Tiger Baseball Opens SCAC Tournament With Win Over Oglethorpe

Millington, Tenn. – The Trinity Tigers opened the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament Thursday with an 11-7 victory over the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels at USA Baseball Stadium.

The 19th-ranked Trinity Tigers (29-7) is seeded No. 1 in the West Division, will play the loser of DePauw (No. 1 East) and Austin College (No. 3 West) at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Oglethorpe (19-22)  plays the loser of Rhodes (No. 2 East) and Millsaps (No. 2 West) at noon Friday, in an elimination game.

The six-team, double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday, with the winner assured of a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Oglethorpe opened the game with a two-run first inning, but Trinityresponded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead. Evan Jones had an RBI double in the inning, breaking Trinity's career record for RBI.  The record was previously held by former Tiger All-American Bo Edwards.

After the Petrels scored a run in the second inning, the Tigers countered with two more runs courtesy of a home run by Nick Pappas. The round-tripper was Pappas’ seventh homer of the season.

Trinity led 7-5 after both teams added runs in the third, but the Tigers held Oglethorpe to just two runs the rest of the game.  The offense added four more in the later innings, including a two-run seventh to push the lead to four.

Jones batted 4-5 with two RBI, and scored a run. He now has 63 RBI during the campaign, which is the third-highest in school history. Pappas hit 2-4 with three RBI, and three runs scored.  He has 53 RBI this season, which is tied for the 10th-highest total in Trinity history.

Dominick Robusto tied a school record with two triples in the game, going 3-4 with two RBI and one run scored. Kevin Jackson, who also belted a triple (his fourth), hit 2-4 with three runs.

Right-handed pitcher Michael Hunter entered late in the first inning, and took the victory. Hunter (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings, and allowed one earned run, two hits, and one walk. Right-hander Tanner Barron pitched the final 3 2/3 innings, and picked up his second save. Barron yielded no earned runs, five hits, one walk, and fanned three batters.

The win was the 10th straight for Trinity, which is seeking its fifth SCAC Championship.  The Tigers last won the title in 2008.