CLEBURNE, Texas - Top-seeded Trinity University blasted a season-high four home runs, in four consecutive innings, to power a, 9-7, victory over fourth-seeded Centenary College in the opening game of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship on Friday afternoon. Official Website l Tournament Stats l Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview w/ Trinity Head Coach Tim Scannell | Postgame Interview w Trinity Junior Brian Schaub
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a scoreless first, Centenary got on the board first with a pair of runs in the second inning as Brady Robinson and Gary Hewitt each connected on RBI doubles to give the Gents a 2-0 lead. Ben Bridges gave the Gents a 3-0 lead in the top half of the third with an RBI single.
- Trailing 3-0 in the bottom half of the third with the bases loaded and two outs, Trinity junior Brian Schaub launched his 11th home run of the season to clear the bases and put the Tigers on top for good, 4-3.
- In the fourth inning, Trinity extended its lead thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Tyler Pettit. It was the fourth HR of the year for Pettit.
- Trinity mashed its third home run of the game in the fifth, when Rafe Chaumette hit a solo blast, pushing the Tiger lead to 6-3. It was the second consecutive SCAC Tournament opener that Chaumette has homered in. He hit a three-run blast in the opener for the Tigers in the 2019 tournament.
- The season-high fourth home run for Trinity came in the home half of the sixth inning when MJ Metz blasted his third of the season. His three RBI blast gave Trinity a 9-3 lead going into the final three innings.
- Centenary fought back in the seventh scoring four runs as Tyler Erickson and Chris Haggard were credited with RBI before Robinson registered his second and third RBI of the afternoon to cut the Trinity lead to just two runs.
- Despite two hits and two runners left on base over the final two innings, Centeanry was not able to scratch any additional runs across Trinity held on for the 9-7 victory.
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Brian Schaub: 1-3, 4 RBI, 1 run, 1 HR
- MJ Metz: 1-2, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 1 HR
- Rafe Chaumette: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 HR
- Tyler Pettit: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 HR
- Michael Goodrich: 2-4, 2 runs
- Alex Bihn (WP): 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 K, 1 ER
CENTENARY COLLEGE STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Brady Robinson: 3-5, 3 RBI, 1 run, 1 2B
- Ben Bridges: 2-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI
- Tyler Welch: 3-5, 2 runs, 2 2B,
- Gary Hewitt: 2-4, 1 RBI
- Preston Ludwich: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 4 Ks
NOTABLES
- Trinity has now won 21-straight SCAC Tournament game when scoring at least seven runs and improves to 50-3 all-time in conference tournament action when plating seven or more.
- Centenary has now lost four of its last five SCAC Tournament openers.
- Alex Bihn picked up the win in just his second career appearance, allowing one earned run (three runs total) on four hits over 3.2 innings of work.
- Trinity has won eight of its last nine SCAC Tournament openers. The Tigers are looking to become the first repeat SCAC Baseball Tournament Champion since winning the event four-straight years from 2013-2016.
UP NEXT
Trinity will move on to face the winner of No. 2-seed Texas Lutheran and No. 3-seed Southwestern at Noon CT on Saturday afternoon, while Centenary takes on the loser of the match in the following game.
