SAN ANTONIO – The sixth-ranked Trinity University baseball team defeated McMurry University (TX) 10-4 to win the NCAA Super Regional and advance to the NCAA III College World Series for the fourth time in school history.
The Tigers (41-8) scored seven runs over the final four innings to pull away from the War Hawks (35-13), who were keeping pace with their fellow Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent for the first half of the game. After rallying late to take last night's game, Trinity never trailed in game two and made sure there would be no winner-take-all game three of the series.
Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren) led a 15-hit assault by the Tigers, going 4-for-5 with two home runs to score two runs and drive in four RBI.
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) came on as a defensive sub late in the game, then put the finishing touches on the Trinity victory with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth.
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) reached base five times, going 1-for-1 with a double and three walks, while also scoring four runs in the game.
Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) and
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) added two hits each to the Tiger total, and Woodward also made Trinity history by tying the school's single season history with his 69th run scored this year. He ties the record set in 1998 by All-American and Trinity Hall-of-Famer Bo Edwards.
Trinity used four pitchers to hold McMurry to four runs on seven hits, with
Jack Briese (Danville, Ky. / Boyle County) earning the win in relief to improve to 3-0. Briese allowed just one run on three hits in 3.2 innings on the mound, striking out three batters.
Will Taylor (Greenwood Village, Colo. / Cherry Creek) and
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) finished off the final 2.1 innings in shutout fashion, giving up just two hits to go with a pair of strikeouts.
Jace Clay (Missouri City, Texas / Strake Jesuit) got the starting nod, allowing three runs on two hits in three-plus innings of work.
The Rundown
The scoring started with Tinker mashing his first home run of the day, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Baker drew a leadoff walk to set up the multi-run inning just two batters later. McMurry coupled two walks and a sac bunt with a two-run double that tied things up 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning. Tinker came back up in the top of the fourth and delivered another clutch hit to put Trinity back on top. Baker doubled to left with one out, then moved to third on a single by
Brandon Nelson (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point), and scored on Tinker's sharp ground ball through the left side of the infield. Once again, though, McMurry was there to keep pace in the bottom half, scoring the tying run on a balk with two outs.
Trinity got going with the bottom half of the order once again in the sixth, beginning with another leadoff walk to Baker. Tinker put two runners on with another hit, but the War Hawks got the second out and looked like they might keep things knotted up.
Cam Champness (Katy, Texas / Taylor) had other ideas, lacing a double down the left field line to put the Tigers in front and only a play at the plate to end the inning kept the lead from growing any more. Trinity kept up the pressure in the seventh, thanks to a two-out walk by Lazzara. That set up
Nicholas Jones (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) for an RBI double to push it to a 5-3 Tiger lead. McMurry scratched a run across in the bottom of the inning, then Taylor came on to get a key strikeout to keep Trinity in front 5-4 heading into the eighth.
The second pitch of the top of the eighth was the second home run of the day for Tinker, quickly swiping back the two-run margin. Trinity wasn't done, however, as a two-out rally led to another score when
Maddox McDonald (San Antonio, Texas / Antonian) singled to score Woodward for his record-tying run that made it a 7-4 lead. Taylor got another strikeout to jump-start a 1-2-3 eighth inning, leaving McMurry with just three outs left to keep the season alive. The Tiger offense made sure to end that hope for a rally before it began. Baker and Nelson both reached to start the inning, then after Tinker got out for the first time in the game, Lustina deposited an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left-center to double the lead. McMurry got a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, which brought Hellings out of the bullpen to close out the game. Three pitches later, he did just that with a 6-4-3 double play to send Trinity to the NCAA Championships.
Up Next
Trinity will play in the NCAA III College World Series, beginning next weekend in Eastlake, Ohio. The eight-team event will be held May 30-June 5 at Classic Park. Full matchups and details will be announced soon.
