SAN ANTONIO – The 24th-ranked Trinity baseball team finished off its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series with a Saturday sweep against Centenary College (La.), winning the opener 6-2 and then taking the final game with an 8-7 walk-off win in the 11th inning.
Trinity got two runners on to start the 11th, then
Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) laid a bunt down the third base line that ended up as a hit. The ensuing throw sailed wild and
Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) came around to score the winning run.
The Tigers improved to 16-9 overall and 7-2 in SCAC with this weekend's sweep, while Centenary fell to 12-10 and 4-5 in conference. The two teams entered the weekend tied for second in the standings
Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) scored two runs and drove in two RBI in the opening game, hitting his third home run of the season.
Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) also had a home run – his first this season – and finished with two hits in the game. He also came back with another long ball in game two.
Jackson Teer (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) earned the opening-game win to improve to 5-1 this season, giving up just two runs on two hits over 7.2 innings and striking out four batters.
Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) had two hits and scored two runs in game two, while Gore also crossed the plate twice – including to win the game.
Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) also had two hits and drove in two runs, collecting his first home run of the season to give Trinity four dingers on the day.
Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) picked up the game two win in relief to improve to 3-0 this season, striking out five batters and allowing just one hit over 2.2 shutout innings to close the game.
Cade McGahan (Davidson, N.C. / Hough) went 4.2 innings to start for the Tigers, finishing with five strikeouts to tie for the team lead.
The Tigers will continue the SCAC schedule next weekend, though the team will be back on the road for a three-game series at the University of Dallas. The series begins with a Friday doubleheader, followed by Saturday's series finale.
The Rundown, Game 1
Trinity fell behind early in the game as Centenary struck first with a run-scoring double in the top of the first inning.
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) opened the bottom of the second with a double of his own to get the Tigers going, which eventually led to a three-run inning. Trinity loaded the bases with just one out and Peterson drew a walk to bring in Nelson for the tying run. Gore lifted a sacrifice fly into left field to put Trinity in front 2-1, then
Hunter Nevilles (Corpus Christi, Texas / Calallen) added one final run with a single to right.
Centenary got one of the runs back in the top of the third, but that would be the final score of the game for the Gents. The Centenary defense had a pair of double plays in the third and fourth to keep leadoff runners from causing any damage and Teer held the visitors hitless for the next four innings.
Trinity used the long ball to double their scoring output in the bottom of the sixth, beginning with a solo homer off the bat of Pettit. Nelson singled to keep the inning going, then three batters later Harris launched a home run beyond the wall in left field to make it a 6-2 game.
Teer gave way to
Michael Boeke (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) with two outs in the eighth, then
Jack Schmitt (St. Louis, Mo. / Lafayette) finished things off in the ninth for the Tigers. Schmitt induced a double play to erase a leadoff single, then got a strikeout to close out the victory.
The Rundown, Game 2
Trinity fell behind early for the second time today as Centenary opened the game with a pair of runs on two hits and a walk. The Tigers got on the board with another three-run second inning, and the inning began with another leadoff homer from Pettit. Two batters later, a walk to
Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and a single by Montrezza kept the inning going for Peterson. He drove in the tying run with a single to left-center that nearly sailed beyond the fence.
Ty Preston (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) then put Trinity ahead two batters later with a sac fly to left that made it 3-2.
Montrezza's leadoff triple in the fourth jump-started another good inning for the Tiger offense as Gore and
Korson Hastings (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) both drove in runs to put Trinity in front 5-2.
McGahan got through the third and the fourth without any issues, but ran into trouble in the fifth. Centenary reclaimed the lead with a four-run inning that included three hits, two walks, and a Trinity error. The Gents added another run in the sixth with a pinch-hit solo homer to take a 7-5 lead.
Peterson answered the long ball with a shot of his own that ricocheted off the scoreboard in left-center, cutting it to a 7-6 deficit heading into the seventh. Both teams stranded runners in the seventh and Trinity also ended Centenary's eighth with an inning-ending double play.
Holloway opened the Tiger eighth with a single to left-center, then gave way to pinch-runner
Cedric Bowman (Ft. Worth, Texas / All Saints). Montrezza laid down a sac bunt to move Bowman into scoring position, then a pass ball put him at third base for the potential tying run. Centenary got a big strikeout for the second out of the inning, then intentionally walked Gore to put runners on the corners and set up a lefty-lefty matchup with Preston batting. Preston drew a walk with a full count, though, and the final pitch was in the dirt and bounced past the catcher, allowing Bowman to score on the wild pitch. Centenary escaped without any further damage and the game was tied 8-8 heading into the ninth.
The Gents got a one-out single to put the potential winning run on base, which brought Martinez out of the bullpen for the Tigers. After allowing a single to put runners on the corners, Martinez shut the door with a strikeout and a shallow fly out to right-center to end the threat. Trinity went in order in the ninth, though, and the game went into extra innings.
Martinez struck out two more hitters in the 10th but the Tiger offense still couldn't get a runner on as Centenary retired seven consecutive batters to keep the game alive. The 11th began with two more strikeouts by Martinez, followed by another shallow fly out to send the game into the bottom of the inning.
Gore started the Trinity 11th with a sharp ground ball to the infield and the throw ended up wide of the first baseman to put the winning run on base. After Gore stole second, Preston was hit by a pitch to put two on with nobody out. That set up Tinker's attempt at a sacrifice. His first bunt went foul, but his second hugged the third base line and wound up between the pitcher and third baseman. Tinker arrived almost the same time as the ball and the second baseman covering first was unable to knock down the errant throw, allowing Gore to stroll home for the win.
Up Next
Trinity will hit the road next weekend in continued SCAC action, heading to the University of Dallas for a three-game series that begins with a Friday afternoon doubleheader that begins at Noon.
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