After the bitter ends of two impressive seasons last year, Trinity’s baseball and softball teams are picking up the bats and gloves again as they prepare for the 2025 season.
Trinity finished the 2024 baseball season 32-15, but they were eliminated in the NCAA regionals after dropping their first round series 1-3 against No. 14 University of La Verne.
“I think we’re a little unhappy with how the season ended,” senior outfielder Maddox McDonald said. “We made the regional, we got to host the regional here at our field which was awesome, but we got embarrassed. … Although making the playoffs is great, we want to win. We know we can go farther than that.”
McDonald explained that the team has a deep lineup that could potentially contribute to another playoff push this year and go farther. In particular, he anticipates that Khalfani Coney is going to have a very productive season. We are a very deep team,” McDonald said. “And I know we can place really well. We got a fire in our ass this year. We are ready to go out and try to do better than last year.”
As for softball, 2025 will be the second season under Coach Bailey Wittenauer’s leadership. After earning a record of 31-13 — the best in Trinity softball history, along with a 17-4 record in conference play — Coach Wittenauer was named 2024 All-SCAC Coach of the Year.
“We had great pitching,” Wittenauer said. “Offensively, we’re pretty electric. We had great speed, also. That helped us a lot, so we stole some bases. Hit doubles in the back to score runs. We’re always making sure we’re pushing the envelope offensively. And defensively, making key plays when needed.”
Wittenauer took note of the new talent the softball team had acquired last season and how they contributed to breaking the program’s losing stigma prior to the breakout 2024 season.
“We have all these newcomers that have a great mindset and weren’t scared,” Wittenauer said. “And they really attacked it head-on. … Early, it was more of us really understanding that we are a good team and we can win. And then I think later in the season, you really see us blossom into this full confident team together and really figuring out our identity.”
A key aspect in finding the team’s identity was having the first-years settle in. All of the pitchers last year were first-years except for Jordan Arce. Coach Wittenauer expressed her eagerness to continue developing the pitchers. “They’re all returning,” Wittenauer said. “We’re super excited.”
Much like her team, junior pitcher and outfielder Jordan Arce had a breakout 2024 season. After earning a 7-9 record in 2023, Arce surged to 13-6 in 2024, was named SCAC Player of the Week three times and was named to the All-SCAC Second Team. Arce credits the lighthearted team culture for building team chemistry which translated into success last season.
“Our team is very high-energy all the time,” Arce said. “We have a lot of inside jokes that go on; one of them is the ‘Batman Menace’ energy. I know that sounds super goofy, but that’s kind of what keeps our team light, especially in those high-pressure moments.”
After finishing 2-2 at the SCAC Softball Championships last year, the softball team hopes to return to the SCAC championship this year and finish the job with a title.
“Us getting so close last year only gives us more motivation to get there,” Arce said. “It’s really fueling our fire since last May when our season ended, so [we’re] looking forward to bringing all the chaos this year for our team.”
Tiger softball will begin their 2025 season on the road with a two-game series against East Texas Baptist in Marshall, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 8. Tiger baseball will begin their season at home on Friday, Feb. 14 as they prepare to host a 3-game series against Austin College.
*This story was updated on 2/9/2025 to correct a mistake. Khalfani Coney was incorrectly labeled a two-time Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Play of the Week. Trinitonian is dedicated to providing accurate and reliable information and apologizes for this mistake.
