Baseball
 

March 14, 2009

Trinity Loses Late Lead in Loss to Notre Dame

San Antonio - The Tigers fought the Fighting Irish late Saturday night, but Notre Dame prevailed with an 11-8 win at the Irish Classic played at Wolff Stadium.

Trinity, 8-13 after the game, held a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning. In the top of the sixth, designated hitter Jordan Pennington cracked his third home run of the Irish Classic, over two games, a solo shot to right field. It marked his fifth homer of the season. Pennington batted 2 for 4 with one RBI, a walk and two runs. Then, with one out, first baseman Evan Jones homered over the Wolff Stadium right field and drove in second baseman Jeff Claydon, who had drawn a walk. Jones registered his first home run of the campaign. He went 1 for 3 with three RBIs, two walks and scored two runs.

The Irish (8-5) countered in the bottom half of the inning, with five runs and six hits.

Trinity began the see-saw battle in the top of the seventh, with five runs of its own, and led 8-5. Jones walked with the bases loaded, scoring center fielder John Paillet. Left fielder Kevin Calbick singled to center field driving in Pennington. Calbick hit 2 for 4 with one RBI, one walk and scored a run. Right fielder Dylan Early drove in catcher Kyle Felix with a single to the left side. Early, who also hit his fourth doubles of the season,  was 3 for 4 with one RBI. Catcher Steven Ramos stepped up to the plate and had a two RBI single, with Calbick and Jones crossing the plate. The Tigers had five runs, on three hits and left one player on base.

Notre Dame tied the game at 8-8 with three runs, on three hits, in the bottom of the seventh.

In the eighth inning, the Irish took an 11-8 lead  - the final score - by producing three runs on three hits.

The Tigers scored eight earned runs on 10 hits, committed no errors, and left nine players on base. The Irish had 11 earned runs, 12 hits, no errors and also stranded nine batters.

Ben Klimesh started the game for the Tigers and pitched five innings. Klimesh allowed three earned runs, two hits, four walks and fanned six batters. Mike Hunter, the Tigers’ third of five pitchers, entered in the sixth inning and took the loss. Hunter now stands at 1-1.

Notre Dame’s Joe Spano was the starting pitcher and hurled 5 1/3 innings. David Mills entered in the eighth inning, allowing no runs, no hits and one walk. Mills captured his first win of the season and improved to 1-0. Center fielder A.J. Pollock batted 3 for 4 with two RBIs and scored two runs.

Illinois State beat the Tigers 11-6 last Thursday at the Irish Classic.