The Trinity baseball team opened up a three-game home series against the University of Dallas on Saturday. The Tigers played a doubleheader on Feb. 21 and concluded the series on Feb. 22.
The team swept Saturday’s games, winning the first game 6-5, and the second 7-3. Trailing as they moved into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Tigers scored two runs and won the game in walk-off fashion. Trinity opened the game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and won the game 7-3.
“It felt good to get those first two wins against Dallas. We view them as one of our biggest rivals; they don’t like us, and we don’t like them. To be able to snatch that first win away from them, and then roll in the second game gave the team a lot of confidence,” said sophomore outfielder Scott Walters.
The first win over University of Dallas snapped the two-game losing streak the Tigers had been carrying since last weekend’s loses to Louisiana College and the University of Texas-Tyler.
“Obviously the games last weekend were frustrating.We thought we played pretty well. We know we have a target on our backs; no team is going to come out and take us lightly, and our main focus is that we do the same.” Walters said.
The team wrapped up the three-game series on Sunday with a 12-0 victory against the Crusaders. The Tigers scored five runs in the first three innings and added seven more in the fifth and sixth innings. The offense banged out 17 hits, while Michael Walker threw six innings and allowed only two hits on the mound.
“The game on Sunday was high intensity, high focus. The offense had a job to do and they got it done. It was good to come back and get those three wins, and really turned the season around and got us back on the right track,” said sophomore Troy Nelson.
Nelson recorded the last three outs of the game after relieving Walker.
“I had some difficulty finding the strike zone early, but was able to fight back and get the three outs, even though I got the bases loaded. It was nice to get some experience with a big lead, I feel like it prepares me to pitch in a bigger situation,” Nelson said.
The Tigers look to continue their three-game win streak on Feb. 24 when they host the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The team also plays Saturday, Feb. 28, against Cardinal Stritch University.
“Our concerns as a coaching staff will be consistency. We have plenty of talent, but being able to work ahead in counts, throw multiple pitches for strikes, catch it and throw it, and put hitters away will be important,” said assistant coach Zachary Fregosi.
Looking to future games the Tigers have specfic areas of their game they want to improve.
“Offensively, we need to do a better job of situational hitting and recognizing what the game dictates us to do. We have done a below-average job of hitting as a whole lineup. We have some great individual hitters, but we need to be consistent 1-9,” Fregosi said.
With the sweep, the Tigers improved their record to 7-2.
