Shreveport, Louisiana - The 18th-ranked Tiger baseball team started the day with an extra-inning loss to hosting Centenary College, but battled back to reach the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship by beating Southwestern University on Saturday night.

Trinity advances to face off in a rematch against Centenary tomorrow at noon.  The Gents edged the Tigers 3-2 in a 10-inning game to start the day, then Trinity nabbed a 7-2 win in an elimination game against Southwestern.  Sunday's conference final will crown the SCAC Champion, though the Tigers will need to beat Centenary twice to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs.

After Southwestern opened the game with a run in the first, Trinity took control of the game with a four-run third.  The Tiger offense had four hits, drew three walks and a hit batter, swiping the momentum from the Pirates after a tough loss earlier in the day.  

Trinity quickly gave up another run in the top of the fourth, but it would be all Southwestern's offense could muster against Trent Rape.  Rape improved to 6-2 with the complete-game victory, allowing two runs on eight hits, and striking out four batters.

The Tiger offense added three insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings to finish off the scoring, finishing with a total of 12 hits.  Southwestern used six different pitchers in the game, issuing a total of 10 walks over 8.0 innings of work.

Carter McEachern led Trinity with a 4-5 performance at the plate, while Drew Butler had three hits in five at-bats.  Both players also scored two runs, while Beau Attyah picked up two RBI for the Tigers.

Saturday's opener against Centenary was definitely a tournament classic.  After four scoreless innings by both teams, the Gents got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a three-hit inning.  Trinity answered immediately in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of a leadoff triple from Connor Moore.  

Unfortunately for Tiger fans, Centenary quickly went back in front with another run in the sixth.  The Tigers tied the game after the Gents committed three errors in the top of the ninth, and the game went to extra innings.  Centenary ended the game with a sac fly in the bottom of the 10th.

Trinity was held to just six hits by Centenary, with Moore going 2-5 with a run scored.  Butler was 1-3 with the team's only RBI of the game, while McEachern scored the tying run in the ninth.

Zack Speer allowed two runs on nine hits over six innings as the Tiger starter, while Nick Griffith was the hard-luck losing pitcher.  Griffith gave up an unearned run on just one hit over 3.1 innings, striking out three batters, and fell to 2-2 on the season.

Trinity is sporting a 31-12 record this season, and will play in its third consecutive SCAC Championship game. The third-seeded Tigers have won the last two conference titles, and four in the past five years.