SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University baseball team split a Southern Athletic Association doubleheader against Sewanee on Saturday afternoon, winning 5-4 after losing 8-3 in the opening game.
The TU Tigers (20-12, 11-3 SAA) and Sewanee Tigers (17-14-1, 7-7 SAA) will battle for the series win tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Sewanee scored six runs in the second inning of game one and never looked back. Trinity had three runs in the bottom of the inning but never scored again as the visitors came through with the win. Sewanee had Trinity on the ropes again in game two with a 4-2 lead late in the game, but Trinity tied the game in the seventh, and then took the lead with the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth to earn the split.
Jake Beck (Austin, Texas / Austin) took the loss in the opener and fell to 3-1 this season.
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) picked up the win in relief in the game two, moving to 4-2 on the year. Hellings allowed just one hit over the final 4.2 innings, striking out five batters.
Jack Bussard (Reisterstown, Md. / McDonogh School) threw 6.1 innings in game one, giving up just two runs on six hits and matching Hellings with five strikeouts.
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) and
Sawyer Haynes (Waco, Texas / Midway) both went 2-for-4 at the plate in game one, accounting for half of Trinity's hits in the opener.
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) was 3-for-4 in game two, while
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) and
Mattias Rytting (Houston, Texas / Bellaire) had two hits each in Trinity's win. Woodward scored twice and drove in another run in game two.
The Rundown
After a relatively quiet opening inning for both teams in game one, Sewanee exploded for six runs on seven hits in the top of the second. The visitors had six consecutive hits at one point and forced Trinity to go to Bussard out of the bullpen early. The TU Tigers started the bottom of the inning with three straight hits of their own to get on the board. Haynes opened with a single, then Coney got a hit into right field. A throwing error on the play allowed Haynes to score and Coney to move to second.
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) then collected an RBI with another single and Ramsey drove him in two batters later for a 6-3 lead. A baserunning error ended the inning early and Trinity settled for the three runs on five hits. That would be all the runs Trinity could muster as Sewanee retired 15 batters in a row after that third inning. Sewanee managed two insurance runs in the top of the eighth to make it 8-3. Baker singled to open the bottom of the ninth and break up the Sewanee streak and Trinity loaded the bases with just one out in a comeback attempt. Sewanee got the next two hitters out, though, and took the game one victory.
Game two started with two quick outs for Trinity starter
Brandon Morio (Austin, Texas / McNeil), but Sewanee got two hits with two outs to take the early 1-0 advantage. Trinity answered in the bottom of the inning, beginning with a leadoff single by Woodward.
Evan Kuhl (Boerne, Texas / Champion) bunted him to second and then he moved to third on a groundout.
Grant Anderson (Austin, Texas / Vista Ridge) then came through with a two-out hit to tie the game 1-1. Sewanee took the lead with a solo homer with two outs in the third, then made it 3-1 with another solo shot in the fourth. After the visitors added another run in the fifth, Hellings came in and shut the door.
Trinity got back on the board in the fifth as Coney doubled to open the inning. Woodward knocked him in two batters later to make it a 4-2 game, but the next two hitters flew out and the score stayed there for the time being. Hellings retired the first 11 batters he faced to keep Trinity in the game and the offense finally came through in the seventh to tie things up. Rytting and Coney singled to start the inning, which led to a pitching change for Sewanee. After a flyout, Woodward reached on a fielder's choice and then stole second base. Kuhl ended up drawing a walk after fouling off a couple of two-strike pitches, but a wild pitch during his at-bat changed the game. The ball skipped in and went to the backstop to allow Rytting to score easily, but the catcher couldn't find the ball and Woodward was able to score all the way from second to tie the game at 4-4. Sawyer singled with one out in the eighth and eventually scored the go-ahead run. Rytting walked to put two runners on with two outs, then Coney delivered the eventual game-winning hit to give Trinity its only lead of the day. Hellings allowed a leadoff single in the ninth to break up his streak but promptly got the next three hitters, punctuated by his fifth strikeout of the day to close the game.
Up Next
Trinity and Sewanee finish the series with a single game that begins at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.
