GEORGETOWN, Texas – No. 23 Trinity baseball kicked off a three-game weekend series in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 5-2 win against No. 24 Southwestern University on Friday evening.

Trinity notched its 20th win of the season to improve to 20-10 overall and took over first in the SCAC standings with an 11-2 record. Southwestern fell to 20-7 and 8-2 in conference play. The Tigers have won 12 straight meetings with the Pirates, dating back to the 2019 season.

Cade McGahan (Davidson, N.C. / Hough) improved to 3-1 on the season after allowing just one run on five hits over 5.1 innings to start the game, striking out eight batters. Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) came on and pitched the final 3.2 innings to pick up his third save of the year, matching McGahan with eight strikeouts in the game.

Ty Preston (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) and Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) finished with two hits each to account for four of Trinity's seven total hits in the game. Preston scored twice and was one of three Tigers to steal a base in the game, while Lustina led the way with two RBI on the night.

Trinity and Southwestern will conclude the weekend series with a Saturday doubleheader that begins at 3:00 p.m.

The Rundown
Trinity got started immediately on offense as Preston and Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) both had hits to put two runners on with no outs. A line-out double play nearly stopped the Tiger offense, but Lustina came through with an RBI single to center to make it a 1-0 lead for the visitors.

A second-inning double with a runner on first put Southwestern on the board to tie the game at 1-1. Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) drew a leadoff walk in the third to spark a two-run inning for the Tigers. After Peterson stole second to move into scoring position, Preston drove him in to put Trinity back in front. Preston promptly stole second as well to set Lustina up for another RBI single that pushed it to a 3-1 game.

After allowing the RBI double in the second, McGahan settled in and retired nine straight batters to keep the Southwestern offense at bay. Meanwhile, Peterson drove in a run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and the Tigers led 4-1. Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) drew a leadoff walk, then moved to second on a passed ball and stole third to set up Peterson's RBI.
Martinez came out of the bullpen with one out in the sixth, after McGahan gave up a single and a walk to the first three batters of the inning. Another walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Martinez got a ground ball to end the threat and keep the three-run lead.

After Martinez struck out the side in the seventh, Trinity was back with another run to start the eighth. Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) roped a one-out double to left, then the Tigers eventually loaded the bases with two outs. Gore scored on a passed ball to account for Trinity's final run of the night.

The bottom of the eighth was another inning that Martinez was able to strike out the side, though he also yielded three walks in the inning. Southwestern put up another run after a two-out error led to a bases-loaded walk and a 5-2 game. The Pirates drew a two-out walk in the ninth but were unable to get across any more runs and the Tigers brought home the win.

Up Next
Trinity and Southwestern finish off the weekend with a Saturday SCAC doubleheader, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Tigers will also be on the road on Tuesday to take on the University of Texas-Dallas at 3:00 p.m.