Box Score Appleton, Wisconsin - Trinity's baseball team reached the NCAA Semifinals with a 10-1 win over Emory University on Monday afternoon, led by a strong offense and Zack Speer's 25th career win on the mound for the Tigers.
Trinity improved to 39-13 and will take on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse later tonight. A Tiger victory would force a winner-take-all rematch tomorrow, though a loss would mean elimination for Trinity. Emory had beaten Trinity 9-7 in Friday's opening game, but the loss today ends the tournament run for the Eagles.
After Sunday's play was postponed because of rain in the Appleton area, the Tigers came out on Memorial Day with a vengeance. In addition to Speer's performance that puts him sixth on Trinity's career wins list, the offense smacked 18 hits in the victory, and all nine Tiger starters recorded a hit.
The day opened with a two-run first inning, highlighted by Drew Butler's RBI double. The Tigers added three more runs in the second, hammering out four more hits for a 5-0 lead. Trinity went on to get another run in the third, followed by two more in the fifth, and then Nick Jewett powered a solo homer to left for a 9-1 Tiger advantage. Pinch-hitter Beau Attyah capped the scoring with his RBI single in the eighth.
Jewett, Austin Singer, and Jeremy Wolf had three hits and two runs each to lead Trinity's offense. Jewett and Brody Fehmel both drove in a pair of runs as well. Butler and Carter McEachern added two hits each in the game.
Speer worked for 7.2 innings to claim the milestone victory. Speer (8-2) allowed one run on six hits, fanning seven Emory batters, and allowing just one walk. Michael Maul struck out two batters over the final 1.1 innings, retiring four straight to close out the win.
