KERRVILLE, Texas – The 19th-ranked Trinity baseball team opened up its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series with a 14-7 win at Schreiner University on Friday afternoon.

The Tigers improved to 22-7 overall and 12-1 in conference play with the team's 12th consecutive victory. Trinity also remains tied atop the SCAC standings with the win.

Trinity put up a 17-hit attack on offense, led by Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock), who picked up three hits that included a pair of doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored. Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / J.B. Alexander) earned the victory on the mound to improve to 6-1 this season.

Trinity and Schreiner will tangle tomorrow afternoon in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. The Tigers return home on Tuesday, April 19, to face off against Concordia University (TX).

The Rundown

The Tigers got on the board almost immediately with a run in the first, but Schreiner answered back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) got the game started with a leadoff double, then stole third, and scored on an error by Schreiner. Chavana gave up a run just three batters into the bottom of the first, snapping his streak of two straight shutouts in his first two starts of the season. The Mountaineers scored twice on four hits in the inning to ease in front.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) brought in Metz and Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) with a two-out double in the top of the second to give Trinity a 3-2 advantage. Chavana got three quick outs in the bottom of the inning to keep the Tigers in front.

Wisniewski drove home an insurance run in the third, but another potential run was thrown out at the plate to keep it a 4-2 game heading into the last half of the inning. Schreiner cut the lead to just one with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, then neither team scored in the fourth.

In the fifth, Trinity blew the game open with five runs on four hits and a Schreiner error. Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) opened the scoring as he took an extra base on Wisniewski's bunt single meant for a sacrifice. Metz then drove home another with a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, followed two batters later with a two-run single from Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North). Gore came around for the final run of the inning on a double off the bat of Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) to make it a 9-3 lead for Trinity.

Schreiner was able to cut into the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Tigers rallied back with three more runs in the sixth to extend to a 12-5 advantage. Vonderhaar and Pettit started the inning with back-to-back doubles for the opening run, then Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) drove in Pettit with his RBI single. Harris capped the inning with another RBI to bring in Montrezza.

Another double off the bat of Pettit brought in Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) with two outs in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 13-5. Three singles and an error brought in two more runs for Schreiner, chasing Chavana from the game and cutting the lead to 13-7 with just two innings remaining.

Luke Pfeiffer (Valencia, Calif. / Trinity Classical Academy) came on in relief of Chavana and slammed the door on any hopes of a larger comeback. Pfeiffer retired the first seven batters he faced – including three of the first four by strikeouts.

Braulick smashed a one-out triple in the ninth and he ended up scoring the final run of the game on a sacrifice fly from Schaub. Pfeiffer allowed only a two-out single in the ninth, but promptly induced a game-ending groundout to first to send the Tigers to a series-opening victory.

Numbers to Note

Wisniewski had two hits to go with one run and one RBI, which ties him for 26th on Trinity's all-time RBI list with 107 in his career.

Pettit was 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored in the game. His two RBI also give him 100 for a career and all but 28 have come since he came to Trinity.

Gore extended his hitting streak to 18 straight games with his two-run single in the fifth inning.

Trinity is now 48-19 against Schreiner in the SCAC era (since 1992), winning six of the last seven meetings. The Tigers are 15-4 in conference play against the Mountaineers, who joined the SCAC for the 2015 season.

Wisniewski and Pettit were joined by four other Trinity players to post multi-hit games today: Braulick had a double and a triple among his two hits, Metz had two hits and two runs scored, Montrezza had a pair of hits and three runs scored, and Harris had three RBI to go with his two hits.

Vonderhaar scored three runs to tie with Montrezza for the team lead in today's action.

Up Next

Trinity and Schreiner will conclude the weekend series with a Saturday afternoon SCAC doubleheader that begins at noon.