Baseball
 

April 23, 2009

Tigers Open SCAC Tournament With Win Over Rhodes

Jackson, Mississippi - The defending champion Trinity University Tigers came from behind to beat the Rhodes College Lynx 11-3 Thursday in the opening day of the SCAC Baseball Championship tournament at Smith-Wills Stadium.

Trinity (22-19), seeded No. 2 in the West Division, will take on the winner of host Millsaps (No. 1 West) and Centre (No. 3 East) at 7 p.m. Friday. The six-team, double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday. Rhodes (25-15), No. 2 in the East, plays DePauw on Friday. Hendrix (No. 3 West) upset DePauw (No. 1 East) 10-7.

The Lynx took an early lead with three runs in the second inning. But Trinity scored two runs in the top of the third and never looked back. The runs came courtesy of senior shortstop Stosh Hoover, who cracked his sixth homer of the season. Hoover batted 2-6 with two RBIs and scored two runs.

Trinity added three runs in the fifth inning, starting with an RBI triple by junior first baseman Evan Jones. Senior catcher Steven Ramos hit an RBI single and later scored on an error by the Rhodes’ pitcher. Jones batted 3-4 with and RBI and two runs. Ramos hit 3-5 with an RBI and two runs.

The flood gates opened in the sixth inning, as the Tigers produced six runs. Sophomore designated hitter Kyle Felix singled to center field for two RBIs. Senior second baseman Jeff Claydon singled up the middle for two RBIs, and sophomore right fielder Dylan Early accounted for two runs, with a double to right center.

Felix batted 3-5 with two RBIs and one run, Claydon went 2-5 with two RBIs and a run, and Early hit 2-5 with two RBIs. Senior left fielder Jordan Pennington went 3-5 and scored a pair of runs.

Senior left-hander Evan Bronson was the starter, and pitched for four innings. Bronson allowed three runs, seven hits, one walk and struck out one Lynx player. Sophomore right-hander Mike Panozzo entered the game in fifth inning and picked up the victory. Panozzo (7-1), who hurled for three innings, gave up only one hit in the process, while gaining a strikeout.

Trinity scored 11 runs, exploded for 21 hits and committed one error. Rhodes scored three runs, on nine hits, and made one error. The Tigers left 10 players on base and the Lynx stranded four.