San Antonio - Trinity's baseball team rallied with seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, but the Tigers fell 14-12 in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game against Centenary College on Friday afternoon.

The Tigers fell to 24-7 overall and 9-5 in the SCAC, while Centenary improved to 21-7 and a league-leading 13-3 in conference play.  Trinity hammered out 23 hits against just 14 for Centenary, but the Tigers also left 14 runners on base in the game.

Centenary led virtually the entire game, starting with a five-run third inning.  The lead eventually went to 11-4 after the Gents added five runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, Trinity scored seven runs on eight hits to tie the game.  The Tigers had 12 different players see the field during the inning, and Centenary had three different pitchers in the ninth.  There were four pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners for Trinity in the inning, and at one point, the Tigers had seven consecutive hitters reach base.  The Tigers also left the bases loaded in the inning, recording two straight outs to miss a chance to win it.

Both teams put runners on in the 10th, but neither could score.  In the 11th, Centenary put the game away with a pair of homers to score three runs and regain the lead.  The Tigers managed a run in the bottom of the inning, and put the tying run aboard, but fell short in the end.

Christian Muscarello tied a Trinity record with six hits in the game, going 6-7 with two runs scored.  All six of his hits were singles, and two of those came in the ninth inning.

Kevin Francke also had an excellent day offensively, going 4-7 with three runs and four RBI for the Tigers.  Francke had three singles and his third home run of the season.

Will Donnan and Chris Bianchi went 2-4 before being lifted in the ninth, while Pat Hirschberg, Jeremy Wolf, and Kevin Clements picked up two hits each.  Jonathan Hall drove in two runs as well. 

Trinity sent nine pitchers to the mound in the game, and Troy Ward (0-1) was charged with the loss, giving up three runs on three hits over the final 1.2 innings of play.  Michael Bentz lasted the longest among all the Tiger pitchers, going 3.2 innings and recording six strikeouts.

The Tigers return to action on Tuesday, April 2, hosting Hardin-Simmons University at 3:00 p.m.  It will be the last of a nine-game home stand for Trinity, which has gone 5-3 during that span.