SAN ANTONIO – The seventh-ranked Trinity University baseball team broke a three-game losing streak with a hard-fought 13-9 win over 24th-ranked SUNY Cortland on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers (14-4) and the Red Dragons (7-6) are in the third game of a four-game series, which Cortland began with wins 11-3 and 8-5 wins on Thursday and Friday nights. Trinity looked like they were in control with a 7-2 lead after two innings, but Cortland eventually tied things up 9-9 in the eighth. The Tigers then burst back in front with a four-run bottom of the eighth to seal the win.
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) broke the tie with his two-run pinch-hit single into center field, then
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) drove in two more with a single into the gap in right-center. Both hits came with two outs in the inning.
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) picked up his first win of the season (1-0) to go with his four saves, pitching the final 2.1 innings. He allowed one unearned run on two hits, coming into the game with two outs in the top of the seventh.
Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paul II) got the start, allowing four runs on six hits over 5.0 innings, and striking out four batters.
The top five Tiger hitters in today's lineup did most of the damage, accounting for seven hits, eight runs scored, and 10 RBI.
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) and
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) led that group with two hits each, while Woodward scored three runs and
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) collected three RBI.
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) finished with two runs scored and two RBI and was intentionally walked twice.
Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and
Mattias Rytting (Houston, Texas / Bellaire) also came in to score twice.
The Rundown
After Cortland scored runs in the top of the first of the previous two games, Lee got a quick 1-2-3 inning to start off today's contest. That gave the offense a chance to bat without facing a deficit to open the game, which turned out to be a big difference. Lazzara got his only hit of the day just three batters into the lineup, but he made it count in a big way with a towering two-run homer to right-center.
That put Cortland behind for the first time in the series, but they were not fazed by the deficit, quickly putting together three hits and a walk to tie things up in the top of the second. After a single, a sac bunt, and a walk to start the Trinity half of the inning, McDonald smashed a double down the line in right field to put the Tigers back in front 3-2. After Lazarra was intentionally walked to load the bases, Baker drove in two more runs to extend the lead. Lustina followed with an RBI single of his own, then Tinker capped the five-run inning with the fifth Tiger hit of the frame to make it a 7-2 lead.
Strong winds blowing out to right field helped Cortland get a home run of its own in the top of the third, keeping the visitors within striking distance at 7-4. After Trinity's bats were stopped for the first time in the bottom of the inning, Lee allowed a single and a walk to start the fourth; however, he managed to get out of trouble thanks to two great defensive plays. The first was a double play to slow down the momentum, then the second was a bang-bang play at first. The ball was hit to first but glanced off the glove of Baker and was picked up by Lustina. Lee was covering on the play and made a sliding catch that just beat the runner for the out.
Lee then got out of another jam with two strikeouts in the fifth and the Tiger offense rewarded his efforts with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 9-4 lead. Tinker reached on a single and moved up on a groundout, then Woodward walked to put two on with one out. McDonald laced his extra-base hit of the game that looked to score two runners, but the ball bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. Lazzara was then intentionally walked again and Baker once again made Cortland pay – this time with a bases-loaded walk to bring in the second run.
Neither team scored again until the seventh, when Cortland started its comeback bid with a four-run inning that included a three-run homer to make it 9-8. Trinity hit into a double play to end the bottom of the seventh and the Red Dragons were back for more in the eighth. After a single and a walk, Hellings induced a double-play ball, but the throw to first bounced in, and the error allowed the lead runner to come in and tie the game.
Despite losing the lead, the Tigers were unfazed heading into the bottom of the eighth. Baker started the inning with a walk, but Cortland got the next two hitters out and seemed like they would be playing for a chance to take the lead in the ninth. Instead, Tinker and Rytting were hit by back-to-back pitches to load the bases and the momentum swung back to the Tigers. That's when Nelson stepped in with his clutch hit to score two, then Woodward drove in two more to make it 13-9. After allowing a leadoff single in the ninth, Hellings got the next three hitters out – two of which came on pop-ups to the infield – to close out the win.
Up Next
Trinity and SUNY Cortland will finish off the series with a single game at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
