SEGUIN, Texas – The 15th-ranked Trinity University baseball team finished off its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series with an 8-2 win over Texas Lutheran University on Monday night.
The Tigers improved to 6-0 this season and 6-0 in SCAC play, while the Bulldogs fell to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in conference. With the win, Trinity sweeps the regular season series after winning yesterday's doubleheader 21-7 and 6-5. The Tigers are 6-0 to start a season for the first time since winning seven straight to open the 2021 season. The longest win streak to begin a season is 10 games in 2004.
Trinity scored three runs in the first four innings to take a 3-0 lead before Texas Lutheran got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. The Tigers then tacked on three more scores in the fifth and two more in the eighth to widen the lead to 8-1. The Bulldogs scored once in the ninth, but the rally ended before it really began, and the Tigers cruised to the win.
Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paul II) struck out 10 batters over a seven-inning outing to improve to 2-0 this season, giving up one run on four hits and only issuing two walks.
Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County) came on in relief for the final two innings, striking out three and allowing a run on two hits.
Grant Anderson (Austin, Texas / Vista Ridge) paced the offense with a three-hit night, going 3-for-5 with one run and two RBI for the Tigers.
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) was the only other Trinity player with a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-4 with one run and three RBI.
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) reached base three times and scored three runs in the game. In addition to nine hits against Texas Lutheran pitching, the Tiger hitters also drew 12 walks in the game.
The Rundown
Trinity got out in front early with a run in the top of the first as Woodward came around to score after drawing a leadoff walk. He moved to second on a wild pitch, took third on a balk, and then scored on a passed ball and the Tigers didn't even need a hit to bring the run home. Lee allowed a single and a walk in the bottom of the inning but picked up his first strikeout to keep TLU from knotting things up. That also started a string of eight straight batters retired for Lee, allowing the Trinity offense to get out to that 3-0 lead.
Coney was hit by a pitch with one out in the second, then came around to score on a two-base throwing error and a sac fly by
John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood) to make it a 2-0 game. Coney and Ramsey also factored in the next scoring situation for Trinity, drawing back-to-back walks in the fourth inning. Woodward then singled in that third run, but Texas Lutheran got the next two outs to keep the game within reach. Lee struck out the side in the third and struck out two of the first three batters in the fourth, but the Bulldogs got consecutive two-out hits to break up the shutout and make it a 3-1 game.
Trinity loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth, which led to the Tigers doubling their scoring output to that point. Another passed ball put the first run on the board in the inning, but another walk loaded the bases for Woodward. He delivered a two-run single to center field and the lead was 6-1 for the Tigers. Lee allowed just one more hit over the next three innings, keeping Texas Lutheran from making any comeback bid.
Anderson gave Trinity a pair of insurance runs in the eighth with a two-out single to left-center that scored two Tiger runners and put the game out of reach at 8-1. The Tigers loaded the bases again in the ninth but couldn't add any more to the lead. After allowing two hits and a wild pitch to score a run to start the bottom of the ninth, Briese locked in with back-to-back strikeouts, and then closed the game with a fly ball to left to finish off the win.
Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road this weekend for another three-game SCAC series, facing off against Concordia University (TX). The series begins on Friday, February 28, at 6:00 p.m., then the teams play at Noon on both Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and March 2.
