Trinity baseball returned to San Antonio on March 31 for a single-game homestand against Concordia University, losing 5-4. The game marked the Tigers’ third loss in a row after Concordia scored the winning fifth run on a bunt in the ninth inning. Before the home game, Trinity faced Oglethorpe University in Georgia, winning 7-4 on March 27, but dropping both games of the March 28 doubleheader to lose the series 2-1.
In the first inning, the Tigers took off with an early lead as sophomore catcher Thomas Moss hit a solo home run over the left field wall. Concordia came back with a one out walk to start off the second inning and tied the game off two wild pitches. The Tornados created momentum with three straight hits, followed by a two-run homer from Kalen Clark that gave them a 4-1 lead.
John McGowan, junior pitcher, came in relief in the fourth with two runners on and no outs. McGowan held the Tornados scoreless to finish out the inning. Michael Lustina, graduate student infielder, walked and advanced to third off two wild pitches, setting him in scoring position. Junior centerfielder Kaleb Woodward grounded out to score Lustina, decreasing the deficit to two runs.
The Tigers’ bats came back to life as sophomore first baseman Will Baker singled to start the fifth inning and scored off of sophomore right fielder Jack Henning’s double. Senior second baseman Khalfani Coney came up to the plate and drove in the tying run with two outs. Trinity didn’t have another runner on base for the rest of the game.
With runners on first and third, Concordia scored the winning run in the ninth with a bunt. Trinity, unable to claw back in the latter half of the inning, dropped their first game against Concordia this season 4-5. Grant Anderson, sophomore third baseman, said the team has a good approach to the game, but is still struggling to win.
“It’s a tough loss. Right now we’ve just been struggling to win,” Anderson said. “You play fine, you play alright, but we’re just not winning. We’re doing everything we can to turn that around.”
Trinity took out the starting pitcher, sophomore Paul Nathanson, in the fourth inning after giving up four earned runs. McGowan came in as relief and pitched for 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run. He allowed five hits and earned four strikeouts. Anderson said the pitching didn’t allow for much offensive action from either team.
“It was a good baseball game all around,” Anderson said. “Not a whole lot of hits either side, but it was a well-pitched game from Concordia and us for the most part.”
The new conference has allowed the Tigers to travel to new colleges and learn from different competition. Given the series of experiences so far, Anderson said this conference is much more challenging than the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, with teams playing higher-level baseball.
The Tigers traveled back to Georgia for a two-day series against the Berry College Vikings. Trinity won the first game 13-4 on April 2, following with a sweep on April 3. Trinity swept Berry despite trailing by multiple runs in each of the final two games. They lost their most recent game to Concordia 1-0 on April 7. The Tigers are now 16-11 in the season and will travel to Georgetown, Texas, to face Southwestern University on April 10-11.
