CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – The eighth-ranked Trinity University baseball team swept a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at the University of Ozarks (AR) on Friday, winning 11-10 and 6-3.
The Tigers (18-5, 13-1 SCAC) hit a total of seven home runs – three in the first game and four more in the second – to power their way to the victories over the Eagles (7-12, 3-11 SCAC) that opened the three-game weekend series. Trinity led 10-5 late in the opening game and was up 11-8 heading into the bottom of the ninth, escaping with the win by turning a game-ending double play with the tying run at third base. The Tigers were up 6-1 heading into the final inning when the Eagles once again provided an exciting ending. Ozarks had the tying run at the plate when Trinity unbelievably ended the game with another double play.
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) pitched 3.0 innings of relief to earn the win in game one, striking out five batters and improving to 2-0 this season.
Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County) notched his first save of the year by finishing off the ninth.
Brandon Morio (Austin, Texas / McNeil) struck out five batters over 6.0 innings on the mound to earn the win in game two and improve to 2-0 as well.
Will Taylor (Greenwood Village, Colo. / Cherry Creek) picked up his first save as well to close the day.
Max Milligan (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) hit a home run in each game, going 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBI in the opener, and then picking up two more RBI in the second.
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) hit a pair of solo homers in the second game and was also walked twice.
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) finished 4-for-5 with three RBI in game one, leading a group of five players with two or more hits.
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) hit a leadoff home run to start game one and finished with three hits and three runs scored for the day.
Cam Champness (Katy, Texas / Taylor) went 3-for-5 with a home run in game two.
The Rundown, Game 1
Trinity got off to a fast start in game one, scoring a pair of runs to take a lead that they never gave up. Woodward's leadoff homer got the ball rolling, then Milligan walked and then moved to second on an error. That allowed Lazzara to drive in the second run of the inning and put the Tigers up 2-0. Starting pitcher
Jake Beck (Austin, Texas / Austin) pitched around a two-out single to keep the lead at 2-0. He finished the day allowing three runs on eight hits over 4.0 innings, striking out a pair of batters.
Tinker led off the second with a double and
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) brought him home two batters later with an RBI single to make it a 3-0 game. A leadoff single led to Ozarks scoring its first run of the game to start chipping away at the Tiger lead. Fortunately, Trinity kept scoring too, getting the run back despite not producing a hit in the top of the third. Milligan walked and Lazzara was hit by a pitch, then the Tiger duo executed a double steal that led to a throwing error and a 4-1 lead. The Eagles started the bottom of the inning with two hits that led to another run and cut the lead back to two.
John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood) doubled to lead off the fourth and Lazzara brought him home three batters later with another RBI single. Beck held Ozarks scoreless in the bottom of the inning, working around a leadoff single to keep the game at 5-2. After Trinity had its first scoreless inning of the game in the fifth, Ozarks made the most of it with a leadoff homer to make it 5-3.
The sixth and seventh innings saw the two teams combine for 10 runs as Ozarks matched Trinity's scoring output in each. Milligan doubled home a run to start the scoring in the sixth, then Lazzara picked up his third RBI of the game with a groundout to first. Hellings came on for the Tigers after the first two Ozarks hitters reached base in the bottom of the sixth. He got the first two batters out, but the Eagles got a two-run single to make it a 7-5 game at the time.
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) got one of the runs back in the top of the seventh with a leadoff homer, then an error with the bases loaded allowed two more runs to come in and the Tigers were up 10-5. Three walks, three hits, and a hit-batter in the bottom of the inning allowed the Eagles to keep the game within reach at 10-8.
Both teams were held scoreless in the eighth and Milligan hit a solo shot with two outs in the ninth to give Trinity what turned out to be the game-winning run. Briese came into the game in the bottom of the ninth with two runners on and no outs. After a walk loaded the bases, a single and a fielder's choice cut the lead to just 11-10 with runners on the corners and one out. That's when Trinity escaped with a 4-6-3 double play to end the rally and take the opening game.
The Rundown, Game 2
Both teams had double-digit hits again in the second game, but the scoring was much harder to come by. Morio scattered nine hits over the first six innings of the game, allowing just a first-inning run. Three walks in the top of the first set up McDonald for a sacrifice fly to give Trinity a 1-0 lead. Ozarks notched three of its nine hits against Morio in the bottom of the inning to tie things up 1-1.
The Tigers busted through with three runs in the second inning, thanks to a pair of home runs. Champness launched the first with one out to put Trinity back in front, then Milligan hit a two-run blast later in the inning to make it a 4-1 lead. Ozarks got two more hits to start the second inning, accounting for five of the nine hits allowed by Morio; however, he locked in after that by retiring the next three batters to get out of the jam.
Nelson led off the third with the first of his two home runs, then hit the next with one out in the fifth to make it a 6-1 lead. Morio continued to hold down the Eagles offense, retiring eight of nine batters faced from the second through the fourth innings, and keeping the Tigers comfortably in the lead.
Wes Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) came on in relief of Morio and picked up four strikeouts in the seventh and eighth innings. He ran into trouble in the ninth, though, with three walks and a single to make it a 6-2 game. Taylor came in and got the first out, albeit on a sac fly that made it a 6-3 game. He hit the next batter to bring the tying run to the plate, but he then got the 6-4-3 double play to ruin another rally by the home team and close out the doubleheader.
Up Next
Trinity and Ozarks will conclude the SCAC weekend series with a single game tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
