SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's 15th-ranked baseball team's ninth-inning rally fell just short in its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series finale against #25 Texas Lutheran University on Sunday night, falling 6-5 to snap the team's 16-game winning streak.

The Tigers fell to 26-8 overall and 16-2 in conference play, but still clinched the series by winning 14-3 and 8-6 in the opening games of the series. Trinity also remains atop the SCAC standings as both teams came in tied for the lead this weekend.

Trinity was down 4-0 at one point in the game, battled back to 4-3 head into the ninth, then gave up two more runs in the ninth to make it a 6-3 game with just three outs to go. In that ninth inning, there was a rain delay of just over 30 minutes, and Texas Lutheran came out of the delay to score the two runs.

The Tigers drew within one run on a two-run homer from Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock), then put the next two runners on with no outs in the inning. Texas Lutheran finished off the win with a strikeout and a double play to escape with the victory and avoid the series sweep.

The game was the final home game of the 2022 campaign, though the Tigers will still have a busy week with four more games left in the regular season. After a trip to Concordia University (TX) on Tuesday night, Trinity will finish off its conference season with a weekend series at Austin College.

The Rundown

Two walks and a timely single in the top of the first led to an early run for Texas Lutheran. The Bulldogs added another tally in the second by stringing together a walk, sacrifice bunt, and an extra-base hit to make it 2-0.

The first seven Trinity batters were retired in order, though Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) broke up the early no-hitter with a single to right with one out in the third. The Tigers were held scoreless over the first six innings as the Bulldogs continued to build the lead.

In the fourth, Texas Lutheran used a two-run homer to extend the lead to the largest of the game at 4-0. Trinity's offense hit into double plays in both the fifth and sixth, then finally got something going in the seventh.

The Tigers started with a leadoff walk from Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North), who scored easily from second on the RBI double off the bat of Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian). Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) then drove Braulick in with a single to right to make it a 4-2 game. After a walk put two runners on base with just one out, Texas Lutheran got out of the inning without any further damage.

Gore and Braulick combined for another run in the eighth to cut the deficit to just one run. Gore hit a two-out double down the left field line, then scored on Braulick's single to left-center. Texas Lutheran was able to stay in the lead, though, getting a strikeout to end the inning.

Texas Lutheran put two of the first three runners on base with ideas of tacking on insurance runs in the final frame. Trinity went to Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) out of the bullpen, but his first pitch was delayed by lightning in the area. After the delay, the Bulldogs drew a walk to load the bases with just one out. The visitors then scored two runs on an error to get the cushion that proved to be critical. Durow got the next two batters out and the game was 6-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, Texas / Pflugerville) began the inning with a pinch-hit single, then Pettit made it 6-5 with a towering home run to left. Vonderhaar was hit by a pitch, then Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) reached on a four-pitch walk to put the winning run on base. Texas Lutheran went to its closer, who promptly got a strikeout and another double play – this time to end the game.

Numbers to Note

Braulick had another solid day at the plate, collecting three of Trinity's nine total hits, and going 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Gore was 1-3 with two runs scored in the game, and his eighth-inning double kept his hitting streak going. He has now hit safely in 23 consecutive games for the Tigers.

Pettit's home run was his sixth this season and his only hit of the game, going 1-for-3 with the two RBI.

Samuel Conte (Boston, Mass. / Phillips Academy) took the loss, striking out six batters in 6.1 innings of work, and giving up four runs on five hits.

Up Next

Trinity will face off against Concordia University (TX) for the second time this season in Austin, Texas. The teams were scheduled to play in San Antonio earlier this week, but that game was cancelled. The Tigers and Tornados will play on Tuesday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m.