TIU Baseball splits with CCAC leading Judson
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 | Season StatsELGIN, Ill. -- In their final road trip of the season, the Trinity International Trojans snapped a seven-game drought with their doubleheader split with the Judson Eagles, winning the opening game 4-2, before falling in the second matchup, 11-1. The Trojans earned their first win over the defending CCAC champs and current conference leaders since the 2011 CCAC Tournament.
Trinity (11-27, 7-18 CCAC) posted all the offense they needed in the first inning; Senior catcher
Rafael Mendez got things started with a 2-run homer to left field, driving in
Cameron Stanley for an early 2-0 lead.
A.J. Bruner followed that up with a base hit, leading to pinch runner
Scott Krawiec eventually scoring on
Andrew Grotelueschen's single. On the next at-bat, Grotelueschen came all the way around from first to score on an RBI double from
Ryan Helmeid, giving the Trojans a 4-0 edge in the top of the 1st.
Bruner also had another strong day on the mound, throwing his fourth consecutive complete game, and earning his second straight win. The Evansville, Ind. native scattered seven hits while allowing just a pair of earned runs, striking out three.
Judson (36-16, 20-5 CCAC) got on the board in the third, as JU's Josh Raymond smacked a two-run home run to cut the Trojan lead in half. The Eagles would put at least one runner on base each inning going forward, but Bruner worked around every threat and escaped with just the one Judson score.
Jeff Lindberg and
Adam Vignola finished out the first game with a pair of base hits apiece. Vignola also knocked a pair of singles in the nightcap, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. The sophomore is now the second TIU player to post a hit streak of 10 games or more, and is just one game shy of
Jeff Lindberg's team-leading 11-game hit streak from earlier in the year.
The Eagles came back strong in the second game of the day, recording their first run of the game in just two at-bats, with a leadoff single followed by an RBI double. Judson then posted a four-run rally in the third, pulling ahead by a 5-0 margin.
After another run in the bottom of the sixth for the Eagles, TIU got on the board in the top of the seventh. Bruner started the rally with a leadoff single, before eventually coming home on a sacrifice fly from Helmeid, making it a 6-1 deficit.
Judson attacked again for two runs in the seventh and three runs in the eighth to end the game early on the run rule, collecting an 11-1 victory.
Trinity International will wrap up the 2014 season with their final home game of the season. The Trojans will host Trinity International in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 29, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
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