PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – After sweeping a doubleheader over the Trolls in mid-March, the Olivet Nazarene University baseball team locked up its third consecutive series win in league play with a split at Trinity Christian Tuesday afternoon.

The Tigers rallied back from a slow start for a 7-5 win in the opener before dropping the series finale 12-2.

Trinity Christian (10-22, 6-14 CCAC) jumped on the Tigers with four runs in the first frame to put ONU in an early deficit. Jack Dupuis ignited a big third inning with an RBI double to get his team on the board. Vince Martinez then wheeled home on a wild pitch before Aden Aukland lifted a sacrifice fly to get ONU within one.

Taylor Bledsoe evened the score with an RBI single up the middle. This proved to be the catalyst as the Tigers would put up a four-spot to take the lead for good. Takumi Kimoto and Dupuis both plated RBIs in the big inning to put ONU up 7-4.

TCC would scratch a run across in the final frame, but Michael Freitas limited the damage to tack down the save, his fourth of the season. Qade Carrington went five innings as the ONU starter, allowing just two earned runs and striking out a pair to collect the win.

The Tigers struck first in the nightcap, with Martinez once again using his speed on the basepaths to score a run in the top of the opening inning. The Trolls quickly took the lead with two runs in the second, but Dupuis sent an RBI single to right field to level the score.

But Trinity Christian would go on to score 10 unanswered runs to end the game early in six innings.

ONU, now 18-17 overall and 14-10 in CCAC play, will take on Saint Xavier in a four-game set this weekend.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu