SAN ANTONIO – The 15th-ranked Trinity baseball team opened up its final home weekend of the regular season with a 14-3 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over #25 Texas Lutheran University on Friday night.

The Tigers improved to 25-7 overall and 15-1 in conference play, taking over the lead in the SCAC standings with the team's 15th consecutive victory. Texas Lutheran fell to 25-9 and 14-2 in the league with the loss.

Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / J.B. Alexander) improved to 7-1 with his third complete game of the season, striking out eight batters and allowing just three runs on four hits over the seven-inning effort. The real story was the home run barrage from the Tiger offense, though, as four different Trinity hitters went deep in the game. Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) went 3-for-5 with two doubles, three RBI, and two runs scored in the game. He led a Trinity team that peppered the visitors with 14 total hits in six innings.

Trinity and Texas Lutheran will continue the SCAC weekend series on Saturday and Sunday night, playing at 7:00 p.m. both days. The Tigers will honor their seniors on Saturday night.

The Rundown

The game started off with an offensive explosion from both teams as there were seven runs scored in the opening frame. Texas Lutheran jumped on top quickly with back-to-back extra-base hits with two outs in the top half of the inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Not to be outdone, Trinity answered with four runs in the bottom of the first that came via a pair of two-run homers. MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) drew a walk to open the game, then Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) crushed the second pitch he saw over the fence in left. After a single and a ground ball for the first out of the inning, Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) clanged a 2-2 pitch off the scoreboard to put Trinity in front 4-3.

After that inning, Chavana settled in nicely and rewarded his teammates for giving him a big first inning. Chavana pitched six shutout innings after his tough start to the game and didn't allow a hit over the final four frames of the night.

Meanwhile, the Trinity offense was held scoreless just once in the game: the second inning. The Tigers added another run in the third as Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) made it a 5-3 game with his opposite-field single with two outs.

Braulick and Schaub both notched run-scoring singles in the fourth, then a four-run fifth inning blew the game wide open. A pair of leadoff walks to start the fifth led to a three-run homer from Metz, then Braulick drove in another run with a double to right that put Trinity in front 11-3.

Montrezza led off the sixth inning with the fourth home run of the night for the Tigers, then a pair of walks set up Braulick for another run-scoring opportunity. He delivered with another RBI double to drive in a run for the third consecutive inning. Trinity had two runners thrown out at the plate in the inning, which kept the score from being even more out of hand.

Chavana closed the game by striking out the final two batters and finishing off his third straight complete-game effort.

Numbers to Note

Chavana is the first Trinity pitcher with three complete games in a season since Michael Walker had three in 2016. No Tiger pitcher had more than one in a year since then.

Metz drew three walks in the game, scoring three runs and driving in three more with his seventh home run of the year.

Schaub hit his team-leading eighth home run, going 2-for-3 with three RBI. He also drew a pair of walks to bring his season total to 34 free passes, which is tied for the 10th-most in school history.

Montrezza also had a pair of hits and two runs scored in the game, including his first career home run.

Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) extended his hitting streak to 21 straight games after going 2-for-4 with three runs scored on Friday night.

Up Next

Trinity will open its last home series of the season by hosting Texas Lutheran University at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22.