earned runs. 

OLLU faced USW three times this season and won one game. The Saints are 23-10 against the Mustangs in the series history. The winner will move on to play the loser of No. 5 seed Louisiana Christian University versus No. 1 seed LSU-Shreveport.