SAN ANTONIO – The sixth-ranked Trinity University baseball team held off McMurry University in the opening game of the best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals on Friday night, rallying from a three-run deficit to take a 5-4 victory.

The Tigers (40-8) trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning but scored four unanswered runs over the next four innings to defeat the War Hawks (35-12). The two Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opponents also met three times during the regular season with Trinity winning all three games by four runs or less. The best-of-three series concludes tomorrow and the winner advances to the NCAA III College World Series.

Trinity inched its way back into the game with runs in the fourth and sixth to make it a 4-3 game, then Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) drove in the eventual game-winning runs with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh. Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paul II) came out of the bullpen to earn the win and improve to 7-0 this season, allowing just one hit and striking out four batters over the final 4.1 innings. He shut down an offense that had scored four runs on four hits over the first 4.2 innings of the game.

The Rundown
McMurry got on the board first with two unearned runs thanks to three Trinity errors in the top of the second inning. Tiger starter Jake Beck (Austin, Texas / Austin) was able to get the next two batters out and limit the damage to just the two runs. Trinity's offense was held without a hit until the bottom of the third when Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) laced a line-drive home run over the wall in left field to cut it to a 2-1 lead.

Beck got the first two batters out in the next half-inning, but a walk and a double got a McMurry rally going that led to another two-run inning. Beck was chased from the game and the War Hawks delivered a two-RBI double to take its biggest lead of the night at 4-1. Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) launched his team-leading 13th home run of the season with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, then came back and laced a run-scoring single into right field that made it just a one-run lead at 4-3. Lazzara got the sixth inning going with a one-out double, followed by two walks to load the bases for Nelson. McMurry ended the inning with a lead-saving double play to send the game to the seventh.

Lee came on in relief to get the final out of the fifth, then after allowing a leadoff hit in the sixth, he retired the final 12 batters he faced to keep the game in reach for his offense. His 1-2-3 seventh kept Trinity's momentum going at the time and kept the pressure on the visitors. Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) started the inning with a leadoff single, then moved to second on a sac bunt. Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) drew a walk that was followed by another hit by McDonald to load the bases. Lazzara drilled the second pitch he saw into center field and both Lustina and Woodward came in to put the Tigers in front 5-4.

Trinity loaded the bases again after the Lazzara hit, but McMurry was able to keep the game from getting out of hand. Instead of a comeback, though, Lee continued the back half of his streak with three-up, three-down innings in the eighth and ninth to finish off the victory.

Up Next
The two teams will play game two of the series tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Trinity can punch its ticket to the Division III College World Series with a win, while McMurry must win two games to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.