ALPINE, Texas - Eight shutout innings from Sul Ross pitching helped lead to an 11-4 win over previously undefeated #1 Trinity on Friday night at Kokernot Field.
The Tigers got going in the first inning with four earned off starter
Sam Russell.
Sully got on the board in the bottom of the first on
Carsen Thor's solo shot, his third of the year, to trail 4-1.
Jared Lorenz then singled before
Adrian Munoz walked. They both moved up a base on a passed ball that setup an RBI single by
Richard Bailey for a 4-2 score. Bailey moved to second and Munoz scored on a throwing error after the single.
Jorge Marquez then reached on a fielding error by the second baseman that allowed Bailey to score. After Marquez stole second,
Jett Hartley singled him home for a 5-4 lead heading to the second.
Pitching for the Lobos settled down from there with Russell blanking the Tigers in the second through fourth innings.
Isaac Aleman singled home
Jalen Benton in the bottom of the fourth for a 6-4 lead.
Russell took the mound again and continued to pitch strong with shutout fifth and fix innings.
The offense came up big again in the bottom of the sixth when Thor reached on an error by the shortstop that scored Benton for a 7-4 lead.
Russell came back out for the seventh and faced one batter. He got him a pop-up and finished the outing going 6.1 innings on three hits and four earned. He walked seven with six strikeouts.
Izaak Lujan entered the game in relief and faced one batter, inducing a line-out to short for out number two of the seventh.
Isaiah Moya relieved Lujan and walked the bases loaded. He was able to settle down and get the next batter on a fielder's choice to end the inning and keep the 7-4 lead intact.
Ashton Leech singled in the bottom of the seventh to bring in Marquez for an 8-4 lead.
Thor stepped in three batters later and cleared the bases on a three-run triple for an 11-4 lead heading to the eighth.
Moya gave up a hit and walked one in the top of the eighth but avoided any damage for another shutout inning.
Justin Holt relieved Moya after 1.1 innings of work. The righty gave up a leadoff single before getting the next batter to pop-up to left. Another single off Holt made it first and second with one away. Holt buckled down and got the next batter to line into a 5-4 double play to hand #1 Trinity its first loss of the season by an 11-4 score.
Thor finished 2-for-5 with four runs batted in and a run scored.
Benton, Aleman, and Marquez each had two of the 12 hits on the night for Lobos.
Benton, Marquez, and Leech each scored twice.
Pitching did walk 11, but Sully's defense was solid with no errors for the game.
Russell picked up the win to move to 2-1 on the season.
Sully improved to 4-5 on the year and remains 1-5 in conference. The Tigers fell to 7-1.
The Lobos continue their series against Trinity this afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch at Kokernot Field.
