PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – Trinity would bounce back from a pair of losses on Friday to sweep Indiana South Bend and salvage a split with the Titans after taking two wins at the Schaaf Athletic Complex on Saturday.
Indiana South Bend 10, Trinity 0
WP: McCormick • LP: Strutz (3-4)
The Trolls opened the series with a tough time at the plate, recording four hits but getting shut out in their first matchup. Indiana South Bend would score in each of the first four innings as they coasted to a 10-0 win.
Omar Wright, Shane Jones, and Taiki Kondo would all record a base hit from the heart of the lineup, with Wright hitting a double for the team's only extra-base hit of the game.
Indiana South Bend 7, Trinity 2
WP: Parker • LP: Hadley (2-2)
Trinity would strike first in game two, when a pair of singles and a sac bunt set the table in the top of the 2nd for Benson Holleman to score on a passed ball. The Titans would tie the game at 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the 4th, before Jones' RBI double scored Anthony Cappelletti in the 5th inning to give the Trolls a 2-1 edge.
The Titans would keep Trinity off the board the rest of the way, scoring six runs over the next four innings to take the win.
Jones and Casey Folkerts would each go 2-for-4 to lead the Trolls at the plate.
Trinity 3, Indiana South Bend 0
WP: Nielsen (1-6) • LP: Cortez
The Trolls scored early in the first matchup back at home on Saturday, when Carter Chaney led off the 1st inning with a single before two batters were hit by pitches, setting up a two-run fielder's choice from Kondo. Trinity would add another run in the bottom of the 3rd on Wright's two-out RBI single, scoring Jones.
Christopher Nielsen would pick up the win by throwing a complete-game three-hitter, registering seven strikeouts on the day.
Trinity 6, Indiana South Bend 3
WP: Bettenhausen (2-1) • LP: Thomas
The Titans would take the lead in the 2nd inning, scoring three runs on two hits, while the Trolls got off to a slow start at the plate. Gunnar Bettenhausen recovered to keep the game close until the bottom of the 7th, when the Trolls would plate six runs on four hits and an error, highlighted by Hector Mendoza's two-out, two-run single to left, scoring Holleman and Zach Hesse.
Bettenhausen would pick up the win, pitching all nine innings while striking out three. Six Trolls would record a base hit in the win.
Trinity now prepares for a four-game series with Judson next weekend; the Trolls will host the Eagles from the Schaaf for a doubleheader on Friday afternoon, then head to Elgin to close out the series on Saturday.
