Houston, Texas – The Tiger baseball team scored a pair of high-scoring victories in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against the University of St. Thomas.

Top-ranked Trinity improved to 13-1 this season, including a three-game weekend sweep of St. Thomas in the first SCAC games of the season. The Tigers have now won six straight games – all of which have been on the road.

The Rundown Vol. I

Trinity pounded out 15 hits on offense and allowed just six to the home team in the opening game of the doubleheader, yet still had to battle to the end to clinch the weekend series.

After a quiet first inning to get things started, both offenses came to life in the second inning. The Tigers struck first with two runs in the top of the inning, taking advantage of a walk and an error to take the early lead. St. Thomas picked up a run without getting a hit in the bottom half, cutting the lead to just 2-1.

Trinity added another run in the third when Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) drew a bases-loaded walk, but the Tigers left the bases loaded and it was just a 3-1 game.

St. Thomas took advantage of the runners left on, piecing together three runs on three hits and a walk to take a 4-3 lead after three innings of play.

The Tigers answered with a three-run inning of their own in the fourth, reclaiming the lead for good. Christian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) both had extra-base hits to score runs in the inning.

Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) hit a two-run double in the sixth to give Trinity two more insurance runs, but St. Thomas scratched across another run in the bottom half to make it an 8-5 game after six.

It was Holloway and Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) with extra-base hits that added insurance runs in the seventh, pushing the Tigers to a 10-5 advantage. The Celts picked up two more runs in the eighth, but the lead was too much in the end.

The Rundown Vol. II

Both teams scored early and often in game two, combining for 15 runs in the first three innings of play, and each team threw up a five-run inning in that span.

Jack Baker (Sugar Land, Texas / Ridge Point) stole two bases in the first inning that lead to a run to start things off, but St. Thomas tied things up with a run of its own in the bottom half.

Trinity edged back in front with another score in the second, which was followed by a five-run explosion by St. Thomas to take a 6-2 lead.

The Tigers brushed off the big inning and responded with its own five-spot in the third to once again lead 7-6. Vonderhaar crushed a three-run homer in the inning, while MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest) drilled a two-run double to right to account for the scoring.

Unfortunately for Trinity, the Celts seemed determined to steal the final game of the series, and added two more runs in the third to pull back in front 8-7.

While Trinity went hitless over the next three innings, St. Thomas pushed a pair of insurance runs across the board in the fifth for a 10-7 lead.

The bats finally came back to life with two outs in the seventh for the Tigers as Vonderhaar and Holloway reached on a single and a walk. Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) then drove them both in with a 2-RBI double to make it a one-run deficit.

Trinity tied things up 10-10 in the eighth as Mason Meredith (Houston, Texas / Memorial) stroked a two-out single to center.

In the ninth, Holloway put Trinity back in front with his RBI single, then back-to-back errors on sacrifice bunts led to two more Tiger runs to make it a 13-10 game heading into the bottom of the ninth.

The Celts nearly pulled off the win in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with two walks sandwiched around a single to left. Another walk scored the first of two runs in the inning, then back-to-back strikeouts seemed to stop the rally. Instead it was the fourth walk of the inning that brought in another run and the tying run was just 90 feet away. Trinity got one more strikeout to end the threat though, and escape with the weekend sweep.

Numbers to Note

Vonderhaar finished his day with 5 RBI and two runs scored, going 5-9 at the plate. He was 4-5 with three RBI in game two, hitting a double and his fifth homer of the year.

Holloway went 3-6 with two doubles and a triple in game one, scoring four runs and driving in three more in the doubleheader.

Wisniewski had two hits in each game, including two doubles, two RBI, and three runs scored in the series finale. Rafe Chaumette (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements) also had a pair of hits in both games on Saturday.

Baker scored twice in game two, while Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) finished with two runs scored in the opener. Meredith also had two hits and two runs scored in game one, while Metz drove in three runs in the finale.

Jack Schmitt (St. Louis, Mo. / Lafayette) earned his first career win in game one, pitching 6.2 innings of relief. He allowed three runs on three hits over that stretch, though just one of those runs was earned.

Joel Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Horizon) was the game two winner to improve to 1-0 this season, which is also his first victory with the Tigers. He allowed two runs on two hits over four innings out of the bullpen, striking out five batters.

Though he walked three batters in the ninth inning of game two, Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) also struck out the side to earn his second save of the season.

Up Next

Trinity will be back on the field on Tuesday, and will be back at home for a game for the first time since February 28. The Tigers host Concordia (TX) University on March 30 at 7:00 p.m.