(Story courtesy of Concordia (Texas) University)
AUSTIN, Texas - Kelly Woodruff went 2-for-4 and scored the deciding run on a sacrifice fly to help lead Trinity to a 3-2 victory over Linfield and force an extra game in the championship round of the NCAA Division III West Regional Baseball Tournament on Saturday, May 18 at Tornado Field. Official Site | Box Score
After five scoreless innings, Trinity got on the scoreboard first by getting an RBI single from Pat Hirschberg in the top of the sixth. Linfield plated the equalizer in the bottom half of the same frame, but the Tigers were able to take the lead again in the seventh.
A wild pitch with the bases allowed the go-ahead run to score,
and Kevin Francke hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Trinity to
double its lead.
Linfield attempted to rally and made it a 3-2 game when Tim Wilson
hit an inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning. Hirschberg
appeared to initially make the catch in center on the play, but the
ball popped out of his glove after he ran into the wall which
allowed Wilson to come all the way home.
The Wildcats threatened once again in the bottom of the ninth by
placing runners at first and second with two outs, but reliever
Michael Bentz caught Kenny Johnson looking to end the game.
Troy Ward earned the win for Trinity and moved ahead to 1-1. He
registered one strikeout and allowed one run that was earned as
well as two hits in two innings of relief. Bentz picked up his
fourth save by throwing 1.2 scoreless frames. Linfield’s
Joseph Stevick suffered the loss and dropped to 1-1 after giving up
five hits and three runs, which were all earned, over 6.1
frames.
Trinity and Linfield will face off again at 3:15 p.m. with a
ticket to the College World Series on the line.