(Story courtesy of Trinity University)
AUSTIN, Texas - The Tiger baseball team was able to force a second game with a 3-2 win over Linfield College on Saturday afternoon, but the Wildcats won 3-1 in game two to win the NCAA West Region Championship. Official Site | Box Score
Trinity earned its 40th win of the season with the game one victory, but then fell just short of reaching the Division III World Series with the loss in the second game.
The two teams were locked in a scoreless tie through the first five innings of play, but the Tigers broke that up with a run in the top of the sixth. The Wildcats, however, answered quickly with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.
Determined to jump back in front, Trinity strung together a pair of hits to score two more runs, taking the lead for good. Linfield added a run in the eighth on an inside-the-park home run. The ball was actually caught by Tiger centerfielder Pat Hirschberg on the warning track, but his momentum carried him into the fence after two or three steps, and after hitting the wall, he fell and dropped the ball.
In game two, Hirschberg started off the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the second for the Tigers, but again, Linfield rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. In the sixth, the Wildcats hammered out four hits to score two runs and take the lead.
The second game did end up with a bit of controversy in the seventh inning. Trinity induced a ground ball with two outs, and it ended up hitting the Linfield runner - but not before it ricocheted off of the pitcher's glove. The ruling by the umpires was that the runner was out because of interference. Linfield argued the call, the umpires conferred, and still ruled it an out. Linfield then protested the call, causing a significant delay. After approximately 20 minutes, Linfield decided to call off the protest and continue the game.
The Tigers tried to rally in the eighth, but got called out on an interference call of their own on a double play, and Linfield was able to finish off the win.
Franklin Bay (1-1) took the loss in the second game, giving up two runs on three hits through 2.2 innings of work in relief. In the opening game, Troy Ward (1-1) earned the win with two innings of relief, allowing a run on two hits. Michael Bentz pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn his fourth save of the season.
Jeremy Wolf and Kelly Woodruff had two hits each in the opening game, with Hirschberg and Kevin Francke picking up RBI for the Tigers. Will Donnan finished with two hits in the second game, but Hirschberg's homer was the only run for the team.
Trinity finishes the year with the most wins in school history (40) for a single season, and finishes second at the West Region Tournament for the second straight season as well. The Tigers have made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Playoffs.
