SAN ANTONIO - The No. 3/5 Tiger baseball team rallied to take the lead after an early deficit, but was unable to hold the lead in a 10-inning loss to fourth-ranked Birmingham-Southern College on Saturday afternoon.

Trinity fell to 0-2 to start the season as Birmingham-Southern also won last night's season and series opener 3-0 over the Tigers. The win also evens the overall series between the two teams with six wins each. The home team has lost the last five meetings between the two schools.

Birmingham-Southern took the lead with four runs in the second inning, forcing Trinity to play from behind for most of the game. The Tigers eventually tied things up in the sixth and took its first lead of the weekend in the bottom of the eighth. The Panthers staged a two-out rally to score two runs in the ninth to extend the game, though Trinity kept the game going with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning. The visitors continued its streak of scoring in the 10th, taking a 7-6 lead in what would be the final score of the game. Trinity got the leadoff hitter aboard in the 10th, but a double play ended the game.

Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) went 3-for-5 with his first homer of the year, while Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) and Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) both had three hits each as well. Montrezza and Peterson also combined to score four of Trinity's six runs. Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) struck out seven batters over the final 3.2 innings in relief, but took the loss and fell to 0-1 this season. Cade McGahan (Davidson, N.C. / Hough) threw 4.2 shutout innings in relief, striking out five batters and giving up just two hits.

The Rundown
Both teams threatened early by loading the bases in the first inning, but neither came out with any runs as the pitching came through with back-to-back strikeouts to close out the top and bottom half of the inning. Birmingham-Southern kept up the pressure in the second inning and drew first blood with a four-run frame that was highlighted by back-to-back RBI hits.

A leadoff walk and a pair of singles put Trinity in business in the bottom of the second and Jack Baker (Sugar Land, Texas / Ridge Point) delivered a two-run single up the middle to cut the BSC lead in half. Unfortunately, that was all the damage the Tigers were able to do in the inning as BSC got the next three batters in order to keep it a 4-2 game.

McGahan came on in relief to close out the second inning and pitched Trinity back into the game by slowing down Birmingham-Southern's hot strart. Lazzara led off the fifth with his solo home run to make it a 4-3 game, then the Tigers loaded the bases in the sixth with just one out. Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) beat out a possible double-play ball to drive in the tying run, but that was the only score of the inning to keep the teams tied 4-4 after six. Gore came up again with one out in the eighth inning and came through once again, lifting a fly ball into the outfield with two runners on, and driving in the go-ahead run with his sacrifice fly. 

Durow had relieved McGahan in the seventh inning and had retired four out of the first five batters he faced. In the top of the ninth, he added two more strikeouts to his total to start the inning. That left Birmingham-Southern with just one out remaining to keep the game going. After a two-out double, the Panthers drew a walk and a hit batter to load the bases. During the ensuing at-bat, a wild pitch brought in the tying run and an errant throw on the play allowed a second run to score. That not only kept the game alive, but put BSC in front 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

After a ground out to lead off the inning, Trinity strung together three straight hits to load the bases. Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) tied the game with a sharp grounder to first base, but Trinity still had two runners in scoring position with two outs. Birmingham-Southern got the inning-ending strikeout, though, and the game went into extra innings.

Two walks and two sacrifice bunts led to another run by the Panthers, who took the lead 7-6, before Durow recorded two more strikeouts to end the inning. Gore drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 10th, but a foul out to third base set up a game-ending double play as Birmingham-Southern was able to escape with the win.

Up Next
Trinity and Birmingham-Southern will finish off the weekend series with a final game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Trinity begins another three-game series next weekend by hosting Hardin-Simmons on February 18-19.