SAN ANTONIO – The seventh-ranked Trinity University baseball team finished off a regular season series sweep with a 14-2 win over Hardin-Simmons University (TX) on Wednesday night.
The Tigers (16-5) defeated the Cowboys (3-12) 8-5 in Abilene, Texas, earlier this month, and now have 20 wins in 29 meetings between the two schools. Trinity pounded HSU pitchers for 18 hits in the game, while Tiger hurlers allowed just two runs on six hits and most of that damage came in the final two innings when the game was already in hand. Trinity put the game out of reach with 10 total runs in the fifth and sixth innings, giving the Tigers a 12-0 lead at the time.
Jack Bussard (Reisterstown, Md. / McDonough School) earned the win and improved to 1-0 this season after throwing 3.1 shutout innings of relief. He didn't allow a hit among the 12 batters he faced, recording four strikeouts.
Grant Anderson (Austin, Texas / Vista Ridge) led a prolific Tiger offense, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, and was one of six batters to notch a multi-hit game today.
Cam Champness (Katy, Texas / Taylor) went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) also scored three times.
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) and
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) both had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBI to add to the offensive onslaught, with
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) and
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) also had two hits each. Nelson collected two RBI and Lazzara had one RBI and two runs scored.
The Rundown
Starting pitcher
Kyle Hoggatt (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) got the first batter of the game out, but ran into trouble with a walk, single, and a hit-batter. He settled in after that and got a strikeout and a groundout to escape with no damage done in the top of the first. Trinity's defense then got a double play to wreck the second inning and after a 1-2-3 first inning, the Tiger offense got to work in the second. Baker drew a leadoff walk to get things started, then scored on a double by Nelson to make it 1-0. The only negative was that the Tigers couldn't get more runs across despite sending seven hitters to the plate.
Hoggatt had a 1-2-3 third inning and got the first two batters out in the fourth before being relieved by Bussard after allowing a two-out walk. Bussard needed just three pitches to end the inning and put the offense back to work. McDonald launched a ground-rule double into the gap in left-center before Anderson drove him in with a sacrifice fly two batters later, giving Trinity a 2-0 lead. Bussard struck out two hitters as part of a three-up, three-down fifth to keep the visitors scoreless.
The bottom of the inning saw Trinity bust the game open with five runs on seven hits. Champness started things off with a ground-rule double down the right field line, then following a walk and a stolen base by
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula), Coney tripled in two runs to get the scoring started and make it a 4-0 lead at the time. Lazzara followed with an extra-base hit of his own, doubling in another run. McDonald followed a single by Baker with an RBI single to make it 6-0, then Baker scored on a wild pitch after moving to third on another hit by Nelson.
Hardin-Simmons got its first runner against Bussard in the sixth when he hit a batter with two outs, but he ended the inning with a fly ball to center on the next pitch. Trinity carried the momentum on to the bottom of the inning and scored five more runs on just two hits. The Tigers drew four walks in the inning – including three straight with the bases loaded. Baker walked to drive in the first run of the inning, followed by walks to McDonald and Nelson to make it 10-0. Anderson then drove in two more runs with a single up the middle and the Tigers essentially sealed the win with a 12-0 lead after six. Hardin-Simmons managed to score runs in the eighth and ninth, but it was too little too late as Trinity cruised to victory.
Up Next
Tonight ends Trinity's 11-game homestand as the Tigers will now hit the road for a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series this weekend against the University of the Ozarks (AR) in Clarksville, Ark. The series begins with a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, March 21, followed by a Saturday afternoon game that begins at 1:00 p.m.
