Most Trinity students use spring break as a time to relax and take a load off. But for Trinity athletes, there are no days off. Over the break, the Tigers’ baseball, softball, track and field and tennis teams continued their regular season competition. Take a look at how each of these teams fared:
Baseball
Trinity’s baseball team played five games over break, winning all of them. The Tigers started the break with a 9-0 win over Millikin University on March 11, holding the Big Blue to a mere two hits over the course of the game. Tigers’ sophomore starting pitcher James Nittoli was perfect for over six innings, striking out eight while walking zero.
Trinity maintained the strong performance with another 9-0 win, this time against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Great pitching was once again the story of the game for the Tigers — Junior Holden Nix started the game, going seven innings while allowing two hits, walking one and posting five strikeouts.
This game was followed by a three-game series versus Southwestern University, which Trinity swept 11-1, 6-2 and 13-0. The Tigers were sparked by an eight-run second inning in their 11-1 win, a game in which junior Logan Morrison, senior Michael Davis and sophomore Michael Goodrich all homered. The Tigers kept things going in their 6-2 win, with sophomore Rafe Chaumette leading the charge with a home run. Chaumette reflected that the success depended on teamwork.
“Every hitter in our lineup is doing their job and contributing and it all starts with the leadership of those guys,” Chaumette said.
The Tigers finished up the series with a 13-0 blowout victory, as James Nittoli improved his record to 4-0 and Michael Goodrich hit two home runs. Goodrich was later named Southern Collegiate Athletics Conference (SCAC) player of the week, and to D3baseball.com’s team of the week. The Tigers are now 14-1 overall on the season and ranked No. 2 in the nation. They will look to keep things rolling over the weekend at Austin College.
Softball
Softball had a very busy spring break jam-packed with double headers, playing a total of 12 games. The team went 5-7 across the 12 games, leaving them with an overall record of 11-9 on the season and 4-4 in conference play. The break began with a doubleheader on March 10 at Centenary College, which the Tigers split, winning the first game 5-3, but dropping the second 4-3. The two teams squared off again on the March 11, this time with Trinity taking both games of the doubleheader 5-1 and 11-9.
After leaving Centenary, the Tigers traveled to take on East Texas Baptist University, losing 6-3 and 9-1 in the doubleheader. This was followed by a doubleheader against LeTourneau University, in which the Tigers fell 10-9 in the first game before winning 9-1 in the second. The Tigers finished with four games against Schreiner University, dropping three of them.
Contributions have come from across the board — junior Devon Potter is now batting .406 on the season with an on-base percentage of .472, senior Rebecca Berreth is batting .375 with two homers and 20 RBI, and senior Sara McCarty is batting .385 with 20 hits over 52 at bats. Despite the spring break record two games below .500, the team holds high spirits.
“Overall, the team was able to figure out what it needs to work on for the remainder of the season, especially heading into conference play,” McCarty said.
Track and Field
Both men and women’s track had a big break, enjoying successes at the University of the Incarnate Word spring invite. The Tigers totaled four overall victories at the meet, with senior Haley McFadden taking the women’s 3000 meter and senior Jacob Hammond taking the men’s 3000 meter, with times of 10:25.41 and 8:54.79, respectively. Senior Michael Erickson earned first place in the men’s 1500-meter title with a time of 4:04.11 and took home second place in the 800-meter dash with a time of 1:57.45, earning him men’s SCAC track athlete of the week honors. Senior Cody Hall’s time of 14.99 won the 110-meter hurdles. It was an encouraging meet for the Tigers, especially given that attendance was not mandatory.
“Some of the schools competing were quite good, but it was also nice to see that a good number of teammates were able to make it given that [the meet] was optional and during spring break,” said first-year Chris Ault.
Tennis
The men and women’s tennis were in action over the break with both teams playing five matches. The men went 3-2, improving their overall record to 5-10, while the women went 2-3 to fall to 4-10 on the year.
The men’s biggest win over the break for the men was 9-0 over California Lutheran University, led by contributions from first-year Jace Akagi-Okuma and junior Tilden Oliver. The team ended the five-game stretch with a 5-4 win over Case Western University.
The Tigers represented SCAC quite well over the break, as the men swept all the SCAC player of the week honors. Akagi-Okuma was named the SCAC men’s singles player of the week, while sophomore Jordan Pitts and junior Wilson Lambeth earned doubles players of the week. The men are now ranked No. 15 overall.
The women’s tennis team’s biggest victory over the break was an 8-1 romp over Whitman College, led by first-year Paulina Garcia and sophomore Ashley DeBauge who enjoyed 8-0 victories over the opponents. The team’s most recent match was a 5-4 defeat at the hands of Bowdoin College, a close match that came down to the wire.
“We improved and seem to be ready for conference,” said sophomore Francesca Canjar.
The men will compete next against Austin College and the women will take on California Tech. Both matches will be at home on Friday, March 23.
