CLEBURNE, Texas -- In a weekend filled with high-scoring affairs, Sunday's two combatants saved the wildest and craziest game of the tournament for last. After rallying from a five-run deficit in the top of the eighth, Texas Lutheran answered Trinity's game-tying run in the bottom of the night with a run of its own in the top of the 10th to take a 16-15 victory in the championship game of the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament Championship Sunday evening at The Depot at Cleburne Station. Official Website l Tournament Stats l Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview w/ Texas Lutheran Head Coach Rick Heines | Postgame Interview w/ Texas Lutheran Junior Blade Strzelczyk
With the victory, Texas Lutheran (28-12) earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Trinity (28-7), the top-ranked team in the most recent NCAA West Region rankings, as well as Centenary College (30-11), the second-ranked team in the Region, will await word of a possible at-large bid. The NCAA Division III baseball tournament announcement show is scheduled for Sunday, May 23 where TLU and hopefully other SCAC programs will learn their destination.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trinity scored three times in the bottom of the first, with a two RBI single by Jack Wisniewski and an RBI double by Mason Meredith giving the Tigers the early lead.
- Texas Lutheran exploded with five runs in the top of the third as the Bulldogs batted out in the inning. Cullen Motsinger's two RBI single and a steal of home by Caleb Maly were the highlights of the inning.
- Trinity bounced right back with three in the bottom of the third to retake the lead. A two-run double by Ezra Gore capped the scoring.
- The two teams exchanged runs in the fourth and fifth, with TLU scoring twice in the fourth and fifth and Trinity plating three in the fourth and two more in the fifth. The Tigers expanded their lead to 14-9 after a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh - setting up the Bulldogs' aforementioned eighth inning heroics.
- Tyler Cauley and Tyler Post both had two run home runs in the eighth.
- After the Tigers pushed across an unearned in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, the Bulldogs scored an unearned run of their own in the top of the 10th. TLU's Blade Strzelczyk shut down the Tigers to earn his first win of the tournament after posting a save in the team's first two tournament wins.
- The two teams combined for 31 runs and 39 hits.
TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Caleb Maly: 4-6, 4 RBI, 2 runs scored, 1 SB
- Cullen Motsinger: 4-6, 2 RBI, 1 run, 1 SB
- Tyler Post: 2-6, 3 RBI, 1 HR, 1 run
- Tyler Cauley: 3-6, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 2 runs, 2 SBs
- Blade Strzelczyk: 2.0 IP, win, 1 run, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB,
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Mason Meredith: 5-6, 6 RBI, 3 runs, 2 2Bs
- Brian Schaub: 2-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 runs
- MJ Metz: 4-5, 1 RBI, 4 runs, 1 SB
- Ezra Gore: 4-7, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs, 1 SB
NOTABLES
- This was the second consecutive championship that the two have met with Trinity needing two victories over TLU to claim the conference title. The Tigers pulled off the task in '19, but fell one game short this year.
- This was the highest scoring SCAC championship game all-time, clipping the 28 runs scored in the 2006 titlie game. The 31 total runs ties the most-ever of any tournament game when Southwestern defeated Hendrix 20-11 in the 1999 tournament.
- For TLU, it is the program's second SCAC baseball title. The Bulldogs won the 2018 conference championship in Cleburne with an 8-5 win over Centenary in the title game to go 3-0 and take home the championship trophy.
- This marks the third consecutive appearnce for TLU in the NCAA championships as the Bulldogs earned an at-large berth in 2019. It is the program's seventh overall appearance (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2021).
- TLU advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series in Appleton, Wisc., that season after winning the conference title and then the NCAA Division III Spokane, Washington Regional. The Bulldogs eventually finished as national runner-up that season.
- Including this year, Trinity and Texas Lutheran have combined to win seven of the last eight SCAC Baseball Tournament titles. This was the second-straight time and third time overall the two programs have met in the championship during that stretch.
- Tyler Cauley's home run was the 41st of his TLU career - which ties him for second all-time on the SCAC career list with Millsaps College's Hunter Owen (2005-09). He also has 198 career RBIs, which is fifth all-time and just five out of second place.2021 All-Tournament Team.
- In Friday's victory over Centenary, Trinity extended its tournament winning streak to 21 when scoring seven or more runs. However, the Tigers went just 2-2 in such games for the remainder of this year's tournament, falling to TLU 9-8 on Saturday and 16-15 in Sunday's final game.
2021 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Catcher - Tyler Pettit, Trinity
- First Baseman - Preston Witt, Southwestern
- Second Baseman - Ezra Gore, Trinity
- Shortstop - Joe Jimenez, Texas Lutheran
- Third Baseman - MJ Matz, Trinity
- Third Baseman - Randy Huerta, Texas Lutheran
- Outfielder - Brian Schaub, Trinity
- Outfielder - Cullen Motsinger, Texas Lutheran
- Outfielder - Tyler Welch, Centenary
- Outfielder - Mason Meredith, Trinity
- Outfielder - Tyler Cauley, Texas Lutheran
- Designated Hitter: Bryce Debbs, Southwestern
- Designated Hitter: Michael Goodrich, Trinity
- Pitcher - Brendan Beard, Texas Lutheran
- Pitcher - Blade Strzelczyk, Texas Lutheran
UP NEXT
Texas Lutheran (28-12) earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Trinity (28-7), the top-ranked team in the most recent NCAA West Region rankings, as well as Centenary College (30-11), the second-ranked team in the Region, will await word of a possible at-large bid. The NCAA Division III baseball tournament announcement show is scheduled for Sunday, May 23 where TLU and hopefully other SCAC programs will learn their destination.
