SAN ANTONIO – No. 24 Trinity University Baseball took the first of this weekend's three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series over Centenary College, 7-2, Friday night at the TU Baseball Field.
The Tigers (14-9; 5-2 SCAC) saw all but one in the lineup collect a base hit, led by a three-for-five outing from junior designated hitter
Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and a two-for-three day with a pair of walks from sophomore first baseman
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point), both of whom collected a solo home run in the contest.
Junior righthander
Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / J.B. Alexander)—the day's eventual winning pitcher—remained Trinity's day-one starter to open the weekend series—the role he has filled in every series thus far in 2023—and continued to produce as he left just one runner on base through four innings through one hit, using a double-play to erase a first-inning walk.
While Chavana provided his standard performance from the hill, the Tiger bats immediately began to cause chaos with three baserunners through the first two innings, all via base hits from junior rightfielder
Hunter Nevilles (Corpus Christi, Texas / Calallen), and the senior duo of catcher
Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) and shortstop
Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh).
Holloway learned what he needed in his lead-off at-bat as he took reigning SCAC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Herrera over the fence in left-center on an 0-1 offering to lead off the third inning and break the seal for the Trinity offense, though the one-run margin held firm to the sixth.
While the Tigers continued to have runners on the basepaths in the fourth and fifth innings, Chavana found his first sign of slowing as he issued a pair of walks in the fifth, though he countered with two of his six strikeouts for the day. Two more punchouts came in the sixth as Chavana threw just seven pitches—all strikes—ending the inning on a first-pitch grounder back to the mound.
Trinity went yard a second time off the Gents' starter as Nelson powered through a seven-pitch lead-off at-bat in the sixth. With two outs in the inning, juniors second baseman
Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian School) and centerfielder
Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) each notched base hits in 1-1 counts, then Holloway loaded the bases with a bobbled ball at short. Nevilles collected a RBI on a hit-by-pitch to score Harris, 3-0 Trinity through six complete.
The first—and, eventually, the only—call to the bullpen was answered by sophomore righthander
Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) as Chavana got the hook after a lead-off base hit and a fielding error left a pair in scoring position with no outs. Martinez, despite inheriting a 3-1 count upon entry, proceeded to collect three straight strikeouts, sealing Chavana's third shutout start of the month with just two hits and three walks to six strikeouts.
The heroics from the mound in the top of the inning were immediately rewarded after the stretch. Trinity scratched across four runs thanks to three hits—including a two-RBI Holloway double—a walk and a HBP for Peterson, 7-0 Tigers. Herrera was pulled for Jacob Broussard after a lead-off walk to senior left fielder
Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) and a 2-0 drive through the left side from Nelson.
On the brink of seeing the series' first game abbreviated, Centenary answered with a two-run eighth that featured relentless patience at the plate from Andrew Landry and Austyn Benoit, who logged walks of eight and 12 pitches in the inning. A Gary Hewitt double scored Landry in the next at-bat while Hewitt scored after Benoit's herculean appearance loaded the bases, 7-2 Trinity.
Peyton Thibodeaux took the hill to start the eighth and proceeded to accomplish an odd feat with his second batter faced. After Nevilles was struck by a Herrera offering in the sixth and Peterson collided with a Broussard toss in the seventh, Thibodeaux finished off the Tiger outfielders in the eighth, hitting Gore in a 1-1 count.
Martinez finished off the contest with an uneventful ninth frame, adding a fourth strikeout, for his first save of the season in three innings of work.
No. 24 Trinity Baseball hosts a doubleheader with Centenary tomorrow, beginning at 1:00 p.m., to complete the second SCAC home series of 2023. The Tigers will then hit the road for eight straight as visits to Concordia University (TX) April 11 and University of Texas-Dallas April 18 punctuate road conference weekends at University of Dallas (April 7-8) and Southwestern University (April 14-15).
