SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's 21st-ranked baseball team finished off its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series against the University of St. Thomas by winning both ends of a Saturday doubleheader.

The Tigers improved to 20-7 overall and 11-1 in SCAC play with the wins, which also run the team's winning streak to 10 straight games. Trinity's offense pounded out 30 hits over the two games, scoring in 14 of the 16 home innings played.

Game one saw Trinity jump out to an 8-0 lead before St. Thomas scored its first run of the series after being blanked 5-0 Friday night. The Tigers ended the game by reaching a 10-run lead in the bottom of the eighth. The series finale looked like it would go to St. Thomas after the visitors exploded for seven runs in the first inning. The Tigers chipped away at the lead with 10 runs over the first four innings, taking the lead for good in the fourth.

MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) was on fire at the plate, going 7-for-11 with three doubles, two home runs, and a total of 10 RBI over the two games. Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) picked up five hits and six RBI on the day, as well as launching his first career home run in game two.

Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) and Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) both came out of the bullpen to earn victories on Saturday. Martinez (2-0) pitched 6.2 innings in game one, allowing two earned runs on four hits and recording six strikeouts. Durow (4-0) got the call early in game two, scattering two hits over six innings, and striking out 10 batters.

Trinity will finish off its eight-game home stand by hosting the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Tigers resume SCAC play on the road next weekend, facing off against Schreiner for a three-game series that begins on Friday, April 15, at 2:00 p.m.

The Rundown: Game One

Trinity nearly fell behind to start the day as St. Thomas loaded the bases with one out on three straight walks, prompting a call to bring in Martinez. All he did was get a strikeout and a fly ball out to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.

The offense took advantage of a couple of walks in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on a wild pitch to take the early 1-0 lead. Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) started the second with a solo homer and Metz followed two batters later with a solo shot of his own to make it a 3-0 game after two innings.

Metz delivered a two-out hit in the third to bring in two more runs for a 5-0 advantage, then Braulick knocked in a pair with a single to left field. He came around to score on a ground ball from Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) to finish with a three-run inning and an 8-0 lead.

The Celts took advantage of two Tiger errors in the fifth inning to score their first run of the series, but Trinity got that run right back in the bottom half on Braulick's sacrifice fly. Vonderhaar got a three-run sixth inning started with a sacrifice fly to right field, then Metz smashed a two-run double to the gap in left-center and the lead swelled to 12-1.

St. Thomas extended the game with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, bringing the lead back to single digits to stay alive. The Tigers hit into a double play to miss a chance to walk it off in the seventh, but were able to end the game in the bottom of the eighth as Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch.

The Rundown: Game Two

The series finale could not have started worse for the Tigers as St. Thomas put up seven runs to start things off in the first inning. The Celts scored six runs before recording an out and it was only Durow who was able to slam the door. The third pitcher of the inning, Durow struck out the side to stop the damage at just seven.

Trinity just chipped away at the lead inning-by-inning, starting with the bottom of the first. Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) drew a key walk with two outs and Braulick made it a 7-2 game with his first career homer just three pitches later. The Tigers added two more runs to their total in the second inning as Tanner Haney (Waco, Texas / Waco) and Metz both notched RBI singles to cut the deficit to just three runs (7-4).

St. Thomas got their only two hits of the game against Durow in the third inning, increasing the margin to 9-4. He responded by recording nine straight outs after that inning, including five of his 10 total strikeouts. Trinity used that stretch to take the lead for good with seven more runs.

It started with the bottom of the third and it was a pair of home runs that led to a four-run inning. Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) opened with a solo shot over the wall in left field, then walks to Vonderhaar and Haney brought Metz to the plate. He crushed a towering shot down the line in left that nearly ended in controversy. The home plate umpire initially ruled it a foul ball, but after a brief conference, it was ruled a three-run homer that made it a 9-8 game.

Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) hit a one-out double in the gap to right-center in the fourth, then Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) tied the game with his RBI single to right field. Metz came up later in the inning and gave Trinity the lead with a run-scoring double to make it a 10-9 advantage for the home team. Pettit drove in another run in the fifth to make it 11-9, but St. Thomas cut down a runner at the plate to end the inning and hold the Tigers to just one run.

Neither team scored in the sixth, which was the first time Trinity failed to produce a run in the game. St. Thomas drew a leadoff walk in the seventh that ended the evening for Durow, but Corey Cater (Sacramento, Calif. / Valley Christian Academy) proved to be just as effective. Cater struck out the side in the seventh to keep the two-run lead, then the Tigers added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the inning.

Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) got the offense going with a leadoff double and scored on a single up the middle from Gore. Braulick then doubled in a run to make it 13-9 and later scored on a wild pitch for a five-run advantage.

St. Thomas scrapped together a run against Cater in the eighth, but he picked up two more strikeouts – including one to end the inning with a runner stranded at third. Braulick extended the eighth with a two-out single and came around to score on another two-out hit from Schaub, which made it a 15-10 game. The Tigers nearly ended the game early once again, but stranded the bases loaded.

In the ninth, Cater pitched around a pair of walks with two more strikeouts, bringing his total to seven in three innings of work. Cater nailed down the save by picking up a strikeout on the final out that left two more runners on base.

Numbers to Note

Trinity swept the weekend series and has swept the overall series with St. Thomas by winning all six meetings dating back to last year.

Metz went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a home run in the first game, then had another double and homer among three more hits in the second. He drove in five runs in each game and now leads the team with 13 total doubles this season.

Braulick drove in three RBI in each game, including a 4-for-6 performance in game two. He had three runs scored with a double and his first career homer in the series finale.

Schaub had three hits and scored three runs in the two games, hitting his team-leading seventh homer of the season in the second game. Schaub has 21 home runs with the Tigers over the past two seasons, which is tied for 12th all-time at Trinity.

Cater is now just seven strikeouts from becoming the 14th player in school history to record 200 in a career. Today marked his 55th career appearance on the mound, which is tied for 10th among Tiger pitchers all-time. Cater also picked up his 10th career save.

Up Next

Trinity will face off against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m. UMHB defeated Trinity 12-9 in Belton, Texas, earlier this season.