CLEBURNE, Texas - Trinity is headed back to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship for the seventh time in the last eight tournaments following a 13-9 victory over Southwestern, to eliminate the Pirates in Saturday’s tournament nightcap. Official Website l Tournament Stats l Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview w/ Trinity Head Coach Tim Scannell | Postgame Interview w/ Trinity Junior Tyler Pettit
Trinity won the conference title in 2019 by winning twice on the final day and the Tigers will have to do that again tomorrow as they face the tournament’s last undefeated team, Texas Lutheran, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trinity jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first inning, batting around the order, with the big blow a bases loaded double from Tyler Petit. The Tigers added two more runs and opened up an 8-1 lead after two.
- The Pirates cut the lead 8-4 in the top half of the fifth behind a two-run double by Jake Harris and an RBI double by Jacob Tanner.
- The Tigers put four runs of their own on the board in the bottom half of the inning with Ezra Gore's three-run home run the primary source of the production. After play was suspended for 15 minutes following the lights to the ballpark going out, Gore hit the first pitch he saw when play resumed over the left field wall.
- Trinity held a 13-5 lead heading into the ninth, but the Pirates battled back, scoring four runs and having the bases loaded with just one out and the tying run at the plate before Matthew Thomas came in and closed out the game with strikeouts of the final two batters.
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Tyler Pettit: 3-6, 5 RBI, 3 runs, 1 2B
- Ezra Gore: 3-6, 4 RBI, 3 runs, 1 HR
- Mason Meredith: 3-4, 2 runs 1 BB
- Jack Wisniewski: 3-5, 2 runs, 1 BB
- James Nittoli (WP): 5.0 IP, 9 hits, 5 earned runs, 8 strikeouts
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Ted Lobkowicz: 3-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 1 BB
- Maxwell Mims: 3-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI
- Jake Harris: 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 run, 1 2B
- Preston Witt: 1-3, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 HR
- Daniel Montgomery Jr.: 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 run, 1 2B
NOTABLES
- Through the first five games of the 2021 SCAC Baseball Tournament the teams have combined to score 93 runs setting a new tournament record for runs scored in the opening five games. The previous high was 89 first set back in 1996 and then equalled in 2005.
- Since 2014 the loser of game three (winner's bracket semifinal) has rebounded to reach the championship round five of seven tournaments. Trinity has now accomplished that feat four different times (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).
- Southwestern has now finished third for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in the last six tournaments.
- Including this year, Trinity and Texas Lutheran have combined to win seven of the last eight SCAC Baseball Tournament Titles. Tomorrow will mark the second-straight time and third time overall the two programs have met in the championship during that stretch.
UP NEXT
The Tigers (27-6) square off against Texas Lutheran in the championship game of the SCAC Baseball Tournament with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. Trinity will need to defeat the Bulldogs twice to win its 13th SCAC title in program history and become the first repeat champion since the Tigers won four consecutive tournaments from 2013-2016. Southwestern ends its season with a record of 19-19 .
