CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – The eighth-ranked Trinity University baseball team finished off a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend sweep with Saturday's 7-5 win over the University of Ozarks (AR).
The Tigers (19-5, 14-1 SCAC) fought off a pair of comeback bids by the Eagles (7-13, 3-12 SCAC) yesterday, winning 11-10 and 6-3 in a Friday doubleheader that clinched the series win. Trinity led 3-0 in the third inning, but Ozarks rallied to tie the game after the end of the fourth. The Tigers reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth and never trailed again.
Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paul II) got the starting nod for Trinity, allowing three earned runs (five total) on six hits over 6.0 innings to improve to 5-0 this season.
Jace Clay (Missouri City, Texas / Strake Jesuit) got his first save of the year after pitching the final three innings in relief, striking out three batters and yielding just one hit.
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) reached base five times in the game, going 3-for-3 with two walks, scoring a run and picking up two RBI.
Thomas Moss (Sugar Land, Texas / Kempner) went 2-for-2 with two RBI on a go-ahead home run in the fifth.
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) also had two hits and scored two runs, while
Cam Champness (Katy, Texas / Taylor) also had a pair of hits for the Tigers.
The Rundown
Trinity got started quickly with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, as Lazzara doubled home
Max Milligan (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) just three batters into the game. Lazzara came around to score on a wild pitch later in the inning to make it 2-0 Tigers. Lee allowed a single and a walk in the opening inning but left both runners stranded. Trinity loaded the bases with two outs in the second but came up short in the scoring department, though Lee mowed down three straight hitters to get through the home half of the inning.
A leadoff single from McDonald led to another run as he stole second, moved to third on a fly out to center, then came home easily on a single from
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) to make it a 3-0 game. Ozarks got on the board with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning, but Trinity also turned a double play to help limit the scoring to just the one run. The Eagles were back at it again in the bottom of the fourth, though, taking advantage of an error to score two unearned runs and tie the game at 3-3.
McDonald once again led off an inning with a hit – this time a triple to right field. Moss followed with his two-run homer to put the Tigers back in front 5-3. Ozarks put together a pair of hits in the bottom of the fifth to get one of those runs back and cut the lead to 5-4.
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) led off the sixth with a hit for Trinity and moved up to second on a sac bunt from Milligan. Lazzara then delivered an RBI double to pad the Tiger lead.
Lee got a 1-2-3 sixth inning, but a leadoff single in the seventh brought Clay from the bullpen. Clay got the first two batters out, but a steal and another single – the only one he allowed – led to another run to make it a 6-5 game after seven innings. Champness singled to open the eighth and that led to the final run of the game, as pinch-runner
John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood) moved to third on a sac bunt and a groundout and then scored on a wild pitch for a 7-5 lead. Clay retired the final six batters he faced, notching 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth to close out the Tiger win.
Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road again next weekend for another SCAC series, taking on the University of Dallas (TX) in Irving, Texas. The series begins with a Saturday doubleheader that starts at 12:00 p.m., followed by Sunday's series finale at Noon.
