Box Score Millington, Tennessee - The Trinity Tiger baseball team earned a 9-1 win over Hendrix College to win the team's third SCAC Championship in the last four years.
Trinity improved to 33-11 overall this season, and also won last year's tournament at USA Stadium. The Tigers scored seven runs in the first two innings, and never looked back on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers opened up a 9-0 advantage after scoring two more runs in the fourth, but Hendrix could not get on the scoreboard until the eighth inning.
Starter Ben Klimesh upped his record to 10-2 on the season, recording 10 strikeouts in the complete-game victory. With his 10 strikeouts, Klimesh reached 100 this season, becoming just the eighth player in Trinity history to strike out 100 or more batters in a season.
Trinity's offense pounded out 15 hits in the win, including eight doubles. Nick Pappas led the way for the Tigers with three doubles, going 3-5 with two runs and four RBI overall.
Christian Muscarello and Will Donnan also had three hits each for the Tigers, and Donnan tied Pappas with four RBI in the game.
Dominick Robusto went 2-5, while Kyle Felix was 2-4 with two runs scored and his 23rd double of the season. Kevin Calbick scored two runs and drew two walks to reach base three times in the game.
After a three-run first in which Pappas had a two-run double, Trinity then scored four times in the second. That inning also featured a two-run double from Pappas, as well as a two-RBI single from Donnan. In fact, Donnan and Pappas drove in all seven of Trinity's runs in the first two innings.
Klimesh is also Trinity's first pitcher to reach 10 wins in a season since Mike Frost in 2004. He also is the 10th Tiger player to record 200 or more strikeouts in a career.
The win today gives Trinity its seventh overall SCAC Championship, and the Tigers also won the College Athletic Conference (later re-named to the SCAC) in 1990. The conference title also comes with an automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs, which will likely be in Abilene, Texas, hosted by McMurry University. The NCAA Regional Tournament begins on May 18.
