ABILENE, Texas – Trinity's 12th-ranked baseball team scored a 7-2 road win over Hardin-Simmons University on Tuesday evening.

The Tigers improved to 25-8 this season with the win, while Hardin-Simmons fell to 11-21 on the year. Trinity is 15-3 against the Cowboys since the 2010 season, having now won 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two schools.

The two teams traded leads early in the game, then the Tigers broke a 2-2 tie with a four-run fifth inning that was highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial). Trinity cruised to victory after that, adding an insurance run in the seventh.

Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) paced the offense with a 3-for-5 night that also included two runs scored. Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) had two hits and two RBI.

Zach Balbin (San Marino, Calif. / San Marino) had three strikeouts and gave up two runs – one earned – on just two hits over the first four-plus innings as the Tiger starter. Matthew Mackey (Houston, Texas / Lamar) got the win in relief and is now 1-0 this season. Mackey pitched 4.2 shutout innings, retiring 14 of the first 16 batters he faced to shut down the HSU offense.

The Rundown
Trinity had two runners on with one out in the top of the first inning, but Hardin-Simmons actually struck first with a run in the bottom half. A leadoff walk moved to third on an error, then scored on another error - giving the home team a 1-0 lead despite not having a hit to that point in the game.

Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) started a two-out Tiger rally with a single through the infield in the second inning. Ty Preston (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) followed with a hit of his own, then an error moved both runners into scoring position. Woodward then pushed a two-run single up the middle to give Trinity the 2-1 lead.

Balbin gave up a home run to lead off the fourth inning for Hardin-Simmons, which broke up a no-hitter and also tied the game 2-2. His Tiger teammates had his back, though, and immediately reclaimed the lead with four runs in the next half-inning.

Woodward and Jack Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) had back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth, then Woodward scored on a wild pitch to give Trinity a 3-2 lead. Lazzara made it three straight singles for the Tigers after that, then Holloway deposited a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right field to extend it to a 6-2 lead.

A leadoff double in the bottom of the inning chased Balbin from the game, as Mackey answered the call to the bullpen. Mackey needed just 10 pitches to get out of the inning and hold the four-run lead at the time. The Tigers had two runners on with two outs in the top of the sixth, but couldn't add to the lead. Fortunately, Mackey had a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half to quickly bring the bats back out. Lazzara led off the seventh with a double, then scored two batters later on a sac fly by Alex Monson (Houston, Texas / Memorial).

Mackey pitched around hits in both the seventh and eighth, but the Trinity offense was unable to pile on any more runs to the lead. Mackey got the first two outs in the ninth, then allowed back-to-back hits that prompted Jonathan Newman (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) to come in and get the final out to slam the door shut on the game.

On Deck

The Tigers will host the University of Dallas in a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series that begins with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 20, at 1:00 p.m.