San Antonio – The fourth-ranked Tiger baseball team's ninth-inning rally fell short in Friday night's 7-5 loss to Birmingham-Southern (AL) College.

GAME SUMMARY

Trinity opened the game with a bang, getting a leadoff triple from Logan Morrison and an RBI groundout off the bat of Jake Martin to take the quick 1-0 lead.

A pitcher's duel broke out after that as the two teams combined for just one hit over the next three innings.

Birmingham-Southern took advantage of a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth to tie the game after a wild pitch and a single.

The Tigers put the first two batters of the bottom half of the fifth on base, and Morrison brought in the go-ahead run with a sac fly lineout to left field.

The scoring continued in the sixth as the Panthers took their first lead of the game with two runs on two hits and a walk to make it a 3-2 advantage.

A pair of one-out walks in the bottom of the inning led to another run as MJ Metz tied things up with his run-scoring groundout.

Both teams were held scoreless in the seventh, but Birmingham got a two-run homer in the eighth to reclaim the lead. The Panthers then added two more insurance runs in the ninth to go ahead 7-3.

Those runs proved to be key as Trinity mounted a two-out rally in the ninth. Rafe Chaumette doubled in Morrison to start the scoring with two outs, then a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases.

Pinch-hitter Nathaniel Prete battled to earn a walk that drove in another run that made it 7-5, but the Panthers escaped with a called third strike to end the game.

NOTABLES

Trinity suffered its first loss of the young season, while Birmingham evened its record to 2-2 this year.

Rafe Chaumette picked up three of Trinity's seven hits on the night, going 3-5 with a double.

Logan Morrison was 1-2 with a triple and two runs scored, reaching base three times.

Mark Tindall pitched into the sixth inning, allowing just two runs on three hits and striking out five batters.

Ian Hussian (0-1) allowed four runs over 3.1 innings of relief and was charged with the loss, though he did record four strikeouts.

UP NEXT

The Tigers and Panthers resume their weekend series with a 1:00 p.m. game on Saturday, February 16.