SAN ANTONIO - No. 1 Trinity University Baseball clinched its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference home series with Schreiner University with an explosive, 14-12, victory in the day's opener before spliting its Saturday doubleheader on an 8-7, 10-inning affair.

The Tigers (19-2, 8-1 SCAC) were led offensively in the doubleheader by senior centerfielder Mason Meredith (Houston, Texas / Memorial), who was one of four Trinity batters to collect four base-hits to go with his team-high four RBI.

Senior rightfielder Rafe Chaumette (Sugar Land, Texas / Clement) and junior catcher Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) joined Meredith with four hits; Chaumette added a pair of walks while Pettit's output included a pair of doubles.

Senior reliever Branden Hance (Tuscon, Ariz. / Salpointe Catholic) tallied his first victory of the season as he concluded Saturday's opener with a three of his five shutout innings of relief across the day's action.

No. 1 Trinity Baseball hits the road Tuesday for the first of four-straight away from the Trinity Baseball field as it visits Concordia University (TX) for a single-game matchup.

Game One: Trinity 14, Schreiner 12

The Tigers pounced immediately in Saturday's opener with a seven-run rally with two outs in the second frame, part of an 11-run stretch through the first four innings. Four different Trinity bats collected RBI, highlighted by a two-RBI single laced down the leftfield line by first-year outfielder Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) which scored both Chaumette and Pettit, who reached base via walk and single, repsectively.

With an 11-2 advantage through four innings, the bench began to unload into the field for the Tigers; it was at this point that Schreiner mounted its comeback bid as it scored six runs in the fifth, followed by four more in the sixth for 10 unanswered tallies to thrust its way into its first lead of the series.

Trinity finally mustered a response in the bottom of the sixth stanza as first-year rightfielder Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) fired a base-hit through the heart of the Mountaineer infielders to score sophomore designated hitter Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, Texas / Pflugerville), both of whom entered the game around the fifth inning platoon swap.

With the outing knotted up at 12-12, the Tigers called upon Hance to step onto the mound, the fifth Trinity hurler to make an appearance in the offensive fireworks display.

Sophomore leftfielder/first baseman Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / LeSalle) pelted a 1-2 fastball promptly over the leftfield wall for his eighth homer of the season to score himself and sophomore leftfielder Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian), which created the eventual 14-12 margin.

Now with a small cushion, Hance remained on the hill for his second and third hitless frames, one free pass away from being perfect, to collect his first victory of the 2021 campaign.

Game Two: Schreiner 8, Trinity 7

In a reversal from game one's script, Schreiner opened Saturday's B-side with a three-run burst in the opening frame, though it did so on just a pair of hits along with a Trinity fielding error. The Mountaineers mustered a fourth unanswered run in the top of the third.

With a 4-0 deficit, the Tigers once again signaled to the pen for the senior right-hander that concluded Saturday's opener. Hance added another pair of shutout innings as he scattered three hits to reduce the Schreiner bats to a simmer.

In the meantime, Trinity answered with a four-run burst over the fourth inning, powered by a bases-loaded, three-RBI double from Meredith. Senior designated hitter Michael Goodrich (Gilbert, Ariz. / Basha) later scored Meredith with a line-shot down the line in leftfield to cap the game-tying frame.

The contest briefly became a tit-for-tat battle as Schreiner responded with a trio in the top of the fifth before the Tigers reeled it into a 7-6 deficit in the bottom half with a pair of RBI via a Pettit double and a base-hit from sophomore third baseman MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest).

Trinity finally knotted things up with a sacrifice fly from junior infielder Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) that scored Chaumette in the eighth, which would send the game in an extra inning.

The Mountaineers led-off the top of the tenth with a first-pitch homer off of senior closer Matthew Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Horizon), which ultimately tagged him with his first loss of the 2021 campaign.

After two swift outs in the bottom-half, Chaumette returned to the plate to mount the Tigers' comeback attempt with a base-hit into right-centerfield and later made his way around to third by way of a throwing error on a stolen base. Trinity then collected walks for McDonald and Wisniewski to leave the bases loaded for Schaub though the Tigers could not capitalize.

Up Next

No. 1 Trinity Baseball heads to Austin, Texas to face Concordia (TX) Tuesday at 6 p.m. before it makes the trip to Irving, Texas to do SCAC battle with University of Dallas in a three-game set next Saturday.