SAN ANTONIO – The eighth-ranked Trinity University baseball team finished off a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend sweep with a 17-7 run-rule win over Southwestern University (TX) on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers (33-7, 27-3 SCAC) also finished off the regular season schedule with today's win over the Pirates (13-26, 11-19 SCAC), celebrating Senior Day with a lopsided victory. Trinity opened the series with a 9-5 win on Friday night, then clinched the series with a 9-0 shutout Saturday afternoon.
Trinity piled up 20 hits to score 17 runs, aided by three home runs and a pair of doubles. Five players had three hits each in the offensive showcase and all but one starter had at least one hit.
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) hit his team-leading 10th home run to tie the game in the third inning, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) also had three hits and three runs scored with one RBI.
John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood) hit his first career home run and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
Nicholas Jones (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) also had a pair of hits and picked up three RBI. The top three hitters in the batting order all had three hits:
Max Milligan (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) went 3-for-4 with three runs scored,
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) was 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI along with his sixth home run of the year, and
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Will Taylor (Greenwood Village, Colo. / Cherry Creek) improved to 4-0 this season after pitching 4.1 innings of relief, striking out five batters and allowing two runs on three hits.
Zack Balbin (San Marino, Calif. / San Marino) and
Clayton Jackson (Allen, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) came on after Taylor and finished the game, allowing just one hit between the two of them, and recording three total strikeouts.
Seniors
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake), Milligan, McDonald,
Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County), Lazzara, Jackson,
Jarrett Phillips (Marshall, Texas / Marshall), Nelson,
Luke Pfeiffer (Valencia, Calif. / Trinity Classical Academy),
Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paul II), Balbin,
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit), and
Kyle Roosa (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) were all honored prior to the game.
The Rundown
Trinity loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, but Southwestern got out of the inning with no harm done. The Pirates then knocked the Tigers on their heels with five runs on four hits in the top of the second, taking command of the game with a 5-0 lead.
The second time through the lineup made all the difference for Trinity, as Milligan walked to start off what turned out to be a significant third inning. Two batters later, Lazzara drove in the first run of the game for the Tigers. That was followed by an RBI for Jones on a fielder's choice to make it 5-2, then
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) walked to bring up Nelson. Two pitches later, Nelson smashed on opposite-field home run over the wall to tie the game 5-5. Tinker restarted the inning with a single up the middle after the game-tying hit, then Ramsey launched his first career long ball to put Trinity in front for good at 7-5.
The game remained close until the fifth and sixth innings when Trinity put the finishing touches on the victory. The fifth started innocently enough with a couple of singles, but a double play looked like it would derail any chance of a big inning. Instead, Ramsey drove in his third run of the game to resuscitate the offense and make it an 8-5 lead. After Ramsey stole second, Milligan drove him in with an RBI single to push the lead to 9-5. After McDonald singled and Lazzara walked to load the bases, a wild pitch brought in the next score. Jones than doubled home two more runs to clear the bases and put the Tigers up 12-5.
Southwestern got two of those runs back in the visitor half of the sixth, but Trinity would not be denied its run-rule result. Nelson started the inning with a single, then came around to score on a double by Tinker just two pitches later. Tinker then stole third and scored on an error. After the next two batters were retired, the top of the lineup came back up and once again delivered. Milligan singled to set up a two-run homer by McDonald to take it to a 16-7 lead. Lazzara singled to keep things going, then Jones drew a walk to put two runners on for Baker, who put the run-rule into effect with an RBI single to left-center. Trinity then finished the game with a double play in the top of the seventh to seal the win and send the visitors home early.
Up Next
Trinity clinched the SCAC Regular Season Championship with its three wins this weekend and will be the top seed at next weekend's SCAC Tournament. The conference championship will be held May 2-4 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas.
