Trinity baseball started its season with a four-game homestand, facing the defending Division III national champions, No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks. The Tigers dropped the opener on Feb. 19 by a score of 6-2, but responded by winning both games on Feb. 20. Trinity won the first game 12-1 and the second game 5-4. The Tigers trailed the Warhawks for most of the fourth game on Feb. 21, falling behind by as many as four runs. In the final three innings, Trinity came back to win, walking it off in the ninth.

Thursday, Feb. 19: Game One

The season opener ended in a 6-2 loss for the Tigers. Whitewater scored two runs in the first inning and never lost their lead. Trinity scored in the bottom of the first and eighth innings, but Whitewater scored four more throughout the game.

In the first three innings, the Warhawks scored four runs. Three of them were earned off Trinity’s starting pitcher, junior Carter Aldmon. After junior John McGowan allowed two more runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief, sophomore Caden Wells took over for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Wells gave up two hits and earned four strikeouts. After the loss, senior outfielder Nick Jones said Trinity head baseball coach Tim “Skip” Scannell gathered the team to regroup heading into the rest of the weekend.

“First game, Skip wasn’t happy,” Jones said. “He wasn’t that mad, but he was getting on us about how we were playing timid just because they’re ranked number one.”

But soon, Jones said the Tigers realized the Warhawks were beatable.

Friday, Feb. 20: Games Two and Three

The two games on Feb. 20 both came up in the Tigers’ favor, led by a strong offensive performance that totaled 12 runs on 10 hits. Junior outfielder Kaleb Woodward scored on sophomore first baseman Will Baker’s single into right field to take an early 1-0 lead. In the third inning, the Tigers scored four runs on five hits. The Tigers followed that up with a six-run fourth inning to put the game out of reach. 

Sophomore pitcher Jake Beck earned the win, pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and giving up one earned run. He didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning. The 12-1 thrashing proved to be a good response to the loss the night before. On the offensive side, Will Baker ended the game with a four-RBI game on three hits.

“We just weren’t all there on Thursday,” Jones said. “Coming out Friday was important for us to get out to an early lead. It was more of a response showing that we can hang with these guys.”

Later on Friday, Whitewater prevented Trinity from repeating another shutout, but the Tigers still won 5-4. Sophomore pitcher Will Taylor won the game in relief, pitching 3 2/3 innings with six strikeouts. The Tigers collected eight hits and scored five. The winning run came on a sacrifice fly from sophomore third baseman Grant Anderson in the bottom of the eighth. The Warhawks outhit Trinity nine to eight, but only scored four runs, stranding eight runners left on base.​

Saturday, Feb. 21: Game Four

Trinity went hitless until the bottom of the seventh inning. Woodward said the team was able to stay in the game without a hit until the end was thanks to their pitching.

“We kind of started a little slow, which was to be expected, but our pitching kept us in the game,” Woodward said. “That was a game that we could have easily lost ten to nothing. Having our pitchers keep us in the game was great.”

Junior left fielder Pierce Matthews got the offense going with a single to center, cutting the score to 4-2. Whitewater tallied another run in the top of the eighth, but Trinity responded in the bottom of the frame. Trinity’s first three batters ended up on base, and they were back to the top of the lineup with Woodward at the plate. He singled home a run, and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from sophomore outfielder Jack Spenst brought home senior shortstop Cam Champness for the Tigers’ fourth run. Junior outfielder Mattias Rytting tied up the game at five, scoring on a wild pitch.

“Everybody just went out and competed as much as possible,” Jones said. “Skip threw in a ton of random guys off the bench, and we ended up coming back and winning. Honestly, it’s super cool to see the depth we have compared to before, where you can throw in those guys that didn’t get the start, but they’re just as talented as the guys getting the start so they’re just ready to go.”

Two relief appearances from junior Jack Bussard and sophomore Paul Nathanson held off Whitewater in the top of the ninth and kept the score tied at five. Coming out tied in the bottom of the inning, sophomore Evan Kuhl pinch ran for Anderson after he was hit by a pitch. Rytting came to the plate and fouled off the first pitch. On his second swing, he singled past the Warhawks’ shortstop, driving in Kuhl for the winning run.

Since Whitewater had to fly back to Wisconsin, the game was scheduled to end at noon regardless of the score. Woodward said the end time was approaching quickly in the bottom of the ninth.

“Going into that bottom of the ninth, it was 11:55 a.m.,” Woodward said. “That’s the great thing about baseball. There’s no clock, but it was kind of like a buzzer beater for us. The fact that we’re able to come out with a win, taking the last three games of the four-game series against the number one team in the country at the time, it was just great for morale, especially early in the season.”

During the game, Woodward went five-for-five at the plate, becoming the fourth Trinity baseball player to ever have five hits in multiple games. Beck was named the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Pitcher of the Week after his 6 2/3 outing with five strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA. Woodward earned SAA Athlete of the Week after going 10 for 16 with five runs and two RBIs.

“That was something I’ve always kind of wanted to get individually, but it’s nice to start off strong,” Woodward said. “I’ve had a couple of slow starts in the last couple of years. It’s always nice to get going early, especially against such a good team that we played. It sets the team up nicely, sets me up nicely. I’m just hoping I can keep going in that good direction.”

The Tigers continue their homestand with a three-game series against Babson College on Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. The two games will be on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m., ending on March 1 at 10 a.m.