SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's 17th-ranked baseball team lost a Saturday afternoon game 9-7 and settled for a four-game series split with sixth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The Tigers (5-5) won two of the first three games of the series, including walkoff home runs on Thursday and Friday night. Whitewater took the opening game of Friday's doubleheader.

Colt Harris (Houston, Texas / Houston Christian School) hit a grand slam to highlight a six-run fifth inning for the Tigers, but the Warhawks were able to rally for the win with six runs over the next three innings. Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) picked up two hits and two runs scored in the game as well.

Matthew Mackey (Houston, Texas / Lamar) closed the game on the mound for the Tigers, allowing just one hit over the final 1.2 innings.

The Rundown

Neither team had a hit until the third inning, with Whitewater lacing a double down the left field line to score the first run of the ball game. The Tigers also got a leadoff single from Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) in the bottom of the inning, but he was stranded on second base.

A walk and two more doubles down the line in left in the fourth inning led to two more runs and a 3-0 lead for the Warhawks.

The Tigers finally got on the board in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. Pettit got the scoring started with a double of his own down the left field line. After a hit batter loaded the bases, Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) got an infield single to drive in another run to make it a 3-2 game. Harris followed that with his grand slam to clear the bases and put Trinity in front 6-3.

Four hits, an error, two walks, and two wild pitches keyed another rally by Whitewater, which scored four runs to reclaim the lead 7-6 in the sixth. The Tigers had just one baserunner in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, while the Warhawks added insurance runs in both the seventh and eighth to take a 9-6 lead into the final frame.

Mackey retired the side in order and Trinity had one last shot at a ninth-inning rally. The Tigers brought the tying run to the plate with a pair of one-out singles, then an error brought in a run to trim the lead to 9-7 with the tying run on base. This time Whitewater escaped with the win, though, getting a strikeout and a ground out to close out the series.

Numbers to Note

Wisniewski finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) drew a pair of walks and also came around to score once.

MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) picked up a single in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

Jonathan Newman (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) was saddled with the loss in relief, allowing two runs over 1.1 innings of work to fall to 0-1 this season.

Up Next

Trinity will take the rest of the weekend off, but will be back in action on Wednesday, March 9, hosting DeSales University at 7:00 p.m.