Quick Notes
 • Trinity International Baseball heads south, resuming the 2016 season at the Historic Dodgertown Invitational from March 3-11. The Trojans will play 11 games over nine days, as the team looks to improve upon this fall's 5-1 start to the season. Live stats for all 11 games will be available at TIUTrojans.com.

Last Time Out    
 • With the final appearance of the fall, Trinity International took a pair of victories in a doubleheader sweep over the Trinity Christian Trolls on Friday, October 9. The Trojans never trailed in either game, taking the first by a score of 5-2, and winning game two 8-4.
 • A.J. Bruner picked up his third win of the season, throwing a complete game in the opener and striking out five while allowed just two runs. Adam Gomski earned the win in game two, giving up just one run and no hits through four innings.
 • Trinity took their first lead in game one in the bottom of the third, following Justin VanderNaald's leadoff double down the left field line. Jon Grotelueschen drove in VanderNaald in the next at-bat with a single to right, giving the Trojans a 1-0 lead.
 • A four-run bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a two-RBI single from VanderNaald, put Trinity ahead by a 5-0 score. Trinity Christian responded with a two-out RBI single in the top of the 5th, and a leadoff home run in the top of the 6th, but Bruner shut the door in the seventh to secure the win.
 • In game two, the Trojans again moved in front after scoring in the third inning. Jeff Lindberg's leadoff bunt single set the table, as the junior then stole second to move into scoring position. Gomski's two-out single to left allowed Lindberg to come home for the first run of the game.
 • Trinity Christian put a run up on the board in the top of the 4th, after loading the bases then drawing a walk to tie it up at 1-1. The Trojans put the first three hitters on base in the fourth inning, allowing Adam Vignola to come home on Scott Krawiec's fielder's choice. A balk then brought Jon Debowey home to make it a 3-1 game.
 • Just like the first game of the day, another big inning put the Trojans comfortably in front. Five runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the fifth, including three on Josh Crist's single. Debowey and Vignola both came around to score on the play, while two errors resulted in Crist making it all the way around for another run.
 • Debowey finished a combined 5-for-6 on the day, including a 3-for-3 performance in the first game. VanderNaald, Crist, and Michael Balistreri each collected two RBI apiece.

Conference Leaders    
 • The Trojans have gotten off to a strong start at the plate, thanks to a 5-1 performance last fall. Trinity ranks 2nd in the CCAC and 16th in the NAIA with a .343 batting average. TIU also ranks 2nd in the league with a .428 team slugging percentage.
 • With 36 runs scored over six games this year, the Trojans rank 4th in the CCAC in runs, as well as in RBI.
 • On the mound, Trinity has posted a 3.73 ERA, good for 3rd in the CCAC. Opposing hitters are averaging .278, the 5th-lowest average among conference pitching staffs.
 • Five different Trojans hold a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, tied for first with a total of 494 players across the NAIA.

Top Returners    
 • Senior Adam Vignola currently leads the CCAC in batting average (.700), slugging percentage (1.100), and on-base percentage (.786).
 • Senior Jon Debowey ranks just behind Vignola in batting average and on-base percentage, at .600 and .647 respectively, good for 2nd in the CCAC in both categories.
 • Senior pitcher A.J. Bruner is tied for the league lead in wins, having picked up three victories over the fall. Bruner is also 3rd in the CCAC with 21 innings pitched, and 4th in the league in strikeouts, with 19.

Family Business    
 • Head coach Paul Grotelueschen begins his third 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.
 • Joining Grotelueschen on the TIU coaching staff is his son, Drew Grotelueschen, in his first season as a graduate assistant coach. Drew played four seasons at Trinity International as an infielder from 2012-15.
 • Senior outfielder Jon Grotelueschen is the third member of his family to play for Trinity, after Drew (2012-15) and Paul Jr. (2010-13).

Last Year in Florida     
• The Trojans posted a 1-12 record at last year's RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
• Freshman Eddie Piotrowski hit for a .417 average over 11 appearances to lead the Trojans, while sophomore Adam Gomski picked up 16 base hits to pace TIU.
• Senior Daniel Wawrzyniak was one of four players to collect ten or more innings pitched on the mound, throwing for a team-high 15.1 innings. A.J. Bruner posted the lowest ERA of that group, at 2.45.