SHREVEPORT, La. – The 16th-ranked Tiger baseball team pulled off a doubleheader sweep in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, winning 13-12 and 10-5 over Centenary College to clinch the overall weekend series.

Trinity bounced back from yesterday's series-opening loss to swipe the series from under the Gents and improve to 12-7 overall this season. The Tigers are also now 5-1 in conference play, which is tied for the top record in the SCAC this season.

The day opened with a back-and-forth offensive slugfest with Trinity throwing the last punch with a four-run eighth inning to finish off the scoring. Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) got the scoring started with a three-run homer in the first, then finished things off with a two-run double that drove in the eventual game-winning run. The series finale saw the visiting Tigers jump out to a 7-0 lead and then hold on for the win behind a gutty pitching performance from Samuel Conte (Boston, Mass. / Phillips Academy).

Trinity finishes off a five-game road trip with a Tuesday evening showdown at Concordia University in Austin, Texas. The Tigers are back home next weekend for another SCAC series against the University of Dallas that begins with a Saturday doubleheader.

The Rundown: Game One

The Tiger hitters were eager to erase Friday night's shutout from their memories and got things started immediately in the top of the first. Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) stroked a run-scoring double down the left field line to get Trinity on the board, scoring Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh), who reached with a leadoff walk. After another walk and a groundout that moved up both runners, Schaub crushed his team-leading fourth homer of the season to left-center to make it a 4-0 Tiger lead the opening frame.

Centenary quickly established that this was to be an offensive game, hitting a three-run homer of its own in the bottom of the inning to cut it to a 4-3 Tiger lead. The Gents then began piling on the runs, scoring three more times in the second and twice in the third, piling up five runs to go with three walks and two Trinity errors in the two innings, and taking an 8-4 lead after three innings of action.

After two quiet innings in the second and third, the Tiger offense went back to work in the fourth, reclaiming the lead with five runs on five hits. Schaub picked up his fourth RBI of the game with a single down the line in left, bringing in Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) to cash in on another leadoff walk. Schaub came in on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial). Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) and Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) both had hits in the inning and came around to score on an error by Centenary. Montrezza was hit by a pitch and came around on another run-scoring single from Gore, then the Gents got an inning-ending double play to escape even more damage.

Trinity reliever Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / J.B. Alexander) settled in for the middle innings, holding Centenary scoreless in the fourth, fifth, and sixth to keep Trinity in front 9-8. The Gents broke through in the seventh and seemingly took control of the game with a four-run inning that put the home team in front 12-9.

The eighth inning started off well for the Tigers as the first two hitters reached, but a double play put the Gents on the verge of keeping the lead of at least three runs heading into the final inning. Instead, Gore drove the next pitch through the infield to make it 12-10 and MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) kept the inning going with a two-out walk. Austin Davison (Park City, Utah / Rowland Hall) followed that with a clutch pinch-hit single to make it 12-11 and bring Schaub to the plate. Schaub's two-run double was the eventual game-winner and wound up being the last runs of the game.

Joel Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Horizon) held Centenary to just one base runner over the final two innings to earn the victory in relief.

The Rundown: Game Two

After a quiet first inning by both teams, Trinity was once again first on the board in game two with a four-run second inning. Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, Texas / Pflugerville) kicked things off with a leadoff single, then came around to score on a hit by Harris. One of four errors on the day by Centenary allowed the second run to score, then Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) drove in a pair of runs with his opposite-field single through the left side of the infield.

The third inning saw Trinity pick up three more runs on just two hits, taking advantage of two more errors by the Gents. Metz got it all started with a ground-rule double, then scored on an error to make it a 5-0 lead for the Tigers. Matt McNaney (Albuquerque, N.M. / Albuquerque Academy) drove in another run on a ground out, then Harris picked up another RBI single to put Trinity in front 7-0 heading into the bottom of the third.

Centenary got its first hit of the game with one out in the third and broke up the shutout with a two-out double that made it a 7-2 game after three innings. Both of Trinity's errors in the game came in the fourth inning and eventually led to three more runs by the Gents to cut the lead to just 7-5.

Trinity stranded a pair of runners in the fifth to keep the lead to just two runs, but a three-run sixth gave Conte all the cushion he needed. The Tigers loaded the bases with the first three hitters, then McDonald walked to open the inning's scoring. A fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly from Schaub and Vonderhaar plated two more runs to finish off the scoring. Trinity missed a chance to pile on more runs by stranding the bases loaded in the seventh, but the five-run lead held in the end.

Conte yielded just one hit over his final three innings, giving way to the bullpen in the ninth. He struck out the final batter in both the seventh and eighth with a runner on base to keep the Gents from chipping away at the lead. Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) pitched the final inning, stopping one final rally with a strikeout and a groundout back to him to end the game.

Numbers to Note

Trinity has now won the regular season series against Centenary eight times in the last nine seasons, including each of the last four. The Tigers improved to 30-19 against the Gents in the SCAC era (since 1992), and have won eight of the last 10 overall meetings.

Conte pitched a career-high eight innings in the weekend finale, giving up just one earned run (five total) on seven hits, and striking out seven batters.

Gore was 3-for-4 with three RBI in the opening game, and finished the day with three runs scored.

Schaub also went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in game one, collecting a Trinity-best six RBI that was just one shy of his career-high. He finished with four hits, three runs scored, and seven RBI.

Harris had two hits in each game, scoring three total runs and picking up two RBI in game two.

Metz scored two runs in each game and had a pair of hits in game two, while Montrezza added a total of three runs scored on the day.

Thomas improved to 2-0 with the win in game one, allowing one run on three hits over the final 2.2 innings, and striking out a team-best five batters.

Up Next

The Tigers continue their road trip with a non-conference regional matchup against Concordia University (TX) on Tuesday, March 29, at 6:00 p.m.