ROUND ROCK, Texas -- For the second consecutive game, first-year Will Baker slipped on the hero's cape and provided the clutch hit as eighth-ranked Trinity scored twice in the bottom of the eighth and held on for a 7-6 victory over 20th-ranked Concordia (Texas) in winner's bracket action at the 2025 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Saturday evening at Dell Diamond. Official Website l Tournament Stats l Photo Gallery
Baker, whose 11th inning walk-off double provided the winning runs in the first game of the day, drove a single to almost the same part of the ballpark (left centerfield) as his first game winning hit to score Kaleb Woodward and Maddox McDonald, who had singled and walked earlier in the inning.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams scored put up runs in the first and second innings before Trinity scored the lone run of the third to take a 3-2 lead.
- Concordia put two runs on the board in its half of the fourth only to have Trinity answer to tie the game in its half at 4-4.
- A no-doubter home run from Concordia's Colby Christian, his SCAC-leading 16th of the season, gave the Tornados a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth, but Trinity answered when Nicholas Lazzara doubled home Woodward to even the game again at 5-5.
- Concordia's Kalen Clark connected for his ninth home run of the season, a deep shot to left field, and the Tornados led again 6-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth.
- Trinity's Baker came through again as his two-out, two-run single proved to be the game winner as Wes Hellings, who had come on to get the final out of the seventh inning, shut the door in the top of the ninth and set the Tornados down in order.
TRINITY UNIVERSITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Nicholas Lazzara: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 run, 2 RBI
- Kaleb Woodward: 3-5, 3 runs
- Will Baker: 1-3, 2 RBI
- Kai Tinker: 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Maddox McDonald: 1-2, 2 runs, 1 BB
- Wes Hellings (WP): 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY (TEXAS) STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Kalen Clark: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 run 2 RBI
- Aaron Gomez: 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Zach Seigrist: 2-5, 1 run
- Colby Christian: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Logan Smith: 1-2, 2 runs, 1 BB
- Brady Staedtler (LP): 1.2 IP, 3 hits, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB
NOTABLES
- Colby Christian's 16th home run of the season places him tied for third on the all-time SCAC single-season list, trailing only the 17 from Ryan Dowdy of Southwestern (1999) and 18 from Matt Gelotti of Southwestern (1999).
- Trinity, which is trying to win its 14th SCAC Baseball Tournament title, is now 83-42 all-time in SCAC tournament games. Concordia is the 15th different team Trinity has defeated in SCAC tournament play.
- This will be the fifth time in the last six years Trinity has been one of the last two teams standing at the conference tournament and 26th time overall.
UP NEXT
Trinity (35-7) will take on the winner of tomorrow's first game between Concordia and McMurry in a game scheudled for 3:30 pm, and will only need one win to claim the conference title. Concordia (32-10) will need a two victories tomorrow (against both McMurry and Trinity) to force a decisive winner-take-all game, which would be played at Noon on Monday.
