ROME, Ga. – The #1 seed Trinity University baseball team won twice in elimination games at the Southern Athletic Association Tournament, defeating #3 seed Berry College (GA) 16-6 to start the day and then advancing to Saturday's action with a 6-4 comeback win over #5 seed Oglethorpe University (GA).
The Tigers (25-18) bounced back nicely after dropping their opening tournament game on Thursday against Centre College (KY). The Vikings (24-18) and the Stormy Petrels (22-21) were both eliminated from tournament play with the losses. Centre is the last remaining team without a loss. Trinity and Rhodes College (TN) will play for a chance to meet Centre in the SAA Championship game tomorrow.
Trinity jumped on Berry early in today's first game, scoring five runs in the first and never giving up the lead. The Tigers led 9-1 after a four-run fourth though Berry also used a three-run fifth to try and climb back in the game. Instead, Trinity scored seven runs over the next two innings and ended the game by way of the run-rule. The second game was much more of a grind for the Tigers, who fell behind when Oglethorpe scored three runs in the fourth inning. Trinity got on the board with a pair of scores in the fourth, but the Petrels led 4-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Trinity loaded the bases but had just one out left when
Khalfani Coney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Crossroads School) crushed a three-run double to put his team in front for the first time in the game.
Coney,
Kaleb Woodward (San Pedro, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula), and
Sawyer Haynes (Waco, Texas / Midway) had three hits each in game one, while
Grant Anderson (Austin, Texas / Vista Ridge) had two hits to go with three runs and three RBI. Haynes finished 3-for-3 with four RBI and a pair of runs, with Woodward going 3-for-4 with three runs scored.
Will Baker (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) was 1-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored as well.
Jake Beck (Austin, Texas / Austin) got the win to improve to 5-1 this season, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits over 5.0 innings and striking out six batters.
Andrew Mason (Austin, Texas / Anderson) finished off the game for the Tigers, giving up just one run on three hits over the final 2.0 innings.
Coney's game-winning double was his only hit of the second game and the only extra-base hit for the Tigers. He led the team with three RBI, followed closely by
John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood), who finished 1-for-3 with two RBI himself. Trinity had just six hits and Woodward was the only player with more than one in the second game.
Joey Hagen (San Clemente, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic) got the starting nod, giving up three runs on five hits over the first 3.1 innings.
Tait Johnson (Round Rock, Texas / Stony Point) came in for four outs, giving up no runs on just one hit.
Will Hellings (Summit, N.J. / Summit) earned the win to improve to 5-4, finishing off the final 4.1 innings and allowing just one run on four hits. Hellings also struck out eight batters.
The Rundown
Trinity got off to a quick start in game one, with Beck striking out the final two batters of the first inning. The offense was jump-started by Woodward's leadoff double, and he came around to score on a wild pitch after moving to third on the second out of the inning. After Anderson and Haynes drew back-to-back walks with two outs,
Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) kept the inning alive with an RBI single, followed by a two-run single from Coney. Two pitches later,
Nicholas Jones (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) made it 5-0 with an RBI triple down the right field line. Berry got on the board in the top of the second to break up the shutout but still trailed 5-1 as Beck got another inning-ending strikeout.
Both teams had runners on base, but no one scored again until the Trinity fourth and once again, it was Woodward that got things going. After his leadoff single,
Thomas Moss (Sugar Land, Texas / Kempner) reached on a fielder's choice on which Woodward also made it safely to second. Baker bunted for a sacrifice but reached on an error to load the bases. Anderson got the scoring going with a two-run single, then Haynes lofted a sac fly to right that made it 8-1. Lustina finished off the prolific inning with an RBI groundout. The Vikings took advantage of a walk and an error by Trinity in the top of the fifth, backing those up with two hits to score three runs and make it a 9-4 game. Trinity answered in a big way, though, with four more runs in the bottom of the inning. Anderson's RBI single brought in Woodward, who was hit by a pitch with one out and then moved to third on a pickoff attempt. After the second out, Baker was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners and Haynes made Berry pay with a two-run double. After Lustina walked, Coney had another run-scoring hit to make it a 13-4 game.
After Berry scratched across a run in the sixth, Trinity answered with two more in their half.
John Ramsey (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and Moss were both aboard with singles when Baker doubled them both home to set up a potential run-rule. Haynes finished the scoring with an RBI double of his own to make it a 16-5 game heading into the seventh. Berry put together a couple of hits to get one run, but the lead was too much to overcome.
The second game saw Oglethorpe and Trinity combine for just three hits over the first three innings, but the Petrels broke through with three runs in the fourth to take control and chase Hagen from the game. The Tigers finally got on the board in the fifth as Jones led off the inning with a four-pitch walk.
Evan Kuhl (Boerne, Texas / Champion) came in as a pinch-runner and promptly stole second, then moved to third on a lineout to right, and scored on a sac fly from Ramsey. An error kept the inning going and
Mattias Rytting (Houston, Texas / Bellaire) made Oglethorpe pay with an RBI single to make it a 3-2 game.
The Petrels got one of the runs back immediately against Hellings, though he did pick up two strikeouts in the inning. Trinity left two runners on base in the sixth and went 1-2-3 in the seventh, then an error to start the eighth triggered the comeback. After Haynes was hit by a pitch two batters later, Lustina walked to load the bases, but Oglethorpe got the second out of the inning. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, Coney worked the count even before giving Trinity the lead with his double to left-center. Ramsey followed with a single and the Tigers took a 6-4 lead. Hellings retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, with the only runner coming after he hit a batter in the ninth; however, he struck out the side in the ninth to finish off the victory and send Trinity to Saturday.
Up Next
Trinity will face off against #2 seed Rhodes tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. (ET), with the winner advancing to face #4 seed Centre in the SAA Championship. Whichever team wins the first game must beat Centre twice to win the title. If Centre loses its first game, the winner-take-all game will be played on Sunday.
