Cleburne, Texas – Trinity's second-ranked baseball team dropped its opening game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament against Texas Lutheran on Saturday, but battled back to reach the conference final with a 13-9 win over Southwestern University.

The Tigers rallied from a 9-5 deficit to take a slim 10-9 lead against the Bulldogs in the tournament's first game of the day, but Texas Lutheran scored the final three runs of the game to prevail 12-10. Trinity opened up a big lead early against Southwestern in the night cap, but had to hold on for a wild win by the end of the night.

The Rundown, Game One

Texas Lutheran staged a two-out rally in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead, foreshadowing the high-scoring affair.

Michael Goodrich (Gilbert, Ariz. / Basha) got the Tigers on the board with his two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second to make it a 3-1 game, but the Bulldogs quickly got that run back with another run in the third inning.

Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) made it a 4-2 game with a run-scoring single in the fourth, then MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest) led off the fifth with a home run to bring Trinity within one. Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) laced a two-out double to right-center to tie the game 4-4 later in the inning.

After the game was tied, Texas Lutheran exploded for a five-run sixth inning to pull away 9-4. The Bulldogs took advantage of Trinity's lone error of the game as all five runs were unearned.

The Tigers answered in a big way though, and did all of their damage after the first two batters were retired in the bottom of the sixth. Metz picked up another RBI to get the scoring started, then Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) also got in on the action. Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) smashed a two-run home run into left field to make it 9-8, then Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) gave Trinity its first lead of the game with a two-run single.

Not to be outdone, Texas Lutheran responded immediately with a pair of runs in the seventh to pull back in front 10-9. Trinity loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but stranded all three runners in a bid to tie the game.

The Bulldogs got another quick run in the eighth to extend the lead, then loaded the bases in a bid to pull even further ahead. The Tigers escaped with just the one run allowed, but it was all Texas Lutheran needed. Trinity brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth and ninth, but was not able to score again.

The Rundown, Game Two

After a quiet top of the first, Trinity's offense broke out for six runs on six hits to take command of the game from the start. Each of the first five batters of the game reached base safely and the team sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning.

Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) followed a leadoff double by Rafe Chaumette (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements) with a run-scoring single to start the scoring. Schaub brought in the second run with an infield single, but the big blow was struck by Pettit's three-run double. Pettit came around to score the final run of the inning on a balk.

Southwestern scored on a one-out solo homer in the second, but the Tigers came right back with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead. The first run was scored on an error, but the second featured another RBI from Pettit that made it an 8-1 ball game.

That score remained intact until the fifth inning as the Pirates netted three runs on four hits to get back in the game. Trinity had other ideas in its own half of the fifth, though, as Gore dropped a three-run homer over the wall in left-center. Pettit picked up another RBI later in the inning, and the Tigers had countered with four runs on four hits of their own to make it a 12-4 lead.

Each team scored a run in the sixth to keep the lead at eight runs, but Trinity missed out on chances to add to the lead by leaving seven runners on in its final three innings at the plate.

That left the door open for Southwestern to mount a ninth-inning rally, scoring four runs and loading the bases to bring the tying run to the plate. That prompted Tiger closer Matthew Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Horizon) to enter the game, and he quickly struck out the next two batters to end the comeback bid and earn the save.

Numbers to Note

Chaumette finished with three hits on the day, including a 2-6 performance in game two. That puts him alone in third place on Trinity's all-time hits list, surpassing J.C. Bunch (1998-01) and Bo Edwards (1997-00).

Wisniewski had an outstanding day, collecting three hits and two runs in each game, as well as drawing three walks.

Schaub hit his 12th homer of the season in game one and finished his day with three hits, three runs, three RBI, and three walks. His 12 round-trippers are tied for the fifth most in school history and are the most in one year since Kyle Felix tied the record with 14 homers in 2011.

Pettit piled up four hits and six RBI in the two games, highlighted by his game two performance in which he went 3-6 and drove in five of those six runs.  

The save in game two for Thomas was his seventh of the year, which is believed to be a new Trinity record for a single season. He broke a tie with Curtis Cavazos, who had six saves in 2003.

James Nittoli (San Antonio, Texas / Alamo Heights) pitched five strong innings of game two, recording a season-high eight strikeouts. That total is just one away from his career-high for a game, and the most for the Tiger senior since February of 2020.

Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / Alexander) pitched four innings of relief against Texas Lutheran, allowing four runs on five hits, but just one of the runs allowed was earned. Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) was charged with the loss, which was his first this season and drops him to 3-1 on the year.

Up Next

Trinity will meet Texas Lutheran on the final day of the SCAC Tournament tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. The Tigers will need to beat the Bulldogs twice to win the SCAC Championship.