IRVING, Texas – The Trinity baseball team opened a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series by sweeping a doubleheader at the University of Dallas on Friday.

The Tigers improved to 18-9 overall and 9-2 in SCAC play, while Dallas dropped to 14-14 overall and 5-6 in league play. Trinity extended its winning streak in the series to 26 games with today's wins, holding on to second place in the SCAC standings.

Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) paced the Tigers by going 6-for-8 on the day, hitting a double and two home runs among his six hits. He also scored two runs in each and drove in a total of five RBI. Hunter Nevilles (Corpus Christi, Texas / Calallen) also had six hits and four runs scored in the two games.

Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County) earned the game one win in relief to improve to 1-1 this season, while Jack Martinez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Ray) picked up his second save of the year by throwing the final 2.1 innings without allowing a run. In game two, Cade McGahan (Davidson, N.C. / Hough) pitched 5.2 innings to earn the win and improve to 2-1 on the year. He allowed two runs and recorded four strikeouts. Relievers Jack Schmitt (St. Louis, Mo. / Lafayette) and Clayton Jackson (Allen, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) allowed just two hits over 2.1 shutout innings to finish off the sweep.

Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) had two hits in each game and collected five RBI on the day. Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North) had a monster game in the finale to pace the offense, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and five RBI – including his first home run of the season.

Trinity will go for the holiday weekend series sweep by taking on Dallas in a single game tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.

The Rundown, Game 1
Dallas got the scoring started with a run in the bottom of the first inning, using a leadoff walk, a sac bunt, and a single to take the 1-0 lead. That lead was short-lived though, as Nelson lofted a solo homer over the wall in center field to tie the game 1-1 in the top of the second.

Starter Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / Alexander) pitched around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second, inducing an inning-ending double play. The Tiger offense took full advantage in the third, collecting three runs on five hits to take its first lead of the game. After three straight one-out hits loaded the bases, Gore put Trinity in front with a sac fly to right field. After Nelson picked up his second hit of the game to re-load the bases, Montrezza delivered a two-run single that made it a 4-1 advantage for the visitors.

Dallas began chipping away on the lead with runs in the third and fourth, forcing Chavana into an early exit. Michael Boeke (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) answered the call to the bullpen and avoided any further damage, keeping Trinity in the lead after four innings.

Following the two-RBI single from Montrezza, Dallas starter Dylan Krause settled in and retired six of the next seven Tiger batters – including the first two hitters in the fifth. Nelson and Montrezza hit back-to-back two-out doubles, though, and Montreza's third RBI of the game made it 5-3 Tigers at the halfway point.

The bottom of the fifth was the third straight inning for Dallas to score a single run, cutting the lead to just one run once again. The Crusaders left two runners on, though, missing a chance to tie things up. The Tigers left the bases loaded in the sixth, then Tiger reliever Briese induced another inning-ending double play to close out the sixth. Both teams also came up empty in the seventh before Nelson finally drove in Trinity the insurance runs they needed in the eighth. His two-out single to right field scored both Nevilles and Ty Preston (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) to make it a 7-4 game.

Trinity closer Martinez came on with two outs in the seventh to finish off that inning, then pitched around a pair of singles by striking out the side in the eighth. Trinity notched its final run of the opening game with a Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) leadoff homer in the ninth to end the scoring. Dallas got a couple of runners on in the ninth, but Martinez finished off his second save of the season without allowing a run over the final 2.1 innings.

The Rundown, Game 2
The second game saw Trinity jump in front with five runs in the four innings, beginning with the top of the second. Montrezza followed back-to-back singles from Gore and Nelson with a sac fly to center that put Trinity on top 1-0.

Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) doubled to open the third, then Nevilles put runners on the corners with no outs. After the next two hitters got out, Gore hammered a three-run homer to make it a 4-0 game. Holloway then came up again in the fourth and knocked in Montrezza for the fifth run of the game for the Tigers.

Dallas broke up the shutout bid for starter McGahan with an unearned run in the fourth, taking advantage of a Tiger error that cut the lead to 5-1 at the time. Korson Hastings (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) finished off a two-out rally by Trinity in the fifth, knocking in Nelson to up the lead back to five runs. Nelson drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive, then Nelson singled to set up Hastings.

McGahan pitched into the sixth before giving way to the bullpen. He got the first two outs of the inning before giving up three straight hits that ended with an RBI double to make it 6-2 at the time. Gore singled to lead off the next half-inning, then scored on Nelson's second round-tripper of the day to extend the lead to six runs.

After Holloway and Nevilles reached to start the eighth, Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) sacrificed the runners to second and third, and two batters later, Gore drove both runners in to make it a 10-2 Tiger lead. That blew the game wide open as Trinity added four more scores with two outs to take a 14-2 lead. The Tigers scored on an error, then Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) drew a bases-loaded walk, and then Holloway finished off the scoring with a two-run double. That set up the run-rule and Dallas was held scoreless once again to end the doubleheader.

Up Next
Trinity and Dallas will close out the holiday weekend series with a single-game series finale at Noon tomorrow. The Tigers will be back on the road for a non-conference matchup against Concordia University (Texas) on Tuesday, April 11, at 6:00 p.m.