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TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (3-11, 0-2 CCAC vs. CALUMET ST. JOSEPH CRIMSON WAVE (5-16-1, 0-3 CCAC)
Tuesday, April 1 | 1:00 p.m. (Doubleheader)
Oil City Stadium | Wheeling, Ill.
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TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (3-11, 0-2 CCAC) at ST. XAVIER COUGARS (6-15, 0-1 CCAC)
Friday, April 4 | 3:30 p.m.
Ferrell Memorial Field | Chicago, Ill.
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TRINITY INTERNATIONAL TROJANS (3-11, 0-2 CCAC) vs. ST. XAVIER COUGARS (6-15, 0-1 CCAC)
Saturday, April 5 | 1:00 p.m. (Doubleheader)
TIU Baseball Field | Deerfield, Ill.
Game Notes | Twitter Updates: @TIUTrojans | @CCSJAthletics | @gosxucougars
Season Stats: Trinity International | Calumet St. Joseph | St. Xavier
This Week
After missing last weekend's series with Cardinal Stritch thanks to the wet weather, the Trinity International Trojans are set for a busy week, playing five games over five days, in three different parks. TIU will first play as the home team against Calumet St. Joseph on Tuesday, although the doubleheader takes place in the Crimson Wave's home stadium. The Trojans then kick off a three-game series with St. Xavier on Friday, placing a single game against the Cougars on Friday, followed by a doubleheader that kicks off the 2014 home schedule for TIU. Saturday's twinbill will have live stats available, and can be found at TIUTrojans.com
Last Time Out  Â
The Trojans kicked off conference play with a pair of tough losses last Saturday, falling to the St. Francis Fighting Saints 3-1 in game one, and 5-2 in game two. Junior center fielder Cameron Stanley (JR/La Mirada, Calif.) had the strongest day at the plate for the Trojans, going a combined 3-for-7 while driving in an RBI in both games. TIU was held to just two hits in the first contest, but the offense got into a rhythm by the second, collecting seven. St. Francis struck first with a pair of runs in the second inning, when the Saints combined for four singles in the frame.
In the opener, sophomore Dakota Pisarek (SO/Chicago, Ill.) pitched six strong innings, allowing just three runs on six hits. A.J. Bruner (SO/Evansville, Ind.) took the mound for game two, where he also pitched six solid innings while giving up three runs. St. Francis managed a single score in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to slowly build a 3-0 advantage in the nine-inning affair.
National Leaderboard  Â
Trinity International has proven to be one of the more aggressive baserunning teams in the NAIA this season. TIU ranks 22nd nationally, with 2.3 stolen bases per game, and 35th with an average of 2.6 stolen base attempts per game in the early season. Both averages dipped slightly after the series at St. Francis, where the Trojans went 2-for-2 on stolen bases over both games. TIU has swiped 32 bags through their first 14 games, and have been caught stealing just four times, for an 88.9% success rate.
Individually, Tony Guidone (JR/Chicago, Ill.) leads the team with eight stolen bases on the year. The junior is tied for 8th in the CCAC, while Guidone also currently sits 42nd in the NAIA with 0.57 stolen bases per game.  Â
In the field, three Trojans (Guidone, catcher Rafael Mendez (SR/Santo Domingo, D.R.), and pitcher/outfielder Dakota Pisarek) currently hold a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, tied atop the NAIA leaderboard.
The TIU pitchers also make appearances among the NAIA's league leaders. Pisarek ranks 7th with just three walks allowed on the year, while sophomore A.J. Bruner is 13th with just four free passes given out. Pisarek's BB/9 average of 1.21 is ranked 33rd nationally.
New Skipper  Â
Head coach Paul Grotelueschen begins his first season in charge of the Trojan baseball program, after two seasons as the TIU pitching coach. Coach Grotelueschen came to Deerfield after 23 years of service in the United States Air Force. Before his military career, Grotelueschen played professional overseas, and then coached his teams to a pair of championships in both the Netherlands and Italy.
Scouting the Opponents  Â
Calumet St. Joseph
• The Crimson Wave have started the year with a 5-16 record, and enter play this week on a four-game losing streak after being swept in a three-game series with St. Francis over the weekend.
• Sophomore outfielder Mikyl Flemming is the team's leading hitter, with a .245 batting average, and has driven in a team-high eight RBI.
• Calumet pitchers have posted a 7.24 ERA this season, good for 11th in the CCAC, while their .304 opponents' batting average is 10th-best in the conference. Sophomore Enrique Zemora has a 3.72 ERA through 29 innings pitched, and has posted a 2-3 record after five starts this year.
• The Crimson Wave leads the series over the Trojans, 11-6, dating back to 2006.
Trojans vs. the CCACÂ Â Â
• The doubleheader with St. Francis two weeks ago marked the opening of conference play for TIU, which consists of a 26-game schedule around the league. The Trojans dropped both games to the Saints, and have started with an 0-2 mark in league action.
• TIU finished with a 5-20 record in the CCAC last year, finishing 12th of 13 programs.
• The Trojans will look to end an eight-game slide in conference play that dates back to last season.
• With one non-conference game remaining on the schedule (Concordia-Wisconsin, Apr. 8), TIU matched their non-conference record from a year ago, finishing 3-9 against teams outside the CCAC.
St. Xavier
• The Cougars are 6-15 at this point in the season, with a 1-2 mark in CCAC play. Last weekend, SXU dropped two of three to Judson and come into play this week on a two game slide.
• Senior Chris Klein leads the team with a .381 batting average, and has stolen a team-leading seven bases. As a pitcher, Klein also has 28 strikeouts on the year to lead SXU.
• Senior Scott Vachon has posted a 3.66 ERA through 32 innings on the year.Â
• St. Xavier leads the series over TIU 13-5, dating back to 2006. The Trojans' last win over the Cougars came in a doubleheader sweep in 2011.
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Last Season vs. the Crimson Wave & Cougars  Â
• The Trojans split a doubleheader with Calumet St. Joseph last season, but were swept in a twinbill on the road to St. Xavier
• Brendan Curletta pitched a 7-inning complete game, allowing just one earned run on five hits in a 7-2 win over the Crimson Wave.
• Andrew Grotelueschen (JR/Kottweiler-Schwanden, Germany) went a combined 4-for-9 with an RBI in both games against Calumet. A.J. Bruner drove in 3 RBI on the day, while Adam Vignola (SO/Chicago, Ill.) cranked four hits in the second game.
• The Trojans held leads in both games at St. Xavier, including an 8-5 edge heading into the final inning of game two, but dropped both ends of the doubleheader, 6-4, and 9-8.
• Cameron Stanley and Nick Robinson (JR/Waukegan, Ill.) both collected five hits apiece over both games, as both Trojans went a combined 5-for-8 on the day. Stanley also drove in a pair of RBI in game two.
Ace of the Staff  Â
• Sophomore pitcher Dakota Pisarek currently leads the Trojans with a 2-1 record, picking up wins in his first two starts this season.
• Pisarek pitched six innings in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Francis last weekend, allowing three runs on six hits to record his first loss of the season. The decision also snapped a four-game winning streak for the pitcher, dating back to last season.
• The Chicago native and Gordon Tech HS grad also leads the rotation with a 4.03 ERA. Pisarek has allowed hitters a .274 average (ranking 16th in the CCAC), and has struckout 20 hitters over 22 1/3 innings (12th-most strikeouts in the CCAC).
Heavy Hitters  Â
• The Trojans currently have seven players hitting at least .300, led by Tony Guidone's .370 average.
• Among those qualified for the NAIA leaderboard (75% of games played and 2.5 plate appearances/game), Rafael Mendezleads the Trojans with a .304 average (32nd in CCAC).
• Guidone leads the team among CCAC qualifiers (50% of games played), ranking 13th in the conference. The junior also leads the team with a .469 on-base percentage.
• Sophomore A.J. Bruner has the Trojans' lone home run on the year, with the game-winning shot that earned a 4-3 win over Trinity Christian on Apr. 14. Bruner has a team-high nine RBI on the season, tied for 28th in the CCAC.
NCCAA Rankings  Â
• The Trojans' 3-11 record currently places them 53rd of 67 teams in the National Christian College Athletic Association.
• As a team, the Trojans are tied for 10th nationally, averaging 2.29 stolen bases per game (32 total)
• Scott Krawiec (SO/Chicago, Ill.) ranks 6th nationally, averaging 0.7 stolen bases per game (7 total, over 10 games).
• Tony Guidone is 16th in the nation, with 0.57 stolen bases per game (8 total, over 14 games).
Tale of the Tape  Â
|
Stat (CCAC Rank in parenthesis) |
Trinity International |
Calumet St. Joseph |
St. Xavier |
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Batting Average |
.252 (9th) |
.183 (12th) |
.260 (8th) |
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On-Base Percentage |
.329 (11th) |
.295 (12th) |
.341 (8th) |
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Slugging Percentage |
.290 (11th) |
.206 (12th) |
.334 (7th) |
|
Runs |
49 (11th) |
62 (10th) |
94 (5th) |
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Hits |
98 (10th) |
99 (9th) |
161 (4th) |
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Doubles |
8 (11th) |
6 (12th) |
29 (3rd) |
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Home Runs |
1 (T-8th) |
0 (T-11th) |
3 (3rd) |
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Strikeouts |
91 (6th) |
146 (10th) |
147 (11th) |
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Walks |
39 (10th) |
65 (6th) |
66 (5th) |
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Stolen Bases |
32 (T-5th) |
14 (10th) |
18 (8th) |
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ERA |
5.85 (10th) |
7.24 (11th) |
4.98 (8th) |
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Opp. Batting Average |
.332 (11th) |
.304 (10th) |
.286 (7th) |
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BB / 9 |
3.58 (4th) |
5.40 (12th) |
4.04 (7th) |
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K / 9 |
4.46 (12th) |
5.59 (9th) |
6.29 (6th) |
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Runs Allowed |
92 (5th) |
146 (11th) |
110 (8th) |
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Earned Runs |
67 (5th) |
114 (11th) |
84 (8th) |
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Hits Allowed |
143 (6th) |
182 (9th) |
175 (8th) |
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Home Runs Allowed |
1 (1st) |
3 (4th) |
5 (9th) |
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Complete Games |
3 (10th) |
11 (1st) |
6 (T-6th) |
