SAN ANTONIO – The 15th-ranked Tiger baseball team opened up its home schedule on Friday evening, falling 5-4 in the first of a three-game weekend series against Babson College.

Trinity (2-2) put the tying run aboard in the ninth, but were unable to extend the game. This is the first loss in a home opener for the Tigers since losing to Babson in the first home game of the 2017 season. Babson opened its 2022 season with tonight's win, which also evens the series between the two teams at five wins each.

MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) paced the Tiger offense with three hits in the game, including a pair of doubles. Metz scored a run, drove in another, and stole a base. Jonathan Newman (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) pitched three shutout innings in relief to close out the game, allowing one hit and recording four strikeouts.

Trinity and Babson will continue the weekend series with a game at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, followed by the series finale at 10:00 a.m. Sunday. The Tigers won two out of three in the 2019 series between the two teams, while the Beavers won the final two games of the three-game set in 2020.

The Rundown

Tiger starter Corey Cater (Sacramento, Calif. / Valley Christian Academy) began the game with a pair of strikeouts in the top of the first, pitching the first 3.2 innings of the game without allowing a hit.

Trinity's offense put the first two batters on base in the bottom of the ninth, but stranded a pair to keep the game scoreless. The Tigers broke up the scoreless game in the third, as Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) picked up a two-out RBI single to take advantage of a pair of walks in the inning.

After getting the first two batters of the fourth inning out, Cater gave up his first hit of the night. After a pair of wild pitches put that runner in scoring position, the Beavers tied things up with a two-out hit of their own to make it 1-1.

In the fifth, Babson took advantage of a pair of walks and delivered a couple of two-RBI hits to pile on four more runs and take a 5-1 lead. The Tigers answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead in half, but missed a chance at a huge inning after leaving the bases loaded.

Metz drove in a run with the first of his two doubles, which was the third straight hit to start the inning for Trinity. Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly two batters later. The Tigers then loaded the bases with two walks, but Babson got a strikeout to end the threat and stay in front.

The bottom of the seventh began with a leadoff single from Metz, who stole second, then went to third on a throwing error by the pitcher. Holloway drove in his second run of the game with a groundout to short, making it a 5-4 game.

Metz lofted a two-out double into right field to give the Tigers a chance in the ninth, but Babson struck out the side to escape with the series-opening victory.

Numbers to Note

Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) went 2-for-3 with a walk to reach base three times, joining Metz as the only Tiger players with a multi-hit evening.

Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) scored a pair of runs and went 1-for-3 with a walk, reaching base three times in the game.

Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) kept his early-season hitting streak alive, reaching base safely for the third straight game.

Cater (0-2) struck out eight batters in the game, allowing five runs on five hits over six innings of work. He leads the team with 19 strikeouts in his two outings this season.

Up Next

Trinity and Babson are scheduled to face off again at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, though weather in the area could affect the game time.