San Antonio - The Tiger baseball team opened up a three-game weekend series with an 8-1 win over Centenary College on Friday night.

Third-ranked Trinity improved to 9-1 on the season, while the Gents fell to 3-8.  This weekend's series will not count towards the team's Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference records.  The teams will play a three-game SCAC series at Centenary later this season.

The majority of the scoring came late in the game, as the teams played to a scoreless tie through the first four innings.  The Tigers finally got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth, then added two more runs in the seventh to go up 3-0.  

In the eighth inning, Trinity piled on five more runs - most of which came on a pinch-hit grand slam by Drew Butler.  Centenary scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth to avoid the shutout.

Ryan Gray (1-0) went 7.1 innings without allowing a run, scattering five hits, and striking out eight batters to earn the victory. 

Trinity's offense picked up nine hits among eight different players.  Nick Jewett was the only player with more than one, going 2-3 with one run and one RBI.  Julian Cronk cracked a fifth-innning double to put the Tigers on the board in the fifth.

The two teams continue the series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon, beginning at 1:00 p.m.