Trinity Baseball Wins DH from Southwestern

Georgetown, Texas - The Trinity Tigers baseball team opened a three-game Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series by taking a doubleheader with the Southwestern Pirates Saturday at Rockwell Field.

Trinity won the opener 16-3, and captured the second game 14-9. The Tigers improved to 11-4 and 5-2 SCAC, while the Pirates dropped to 3-16 and 0-7 SCAC. The two teams will conclude their weekend series at 1 p.m. Sunday, in a single game. Trinity and Southwestern will play a two-game series April 2-3 at E.M. Stevens Field.

In the seven-inning first game, the Tigers jumped out to an 11-1 lead, with five runs in the first inning and six in the third. Sophomore designated hitter Nick Pappas hit a lead-off home run to left-center field in the third inning, his third homer of the season. Junior outfielder Dylan Early registered his fourth home run of the campaign, a three-run shot down the right-field line.

Junior outfielder Kevin Calbick of Burnaby, British Columbia (Burnaby South), hit 3-3 with two RBIs, a double, and three runs. Junior catcher Kyle Felix of Woodside, Calif. (Bellarmine Prep), batted 3-5 with two RBIs, two doubles, and scored one run. First-year shortstop Jonathan Hall of Kenilworth, Ill. (New Trier), hit 2-5 with three RBIs and one run. Early, from Santa Monica, Calif. (Santa Monica), hit 2-5 with four RBIs and a run. Pappas, from Los Angeles (Loyola),  went 1-3 with an RBI and two runs.

The Tigers scored 16 earned runs, swatted 19 hits, made no errors, and left nine players on base.

Junior right-hander Noah Solomon was the starter and was credited with the victory. Solomon, from Austin, Texas (Anderson), remained undefeated at 3-0. He pitched five innings, and allowed two earned runs, three hits, three walks, and struck out five Pirates players.

Southwestern scored three earned runs, collected four hits, made one error, and left eight players on base.

The second game was tied at 3-3 after three innings, when the Pirates added a run in the fourth. Trinity responded with three runs in the fifth inning, keyed by a two-RBI single by junior second baseman Dominick Robusto. The Tigers produced two more runs in the sixth, and two in the seventh, for a 10-5 lead. The Pirates closed the gap with a four-run seventh inning. Trinity responded with four runs in the eighth. Pappas cracked an RBI-double to center field.

Robusto, from Laguna Beach, Calif. (Laguna Beach), batted 2-5 with three RBIs, and one run. Pappas hit 2-6 with two RBIs and two runs. Hall went 3-5 with two RBIs.

First-year left-hander Ryan Lucero of Aurora, Colo. (Grandview), entered the game in the fourth inning, and took the win. Lucero (1-0) allowed three earned runs, five hits, one walk and struck out two batters. Senior right-hander Michael Hunter of Corpus Christi, Texas (King), hurled the final three innings and picked up his first save of the season. Hunter did not yield an earned run, allowed two hits, one walk, and fanned four batters.

Trinity scored 12 earned runs, amassed 16 hits, made one error, and left 10 players on base. Southwestern scored seven earned runs, collected 16 hits, committed one error, and left 10 batters on base.