Belton, Texas - Trinity's fourth-ranked baseball team had to settle for a regular season series split after falling in a 6-5 game at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday night.

The Tigers edged UMHB 5-4 in a 12-inning thriller in San Antonio earlier this year, but the Crusaders were able to exact revenge in tonight's game.  Mary Hardin-Baylor rallied from down three runs at one point, then came back again to tie the game late.  The Crusaders won it on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

Trinity opened up the scoring with a run in the top of the first, then added two more in the third to go ahead 3-0, but UMHB plated three runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game.  The Tigers scored another two-run inning in the fifth to go back in front, but the Crusaders rallied once more with runs in the fifth and sixth to make it 5-5 heading into the final three frames.

The Tiger offense stalled after scoring the runs in the fifth, earning just two baserunners over the final four innings of play.  The loss is the second straight for Trinity, which finished off last weekend's conference series at Centenary with a 5-4 defeat.

Trent Rape struck out eight batters in 5.1 innings as Trinity's starting pitcher, but did allow five runs on five hits.  Only two of those runs were earned, however, and the Tiger defense committed two errors in the game.  Teddy Turner (4-2) was charged with the loss, allowing a run on two hits over the final 3.1 innings.

Jeremy Wolf drove in three runs for the Tigers, while Drew Butler and Christian Muscarello knocked two hits each.  Butler also drove in two runs, while Muscarello scored three times.

Trinity falls to 30-8 on the season, and is next scheduled to play Southwestern University in the opening game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at 1:00 p.m., on Friday, May 2.