CLEBURNE, Texas – Trinity's 12th-ranked baseball team dropped a 12-8 decision against Centenary College in Saturday's opening game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Tigers scored all eight of their runs in the final four innings of play, but the Gents matched them with eight runs over the final three frames to hold onto the lead for the entire game. Trinity scored four times in the bottom of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate, but Centenary took the win and advanced to tomorrow's SCAC Championship game.

Jack Wisniewski (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) led the Tigers with four hits in the game, while Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) went 2-for-4 with three RBI. The game marked the first time Trinity lost this year when recording 15 or more hits, falling to 11-1 this season in such games. Samuel Conte (Boston, Mass. / Phillips Academy) fell to 4-3 this season with the loss, giving up five runs on seven hits over six-plus innings. Only three of the runs against him were earned and he also notched a pair of strikeouts.

Trinity will be back in action this evening, facing the winner of this afternoon's game between Texas Lutheran University and the University of St. Thomas. The Tigers defeated St. Thomas 11-6 in Friday's SCAC Tournament opener. The winner of the final game tonight, originally scheduled for 7:00 p.m., will advance to face Centenary in tomorrow's final.

The Rundown

Trinity put two runners on with just one out in the bottom of the first, but it was Centenary that got on the board first in the third inning. The Gents got a run on two hits for a 1-0 lead, but Conte escaped the inning with minimal damage.

Centenary took advantage of a Tiger error that led to two more runs in the fourth, then took a 4-0 lead with a solo homer in the fifth.

The Tigers finally got on the board in the sixth with a three-run inning that featured four Trinity hits. Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa. / La Salle College HS) singled to start things off, followed by a Jack Vonderhaar (Woodinville, Wash. / Redmond) double to left-center field. After Centenary got the first out of the inning, Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) slashed a single up the middle to score two runs and break up the shutout. MJ Metz (San Diego, Calif. / Canyon Crest Academy) looped a double down the line in left to score another run and make it a 4-3 game.

Centenary answered immediately with four runs in the top of the seventh to build the lead back to five runs, then pitched around a pair of Trinity hits in the bottom of the inning to keep it an 8-3 game.

Both teams added runs in the eighth to make it a 9-4 game. Wisniewski drove in his first run of the game with the third hit of the inning for the Tigers.

The ninth inning featured seven total runs by the two teams, starting with three critical insurance runs scored by Centenary in the top half of the inning. Schaub was hit by a pitch to start the ninth for Trinity, which was followed by a Vonderhaar single to put the first two batters on. Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) lofted a single into the gap in left-center to score Schaub, then Vonderhaar scored on Holloway's sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning – making it a 12-6 game.

Evan McDonald (Pflugerville, Texas / Pflugerville) picked up a pinch-hit single to put two runners on base, then Metz beat out a potential game-ending double play to keep the inning alive. Wisniewski kept the inning going with a bunt single to third to load the bases, then Gore was hit by a pitch to drive in the third run of the inning. A wild pitch accounted for the final tally to make it 12-8, but Centenary induced an inning-ending ground ball to finish off the win.

Numbers to Note

With his four hits on the day, Wisniewski led six players with multi-hit games. Vonderhaar also had three hits in the game and scored a pair of runs.

In addition to Holloway, Metz, Pettit, and Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) all had two hits in the game, while Schaub scored twice. Gore also extended his hitting streak to 28 consecutive games.

Up Next

Trinity will take on Texas Lutheran or St. Thomas this evening in an elimination game, which was originally set for 7:00 p.m.