The ninth ranked Trinity baseball team capped their SCAC weekend series with three wins against Schreiner University last weekend. They shutout Schreiner 11-0 on Sunday and won 12-0 and 9-4 in Saturday’s doubleheader. The Tigers improved their record to 25-6 and are 11-1 in conference games.
Sophomore outfielder Jeremy Wolf was named SCAC Baseball Player of the Week and senior shortstop Christian Muscarello was named the SCAC Character and Community Male Student-Athlete of the Week.
“The Schreiner series was very well played on all sides of the ball. We pitched well, hit well, and defended well,” said assistant coach Zach Fregosi.
On Sunday, Trinity dominated the game early, scoring three runs in the second inning and five in the fifth inning. They scored a final three runs in the eighth inning, ending the game 11-0 by the run-rule.
Senior catcher Chris Bianchi led the Tigers with two runs and four runs-batted-in runs, going 2-4 at bat.
Sophomore Austin Singer was 2-3 at bat, also scoring two runs. Wolf was 3-4 for the game with one run.
Seniors Pat Hirschberg (1-4) and Drew Butler (1-3) both scored a run for the Tigers and also drove in two runs. Sophomore second baseman Connor Moore was 0-2 at bat, but scored a run for the Tigers, having been walked three times. He also stole his 23rd base of the season.
“Wins against Hardin-Simmons and Schreiner certainly were important; it’s been a long stretch since we’ve played at home. Away wins really help when we feel like we haven’t played our best,” Wolf said.
Sophomore pitchers Ryan Gray and Teddy Turner and senior pitcher Kyle Bogese combined to pitch the one-hit shutout. Gray pitched 4.1 innings, striking out six batters. Turner and Bogese pitched the rest of the game, only allowing one hit.
In the doubleheader on Saturday, Trinity shutout Schreiner 12-0 in the first game and won 9-4 in the second. In the first game, Moore and Muscarello started things off for the Tigers, each scoring a run in the first inning. The Tigers then scored seven runs in the fourth inning. Butler started the inning off with a home run, followed by runs from sophomore first baseman Nick Jewett and Wolf. Moore, senior Ryan Schweers, Muscarello and Hirschberg also scored for the Tigers. The last three runs of the game were scored by Jewett in the fifth inning, sophomore Andrew Waters in the sixth and junior Austin Rape in the seventh inning. Jewett and Butler were both 2-3 in the game. Junior pitcher Zach Speer pitched six innings striking out seven players and allowing only five hits. Junior pitcher Nick Griffith pitched the last inning, striking out two players.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Schreiner kicked things off, scoring four runs in the second inning. The Tigers were quick to rally however, scoring three runs in the following inning from Singer, Jewett and Moore. Moore and sophomore third baseman Carter McEachern each had singles with runs-batted-in. Trinity scored twice more in the fourth inning, added single runs in the fifth and sixth inning and then closed out the game with two runs in the eighth to seal the win. Wolf hit 2-4 with three runs-batted-in, scoring a homer in the sixth inning. Hirschberg was 3-5 with two runs, a double and one run batted in. Sophomore pitcher Michael Walker started the game; he pitched eight innings, allowing three runs, two walks and striking out three batters. Senior pitcher Matt Tindall came on in relief in the ninth inning, striking out one batter.
“It was great to get back to playing Tiger baseball,” Fregosi said. “We had a week where we got out of sorts, and weren’t playing how we have every other day of the year. That week is over and we’re excited to be back to doing what we do.”
Trinity will host Texas Lutheran University for their final home games of the season this weekend.
Currently, Trinity is ranked first in the SCAC standings and Texas Lutheran is ranked second. Tonight is Senior Night for the Tigers; first pitch will be at 7 p.m. Tomorrow the Tigers will continue the Texas Lutheran Series with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. For Saturday’s games, fans are encouraged to wear pink for breast cancer awareness in support of Christa Scannell, wife of Tiger Head Coach Tim Scannell. The Tiger baseball team will be wearing pink jerseys in support. Replica jersey t-shirts will be sold at the game for $10; all proceeds will go to various breast cancer organizations.
“The TLU series will be challenging, but we know if we just focus on our game, we’ll do really well. We’re all really excited and ready for this weekend’s games,” Muscarello said.
