(Story Courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information Department)
RICHARDSON, Texas – Trinity's 15th-ranked baseball team split games two and three of the best-of-five NCAA Playoff series against the University of Texas-Dallas on Saturday, winning 18-13 before falling 32-9 in the finale.
The Tigers are now 34-11 this season after the split, while UT-Dallas is now 35-16 on the year. Trinity leads the NCAA Regional series 2-1 and needs just one more win to advance to next weekend's Super Regionals.
Jonathan Newman earned his first career win in the opening game, improving to 1-2 after tossing 4.0 innings in relief. Jack Martinez took the loss in game two, which is his first career defeat, and drops him to 4-1 this season.
Michael Montrezza collected six hits on the day, including a 4-for-5 performance in game two. He tallied four runs scored and five RBI in the two games. Jack Wisniewski also had a pair of multi-hit games, going 5-for-11 overall, scoring three runs, collecting three RBI, and hitting a double in both games.
Trinity and UT-Dallas will be back on the field tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. for game four of the series. UT-Dallas must win to force a winner-take-all game five that would be played after that. The Tigers can close the series with a win in game one.
The Rundown, Game 1
Just as they did in the opening game of the series on Friday afternoon, UT-Dallas took the early lead in the first inning. After the rain delay, the Comets took advantage of two walks and a hit to make it a 1-0 game. Samuel Conte was involved in a fielder's choice that kept another run from scoring, while also picking up a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage.
Nathan Braulick jump-started the Tiger offense with a leadoff triple in the top of the second inning. He scored on a wild pitch to tie the game as Brian Schaub drew a walk. Schaub came around to score later in the inning, as Montrezza put Trinity in front 2-1 with a single to right-center. UT-Dallas escaped further trouble with a double play to end the inning.
The offenses took over in the bottom of the third as UT-Dallas took back the lead with five runs on four hits and a Tiger error. That put the Comets in front 6-2 for their largest lead of the weekend. Schaub and Tyler Pettit answered with a pair of solo homers in the top of the fourth to cut the lead in half, which began a streak of six consecutive innings during which the Tigers would score at least two runs.
Trinity scored four more times in the fifth to take the lead, despite the first two batters getting out. Wisniewski started the two-out rally with a double down the right field line, then came home on a single by Ezra Gore. Gore scored on one of the four errors committed by UTD in the game. Schaub then homered for the second consecutive inning to make it an 8-6 Trinity lead.
Two more Tigers runs in the sixth pushed the lead to 10-6, with Trinity taking advantage of another UT-Dallas error and three walks. Braulick drove in both of the runs with the only hit of the inning, though Trinity left the bases loaded and missed out on another huge inning.
UT-Dallas broke a streak of two scoreless innings thrown by Newman, putting a pair of hits together to cut into the Trinity lead in the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers added to more in the top of the seventh, though, taking 12-7 lead into the seventh-inning stretch. Trinity scored the first run on a balk with a pair of runners aboard, then Wisniewski knocked in the second with a single to left field.
The Comets rallied to within one run in the bottom of the seventh, scoring four runs on four hits and chasing Newman from the game. Durow came out of the bullpen later in the inning and got the final out to keep the Tigers in front 12-11. The Trinity offense was still clicking and answered the four-run inning from the Comets with their own four-spot in the eighth to reclaim the five-run lead. Colt Harris drove in two of the runs with a bases-loaded double, then MJ Metz singled up the middle for two more tallies.
In the ninth, Trinity scored twice more on four hits to push it to an 18-11 margin. Pettit and Montrezza drove in the final runs of the game for the Tigers. UT-Dallas began the final frame with a pair of hits, which led to a two-run inning, but the lead was too much to overcome, and Durow closed out the Tiger win.
The Rundown, Game 2
UT-Dallas jumped on top of Trinity early in game two and never looked back, scoring in all nine innings of the game. The Comets opened with seven runs on six hits in the first, then bettered that output with 10 runs on six more hits in the second to take a 17-0 lead.
The lead was up to 19-0 after UTD scored twice more in the third, though Trinity finally got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Metz homered to drive in the first two runs of the game, then Wisniewski made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot just four pitches later.
The Comets scored again in the fourth to make it 20-3, then Trinity answered with a run of its own as Montrezza drove in Schaub. UT-Dallas hit a pair of homers of its own in the fifth to score five more runs in the fifth, then Jack Peterson knocked a solo shot to make it a 25-5 game after five innings of play.
After UT-Dallas scored five more runs to reach 30 in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, Trinity got back on the board with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Nicholas Lazzara tripled to open the Tiger eighth, then scored on a double off the bat of Cristian Holloway. Montrezza followed with another Trinity double down the left field line to score Holloway, then Wisniewski doubled in Montrezza for the final score of the frame.
UT-Dallas knocked in two more with a home run in the top of the ninth, then Montrezza finished the scoring with an RBI ground out to bring in Lazzara.
Numbers to Note
The 32 runs allowed by Trinity in game two is the most in the SCAC era for the Tigers, which dates back to 1992. The only other time Trinity has given up 30 or more runs was in a 22-30 loss in 1995.
The home run by Metz in game two upped his season total to 12, while Schaub hit his 12th and 13th in the opening game. The 25 combined home runs by the two players is the most in school history by a Tiger duo in one season, edging teammates Huston O'Connor and Chase Tettleton who both had 12 dingers in 2004.
Schaub and Metz are both also chasing Trinity's single season home runs record of 14, which was set in 1998 and has been tied three times since then. Bo Edwards knocked 14 round-trippers in 1998, followed by Doug Grigar equaling that total in 1999. Kyle Felix joined the party with 14 knocks in 2011, while Schaub made it a foursome with 14 of his own last spring.
Gore extended his streak to 33 straight games reaching base in the opener, but finished 0-for-2 in the second and the streak was snapped.
Schaub drew a pair of walks in game one, moving into second on the all-time list for a single season, and needing just one more to tie for the school record set by Matt Rall in 1997.
Up Next
Trinity and UT-Dallas will face off again at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning for the fourth game of the series. The Tigers can win the series with a victory, while UT-Dallas must win twice to advance to the Super Regionals next weekend.
