Trinity Baseball Headed to Linfield for NCAA Regional Tournament

San Antonio – The Trinity University Tiger baseball team opens the NCAA Division III McMinnville (Ore.) Regional Wednesday, at Linfield College.

Trinity (32-7) is seeded sixth in the six-team event and meets No. 1 Chapman (30-9) at noon Pacific Time Wednesday.

Host Linfield (30-10), seeded No. 2, plays fifth-seeded Mississippi College (36-9) at 3:30 p.m., and No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer (29-9) takes on No. 4 Texas-Tyler (35-10) at 7 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament continues through Saturday, with the eight regional winners advancing to the NCAA Division III World Series May 28-June 1 at Appleton, Wis. A total of 55 teams are competing nationwide.

Trinity is playing in its fifth NCAA postseason tournament, and is led by 12th-year head coach Tim Scannell. In addition to an NCAA regional trip in 2006, Coach Scannell has guided the Tigers to within just one game of qualifying for the Division III World Series three times: in 2002, 2004 and 2008.

The Tigers won their fifth Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship under Coach Scannell’s leadership at the end of last month, and he was voted SCAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time.

Senior first baseman Evan Jones of Hillsborough, Calif. (Junipero Serra), was elected SCAC Offensive Player of the Year. Jones led the SCAC in batting average (.493, 69-140), RBI (67), and walks (36). He was second in home runs (13) and fourth in runs scored (53).

Sophomore shortstop Kevin Jackson of Bellevue, Wash. (O’Dea), is batting .428 (59-138), and has 28 RBI, 59 runs, and four home runs.  Nick Pappas, a sophomore outfielder from Los Angeles (Loyola), is hitting .424 (67-158), and has smacked 58 RBI and seven home runs, while scoring 48 runs.

Ben Klimesh, a sophomore right-handed pitcher from Wilmette, Ill. (New Trier), is sporting an undefeated 7-0 record (one save). Klimesh has an ERA of 3.89, and has chalked up 71 strikeouts in 69.1 innings of work.

Ryan Lucero, a first-year left-hander from Aurora, Colo. (Grandview), leads the Tigers in ERA at 2.95. Lucero, with a 5-1 record, had fanned 35 batters in 42.2 innings.  Junior right-hander Michael Panozzo of Houston (Clear Lake), stands at 6-2 (one save), with a 3.46 ERA. Panozzo has 33 strikeouts in 52 innings.