Millington, Tenn. - The defending champion Trinity Tiger baseball team opened the SCAC Championship Tournament with a 10-1 victory over the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels at USA Stadium on Thursday night.

Trinity (30-11), No. 1 in the West Division, meets DePauw (No. 2 East) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Tigers won the 2010 title with a victory over DePauw, which beat Millsaps 7-2 on Thursday.

The six-team double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday, with the winner guaranteed a slot in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Catcher Kyle Felix opened the scoring for Trinity with an RBI in the bottom of the first inning. The Tigers scored three runs in the second inning, keyed by a leadoff home run by outfielder Kevin Calbick, his fifth homer of the season.

Oglethorpe, which lost to the Tigers in last year's opening tournament game, scored a run in the top of the third inning.

Trinity scored two unearned runs in the bottom half of the third inning, and then Felix exploded for a solo home run to right field in the fifth. Felix, the Tigers all-time home run and RBI leader, now has 13 round-trippers to his credit this season.

The Tigers added three runs in the eighth, on an error by the Petrels right fielder.

Felix batted 3-5 with two runs, two RBI, and a double to go with his home run. Calbick hit 3-4 with an RBI and one run; and outfielder Kevin Jackson went 2-4 with two RBI and two runs.

Right-handed pitcher Michael Panozzo was Trinity's starter, and hurled for seven innings. Panozzo, who remained undefeated at 5-0, allowed one earned run, four hits, three walks, and struck out two batters.

Right-handers Franklin Bay and Jonathan Hall pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and allowed one hit. Bay fanned two batters, and Hall had three strikeouts.

Trinity scored five earned runs, smacked 12 hits, and made one error. Oglethorpe committed three errors in the game.