Appleton, Wis. – Drew Butler went 4-6 with six RBI to lead Trinity University to a 14-6 victory over Keystone College in the opening game of the best-of-three national championship series at the NCAA Division III World Series on Tuesday.  The Tigers (43-7) moved to within one game of claiming the national title with their 16^th straight win while the Giants (40-10) will need to defeat Trinity twice in a row to claim the championship. 
 
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 6:45 p.m., CST (7:45 p.m., EST) tonight at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. 
 
Keystone, who had its 13 game winning streak and suffered its first loss in 11 postseason games this spring, has not lost back-to-back games this season and last did so on April 2, 2015 when they were swept by Farmingdale State College in a non-conference doubleheader at Christy Mathewson Field in La Plume.
 
Trinity took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first game in Tuesday's opening game as Jeremy Wolf scored on a two-out double by Butler to left field.  Keystone drew level in the top of the third inning as Alex Herceg (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) led off the frame with a home run over the left field wall to tie the score up at one-apiece.  The senior's homer was his second of the season.
 
The Giants loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batsman after Herceg's bomb with two outs in the third, but were unable to push the go-ahead run across.
 
The Tigers reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning by scoring three runs on three hits and two walks to take a 4-1 advantage.  Butler and Jose Santos delivered RBI doubles before Carter McEachern drove in Trinity's fourth run with a base hit through the right side.
 
Julian Lanfranco (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) drew a leadoff walk to start the visitor's fifth, advanced to second on a passed ball, and took third on a sacrifice bunt by Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast), who reached on a fielder's choice on the play.  Chris Triano (Greenwich, CT/Rye) then smashed a one-out double to left field, driving in both Lanfranco and Reyes to cut Keystone's deficit to 4-3.  Triano moved to third on a fly out by Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva), but the Giants were unable to bring the junior home with the potential tying run.
 
Trinity responded in the bottom of the fifth as Butler connected on his third RBI double of the game to give the Tigers a 5-3 edge and the senior continued to torment the Giants in the home sixth, blooping a two-run single into left-center to push Trinity's lead to 7-3. 
 
Keystone got a run back in the top of the seventh inning when Lanfranco scored from second on a Ross single to right-center, but the Giants left a pair of runners on to trail 7-4 heading into the seventh-inning stretch.  Trinity answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame to claim a 10-4 advantage. Colin Serkowski hit a two-run single that trickled through the left side of the Giants' infield before Nick Jewett drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Tigers the six-run cushion. 
 
Trinity scored four runs in the home eighth to extend its lead to 14-4.  Connor Moore hit a sacrifice fly, Wolf hit a two-run single, and Butler drove in his sixth run of the game by reaching on a fielder's choice.
 
Joseph Santana (Union City, NJ/Juan Pablo Duarte) led off the top of the ninth inning with a single to center before Triano doubled to left-center.  Ross then drove in Santana with a base hit through the left side for Keystone's fifth run of the game before Herceg drove in Triano with a base hit to center to close out the scoring.    
 
Trinity starter Troy Nelson (6-1) went 6.1 innings and allowed four runs on three hits and five free passes while fanning six batters to pick up the win.  Kevin Flores was charged with two runs on six hits and two walks over the final 2.2 innings on the mound.
 
In addition to Butler's big day at the plate, Serkowski went 3-5 with two RBI and four runs scored, Wolf had two hits and two RBI, and McEachern added two hits and scored a pair of runs.
 
Keystone starting pitcher Felix Baez (San Juan, PR/Colegio Presbiteriano de Puerto Nuevo), pitching on just two days rest, (10-3) was charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six batters over the first five innings while suffering the loss.  The senior extended his single-season program strikeout record to 123 on the spring.   Danny O'Neill (Lake Hiawatha, NJ/St. Mary's Rutherford) was surrendered two runs on two hits and three walks in the sixth inning while Jeffrey Ledesma (Yonkers, NY/Norman Thomas) yielded three runs on two hits and two walks while picking up one K in 0.1 innings while JP Ramirez (Bronx, NY/Xavier) walked the only batter he faced. Nick Spinella (Bethel, CT/Bethel) picked up the final two outs in the seventh inning after one walk while Jack Simons (Great Falls, VA/Bullis School) surrendered four runs on two hits and two walks in the eighth inning.
 
Herceg went 3-5 with a pair of RBI while Triano and Ross had two hits and two RBI each for the Giants.  Lanfranco drew three walks and scored a pair of runs in the loss for Keystone.
 
Trinity outhit the Giants by a 14-9 margin while working 11 walks to seven free passes for Keystone.