Baseball

(Story courtesy Trinity University)

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Trinity overcame a five-hour delay to earn a hard-fought 7-4 win over DePauw University at the SCAC Tournament on Friday night at USA Baseball Stadium.
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Trinity now stands 31-11 on the season, and will move on in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination tournament. In other SCAC Tournament action, Hendrix defeated Millsaps in an elimination game, and Rhodes outlasted Oglethorpe 8-7 in a marathon game.

That Rhodes/Oglethorpe game turned out to be a 21-inning affair that lasted nearly seven hours before Rhodes was able to score the eventual game-winner in the top of the 21st inning. The game is believed to be at least a tie for the longest in Division III history.

That lengthy game forced Trinity and DePauw to start the final game of the day at 11:50 p.m., getting it started just before the clock turned over to Saturday morning.

DePauw overcame the effects of the layoff very quickly, scoring runs in the first and second innings to take an early 2-0 lead. Trinity's bats finally woke up in the third inning, sparked by a leadoff single from Kevin Clements, and finished off with a two-run home run by Nick Pappas. 

The long ball from Pappas made it a four-run inning that put Trinity out in front for good. The Trinity Tigers added runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to go ahead 7-2 before DePauw finally got back on track offensively. 

DePauw scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, after loading the bases with nobody out. In the eighth, the DePauw Tigers did the same thing by putting three runners aboard with no outs. Trinity got a strikeout, followed by an inning-ending double play that kept the lead at three runs.

Kevin Jackson was 3-5 with three runs and two RBI in the game, including his first home run of the season. Pappas ended up 1-3 with three RBI, while Kevin Calbick was 2-4 with a run scored. Dominick Robusto and Clements also had two hits each for the Trinity Tiger offense.

Noah Solomon (5-2) earned the win, going six strong innings, giving up four runs on six hits, and striking out five batters. After allowing a solo homer in the first, and an RBI single in the second, Solomon retired 12 consecutive batters to keep Trinity in the game, before being lifted in the seventh.

Franklin Bay earned his first save of the season, as he was one of three Trinity relievers to come in during the final innings.

Trinity will meet Rhodes tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. with the winner moving on to Sunday's SCAC Championship game. The game was originally scheduled for noon, but was moved back because the Trinity/DePauw game finished so late.

After the game, SCAC Correspondent James Hill had the chance to catch up with both head coaches.

To listen to DePauw head coach Jake Martin, click here.

To listen to Trinity head coach Tim Scannell, click here.