SAN ANTONIO – The eighth-ranked Trinity University baseball team clinched its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series with Saturday's 9-0 shutout win over Southwestern University (TX).
The Tigers (32-7, 26-3 SCAC) won last night's series opener 9-5 over the Pirates (13-25, 11-18 SCAC) to set up today's series clincher. The teams will finish off the series tomorrow, which will also be the regular season finale.
Three Trinity pitchers combined to throw a three-hit shutout, which is just the second shutout of the season for the Tigers.
Jake Beck (Austin, Texas / Austin),
Brandon Morio (Austin, Texas / McNeil), and
Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County) combined to shut down Southwestern today, allowing just three hits and three walks while recording six strikeouts. Beck started the game and gave up one hit over the first 3.1 innings, though he did allow all three walks. Morio gave up a pair of hits over 4.2 innings on the mound, recording a team-best three strikeouts. Briese came on in the ninth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced to finish off the win.
Trinity's offense hammered out 12 total hits, led by
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Three other Tiger batters had multi-hit days, including
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point), who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a grand slam that broke the game open.
Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) and
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) also had two hits each, with Lazzara also driving in a pair of runs.
The Rundown
Woodward singled and stole second to get the Tiger offense going early in the bottom of the first, then Lazzara knocked in the opening run two batters later to make it a 1-0 game. Trinity took advantage of a Southwestern error in the bottom of the second to tack on another run, which came in on Woodward's sac fly to center field. Nelson made it a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the third, capping off a two-out rally by the Tigers that gave the pitching staff all the cushion it needed. After the first two batters of the inning got out,
Nicholas Jones (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) and
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) both drew walks, then Tinker reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. After fouling off three straight 2-2 pitches to stay alive, Nelson finally found one he liked and deposited the ball over the wall in right field.
Meanwhile, Beck hadn't allowed a hit over the first three innings. Southwestern finally broke through with a hit in the fourth, which brought Morio into the game and he promptly retired the first 10 hitters he faced. Trinity made it four straight innings with a run to start the game in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of another Southwestern error to make it a 7-0 game. Morio allowed hits in the seventh and eighth, but Southwestern never really threatened and the shutout was intact.
The Tigers nearly ended the game on a run-rule in the bottom of the seventh, but left the bases loaded to keep the game going. The offense was back at it again in the eighth and narrowly missed sending the visitors home early. Two singles through the infield led off the inning, then Lazzara made it 8-0 with another Trinity hit to score Woodward.
Max Milligan (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) delivered a pinch-hit sac fly to make it 9-0, but Southwestern got the next two batters out to keep the game going. Briese came in and got a line drive out to center to start the ninth, then struck out the final two batters of the game to punctuate the victory.
Up Next
Trinity and Southwestern finish off the series – and the regular season – tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. The Tigers will also recognize their seniors prior to the game.
