The Tigers’ baseball team rematched Eastern Texas Baptist University (ETBU) on March 20th and played a well-rounded match after their loss against them just a week beforehand. With strong performances on the mound and at the plate, the Tigers overpowered ETBU in a 9-3 victory.
Despite coming short from their last game against ETBU, the Tigers were deadly at the plate. The bats were red hot, with Trinity combining for a total of 14 hits. Kaleb Woodard, Alex Monson, Jack Peterson and Harris Colt all had multi-hit games that deeply contributed to the offensive success of the Tigers. Consistent quality at-bats created opportunities for the Tigers to tack on some runs and utilize momentum to break the game open. Harris Colt, a senior finance major, had five RBIs (runs batted in) in the matchup and stressed the importance of offensive momentum in baseball.
“Usually there’s – in most games – ebbs and flows with teams kind of giving punches,” Colt said. “It’s basically just trying to keep momentum [by] doing the little things to maintain that through [the] whole game. If you can do that, [in] most headings, the other team usually going to come out with a win, so momentum is super important.”
The Tigers’ discipline was elite in their matchup against ETBU. Reaching base seven times through walks, the Tigers capitalized off these mistakes by putting the ball into play, allowing several RBIs to plague ETBU’s chances of a comeback. Impressively, the team only struck out twice compared to a whopping 14 K’s from ETBU. This discipline at the plate led to the Tiger’s success and won them the game.
Pitching was an integral part of Trinity’s success against ETBU. Only allowing eight hits while striking out 14 sealed the deal easily and was a notable improvement from their past game. Pitchers Jonathan Newman, Aldmon Carter, Luke Pfieffer and Will Hellings all contributed to the success on the mound. Their performances were backed by field support, with infielders and outfielders assisting their pitchers with rock-solid defense. In particular, freshman Mattias Rytting caught an excellent game, gunning down two runners while consistently blocking pitches in the dirt. Jonathan Newman, senior engineering major, threw four innings with no earned runs while striking out three. When asked about his successful time on the mound, Newman attributed faith in his teammates.
“I definitely get a lot of ground balls. so having confidence in your defense is a big thing. Not be[ing] afraid to throw strike[s] and put the ball in play, knowing that your defense will make a play for you,” Newman said. “I know multiple instances like Caleb Woodward [in] left field [in] the second inning there was a man on third, and if that ball got down that would have been an earned run. But that amazing diving play had helped me out and, in multiple instances, with our catcher throwing guys out at second. Having confidence in my teammates to do their part allows me to attack the zone more and not be afraid to put the ball in play.”
Despite the powerful performance against ETBU that placed the Tigers at 14-7 (.667), improvements could be made in preventing walks. Allowing too many walks is an entry gate to disaster, so the upcoming weekend series against the University of St. Thomas will be a testament. However, should the Tigers continue their dominance on the mound and at the plate, a path to the playoffs is likely.
