SAN ANTONIO – Fourth-ranked Trinity swept a doubleheader from the Southwestern University baseball team Saturday to open Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play. The Tigers won the opener by a score of 9-2 and held off the Pirates in the nightcap, 7-5.
Ethan Luna led Southwestern (4-15, 0-2 SCAC) with five hits, including a double and a home run, to go along with four RBIs in the two contests.
The two teams will close out the three-game set at 2 p.m. Sunday.
GAME ONE
Jacob Kendra held Trinity (16-3, 2-0 SCAC) scoreless through the first four innings of the game.
However, the Tigers sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth and scored six times to take control of the contest.
The Pirates, who were limited to only four hits in the opening tilt, scored their first run in the sixth.
Colten Shea reached after he was hit by a pitch to start the panel. Four batters later, Shea scored on a sacrifice fly to left field off the bat of Clayton Sparks.
Trinity answered in the bottom of the stanza with a solo home run from Drew Butler.
Southwestern scored its only other run in the seventh, as Cole Kelly grounded out and drove in Austyn Laird, who reached on a leadoff double.
The Tigers added two more tallies in the eighth to cap the scoring on Colin Serkowski's two-run double.
Troy Nelson (3-0) worked seven innings and gave up two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts to earn the win.
Kendra (1-2) allowed five runs on seven hits and was saddled with the loss.
GAME TWO
The Pirates outhit Trinity in the nightcap, 10-8, but was unable to overcome a pair of three-run innings and fell for the second straight game.
Will Cates led off the contest with a triple and then was driven in on Ethan Luna's two-run homer to left field, which gave Southwestern a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers picked up a run in the bottom of the first and then scored three times in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.
The Pirates again were able to put something together in the fifth, scoring twice to pull within a run.
Shea led off the panel with a bunt and advanced to third as Cates followed with a double to the right-center field gap. Following a pitching changed, Ben Little produced a sacrifice fly that pushed both runners up and Shea across the plate. Luna then grounded out, allowing Cates to score.
In the sixth, Trinity struck for three more runs, including two on Andrew Waters' single through the middle of the infield.
Southwestern managed only one more run, as Luna drove in Cates in the seventh on a single.
Cates and Luna ended the game with three hits apiece. Luna also drove in four runs.
Sean Cubley (2-0) picked up the win in relief after tossing two innings and allowing one run on two hits. Chris Tate earned his second save of the year after hurling three scoreless frames.
Hayden Holley (0-3) was handed the loss, as the left-hander worked 1.2 innings out of the bullpen and gave up two runs on one hit.
– SOUTHWESTERN –