San Antonio – The second-ranked Tiger baseball team suffered its first loss of the season as sixth-ranked Babson (MA) College scored an 8-6 win on Saturday afternoon.

GAME SUMMARY

The two teams began the game with both teams combining to leave three runners on base in the first two innings and neither team managing a score until the fourth.

Babson struck first with a run on two hits in the top of the fourth, but Trinity took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

After Babson tied the game with a run in the fifth, the Tigers once again edged in front with another run in the bottom half to make it a 3-2 game. Evan McDonald sparked a three-run sixth inning with his two-run homer, and Trinity took a 6-2 lead after six innings.

Babson rallied for three runs in the seventh to make it a one-run game, collecting four hits in the inning to chase Tiger starter James Nittoli from the game. Trinity went quietly in the seventh, opening the door for Babson to take a 7-6 lead with a two-run eighth.

Trinity put two runners aboard in the eighth and Mason Meredith's single looked like it might tie the game. Instead, the Tigers were thrown out at the plate and Babson remained in the lead.

The Beavers added an insurance run in the ninth to make it 8-6, then pitched around a one-out double in the ninth to take the win.

NOTABLES

The Tigers fall to 8-1 overall with the loss, while Babson improves to 1-1. The two teams also split the first two games of last year's three-game weekend, but Trinity won 9-4 in the finale to clinch the series.

Michael Herrera led a group of four Trinity players who enjoyed a multi-hit game tonight, finishing his day 3-5 with one RBI.

The Tigers had 14 total hits in the game, including four that went for extra bases. Michael Goodrich and Jack Vonderhaar both went 2-5, while Jack Wisniewski was 2-4 at the plate. All three had a double among their two hits.

Evan McDonald hit his first home run as a Tiger, driving in a pair of runs on his only hit of the afternoon.

Michael Montrezza went 1-2 with two walks to reach base three times in four plate appearances.

James Nittoli pitched into the seventh inning, but wound up with a no-decision. Nittoli scattered nine hits over 6.0 innings. He allowed five runs, but struck out five hitters.

Cadhan McGahan (2-1) took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits over 1.1 innings of action.

UP NEXT

Trinity and Babson will finish the three-game weekend series on Sunday, beginning at 11:00 a.m.