Baseball Swept By Trinity In Non-League Florida Twinbill

Leesburg, FL --- Highlighted by a pair of solid pitching performances by Trinity senior Sean Meekins (Rockville Centre, NY) and sophomore Chris Speer (Westport, CT), the Bantams defeated Worcester State, 6-1 and 7-1, on Sunday afternoon at Pat Thomas Stadium.

The Lancers (1-4) started off the double header by going on the board first. Senior Zach George (Attleboro, MA) doubled to down the left field line to lead off the contest before sophomore Adam Barry (Auburn, MA/Holy Name) rapped out an RBI single to right center.

With the bases juiced and one out, the Blue and Gold looked poised to add to their 1-0 advantage, but Meekins bore down and got out of trouble with a pair of strikeouts.

Trinity (3-0) went on to score five times in the bottom of the second by taking advantage of a couple of miscues by the Worcester State defense to go up 5-1.

Sophomore starter Zach Zona (Worcester, MA/Worcester Tech) did retire nine of the next 11 batters he saw from the third through the fifth before he was touched up for one more run in the sixth.

Meekins (1-0) was dominant in his season debut for the Bantams. He scattered eight hits, permitted one earned run and he fanned 11 while issuing no free passes.

Zona (0-1) went the distance hurling six complete frames as he gave up six runs (two earned) to go with one walk and five punch outs.

Senior David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA) was the lone multi-hitter for the Lancers with a pair of singles.

In the second contest, George had a déjà vu moment and he led off the top of the first with a double. George then scampered home on a run producing ground out by Ruggiero to help give WSU the 1-0 edge.

But Trinity got to senior Jared Kuzio (Franklin, MA) as he surrendered three runs in the top of the second. The Bantams tacked on two more scores in the fourth to take over the 5-1 margin and never looked back.

The Lancers had trouble solving Speer who set down 18 of the 22 batters he faced from the second frame on and the Blue and Gold left three in scoring position. Speer (1-0) gave up five hits and the lone earned run while he rung up four on strikes over his seven frames.

Kuzio (0-1) yielded five earned runs on 11 hits over his six innings of work. He also struck out one and walked one batter.

Ruggiero, who has a hit in all four Florida contests, chipped in with two more hits in the nightcap and George went 2-for-3.

The Lancers will look to get back on the winning track on Tuesday with a double-header against nationally-ranked Southern Maine at the Lake Myrtle Complex (3 PM). Trinity takes on Calvin in another twin bill starting at 3 o'clock on Monday.