CLEBURNE, Texas – The Trinity baseball team won its 13th overall Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship by defeating Texas Lutheran University 13-6 in Sunday's SCAC Tournament Final at The Depot at Cleburne Station.
The Tigers won the tournament for the first time since 2019, which also ended with a win over the Bulldogs. Trinity and Texas Lutheran have met in the SCAC Championship game in three of the last four conference tournaments. Trinity improved to 28-14 with the win, while Texas Lutheran falls to 29-15 this season.
Cristian Holloway (Brownsville, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and Jack Peterson (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) both went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in seven runs between the two of them. Holloway collected four RBI in the game – three of which came on a sixth-inning home run. Peterson also homered for the second straight game, adding a double and a triple to go with three runs scored and three RBI.
Harrison Durow (Dallas, Texas / Lovejoy) evened his season record to 3-3 with win for the Tigers, allowing four runs over six innings, though just two of the runs were earned. He also struck out five batters before giving way to Joseph Chavana (Laredo, Texas / Alexander), who finished off the final three innings to earn his first save of the season.
Jack Baker (Sugar Land, Texas / Ridge Point) contributed two hits and three RBI in the game, while Ezra Gore (Dallas, Texas / McKinney North), Tyler Pettit (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock), and Michael Montrezza (Los Gatos, Calif. / Leigh) all scored two runs. Montrezza also had two hits, while Ty Preston (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) finished with two hits and two RBI.
With the victory, Trinity will collect the SCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The NCAA will announce regional playoff sites and matchups in just over a week.
The Rundown
Today's championship game started off as a track meet, with both teams scoring two runs in the first inning of play. The Bulldogs put together three hits in the inning, but it was an error by Trinity that proved to be the most damaging as both TLU runs were unearned. Trinity had just two hits in the bottom of the inning, which was an infield hit by Gore in the leadoff spot. Pettit drove in Gore on a ground ball to short two batters later, then Pettit came around to score on the first hit of the day for Holloway.
Despite scoring another run in the top of the second to take a 3-2 lead, Texas Lutheran also missed a chance at an even bigger inning. After getting three hits in the first four batters to score the run, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with just one out. Durow locked in and got an infield pop-up and a strikeout to limit the damage to just one run. Montrezza led off the bottom of the second with a hit, then Peterson drove a triple into the gap in left-center to tie the game. Baker put Trinity up 4-3 with a two-out RBI single two batters later.
After Texas Lutheran tied things up with a run in the top of the third, Trinity was held scoreless for the first time in the game thanks to a double play turned by the Bulldogs. The Tiger defense returned the favor in the TLU fourth that kept the game tied at the time.
Trinity loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the fourth, with Montrezza and Peterson both collecting hits, and Gore getting hit by a pitch. Baker broke the tie once again with a two-run single to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead. Preston drove in another run to finish off the inning that turned out to be all the runs the Trinity pitchers would need.
Durow settled in and retired the Bulldogs in order in the fifth and sixth, then Trinity's offense really blew the game open in the bottom of the sixth. Preston drove in another run to start the scoring, then Holloway slammed a home run to center field to give the Tigers an 11-4 advantage.
Chavana came in the game to start the seventh and pitched around a one-out walk by inducing the second double play of the game for the Tiger defense. Colt Harris (Katy, Texas / Houston Christian) drew a leadoff walk after the seventh-inning stretch and Peterson drove the third pitch he saw over the wall in right field to make it a 13-4 game.
After getting two hits in the first three batters of the eighth, Texas Lutheran lined into its third double play of the game to end the inning without making a dent in the nine-run deficit. The Bulldogs did pick up a two-run homer in the ninth, but the Tiger lead was too much to overcome.
Up Next
Trinity will make its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Playoffs after earning the SCAC's automatic bid to the postseason. The NCAA Selection Show will take place at ncaa.com on Monday, May 15.