Baseball
 

April 25, 2009

Trinity Rebounds With Shutout Win Over Centre

Jackson, Mississippi - The Trinity Tigers are headed to their 14^th SCAC Championship game.

Trinity (24-20), the defending conference champion, will take on Hendrix at noon Sunday at Smith-Wills Stadium. If the once-beaten Tigers are victorious, a second game will become necessary, at about 3:30 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

The Tigers started Saturday with a 9-7 loss to Hendrix, which is undefeated in the tournament. The Warriors have been the giant killers, knocking off DePauw and the host Millsaps Majors. But Trinity has been pretty brutal itself, as the Tigers shut out the Centre College Colonels 16-0 in Saturday’s second game (run rule). Trinity previously beat Rhodes 11-3 and Centre 14-4.

At stake on Sunday will be the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.

The Tigers made their case on Saturday against Centre, by scoring 16 runs on 11 hits, with no errors over seven innings. Centre, which scattered six hits, made two errors.

Trinity’s pitcher of record was right-hander Ben Klimesh (1-6) who hurled for six innings. Klimesh allowed five hits, one walk and fanned five batters.

Offensively, second baseman Jeff Claydon might take the prize. Claydon batted 2-3 with four RBIs, a double, two walks and three runs. Another contender could be designated hitter Kyle Felix, who hit 2-5 with three RBIs, two doubles and two runs.

But, first baseman Evan Jones would definitely have to be considered. Jones batted 1-2 with two RBIs, two walks and two runs. What distinguishes Jones is the fact that he tied the tournament hits record, picking up his 12^th of the event.