PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – Making their home debut on Tuesday, Trinity Baseball would pick up a split with the visiting Aquinas (Mich.) Saints in a pair of one-run games at the Schaaf Athletics Complex.
The Trolls would drop the opener 4-3 in a seven-inning affair, before rebounding in game two for a 10-9 victory through seven and a half innings, before the day was ended due to darkness.
Trinity would start the day with a run in their first trip to the plate, as Casey Folkerts led the bottom of the 1st off with a single, then later scored on an Aquinas throwing error. The Saints would come back with two runs in the top of the 2nd before Shane Jones tied the game with a solo shot in the 4th, for his first career home run as a Troll.
A leadoff double for Aquinas in the top of the 7th would set the table for the winning run as the Saints took a one-run lead. Trinity would load the bases with one out in the bottom of the 7th but were unable to push across the tying run in the first game of the day.
Aquinas looked poised for the sweep, after jumping out to an 8-0 lead midway through the fourth inning. Trinity started to rally in the bottom half of the frame, beginning with Brian Huttner's three-run home run. Two more runs would cross the plate in the 4th, when Zach Hesse scored on a throwing error, and Folkerts drove in a run on an RBI single.
Trinity would tie the game in the 5th with three more runs, beginning with Carter Chaney's leadoff walk and stolen base, allowing Hector Mendoza to drive in the run with a single up the middle. Anthony Cappelletti drove in two more with a two-out double to center, evening the score at 8-8.
The visitors would reclaim the lead with a run in the top of the 6th, but Huttner's leadoff double in the bottom of the 7th set the table for the Trolls to move back in front. An Aquinas error allowed pinch runner Kienon Eirhart to score and tie the game, and two batters later Cappelletti's bunt laid down the first-base line allowed Zach Hesse to score the winning run from third.
Trinity will look to keep the momentum rolling into the weekend, when they travel to Henderson, Tenn. for a four-game series with Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) beginning on Friday, February 28.
