JOLIET, Ill. & PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. -- The Trinity Christian College baseball team had a four-game series against the University of St. Francis (Ill.) with the Fighting Saints taking the first two in Joliet then won the Trolls won the first game in Palos Heights before the second one was halted in the first inning due to snow.
GAME 1: St. Francis (Ill.) 11, Trinity Christian 4
St. Francis (Ill.) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Trinity Christian answered in the third when
Shane Jones scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1.
The Saints responded in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run home run to right field, taking a 4-1 lead. TCC got one run back in the fourth after Zach Hesse hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Jayden Hamilton from third.
USF broke the game open in the fifth, scoring five runs in the inning to extend its lead to 10-2. Hesse continued his big day with a two-run single up the middle, bringing home Hamilton and Hector Mendoza to make it 10-4.
The Saints added another run in the bottom of the sixth as USF went on to win the first game 11-4.
GAME 2: St. Francis (Ill.) 11, Trinity Christian 7
This time it was Trinity Christian striking first in the second game after scoring two runs in the second inning.
Benson Holleman brought home
Brodie Mayberry with an RBI double, and
Taiki Kondo followed with an RBI single to score Holleman and make it 2-0.
The Fighting Saints responded in the bottom of the second with a three-run inning to take a 3-2 lead. The Trolls answered in the third, scoring four runs to regain a 6-3 advantage.
Shane Jones, Ty Chaney Jr. and Mayberry each recorded RBI singles, and Mayberry later scored after Holleman reached on a USF error. The Fighting Saints responded again in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs to reclaim a 7-6 lead.
USF continued to add on with four more runs — two in the fourth, one in the sixth and one in the seventh — to extend the lead to 11-6. Caden Quigg later scored on a double-play ball to cut the deficit to 11-7, but that would be the final score.
Trinity Christian jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Brodie Mayberry drove in Jayden Hamilton with an RBI single. The Fighting Saints answered with a run in both the second and fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead.
The Trolls broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six runs in the inning to take a 7-2 advantage. Taiki Kondo started the rally with a two-run double down the left-field line, bringing home Mario Jiminez and Ty Chaney Jr.
Hamilton followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Benson Holleman. Josh Pilgrim, Mayberry and Hector Mendoza then recorded three straight RBI singles to cap the scoring in the frame.
TCC added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead to 11-2. Mayberry, Mendoza and Jiminez each recorded RBI singles in the inning, and Chaney later reached on a USF fielding error that allowed Caden Moden to score.
The Saints responded with two runs in the top of the ninth, but that would be all as the Trolls secured an 11-4 victory. Silas Noe (3-1) earned the win on the mound after tossing eight strong innings, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned) while walking one and striking out six.
GAME 4: St. Francis (Ill.) 1, Trinity Christian 0 (1st Inning, Halted Due to Snow
St. Francis scored the first run of the contest in the first inning then they called off the contest after the snow picked up. Makeup date to be announced.
UP NEXT
Trinity Christian will be back in action for a doubleheader against Olivet Nazarene at the Schaaf Athletic Complex on Wednesday, March 18 starting at noon CT.
