A pair of wins over a two-day period led the Dripping Springs Tiger baseball team to an 8-1, 5-4 bidistrict playoff series sweep of the Austin LBJ Jaguars last weekend.

By virtue of the sweep, Dripping Springs (23-9) advances to take on Victoria East in the area round of the playoffs. Game 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Riverside Stadium in Victoria. Game 2 is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in Dripping Springs, with a possible third game to follow 30 minutes later.

Trailing LBJ 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning, Reed Beverly lays a perfect bunt down the third base line to move two Tiger base runners into scoring position. “We needed a spark. Coach Amrine told me their third baseman had been playing back all game and I was able to get the job done,” said Beverly, who was safe on the play. Both runners scored to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead when Curtis Raymond singled on an error by the Jaguar’s shortstop. (photo by Wayland D. Clark, wfotos.com)

Dripping Springs opened the series with a dominant 8-1 win in Game 1. Tiger starting pitcher Grant Gaspard kept Jaguar bats at bay by giving up only one run on four hits in a complete game effort. Gaspard struck out ten Jaguars in the game.

Tiger head coach Chris Payne said Gaspard “felt good” and mixed his change up and fastball effectively.

On the opposite side, Dripping Springs battled against LBJ pitcher Sam DiCarlo, who gave up one run on two hits through five innings.

The Tiger offense burst out of the gate in the sixth inning by scoring seven earned runs on four hits.

Payne said DiCarlo was locating his spots and had a strong curveball, which created issues for Tiger batters at times.

But Payne said the Tigers didn’t want to have to go to “small ball game.”

“We finally sat back and waited for a pitch we could drive,” Payne said.

Dripping Springs closed the series by toppling LBJ 5-4 Saturday afternoon.

LBJ and Dripping Springs each scored three runs in the first frame, but LBJ gained the upper hand with a run in the fourth inning.

Dripping Springs regained the lead for good with two runs scored in the fifth inning.

Tiger Curtis Raymond finished Game 2 with three RBIs. Tiger starting pitcher Johnny Hoyle struck out seven in 3.1 innings.