SAN ANTONIO – The 16th-ranked Trinity University baseball team earned a 3-1 victory over Concordia University (TX) on Tuesday night.
The Tigers improved to 18-7 this season with the win, which also means a season series split with the Tornados. Concordia, which survived with an 8-7 win over Trinity in Austin two weeks ago, falls to 13-14 with the loss.
Jonathan Newman (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) improved to 4-0 this season with the win in relief, pitching four shutout innings, allowing just two hits and recording four strikeouts.
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) picked up his fourth save of the year, striking out the side around a pair of ninth-inning hits by Concordia.
Michael Boeke (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) struck out seven batters over the first four innings of the game, giving up one run on just one hit.
Concordia loaded the bases with one out in the ninth to put the go-ahead run on base, but Hellings struck out the final two batters to slam the door on the comeback bid. Newman walked a batter to lead off the inning, giving way to Hellings out of the bullpen. Hellings struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a pair of singles before finishing off the win for the Tigers.
Both teams scored in the opening inning, with Concordia piecing a hit batter, a walk, and a single to take the early advantage. Around all of the other things in the inning, Boeke struck out the side – getting the final batter looking with two runners on base. Trinity had a strong start on offense as well, with
Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) doubling to lead off the bottom of the first. He moved to third on a ground out to short, then the next two batters walked to load the bases with just one out.
Brett Jones (Boulder, Colo. / Fairview) knocked in the tying run with a single to left, but that ended up being the only score for the Tigers. A fielder's choice got the runner at home, then a strikeout ended the inning with the bases loaded.
Neither team did much more on offense, with Boeke and Newman settling in nicely through the middle innings. Trinity snagged the lead with two runs in the fifth and it was Peterson once again that got the inning started with a leadoff double. After a bunt single put two runners on with no outs,
Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) put Trinity in front with a single to left to make it 2-1.
Alex Monson (Houston, Texas / Memorial) brought in another run with Trinity's fourth straight hit in the inning, but Harris was thrown out trying to score from second on the play. After a walk re-loaded the bases, Concordia got an infield fly and a strikeout to limit the damage to just the two runs.
After striking out the first two batters of the sixth, Newman gave up a walk that nearly led to a run for the visitors. Concordia singled on the first pitch after the walk, and the throw back to second wound up trickling towards home. That caused the runner on third to break for the plate, but Newman picked up the ball and flipped it to his catcher for the unlikely putout to end the inning. That was the only Concordia runner from the third inning until the ninth that made it past second base, then Hellings stranded the tying run in the final frame.
Peterson was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored in the game to lead Trinity's offense, finishing as the only Tiger player with a multi-hit game. Monson was 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI, while Harris was 1-for-3 with the eventual game-winning RBI.
Up Next
Trinity will hit the road for a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series at Austin College this weekend. The Tigers and 'Roos open the series with a single game on Friday, April 5, at 7:00 p.m. The series concludes with a Saturday doubleheader that begins at Noon.
