San Antonio - The third-ranked Trinity baseball team shut out the DeSales University Bulldogs 5-0 at the Trinity University Baseball Field on Thursday night.

Trinity won its eighth straight game to improve to 12-1 this season. DeSales dropped to 0-5 during its season-opening Spring Break road trip.

The Tigers broke open the game with a four-run fifth inning. Pat Hirschberg and Drew Butler both collected two RBI in the inning.  The second-inning RBI from Austin Singer was all the pitching staff needed, though, with four Trinity pitchers combining for a shutout.

Mike Walker struck out four over seven innings, allowing just three hits to the DeSales offense.  Teddy Turner, Kyle Bogese, and Matthew Tindall combined for five strikeouts over the final two innings, yielding just one hit. 

Hirschberg finished 2-4 with two RBI and his 12th career triple, scoring two runs. Butler went 1-3 with a double and two RBI. Hirschberg needs just one more triple to tie the Tiger career record, set by Kenneth Sharp (2000-03).  

Trinity begins defense of its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship this weekend against Austin College in Sherman, Texas. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m., as does Sunday's single game. The Tigers return home March 14-15 for a three-game SCAC series with Southwestern University.