SHERMAN, Texas – Trinity's 14th-ranked baseball team clinched the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship with a pair of lopsided wins in a Saturday doubleheader at Austin College.

The Tigers won 21-5 and 19-3 in its two most prolific scoring games of the season. The wins also put a bow on the regular season schedule and leaves Trinity with a 29-8 overall record that includes an 19-2 mark in league play.

Senior Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle) belted a trio of homers in Saturday's 14 innings to collect a massive nine RBI on the day and climb further up the home run charts in Trinity history.

No. 14 Trinity Baseball earned the SCAC's top-seeded berth into the conference championship tournament, held next weekend at The Depot at Cleburne Station in Cleburne, Texas. First pitch for the 2022 league title is slated for Friday, May 6.

The Rundown: Game 1

The Tigers started the game off with a bang as MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) hit a leadoff double in the top of the first. After a walk and a stolen base by Metz, Nathan Braulick (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center field to give Trinity a 1-0 lead.

Starting pitcher Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) also enjoyed a positive start to the game. After giving up a one-out single, he induced an inning-ending double play to keep the Tigers in front.

Trinity blew the game open with a two-out rally in the second inning, scoring seven runs on just four hits to take an 8-0 lead. The inning started with the first two batters recording outs, then the offense went to work. Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) was hit by a pitch to reach base, then Metz drove him in two batters later to get the scoring started. Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) knocked a two-run single down the line in left to make it 5-0, scoring both Metz and Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond).

A single from Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) was followed by Braulick getting hit by a pitch to load the bases. Schaub drew a walk to score another run, then back-to-back hitters were also hit by pitches to score two more runs. Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) was the first, then Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) welcomed a new Austin College pitcher by getting hit as well to make it 7-0. A wild pitch scored the final run of the inning, then the Kangaroos finally got out of the inning after a total of 12 Tiger batters came to the plate.

Austin broke up the shutout in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on a pair of two-out hits of their own. The 'Roos were back on the scoreboard in the fifth with two more runs on one hit, taking advantage of a walk and a hit batter to make it an 8-5 game after five innings.

After five straight runs by the home team, the Tiger offense decided it had seen enough. Trinity answered by scoring nine runs on six hits, which included a pair of three-run homers. Gore got things going innocently enough, followed by Braulick reaching after being hit by a pitch. Schaub then crushed the first of two round-trippers in the inning to make it 11-5. Three batters later, the bases were loaded and there were still no outs in the inning.

Vonderhaar delivered a two-run single to clear a pair of runners, then Holloway recorded the first out of the frame albeit with a sacrifice fly to make it a 14-5 lead. Gore then collected his second hit of the inning with a three-run blast to left field. Austin finally escaped the inning after that with two straight outs, but the damage was done to the tune of a 17-5 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Luke Pfeiffer (Valencia, Calif. / Trinity Classical Academy) came on in relief in the sixth and three other Tigers came off the bench to play the field. Pfeiffer held Austin hitless and inducing a double play to end the inning and bring the Tiger bats back to the plate. The offense obliged with another multi-run outburst that vaulted Trinity past the 20-run mark for the first time this season.

Matt McNaney (Albuquerque, N.M. / Albuquerque Academy) started the inning with a single, which was promptly followed by a pinch-hit home run off the bat of Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, Texas / Pflugerville) to start the scoring. Tanner Haney (Waco, Texas / Waco) restarted the inning with another pinch-hit single, then Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) doubled to right to put two runners in scoring position. Korson Hastings (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) and Holloway posted back-to-back sacrifice flies for two more runs and a 21-5 lead.

Pfeiffer pitched around a single and a walk in the bottom of the seventh, inducing another double play before getting a ground ball fielder's choice to end the game.

The Rundown: Game 2

A leadoff single by Metz in game two sparked Trinity to load the bases with no outs in the top of the first of game two. Schaub drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

Austin combined three hits and a walk in the second inning to take the lead for the first time today, scoring twice to ease in front 2-1. Trinity got its fourth double play of the day to get out of the jam and keep it to a one-run game.

Trinity had a familiar answer to an Austin College rally – this time with a six-run third inning that put the visitors back in control of the game. Pettit got the scoring started with a base-clearing double to give the Tigers a 4-2 advantage. After the 'Roos got the second out of the inning, Harris and Montrezza went back-to-back with a pair of home runs to finish off the scoring and leave Trinity with a 7-2 lead.

The scoring spurt didn't end there, though, as Trinity added two more runs in the fourth to pull even further ahead. This time it was a pair of solo shots from Schaub and Pettit that accounted for the scoring and made it a 9-2 game in Trinity's favor. Austin loaded the bases with a hit and a pair of walks in the bottom of the inning, prompting Corey Cater (Sacramento, Calif. / Valley Christian Academy) to come out of the bullpen in relief. Cater needed just two pitches to get the final out to keep it a seven-run game after four innings.

The Tigers continued to put runs on the board in the fifth, but both came just two batters into the inning. Montrezza began the inning with a leadoff walk, followed immediately by a two-run homer by Metz – the fifth long ball of the game for Trinity – that made it an 11-2 margin.

Cater struck out the first two batters of the fifth inning, then a walk and an infield single put Austin College in position for a two-out rally. The 'Roos loaded the bases on a fielder's choice on which the Tigers were unable to get the third out. Cater forced another ground ball – this time back to the mound – and he ended the threat without allowing any runs.

For the fourth consecutive inning after falling behind in the game, Trinity would score multiple runs in the sixth. This time, the visitors put an exclamation point on Saturday's offensive explosion. The Tigers did most of the damage via a pair of three-run bombs to tally seven total for the game, scoring eight runs before recording an out in the inning. Montrezza hit a two-run double with the bases loaded to get the scoring started, then Hastings truly cleared the bases with a three-run homer – his second longball of the game. Three batters later, Schaub also cleared the bases with a three-run homer of his own that made it a 19-2 game. Austin got the next three batters out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

The Kangaroos stumbled into a third run in Saturday's b-side as a walk, plus back-to-back wild pitches, turned into a tally on a groundout later in the inning. Cater exited the game before the start of the seventh for two-and-a-third scoreless innings and three punchouts to just one hit.

Numbers to Note

Schaub collected nine RBI throughout the Tigers' 40-run afternoon powered by a trio of homers that propelled him to eighth all-time at Trinity with 25 bombs. The former University of Richmond transfer has a combined 31 homers to his collegiate credit.

Cater became the 14th pitcher in Trinity history to reach the 200-strikeout threshold for his career with his third strikeout in game-two relief. The senior hurler earned the win in his seven outs on the mound in the latter contest.

Metz posted the 100th hit of his career in game two, including his 17th two-bagger of the 2022 campaign, which is tied for 15th all-time.

Schaub also added a free pass in game one, leaving him just one walk away from becoming the first Tiger in program history to post two seasons with 40-plus in the base-on-balls category.

Gore enjoyed a pair of multi-hit games and had no problem extending his hitting streak to 26 games this season - that is the longest streak since Jason Armstrong reached safely in 42 straight games in 2003 and 2004.

Up Next

Trinity will begin play at the SCAC Tournament on Friday, May 5, in Cleburne, Texas. The game times, matchups, and further details will be announced early next week.