Florence, Kentucky - A season opening road trip to the Blue Grass State was planned with warm weather in mind. A quick drop in the temperature changed that, and what started as a three game trip to take on Thomas More University (6-3) turned into just two games because of the cold weather. Trinity Christian College (0-2) dropped both games against the Saints, falling 14-11 on Friday and 13-0 on Saturday. 

Despite the loss, sophomore Oliver Carmody was a problem for Thomas More pitchers. He went 3-4 scoring four runs and driving in one run on Friday, then came back and had the only hit for the Trolls on Saturday, going 1-3. 

Friday, Feb. 18 - L, 14-11

The Trolls didn't forget their bats. Trinity Christian College lost the game, but outhit Thomas More 15-14 in the season opener. Senior Jordan Cruz opened the year on the mound and gave the Trolls a nice lift. He tossed five innings allowing four earned runs and six runs total. He struck out three batters. After the Trolls scored three runs in the first inning, Thomas More did all their damage off Cruz in the second frame. They scored six times while taking advantage of a costly Troll error. 

Trinity Christian College tied the score at six in the third inning after scoring three runs. Junior Hunter Slaats drove in one run with a basehit in the inning.

In the eighth inning, with Thomas More leading 11-7, Trinity Christian scored four runs to tie the game. Carmody singled home one of the runs and Trinity took advantage of one of the five Saints errors on the day. The Trolls couldn't hold back the Saints for long though. They scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning. Trinity brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, but couldn't score and fell, 14-11.

Saturday, Feb. 19 - L, 13-0

On day two, it was all Thomas More thanks to sophomore starting pitcher Landen Scott. He tossed a complete game (7 innings) and limited the Trolls to only one hit. Carmody broke up the no-hitter with a single in the sixth inning. Thomas More took advantage of four Trinity errors and jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two frames.

NOTES & NUMBERS:

• After hitting .346 last season, Carmody is off to a great start in 2022. He had 14 multi-hit games last year.
• Senior Nick Andersen went 2-4 with three RBIs on Friday. 
• Junior Hunter Slaats went 2-5 with an RBI on Friday. 
• Junior Matt Ostrowski made his Trolls debut with one inning out of the bullpen on Friday. He allowed only one run.

UP NEXT: The Trolls will head back on the road next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25 & 26. It will be four games against Grace College (5-7) in Kokomo, Ind. First pitch on Friday the 25th will be at 12 p.m. CST.