SAN ANTONIO – The 12th-ranked Tiger baseball team swept a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader from the University of Dallas on Sunday afternoon, wrapping up its final home games of the regular season with a pair of 10-0 victories.
Trinity improved to 27-9 overall and a league-leading 14-4 record in conference play, while Dallas dropped to 20-13 overall and 8-9 in SCAC. The Crusaders won the opening game of the series 1-0 on Friday night, but today's results clinched the series for the Tigers.
In game one, the Tigers broke open the game with a six-run second inning that proved to be all they needed by the end. Trinity added two more scores in the sixth, then another two runs in the seventh to enact the run-rule.
Jackson Teer (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) tossed a five-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out eight batters, and improving to 6-1 this season.
Eight different Trinity players collected hits in the opening game, with
Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) leading the charge by going 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) and
Jack Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) both scored two runs, while
Ty Preston (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) drove in a pair of RBI.
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) led Trinity with three RBI in the game.
Another big inning in the second game had the same effect, as Trinity broke a scoreless tie with a five-run third inning. The Tigers nearly got the run-rule in the seventh again, adding three runs to the lead to make it 8-0 after seven. Dallas was able to keep the game going into the eighth, but it was just delaying the inevitable as Trinity scored twice in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paull II) and
Jonathan Newman (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) combined for the six-hit shutout and didn't allow a walk. Lee struck out seven batters over7.0 innings and gave up just four hits. Newman finished things off in the eighth, including the team's eighth strikeout.
Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and
Korson Hastings (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) had two hits each to lead the offense. Holloway had three RBI to lead the team, while Hastings finished with two runs scored and two RBI.
Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) also had a pair of runs for the Tigers.
The Rundown, Vol. 1
Neither team had a hit in the opening frame of the doubleheader, but Holloway got the prolific second inning started with a leadoff single. Harris doubled after a fielder's choice, then Baker walked to load the bases. Preston doubled down the left field line to get the scoring started, then Tinker drove in two more with a single to the gap in right-center. Two batters later, Peterson walked and stole second, setting up Lazzara for a two-run single that made it 6-0 Tigers.
Dallas got two of its five hits in the third inning, but a play at the plate that was initially ruled a run wound up as the third out on appeal by the Tigers. That was the last time Dallas got a runner past second base as Teer dominated the rest of the game. He also benefitted from double plays in the fifth and seventh that kept Dallas from stringing together any more threats.
In the sixth, Trinity loaded the bases with just one out, leading to two more runs. Lazzara hit a ground ball to first that drove in one run, but two Dallas errors on the play allowed Lazzara to reach and a second run to score to make it 8-0.
Harris walked to open the Trinity seventh, then Baker doubled to bring in the first run of the inning. Baker moved to third on a wild pitch and Preston walked to put runners on the corners.
Brett Jones (Boulder, Colo. / Fairview) came on as a pinch-hitter and singled to end the game with the 10-run rule in effect.
The Rundown, Vol. 2
Trinity drew four walks in the first inning of game two, but a double play in between kept the Tigers from jumping on top early. That early advantage came in the third, though, starting with Trinity loading the bases with two walks and a hit batter to start off the inning. The first hit of the game for the Tigers was an RBI single for Holloway that made it 1-0, but the Crusaders got the next two hitters out and nearly escaped with the narrow deficit. Instead, Hastings delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield to make it 3-0. An error by Dallas pushed two more runs across and the lead was five after three innings of play.
Meanwhile, Lee was powering through the Dallas lineup by retiring 15 of the 17 batters he faced from the third through the seventh innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Holloway drove in two runs with his double down the left field line, scoring Peterson and
Matthew McNaney (Albuquerque, N.M. / Albuquerque Academy).
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) backed that up with an RBI triple down the right field line to make it 8-0.
Newman struck out the first batter he faced in the eighth, then gave up back-to-back singles; however, the lead runner for Dallas was thrown out trying to advance to third. The batter reached second on the play, but was then thrown out stealing at third to bring the Tigers back to the plate. A single, walk, and a hit batter loaded the bases for Trinity in the bottom of the eighth. Peterson was hit by a pitch as well, though this time in brought in a run. Then Jones came up and ended the second game just as he did in the first – with an RBI single that put the run rule into effect.
Up Next
Trinity will travel to Belton, Texas, for a matchup against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday, April 23. It marks the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Tigers. Earlier this year, UMHB defeated Trinity 6-3 in San Antonio.
