(Portions of this story courtesy of Trinity University)
(Photo courtesy of Lang White, UT-Tyler Athletics)
TYLER, Texas - The 14th-ranked Tiger baseball team scored a unique 5-1 victory in the NCAA Playoffs against 17th-ranked Linfield College on Thursday morning, completing a game that was postponed from yesterday afternoon. Regional Website l Interview with Head Coach Tim Scannell and Ryan Gray
Wednesday's game started with a four-run first inning for Trinity, which held the 4-0 lead when the game was halted due to lightning after five innings. Starting pitcher Ryan Gray had a no-hitter going when the game was stopped.
Today's game began at approximately 10:00 a.m., and Gray was back out on the mound to chase history. The lefthander was attempting to throw the first no-hitter in NCAA Playoff history, and continued his dominance through seven innings. Linfield finally got a hit against him in the eighth, then chased him from the game in the ninth.
The Wildcats got a pair of hits against reliever Teddy Turner in the final frame, but Turner was able to hold Linfield to just one run, and the Tigers pulled off the victory. Gray improved to 8-0 this season, allowing one run on one hit, striking out nine batters.
Drew Butler led Trinity's offensive attack, going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. He doubled home a pair of runs in the prolific first inning yesterday, then scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning this morning.
Jose Santos and Connor Moore also had two-hit games for the Tigers, with Santos ripping the RBI double to score Butler in the eighth. Santos, Moore, and Butler accounted for seven of Trinity's nine hits in the game.
Trintiy advances to face former SCAC member and rival Millsaps College at some point tonight. The Majors defeated Whitworth 7-6 earlier today. Texas-Tyler will take on Linfield in an elmination game while La Verne will battle Whitworth. The Tigers and Majors will then take the field in the late night cap.
Trinity holds a 51-50 head-to-head advantage over Millsaps with 16 SCAC Championship won between the two schools.