(Story courtesy of Trinity University Athletics)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The ninth-ranked and top-seeded Trinity baseball team opened up the NCAA Playoffs with an 11-2 loss to sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins University on Friday afternoon.
The Tigers fell to 28-8 on the season with the loss and is just 3-5 over its last eight games. Johns Hopkins improves its record to 12-3 this season. Both teams will return to action tomorrow, with Trinity opening Saturday's action against either second seed Aurora (IL) University or Saint Mary's (MN) University at 11:00 a.m.
Rafe Chaumette was the lone bright spot in the game for the Tigers, going 3-4 with a run scored. He also broke the Trinity record for at-bats in a career, surpassing Connor Moore on the all-time list.
The Rundown
Johns Hopkins was in control early and never trailed in the game after scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Trinity had two runners on with just one out, but couldn't answer in the bottom of the inning.
The Blue Jays added another run in the fourth, but the big blow came in the sixth when Johns Hopkins extended the lead to 8-0 with a five-run inning that included a grand slam.
Trinity loaded the bases with the first three runners in the bottom of the sixth, but managed just one run on a walk drawn for an RBI by Brian Schaub.
Johns Hopkins added two more runs in the seventh to make it a 10-1 lead, then Ezra Gore got Trinity on the board one more time with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth.
The Blue Jays got that run back with a solo shot of their own in the ninth to finish off the scoring, then got a double play in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Notables
Chaumette now has 718 career at-bats at Trinity, which surpasses Moore's 715 in his career. Chaumette is also already third in school history in career hits, adding three more to that total in today's defeat.
Matthew Thomas got the starting nod in today's game for the Tigers, allowing three runs on three hits over three innings, and falling to 1-3 this season with the loss.
Gore's home run in the eighth was the second of the season and the second of his career.
The walk drawn by Schaub gives him 42 free passes this season and pushes his team-leading RBI total to 43 on the year. Schaub needs just four more walks to tie Trinity's single season record of 46, set by Matt Rall in 1997.
Up Next
Trinity resumes play at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday in the first elimination game of the regional tournament. The Tigers will face the loser of today's game between Aurora and Saint Mary's.
