SAN ANTONIO – The 14th-ranked Tiger baseball team secured a season series split with fifth-ranked East Texas Baptist University after earning a 9-3 home win on Wednesday evening.
Trinity improved to 12-6 with the win, while ETBU dropped to 15-5 after the loss. East Texas Baptist defeated Trinity 7-5 just over a week ago in Marshall, Texas, to open the home-and-home series between the two teams that also faced off in the NCAA Playoffs last year.
The Tigers took a 9-0 lead before East Texas Baptist got on the scoreboard with two runs in the seventh to break up the shutout. The visitors added one more run in the ninth to finish the scoring, but Trinity's lead was too much to overcome in the end.
Alex Monson (Houston, Texas / Memorial) and
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) led Trinity with three hits each in the game, while
Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) scored a team-best three runs.
Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) drove in five RBI and scored two more runs to account for seven of the team's nine runs. These four Tiger players collected 10 of the team's 14 total hits and were the first four batters in today's lineup.
Jonathan Newman (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) earned the win on the mound for Trinity, improving to 2-0 this season after throwing four shutout innings. He struck out three and gave up just four hits. Starting pitcher
Carter Aldmon (Cypress, Texas / Bridgeland) struck out the side in the first, which ended up being his only inning of work.
Luke Pfeiffer (Valencia, Calif. / Trinity Classical Academy) and
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) threw the final four innings in relief, picking up four strikeouts each to bring the staff's total to 14 in the game.
The Rundown
Though he wound up striking out the side, Aldmon did allow two walks and a hit batter in the top of the first inning. His second strikeout came with runners on second and third with just one out, then following a walk to load the bases, he got his final batter out with another strikeout to end the early threat. Trinity also had two baserunners in the opening inning, but like their guests, the Tigers were unable to get any runs on the board early.
Trinity got the scoring started with a four-run third inning to take the lead. The Tigers had five straight hits in the inning to do most of the damage. Peterson singled with one out to get things started, then Woodward got a bunt single, and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. That set up Harris for a two-run single to left-center. Monson then drove a double to the outfield for another run, before
Jack Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) got the fifth consecutive hit to put runners at the corners.
Korson Hastings (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) delivered a sac fly for the final run of the inning and a 4-0 Trinity lead.
Newman continued his strong outing after the offense gave him the lead, pitching around a single and a walk in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts. The top of the Tiger order was up again in the fourth and piled on three more runs to open up a big lead. Woodward followed Peterson's walk with a single to right field that put runners on the corners, then Woodward stole second to put both runners in scoring position for Harris. The three-hole hitter drove in multiple runners for the second straight at-bat, this time slashing a double down the right field line. Monson followed with an RBI single and the Tigers lead 7-0.
After another quick inning for Newman, Trinity was right back at it in the fifth inning.
Mattias Rytting (Houston, Texas / Bellaire) had a leadoff single and a stolen base, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Peterson drew a one-out walk to put runners on the corners and Woodward got his second bunt-single of the day – this time picking up an RBI to go with it. Harris then got a sac fly to score Peterson, but Woodward was thrown out at third to end the inning with the Tigers leading 9-0.
Pfeiffer came on the pitch after ETBU got a leadoff single in the sixth. He got the first out before hitting a batter to put two runners on, but then he struck out the next two to slam the door shut. Monson's hit was the only runner for Trinity in the sixth, and East Texas Baptist finally got on the board in the seventh with back-to-back doubles to make it a 9-2 game.
East Texas Baptist loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Hellings came in and got the next two batters out to deny the visiting Tigers a chance to cut into the lead. Hellings struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth, then a solo homer made for the last score of the game. After a walk extended the game, Hellings needed just four pitches to finish off the game with his final strikeout.
Up Next
Trinity will continue its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule on the road this weekend, facing off against Schreiner University for a three-game series in Kerrville, Texas. The Tigers and Mountaineers open the series with a 2:00 p.m. game on Friday, March 22.
