SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader in Southern Athletic Association action against Rhodes College (TN), winning 14-4 in eight innings before falling just short in a 5-4 loss.

The Tigers (22-15, 13-5 SAA) lost yesterday's series opener 9-3 against the Lynx (27-10, 13-5 SAA), which means that Rhodes also clinched the weekend series with the narrow victory in the finale. The teams remain tied atop the SAA standings, though Rhodes now holds the tiebreaker heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

Today also marked Trinity's Senior Day celebration, honoring the careers of Tiger seniors Cam Champness (Katy, Texas / Taylor), Nicholas Jones (Southlake, Texas / Carroll), John McGowan (Bethesda, Md. / Whitman), Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School), and John Adrian Dioli (Hillsborough, Calif. / Sacred Heart Prep).

Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) and Thomas Moss (Sugar Land, Texas / Kempner) both had three hits in the opening game. Woodward was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI, while Moss nearly hit for the cycle with a single, double, and a triple. Anthony Suscha (Indianapolis, IN / Brebeuf Jesuit) was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood) homered and drove in three RBI as well. Evan Kuhl (Boerne, Texas / Champion) scored a pair of runs, as did Jones and Sawyer Haynes (Waco, Texas / Midway). Jake Beck (Austin, Texas / Austin) picked up the win in game one, pitching 5.0 innings of relief and allowing just one run on three hits, and striking out five batters to improve to 4-1.

Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) took the loss in game two, despite striking out 10 batters in 5.2 innings out of the bullpen. He allowed three runs on five hits, falling to 4-3 this season. Trinity had eight hits in the second game, though Grant Anderson (Austin, Texas / Vista Ridge) was the only player with more than one, going 2-for-5 with two RBI. Pierce Matthews (Carrollton, Texas / Hebron) came on as a pinch-runner and continued as the designated hitter, going 1-for-1 with two runs scored.

The Rundown
Trinity scored eight runs in the first three innings of game one and never looked back. After ending the first inning with a double play, the Tigers took the lead just two batters into the bottom of the inning. Woodward walked to lead off the inning and then stole second. Moss drove him in with a single through the right side of the infield to make it 1-0. Rhodes did get out of the inning with a double play of its own to keep the score close at the time.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the Tiger bats were far from done in this game. Another three-up, three-down inning for Rhodes in the second gave Trinity the chance to add to the lead quickly. Jones singled to start things off, then Kuhl got a hit of own two batters later. Woodward crushed a two-run double, then after a pitching change, Moss tripled in another run. Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) capped the prolific inning with a sac fly to left field to make it a 5-0 Trinity lead after two. Rhodes got its first baserunner of the game in the top of the third with a walk but could not get the scoring going against Trinity starter Tait Johnson (Round Rock, Texas / Stony Point). Haynes was hit by a pitch to lead off the Tiger third, followed by a single from Suscha, and a sac bunt from Jones. Ramsey then drove in his first run of the game with a sac fly to make it 6-0. Kuhl walked and stole second, then Woodward had his second straight two-RBI hit and the Tigers were up 8-0 after three.

Rhodes led off the fourth with its first hit of the game, which was a solo homer to also break up the shutout. Rhodes wound up with three runs in the inning and Johnson was replaced by Beck out of the bullpen. Baker walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth, which eventually led to a sac fly from Suscha and a 9-3 Tiger lead. Both offenses went quiet after that and neither scored again until the seventh. After Rhodes got another solo homer in the top half of the inning, Trinity got a two-run blast from Ramsey in the bottom half to make it 11-4. Rhodes was retired in order in the eighth, including two strikeouts by Beck to end the inning. Baker and Anderson both walked to start the inning for Trinity, then Haynes knocked in a run with a long single to center field. Suscha followed with a hit of his own and an error pushed across another run and moved him to third. Jones then ended the game via the run-rule with a sac fly to right and a 14-4 win.

Game two was much more of a pitching and defensive battle over the first eight innings as five of the nine runs scored came in the ninth. Trinity got the scoring started with three hits in the first inning. Woodward doubled to kick things off but was thrown out at home on Dioli's single to right. Dioli stole second after Baker flew out, then scored on Anderson's single to take the early lead. Trinity stranded two more runners in the second, leaving the door open for Rhodes to tie things up in the third with a two-out hit to make it 1-1. The Lynx took a 2-1 lead with a pair of hits in the fourth, and Trinity just couldn't put enough hits and runners together to level the score.

The Tigers finally got the tying run in the eighth. Dioli walked to start things off, then Matthews came in as a pinch-runner. Anderson singled after Baker flew out to center, then Moss walked to load the bases two batters later. Callen Singhania (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) drew a pinch-hit walk to bring in the tying run before Ramsey lined out to keep things tied heading into the ninth. Rhodes was able to score three runs in the final inning, taking advantage of a couple of walks and a hit batter to take a 5-2 lead. The Tigers loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the inning as Kuhl and Baker drew walks around a hit from Matthews. An error by Rhodes brought in two runs and put the tying run at third with just one out, but the Lynx escaped with the 5-4 win as the go-ahead run was also in scoring position.

Up Next
Trinity will head to Danville, Kentucky, next weekend to face off against Centre College (KY) in the final regular season weekend of the year. The Tigers and Colonels open the series on Friday at 5:00 p.m. (ET), followed by a Saturday afternoon doubleheader that begins at 11:00 a.m. (ET).