(Story Courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information Department)
RICHARDSON, Texas – The 15th-ranked Tiger baseball team clinched the NCAA Regional Tournament with a 21-13 victory over the University of Texas-Dallas on Sunday afternoon, advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.
Trinity improved its record to 35-11 and avoided a winner-take-all final game with the win, dropping UT-Dallas to 35-17 this season. This marks the third time that Trinity has won a Regional Tournament, with the last two coming in 2015 and 2016. During those two years, the regional winners advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series. This season's win puts Trinity into the Super Regionals in a best-of-three series for the chance to go to the NCAA Championships.
The Tigers took the early lead, but the Comets rallied to pull in front 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth. Trinity then blew the game wide open with a 13-run inning in the sixth to essentially secure the win.
Brian Schaub enjoyed a record-setting day among a slew of offensive highlights for the Tigers. Schaub hit a pair of home runs to increase his season total to 15, breaking a Trinity single season record that was originally set in 1998. That record has been tied three times since then – including by Schaub himself last year. Schaub also drew a walk to tie the single season Trinity record of 46 base on balls set by Matt Rall in 1997. Finally, Schaub collected a career-best seven RBI in today's win, which ties for the sixth-most in school history for one game.
Corey Cater earned the win by pitching four-plus innings in relief to improve to 3-4 this season. Jack Martinez finished off the game by getting the final three outs to end the series.
The Rundown
In what would be a preview of what the game would end up looking like, MJ Metz led off the game with his 23rd double of the season, then came around to score on an error on the next batter. After a walk put two runners on, Schaub scorched his first home run of the day over the wall in right-center to make it a 4-0 Trinity lead. Tyler Pettit kept the inning alive with a two-out double, then Michael Montrezza continued his red-hot offensive tournament with a run-scoring double to put the Tigers up 5-0 in the first half-inning. UT-Dallas scraped across a run in the bottom of the inning, but Trinity looked to be in full control early.
The second inning began with a pair of walks that forced UTD to go to the bullpen, then sacrifice bunt from Ezra Gore put both runners in scoring position. A wild pitch brought in the only run of the inning, though, as the Tigers ended up stranding the bases loaded.
Down 6-1 now, the Comets started the bottom of the second with three straight hits that included an RBI double to make it 6-2. UT-Dallas later drew a bases-loaded walk and was hit by a pitch with the bases full to add two more runs and make it a 6-4 game. Trinity added another run in the third with three straight hits to start the inning, taking a 7-4 lead.
Both teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when UT-Dallas turned the game around. The Comets drew four walks and had a batter hit by a pitch to start the inning, making it a 7-6 game without putting the ball in play. A fielder's choice marked the first out of the inning for Trinity, but it also drove in a run to tie things up 7-7. After UTD had a runner caught stealing for the second out, the Comets got an infield single to take an 8-7 lead, then got another hit to keep the inning going. The Tigers stranded the final two runners on base and escaped without further damage, but the visitors found themselves behind for the first time in the game.
The response was tremendous. Trinity wound up with a staggering 13 runs on seven hits in the sixth inning, taking advantage of five walks and a hit batter. Jack Vonderhaar got the scoring started with a game-tying single to left field with the bases loaded, then Pettit dropped a bloop single down the right field line to put Trinity in front 9-8. Montrezza walked to drive in another run, then UTD got its first out of the inning.
Metz then lashed a single through the left side to bring in two more runs to make it 12-8, followed by Jack Wisniewski reloading the bases by drawing another walk. That also forced UTD to go to the bullpen once again, but the result was back-to-back RBI walks issued to Gore and Nathan Braulick. Schaub then put the ultimate exclamation point on the inning with a grand slam that not only broke Trinity's single season home run record, but also gave Trinity a 10-run lead. After a fly out, Pettit cracked his second double of the game to keep the inning going. A hit batter, UT-Dallas error, and a passed ball led to two more runs before the Comets finally escaped the inning.
Trinity held a 20-8 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, which felt like an insurmountable lead – even with UTD's 32-run outburst in their win on Saturday. The Comets got a run in the bottom of the sixth, then both teams scored in the eighth to make it 21-10. Schaub drew his 46th walk of the season to open the Tiger eighth, tying the school single season record. He came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Colt Harris, and Harris became the eighth Trinity player to drive in a run during the game.
UT-Dallas drew four walks to start the ninth inning, then added two more runs on a single up the middle to make it 21-13; however, the lead was ultimately too much to overcome, and the Tigers earned the win in an unbelievable regional tournament.
Numbers to Note
Metz and Pettit both joined Schaub with three-hit games, as both players went 3-for-6 with three runs scored. The duo also combined for three RBI in the game.
Pettit's two doubles make him the third Tiger player to record 10 or more this season. Metz leads the team with 23, while Gore also has 13 doubles on the year.
Montrezza and Gore also added three runs each, while Montrezza also had two hits and two RBI for the Tigers.
Braulick and Wisniewski both scored twice, while also drawing three walks each in the game. Harris and Vonderhaar had two hits apiece.
Up Next
Trinity will await its opponent and the location of next weekend's NCAA Super Regionals, facing off against the winner of the Lynchburg Regional in Lynchburg, Va.
