Baseball
 

March 17, 2007

Trinity Holds Off Pesky Hendrix for Fourth Straight Win

San Antonio - Trinity's baseball team won its fourth straight game with a 5-4 win over Hendrix College on Saturday afternoon, completing a Saturday afternoon doubleheader.

Trinity (9-9, 3-0) scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and propel the team to the win.  Second baseman Jeremy Bays hammered his third consecutive RBI single to drive home the winning run with two outs in the inning.

Andreas Verrios opened the inning with a leadoff double over leftfielder Kirk Kimery's head, then advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out.  Hendrix relief pitcher Wheeler Gnat induced a ground out to third for the second out, then ran the count full to Bays.  Bays then hit the payoff pitch back up the middle to score Verrios and win the game.

Bays finished 3-5 with three RBI in the game, while Jordan Pennington and Evan Jones both finished 2-4 for the Tigers.  Pennington hit a double for the second straight game, while Jones added one run and one RBI.  Jones also extended his hitting streak to seven games.

Verrios finished 2-2 with three runs scored, reaching base four times for the Tigers.  The two hits marked the fifth time Verrios has had a multi-hit game this season.

Starting pitcher Ryan Hopkins went 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits, but didn't factor in the decision.  Ryan Poffenroth (3-3) earned the win with 3.2 innings pitched to close the game, giving up two unearned runs on three hits and striking out three - including the final hitter of the game.

Trinity broke a scoreless tie with a run in the fifth, but Hendrix took the lead for the first time in this series with a two-run sixth inning that chased Hopkins from the game.  The Tigers answered again, this time with a three-run inning to take a 4-2 lead heading into the seventh inning. 

The Warriors managed two unearned runs on a dropped fly ball with two outs - a curious event when compared to the same situation for Trinity.  The Tigers added two runs to go ahead on a dropped fly with two outs in the sixth.  The runs by Hendrix set up the game-winner for Bays.

Nathan Hill had three hits for Hendrix, while Nathan Skeen was 2-3 with two RBI.  Matt Giza also collected two hits, while Ricky Whitfield scored two runs.  Starter Dave Keine gave up just three runs - two earned - on six hits through 5.1 innings and struck out five.  Gnat (3-2) took the loss for the Warriors, giving up two runs on three hits in the final 3.2 innings.

Trinity and Hendrix will conclude this four game series in conference play tomorrow at noon.  The teams will play a single, nine-inning game to finish the SCAC-opening weekend for both teams.