#8 Tiger Baseball will play their last home series of the 2025 regular season against Southwestern University in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series.
 
The Tigers (30-7, 24-3 SCAC) swept St. Thomas in a competitive SCAC series to clinch the number one seed of the SCAC tournament, and at least a share of the regular season SCAC championship. Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) tore things up in Houston, batting 6-14 with three Doubles, a Triple, and a Home Run that all amounted to two RBI in the series. Jace Clay (Missouri City, Texas / Strake Jesuit) set the mood for the Tigers sweep with another quality start on the mound, throwing six innings and striking out five Celts on his way to his fifth win of the season. Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) shocked and awed the Celts, hitting .600 (9-15) with a double and six RBI in the series.
 
Tigers In The Polls
 
Trinity has been ranked #8 in the news releases of both the D3baseball.com/NCBWA and ABCA poll. The Tigers have also climbed to #15 in the most recent NCAA NPI Rankings release. They are the highest ranked SCAC team in each of these rankings.
 
Senior Spotlight - Class of 2025
 
This section is dedicated to the 13 seniors and graduate students who have devoted countless hours to the Trinity University baseball program.
 
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) made his collegiate debut on February 18th, 2023 against Hardin-Simmons as a pinch runner in game two of a doubleheader. This year Lustina has been the defensive rock that the Tigers rely on at second base. Although his year started cold offensively, he has caught fire after spring break, batting .481 (13-27) to become a threat on both sides of the inning. Lustina had one of his best games against St. Thomas this past weekend, batting 2-5 with a double, a triple, and a career high four RBI.
 
Max Milligan (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) first appeared in the statsheet on March 18th, 2023 in game one of a doubleheader against Austin College as a defensive substitution. Milligan has been another key piece defensively for the Tigers in left field, only committing one error at his position in 49 games played. Milligan has put in several clutch performances for the Tigers, his most recent work was a 2-3 performance in game one versus Ozarks that allowed him to score three runs himself, including a solo homer that ended up being the difference maker to help the Tigers win.
 
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) first appeared in a college baseball game while with Alvin Community College on January 29th, 2023 against Midland College as the starting center fielder. His first appearance as a Tiger was on February 23rd, 2024 against Babson College as the starting right fielder. McDonald has been one of the best bats in the Tigers batting order, batting .373 with 17 doubles, three triples, and six home runs for 47 RBI. McDonald has been excellent in the outfield, not committing an error in his 61 games with the Tigers. In the month of April, McDonald has collected 20 RBI and batted .525 (21-40).
 
Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County) had his first appearance out of the bullpen on March 7th, 2023 against UT-Dallas. Briese has been summoned from the bullpen the most for the Tigers this year with 12 total appearances. He's been effective on the mound, holding a 3.71 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 26.2 innings pitched. Briese came in to get the save in game one against Ozarks earlier this year, pitching in the ninth inning to close out a game where the Tigers only had a one run lead.
 
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) had his collegiate debut on February 25th, 2022 against Babson College as a defensive substitution. Lazzara has made starts in every year of his career at Trinity, all combining for a total of 102 games started. This year Lazzara has crushed it at the plate, blasting opposing pitching for a .409 batting average with 10 doubles, five home runs, and 45 RBI. He blasted Schreiner in game two of the SCAC series against them earlier this year, batting 3-5 with two home runs and three RBI. His catching skills and composure behind home plate have helped the Tiger pitching staff be successful.
 
Clayton Jackson (Allen, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) debuted against Birmingham-Southern on February 10th, 2023 as a relief pitcher. After coming off an injury that kept him from playing in his Junior year, Jackson has made multiple effective relief appearances in his senior season. His appearance against McMurry in game one of the SCAC series this year is worth highlighting, as he pitched 3.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts against what was the highest scoring team in the conference at the time.
 
Brandon Nelson made his debut on February 20th, 2022 against Washington-St. Louis as the starting first baseman. Nelson has been fiery in the batter's box this year, batting .360 with nine doubles, eight home runs, and 30 RBI. His performance in game three against Centenary this year helped the Tigers sweep the series. He went 2-3 with two home runs and 5 RBI to contribute to Trinity's run rule win to sweep the series. Nelson has also recorded a hit in every game in the month of April and is a constant threat to get on base whenever he steps up to bat.
 
Luke Pfeiffer (Valencia, Calif. / Trinity Classical Academy) made his first appearance on March 4th, 2022 against UW-Whitewater in game one of a doubleheader against the Warhawks. He helped the Tigers win a key game in the 2023 NCAA tournament by pitching four shutout innings against East Texas Baptist that helped Trinity stay alive to play ETBU in a winner take all game. He is also the only pitcher on the Tiger pitching staff to have pitched in an NCAA regional, super regional, and the College World Series.
 
Zack Balbin (San Marino, California / San Marino) made his collegiate debut with Pasadena City College against LA Pierce on January 30th, 2020 as a relief pitcher. He made his Trinity debut on February 29th, 2024 against UW-Whitewater, also as a relief pitcher. Balbin has made key relief appearances for the Tigers, including a five inning appearance against La Verne last season in the San Antonio NCAA regional, where his 111 pitches of effort allowed the Tigers to win the first game of the regional. 
 
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) had his collegiate debut with Odessa College against Wharton County Junior College on February 6th, 2022 as a relief pitcher. His Tiger debut came on February 23rd, 2024 against Babson College, also as a relief pitcher. Hellings proved himself to be one of the arms the Tigers can turn to whenever they need a shutdown closer in his first year with the team. In his senior season, he had a personal best nine strikeouts in a six inning start against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
 
Jarrett Phillips (Marshall, Texas / Marshall) made his Tiger Baseball debut against UW-Whitewater on February 29th, 2024 as a pinch runner. Phillips is a dual athlete, also playing for the Trinity football team where he also contributed to successful seasons that team had as well. Phillips has made most of his appearances as a pinch runner for the Tigers. Against SUNY Cortland in game three, he came into the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the eighth and proceeded to steal second, allowing him to score later on in the inning.
 
Matt McNaney (Albuquerque, N.M. / Albuquerque Academy) debuted for the Tigers against McMurry on March 9th, 2021 as the starting catcher. McNaney has been one of the trusty catchers behind home plate for the Tigers, not committing an error at his position in two years. He dropped a perfect bunt in game three against McMurry to load the bases and set up the Tigers for the series sweep thanks to a walkoff just two batters later.
 
Kai Tinker made his first appearance on March 9th, 2020 against New Jersey City University as a pinch hitter. Tinker is having the best season of his career from the batter's box, swinging .354 with 12 doubles, a home run, and 29 RBI. He's been a walking highlight reel at third base defensively, making MLB level plays and giving an all out effort on every play. The most senior Tiger on the team, his presence at the hot corner has robbed many speedy opposing bats of infield singles.
 
Preview - One Last Time…
 
The Tigers will host Southwestern University for their final home series of the 2025 regular season. Game one will be on April 25th at 6:00 PM, game two will be on April 26th at 2:00 PM, and game three is slated for April 27th at noon.
 
On The Southwestern University Pirates: Southwestern has had a rough season filled with turbulent waves, and come into this series with a 13-23 (11-16 SCAC) record. They won a close series at Schreiner last weekend 2-1, ending a stretch where they lost seven series in a row. Senior catcher James Vaquero is the Pirates' main offensive threat, batting .424 with 10 doubles and 19 RBI this season. Freshman pitcher Chase McGarr has become a starter late into the season and has been relatively effective in those starts, holding an ERA of 4.33 with 42 strikeouts over 43.2 innings pitched. The Tigers won the SCAC series against Southwestern in San Antonio last year 2-1 and have a 100-64 record against the Pirates all time.
 
What's At Stake?
 
The Tigers will be crowned the 2025 SCAC regular season champions if they can win one game against the Pirates.
 
Extra Curricular Activities
 
Tiger baseball will head to Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas to play in the SCAC tournament from May 2nd to May 4th. The Tigers have already locked up the one seed and will either play McMurry or St. Thomas (TX) in the opening round.