By Brian Yancelson

SAN ANTONIO – The 18th-ranked Trinity baseball team took both ends of a doubleheader against Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) rival Southwestern University as they wrapped up an impressive series sweep on Saturday to open up conference play. 

The Tigers trailed in both games, but Trinity fought back to grab the lead in each and managed to hold on for their fourth and fifth consecutive victories. Trinity's record is now 10-5 while Southwestern leaves San Antonio at 7-8.

Left handed pitcher Samuel Conte (Boston, MA / Phillips Academy) fanned nine Pirates across six solid innings to pick up the game one win that had the exclamation point placed on it by catcher Tyler Pettit's (Round Rock, TX / Round Rock) three-run blast over the left field fence. 

Game two saw right handed pitcher Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) strike out seven Pirates in four innings during his start. Reliever Harrison Durow (Dallas, TX / Lovejoy) picked up the win out of the bullpen thanks to five punchouts in three innings, and Colt Harris (Katy, TX / Houston Christian) provided a jolt offensively with two hits and a pair of RBI.

Game One Rundown

The Pirates landed the opening salvo with a home run, and Southwestern's starting pitcher kept the Tigers off the board until the fourth inning, when the Tigers poured in four runs. Harris tied things at one with a sacrifice fly before right fielder Trea Verver (Cedar Park, Texas / Cedar Park) smashed one to his counterpart in right to give the Tigers a lead they never gave back. 

Third baseman Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, TX / Veterans Memorial) and left fielder Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, TX / Pflugerville) added tallies to the board with a single and hit-by-pitch respectively to wrap up the productive frame for the Tigers. Trinity and Southwestern traded unearned runs to make the score 5-2, but Conte gave up nothing else over his six frames. 

Harris crushed a solo home run to left field in the seventh inning to increase the number in the run column to six for Trinity. The Pirates grabbed two runs in the top of the eighth inning, but Trinity was not about to let Southwestern take over.

Pettit demolished a line drive that turned into a three-run home run, which solidified Trinity's advantage. Right handed pitcher Joseph Chavana (Laredo, TX / J.B. Alexander), who had entered in the eighth, got his second save of the season by stranding a Pirate at third base in the final frame to close Trinity's 9-4 victory.

Game Two Rundown

Like they did on Friday night and in Saturday's first game, Southwestern jumped in front with two runs in the third inning. However, the Tigers responded with four of their own in the fourth inning.

Third baseman Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, TX / Antonian) and designated hitter Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, TX / Antonian) singled home a Tiger each, Harris doubled in a teammate and catcher Matt McNaney (Albuquerque, NM / Albuquerque Academy) drove a run across with a sacrifice fly as Trinity doubled up the score on Southwestern with a 4-2 lead.

Martinez held Southwestern to just their early couple of runs allowing Durow to take over, and he kept the Pirates quiet while Trinity brewed up another offensive outburst. Harris raked a two-bagger into the right-center field gap and McNaney lined a base hit up the middle that both drove in runs. McNaney then scored on a double steal of second and home while a Pirate error allowed Trinity to put up their second four-spot of the evening.

Southwestern put up a fight, cutting Trinity's edge to 9-5 across the seventh and eighth innings. Alex Bihn (Houston, TX / Westside) shut the door in the ninth, however, allowing the Tigers to get their brooms out and complete the sweep of their rival.

Numbers to Note

The Tigers swiped seven bags in game one and nine in game two. The nine stolen bases registered as the most in a single game for Trinity since recording 11 steals exactly six years ago today against the University of Dallas.

All five wins during Trinity's current win streak have seen the Tigers belt double-digit hits. In game one of Saturday's double header Trinity pulled together 15 base knocks while in game two they racked up 10. 

Harris extended his hit streak to seven games with his performances on Saturday. During this scorching stretch, Harris has 11 RBI, four doubles and two home runs.

Verver collected his first career hit in game one. The first-year had three total hits with an RBI as well. 

Braulick collected three hits in game two, the first time he has that many in one game in his four seasons as a Tiger.

Up Next

Trinity heads north for a non-conference showdown with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor before a road SCAC series against Centenary College in Shreveport, LA. The Pirates also travel out of the conference to face Howard Payne University ahead of their first SCAC series at home versus Texas Lutheran University.

Brian Yancelson
Tiger Network

Pursuing a major in Communication with double minors in Political Science and Sport Management from Trinity, Brian entered his junior year in the fall of 2021. Formerly the Sports Editor of the Trinitonian, Brian helped oversee its transition to an all-digital format for the publication. The San Antonio-native is now a staple of the Tiger Network production process as a broadcaster and produces video and written content for the Trinity Athletics department.

The 2019 Alamo Heights High School graduate was a Kid Reporter for Sports Illustrated Kids starting in eighth grade through his sophomore year: a position that granted him the opportunity to attend professional sporting events as a member of the press and publish over 30 articles on the SI Kids website, sparking his interest in, and continued passion for, sports journalism.