HOOVER, Ala. — Baseball is back in full swing this weekend after a postponed initial opening weekend seven days ago. The Trojans hit the road early Thursday morning for a road trip to the Cotton State where they faced the Lancers of Grace College in the first of two scheduled doubleheaders. After some unexpected weather, Saturday's first game was moved to early morning and the second marked as a rain out.

Game One: TIU 1, Grace 2
At the Trojan's first bat of the season, freshman Jonathan Kumai connected for his first collegiate hit with a line drive to center field. Sophomore hurler Max Amendt took the mound for the Trojans as they sent two of three batters back to the dugout before a short bout of pitching miscues gave the Lancers the go ahead run.

A scoreless second inning with just seven batters put the Trojans at the plate again. Staring at two outs, senior Julian Torres stood firm and took a walk to bring Kumai to the plate a second time. Kumai collected the single as Torres advanced to third base. An error on a ground ball by Lazaris gave the Trojans their first run of the game.

It was three up and three down for Trinity in the fourth inning while Grace collected a single in their four chances at the plate.

Sophomore outfielder Brady Popovich smacked his first hit of the season with a hard ground ball to left field, but was later caught stealing. In the bottom of the fifth inning the Trojan defense sharpened with a ground out to second baseman Alfonso Gomez then a fly out to Torres in left field. Popovich caught the fly ball to center field to send the Lancers back to the dugout and Trinity to the plate.

In the sixth inning sophomore Michael Zelko took over at the mound. Redshirt sophomore Ethan Oskroba grabbed the lone hit with a single to right field.

Trying to break the tie, the Trojans took what would be their last at bat as they sent three to the plate. Senior Jimmy Cisneros, Gomez, and Popovich each made contact but the Lancers defense held firm with the stops at each instance.

Zelko took the loss for TIU as he went one and one-third innings with Amendt getting the start and five innings. Kumai led the Trojans offense with two hits in three at bats.

Game Two: TIU 2, Grace 3
Until the third inning the game remained scoreless with Brady Popovich on the mound to start. Strong pitching from the Lancers kept Trinity to minimal batters while the Hoosier state opponents managed to land back to back hits with and score the first run. The Trojans caught two fly outs to end the inning.

With two outs, veteran Blake Lazaris took the plate in the fourth looking for a record breaking hit but was sent walking to first. Ethan Oskroba followed with a ground out to shortstop.

At the top of the fifth inning the Trojans connected with two hits to even the reckoning. Freshman Riley Murphy set up the play with a line drive to center field to get on base before sophomore Alfonso Gomez hit his second career double to send Murphy around the bags. Solidifying on defense, the Trojans held Grace to their first three batter inning in the bottom of the fifth as Popovich recorded two strikeouts and Julius Torres secured the pop out.

The sixth and seventh innings went scoreless again as Popovich worked to keep the Lancers attack in check and force extra innings.

Returning to the plate, the Trojans caught a stroke of luck as Torres reached first on an error. Next at bat, freshman short stop Jonathan Kumai hit a line drive double to left field as Torres made the run home to take the go ahead run. The Lancers took the offensive again after securing the next pop out. After opening the bottom of the eighth with a single and a walk, the Lancers smashed a triple to center field to tie the score once again. A walk-off single ended the doubleheader as Grace took the second outing.

Brady Popovich took the loss for Trinity and recorded six strikouts in seven and a third innings. The Trojans played a perfect game on defense, with no errors in the eight frames, led by freshman Julius Torres with six putouts and an assist.

Game Three: TIU 2, Grace 3
Saturday was originally slated for a doubleheader before rain moved into Hoover and forced an early start before the conditions became unplayable. Sophomore pitcher Michael Zelko took mound first for Trinity, allowing two hits and the Lancers first run in opening inning. Torres filled the lead hitter spot once more and was gifted first base before making the run home on a line drive double from Kumai.

With a total of five hits, the second through fifth innings were gone in a flash as both teams tightened their defensive measures. In the top of the fourth, the Trojans nailed a double play as the Lancers grounded to third basemen Max Amendt with a runner on first.

In the top of the sixth inning the Lancers collected two hits, garnering a two run lead over the Trojans 3-1. Taking the plate, the Trojans mirrored Grace with two hits to get freshman Addison Hickman into scoring position. Popovich grounded into a fielder's choice as Hickman advanced to third. Capitalizing on a wild pitch, Hickman scored to bring the score to 3-2 with two runners on base after Amendt walked. Unfortunately, Torres grounded into a fielder's choice and the Lancers secured the clean sweep of the weekend's battle.

Michael Zelko took the loss for Trinity, allowing six hits and two runs over six and two-thirds innings and striking out three. Trinity's offense hit its peak in the final game of the series, recording five hits. Kumai and Gomez eached claimed two while Hickman notched the fifth.


The Trojans (0-3) will return to the diamond again late next week as they travel to Arkansas for a four game series with Crowley's Ridge and Baptist Bible. They'll meet the Pioneers on Thursday, February 16 with a split doubleheader on Friday against the Patriots and the Pioneers.  

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Trinity International University is a comprehensive, national university affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America and located in Bannockburn, Illinois, 25 miles north of Chicago. TIU educates men and women to engage in God's redemptive work in the world by cultivating academic excellence, Christian faithfulness, and lifelong learning.