ROME, Ga. – The top-seeded Trinity University baseball team dropped a 4-3 game to #4 seed Centre College (KY) in its first game of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament, held at Advent Health Stadium.
The Tigers (23-18) lost for the third time in the last four games, and all have come against the Colonels (27-14). Trinity took the early lead with runs in the first two innings, but Centre pulled in front for good with a four-run third inning. Trinity scored in the seventh to cut the lead to just one, then had the tying run on base in the eighth and ninth but was unable to complete the comeback bid. Both teams move on to play tomorrow in the double-elimination tournament.
Trinity was held to just five hits in the game and two errors led to a pair of unearned runs for the Colonels.
Brandon Morio (Austin, Texas / McNeil) took the loss and fell to 2-2 on the year, allowing four runs on five hits over 2.2 innings of work.
Kyle Hoggatt (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) threw 6.1 scoreless innings to finish off the game, striking out three batters and giving up just three hits.
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) went 1-for-2 with two walks in the game and
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) was 1-for-1 with a double and two walks.
The Rundown
The first two batters of the game resulted in hits for Centre, but Morio was able to lock in and get the next three hitters out to strand two runners early. Trinity's offense took advantage in the bottom of the inning, collecting two hits of its own to lead 1-0.
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) opened with a leadoff single, then moved to second and third on consecutive groundouts by the Tigers.
Grant Anderson (Austin, Texas / Vista Ridge) delivered a two-out RBI single to knock in the first run of the game.
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) scored in the second to give Trinity a 2-0 lead, drawing a one-out walk and stealing second and third to put himself in scoring position.
Evan Kuhl (Boerne, Texas / Champion) drove in Lustina with a groundout to second.
The third inning turned the game around for Centre, which combined three hits with two Tiger errors to score four runs and take a 4-2 lead. Trinity stranded three runners over the next four innings before Coney led off the seventh with a double to jumpstart the offense. Kuhl bunted Coney to third and then Woodward grounded out to short to bring in Coney and make it a 4-3 game with two innings to play. Baker walked and Anderson executed a sac bunt to start the Tiger eighth, but Centre got the next two batters out to keep the lead. Lustina opened the ninth with a single before moving to third on another sac bunt and a groundout; however, that's as far as he got as Centre got the final out two pitches later to escape with the win.
Up Next
The Tigers are back on the field tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 p.m. (ET) and will face either #2 seed Rhodes College (TN) or #3 seed Berry College (GA) in an elimination game.
