Ranked No. 15, the Tiger baseball team opened its season with a dominant 6-0 streak. This follows their 2017 season, where the team was eliminated from the SCAC tournament after a 28-16 regular season.
The Tigers’ win streak began in a 5-3 road victory against the University of Houston-Victoria on Feb. 9. Since their opening day win, the Tigers have posted five straight decisive road victories, scoring a cumulative 53 runs against the opponents’ total of 24.
At an average of 9.7 runs per game, The Tiger offense has been rolling at an average of 9.7 runs per game. A key contributor to the offensive success thus far is junior second baseman Logan Morrison, with seven hits over 18 at bats. He also reached walked to base five times and batted to base once, leaving Morrison’s batting average at .389 and an on-base percentage .538.
“This year, we are more mature and experienced and have a collective group of guys bought into the same goals,” Morrison said. “I think we have a really special team with a lot of potential as we move further into our season. Our hitting is solid top to bottom, and our pitching has been more consistent.”
Pitching has indeed been a strong suit thus far for the Tigers. At this point in the season, Tiger pitching has surrendered three earned runs per game, while their opponents are allowing them 7.3 earned runs per game.
Sophomore starting pitcher James Nittoli has been a key cog in the pitching success of the Tigers. In the Tigers’ 6-0 win on Feb. 10 at Houston-Victoria, Nittoli threw six scoreless frames, allowing four hits while striking out six and walking none.
Another arm posting big numbers is senior Kevin Flores, who has struck out 26 batters over a span of 16 innings pitched. In addition to his strikeout rate, Flores boasts an opponent batting average of only .194. Trinity’s opponents have allowed the Tigers a batting average of .321 for the season.
While the season is just getting started, players are already enthusiastic and optimistic about how the rest of the season will play out.
“The season has been going very well thus far,” said Matthew Thomas, sophomore pitcher. “We are 6–0 and have played well in all facets of the game: hitting, pitching and defense. In comparison to last year, we are more confident and experienced. Last year, we were talented but young. Moving forward, we expect to continue playing as well as we can and the winning should follow.”
Junior infielder John Tucker echoed Thomas’ sentiments.
“This year, we are just playing a lot more loose and together. This team is very talented and if we keep working hard we’ll make a run,” Tucker said.
The Tigers look to preserve their undefeated record as they take on MIT in a home opening four-game series over the weekend.
