TCU

Two more Listi home runs power Dallas Baptist to Fort Worth Regional final vs. TCU

Dallas Baptist’s Matt Duce, left and Devlin Granberg celebrate with Austin Listi after Listi’s two-run home run to give DBU a 7-1 lead over Virginia in the second inning of Monday’s June 5, 2017 Fort Worth Regional baseball game at Lupton Stadium, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Dallas Baptist’s Matt Duce, left and Devlin Granberg celebrate with Austin Listi after Listi’s two-run home run to give DBU a 7-1 lead over Virginia in the second inning of Monday’s June 5, 2017 Fort Worth Regional baseball game at Lupton Stadium, in Fort Worth, Texas. Special to the Star-Telegram

Austin Listi hit one of his two home runs in the second inning, and Dallas Baptist scored nine runs in the opening two frames on the way to an 11-8 victory Monday against Virginia in an elimination game at the Fort Worth Regional.

The Patriots (42-21) advanced to a game against TCU at 7:20 p.m. Monday at Lupton Stadium, needing to defeat the Horned Frogs twice to win the regional. The second game would be played Tuesday, if necessary.

Listi homered in the eighth inning, also, to extend DBU’s lead to 11-3 before a lightning delay of 45 minutes. Listi’s home runs were his 52nd and 53rd career, extending the senior first baseman’s school record, and 23rd and 24th of the season.

Following the delay, Virginia (43-16) scored five runs in the ninth inning, including Pavin Smith’s three-run home run. Dalton Higgins got the final two outs for DBU, stranding two runners on base.

Ray Gaither (6-4) pitched seven innings for DBU, allowing two earned runs on four hits, walking five and striking out six with 116 pitches.

Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Two more Listi home runs power Dallas Baptist to Fort Worth Regional final vs. TCU."

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