A trio of unanswered runs in the final four innings Saturday catapulted the Dripping Springs Tigers baseball team into the next round of the playoffs.
By virtue of a come-from-behind 5-2 Game 3 win over the San Antonio Southwest Dragons, Dripping Springs (24-11-1) clinched the best-of-3 area round series and punched a ticket to the regional quarterfinals for the first time since the 2017 campaign.
Dripping Springs (24-11-1) plays Kerrville Tivy in a best-of-3 series. Game 1 will be 7 p.m. Thursday at Dripping springs High School. Game 2 is 7 p.m. Friday at Kerrville Tivy High School, with an as-necessary Game 3 set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Tivy High.
Dripping Springs opened the area round series Thursday with a 5-0 win over Southwest in Somerset.
Southwest countered Friday with critical offense in the waning moments of Game 2 to outlast Dripping Springs in an 8-7 slugfest, forcing a decisive Game 3.
Dripping Springs trailed early before it exploded for a five-run fifth inning of Game 2 to take a 7-3 lead.
Southwest, however, responded with a 5-run sixth frame in Game 2 to secure a come-from-behind victory.
The Dragons carried that momentum early in Game 3 when they took a 1-0 lead after an inning of play.
Dripping Springs countered with a two-run third inning highlighted by an RBI base hit from RJ Cabela, which was followed by the Dragons tying the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of that inning.
The Tigers pulled away in the fourth inning via a solo home run by Nick Gullo, followed by a run scored on a passed ball.
Dripping Springs led 4-2 after four innings and added an insurance run in the top of the seventh frame.
