(Story Courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information Department)
MARSHALL, Texas – Trinity's baseball team opened Sunday's NCAA Regional Final with an 8-6 win over East Texas Baptist University to force a second game, but fell short in a 2-1 defeat to end the season on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers finished their season with a 31-16 overall record and went 3-2 at this weekend's regional tournament. East Texas Baptist advances to next weekend's NCAA Super Regionals.
Trinity took an early 6-0 lead in game one, but East Texas Baptist rallied to things up in the bottom of the seventh. Colt Harris crushed a two-run homer in the eighth that sent Trinity into the winner-take-all game.
Game two was a classic pitcher's duel as Trinity's Jackson Teer and East Texas Baptist's Jagger Neely allowed just one run over seven-plus innings for both starters. Ezra Gore broke up the shutout with a leadoff homer in the fourth to put Trinity on top. Trinity remained in the lead until the bottom of the eighth when East Texas Baptist finally broke through with a pair of two-out hits to wrestle away control of the game.
Jack Martinez earned the win to improve to 6-0 in the opening game, pitching the final 2.2 innings out of the bullpen. He struck out three batters, allowing one run on four hits. Luke Pfeiffer last four-plus shutout innings as the starter, striking out four batters without allowing a hit.
Cristian Holloway went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the opening game. Harris finished with two hits and three RBI, while Brandon Nelson also had two hits and two RBI. Ty Preston went 2-for-5 in the opener as well.
Cade McGahan suffered the loss from the bullpen in the second game, falling to 6-3 this season. Teer struck out six over 7.1 innings of work, allowing just one run on six hits. Gore had two of Trinity's six hits in the game, finishing 2-for-3 with the roundtripper.
The Rundown, Game 1
After a quiet first inning, Trinity struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Holloway and Nelson drew consecutive walks to open the inning, then Harris drove in the game's first run two batters later to put Trinity on top. Jack Peterson then flew out to center to make it 2-0.
Tyler Pettiit was hit by a pitch with one out in the third, then Preston and Holloway both singled to load the bases. Nelson drove in two more runs with his single to right-center and Trinity doubled its lead to 4-0.
Trinity made it three scoring innings in a row when Jack Baker flew out to center for another Tiger sac fly, scoring Peterson – who had walked with one out to set the table for the offense.
Holloway's one-out double down the line in left set Trinity up again in the fifth and Michael Montrezza delivered another clutch single to make it a 6-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.
Pfeiffer battled through four shutout innings to start the game and didn't allow a hit to the potent ETBU offense. He did give up five walks, though, and the last one came to start off the fifth inning. Joseph Chavana took over from there and needed just eight pitches to get two ground balls – the first of which was a double play turned by Trinity – and move the game into the sixth inning.
Trinity's offense was retired in order for the first time in the top of the sixth and East Texas Baptist carried the momentum into the bottom of the inning. ETBU broke up the no-hitter to lead off the home half, then followed with another hit on the very next pitch. A sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position with just one out. After a strikeout by Chavana, East Texas Baptist cut the lead in half with a three-run home run.
East Texas Baptist continued the comeback in the seventh with three more runs, tying the game with back-to-back extra-base hits. Trinity did escape with the game tied, though, leaving the go-ahead run stranded at third base.
The tie game woke up the Trinity offense, though, as the visiting Tigers reclaimed the momentum on a two-run home run by Harris in the eighth. Montrezza drew a leadoff walk, then Harris plastered the first pitch he saw beyond the fence in left to make it an 8-6 lead for Trinity. Martinez, who came on midway through the seventh, settled in after getting the lead. He allowed a single in the eighth, but struck out the side to send the game into the final inning.
Trinity had back-to-back hits with one out in the ninth in a bid to pad the lead, but an inning-ending double play sent the game to the bottom of the ninth. Martinez got the first two batters out, but a walk and a single put the tying run on base for ETBU. Martinez finished off the win for Trinity, getting a shallow fly ball out to center to send the teams to a second game.
The Rundown, Game 2
Game two started off as a pitcher's duel as Teer and Neely both threw three scoreless innings. Teer allowed a runner in each inning, but the third was the only time he had a runner in scoring position. Neely was perfect through the first three innings and the teams were locked in a scoreless tie with six innings to play.
Gore changed that all quickly in the top of the fourth. He smashed a line drive over the wall in left field on a 2-0 pitch, breaking up both the perfect game and the shutout with one swing of the bat. Neely got the next three Trinity hitters out, but the TU Tigers struck first and led 1-0.
Peterson made a diving play to end the fourth for Teer and Trinity's defense, then Holloway and Montrezza both had hits to put runners at the corners and one out in the fifth. Neely escaped the threat with a strikeout and lineout to end the inning and the game remained a 1-0 Trinity lead heading into the home half of the fifth.
Teer got into trouble of his own with one out in the fifth as East Texas Baptist drew a walk and knocked a base hit into right to put the tying run at second. Trinity's defense came through with a double play ball – its sixth of the tournament – to get out of the inning clinging to the slim lead.
The two starting pitchers continued to battle it out over the sixth and seventh as neither offense could break out against the two hurlers. East Texas Baptist went to the bullpen to start the eighth, but Trinity was still held in check. After ETBU picked up a one-out single in the eighth, Trinity also went to the bullpen. East Texas Baptist took advantage with another hit to put the go-ahead run, then after a fly out to left, tied the game with a single to right. The home team then took the lead on an infield single to complete the comeback and go to the ninth with its first lead of the game.
Preston walked to lead off the ninth and put the tying run aboard, but a double play ball to second erased the runners, and a strikeout ended the game with Trinity falling just short.
