TIU 2007 Baseball News

May 14, 2007

A number of Trojans were given more awards today for their efforts this season.  The most notable being Aaron Manes who was named NCCAA Regional Player of the year.  The following players also received awards:

NCCAA ALL-REGION 1ST TEAM

Aaron Manes

Bryan Dovichi

Rob McKinney

Dave Hardt

NCCAA All-REGION 2ND TEAM

Mike O'Leary

Eric Gavlick

Joel Hoberg

Bryan Talbot

May 7, 2007

The conference season is over and the awards are in for the Trojans Baseball team.  The following players were given conference awards:

Mike O'Leary In his first season with the Trojans the Junior Starting Pitcher was dominant on the mound for Trinity.  For his solid efforts all season long, Mike was named CCAC All-Conference Honorable Mention.

Dave Hardt In his first season as an everyday player, the Sophomore Catcher was solid behind the plate and holds one of the highest batting averages in the nation at .470 while only striking out five times.  For his fantastic season Dave was named CCAC 1st Team-All Conference

Aaron Manes In his fourth and final season for the Trojans Aaron Manes had a year to remember and was rewarded highly for it.  During the season Aaron's batting average was .493 with 15 homeruns and 65RBIs.  He also had 12 doubles, scored 53 runs, had a slugging percentage of .873, and an on-base percentage of .558.  Aaron was also 17/17 in the stolen base department.  For this great effort Aaron was named CCAC 1st Team-All Conference and CCAC Player of the Year.

All of these awards are voted on by the coaches within the CCAC Conference.  Congratulations to these three athletes and the rest of the Trojans for a fine regular season.  Trinity will play its first playoff game Wednesday at 4:00 at Judson College against Trinity Christian College.

April 27, 2007

Trinity Senior Aaron Manes was named CCAC player of the week and NCCAA Student Athlete of the week for the week ending April 22, 2007 for his outstanding play.  The following information is taken from the CCAC Athletic Conference Webstie:

Manes hit safely in each of Trinity International's seven games played, leading to a .500 batting average personally and a 5-2 record for the club.  He also drove in at least one run in six of those affairs resulting in a total of 12 runs batted in.  Manes closed out his week in a big way, batting .615 in his final three contests, which featured a pair of three-hit games, including one against NCAA I University Illinois-Chicago.  In all, Manes totaled 14 hits with seven going for extra bases (3 doubles, 4 homeruns) netting him a 1.036 slugging percentage.  He also scored nine runs on the week.

Congratulations to Aaron and the Trojan Baseball team. 

April 21, 2007

The Trojans took the field today at St. Xavier University and split a doubleheader with the cougars dropping the first game 11-7 and winning the second 7-5.

In the first game, the Trojans got behind early by allowing five runs in the first inning, but came back in the top of the second by scoring four runs of their own on RBIs by Eric Gavlick and Troy Anderson.  St. Xavier added one more run in the bottom of the second to give St. Xavier a 6-4 lead.  The Trojans then came back with two runs of their own on a sacrifice fly by Rob McKinney and another RBI single by Eric Gavlick to tie the game at six.  That was as close as the Trojans would get in the first game, and would eventually fall 11-7.

The second game's result was much better for the Trojans as the team notched a 7-5 victory, the first over St. Xavier in over five years.  The Trojans took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second inning on a two-run double by Troy Anderson and an RBI single by Bryan Dovichi.  Trinity added two more runs in the top of the third on RBIs from Brennan Smith and Rob McKinney to take a 5-1 lead.  St. Xavier faught and clawed their way back into the game and eventually tied the contest in the bottom of the 6th inning, 5-5.  However the Trojans mustered together some 7th inning magic to take the 7-5 lead.  Joel Hoberg and Aaron Manes hit consecutive singles and set the stage for Eric Gavlick to come up with another clutch hit, this time a double that scored Hoberg and Manes.  Shawn Gorsline picked up the win for the Trojans in relief, and Drew Wicklund notched a perfect 7th inning to record the save.   

April 18, 2007

The Trojans played their first division I opponent since 2002 and put up a great effort against the University of Illinois Chicago Flames, falling 7-5 in the nine inning game at UIC.  

After a scoreless first inning, the Trojans jumped all over UIC with a four run second inning.  Aaron Manes led off with a double and scored on a Rob McKinney single to make the score 1-0.  Brennan Smith who reached on an error, then scored on another error by UIC to make the score 2-0.  The Trojans scored 2 more runs in the inning on an RBI groundout by Kyle Keller and a single by Troy Anderson. Trinity held the lead for another inning, but UIC came back and scored four runs of their own in the bottom of the third.    

Trinity took the lead again in the top of the 5th when Manes led off with a solo homerun to make the score 5-4.  That was the last lead the Trojans would hold, as UIC added two runs in the 6th and one in the 7th for the 7-5 victory.  Despite the loss the Trojans played solid defensively and offensively and the team's record now sits at 16-15. 

April 10, 2007

The Trojans won two non-conference games today against Cardinal Stritch University to improve their overall record to 14-14 .  In the first contest the Trojan bats were cracking as the team drove in thirteen runs, including homeruns by T.J. Kaiser, and Rob McKinney.  McKinney's homerun was hit in just his third game of the year, after coming back from Tommy John Surgery. Freshman Drew Wicklund picked up the win for TIU.

The second game was much more dramatic, with the Trojans tying the game in the 7th and eventually winning it in the 8th.  In the 7th inning, trailing 4-3, Aaron Manes was hit by a pitch and later scored on a base hit by Rob McKinney to tie the game.  In the bottom of the 8th the Trojans saw themselves trailing again 5-4.  Kyle Keller led off the inning with a base hit, Troy Anderson bunted Keller over and reached himself, and Bryan Talbot reached on a bunt single.  A 1-2-3 Double Play made things look grim for the Trojans, but Aaron Manes had a flair for the dramatic and hit a single up the middle that scored Anderson and Talbot, giving the Trojans the 6-5 victory.  Freshman Shawn Gorsline pitched 6 strong innings, and Alex Gavlick came in and picked up the win in relief. 

April 2, 2007

The Trojans dropped two non-conference games today at Olivet Nazarene University, 15-8 and 7-2.  The two losses drop TIU's record to 12-12 on the season.  In the first game, the Trojans were leading 6-3 after three innings of play, but the Tigers battled back and scored five runs in the fourth inning and six runs in the fifth inning. Eventually Olivet held on for the 15-8 victory.  Dave Hardt and Bryan Talbot both drove in two runs for Trinity. 

The second game of the day resembled the first in that the Trojans had an early lead but could not hold on.  After three innings the Trojans had a 2-1 lead, but two runs was all the Trojans could crack out and Olivet went on to score seven to claim their second victory of the day.  Eric Gavlick and Kyle Keller had the only RBIs for Trinity.   

March 31, 2007

TIU split their doubleheader with Cardinal Stritch University today, losing the first contest 2-1 and winning the second game 5-1. In the first game, Pitcher Alfred LaVire pitched 6 plus fantastic innings but was only given one run of support on a Todd Brunschon RBI single, and the Trojans eventually fell in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The second game was much more solid for TIU, as the team scored five runs, played great defense, and once again pitched well.  The Trojans were able to capitalize on several hits throughout the game, and David Perry, Aaron Manes, Joel Hoberg, and Troy Anderson all drove in runs.  Senior Tony Simon pitched 6 innings to pick up the win, and Freshmen Shawn Gorsline came into the 7th inning to pick up the save.

March 30, 2007

Today was a rough day for the Trojan baseball team, as the club lost both games of their doubleheader with Trinity Christian 9-6 and 11-9.  The first game of the day was close throughout.  The Trojans fell behind early, but managed to send the game into extra innings.  However, Trinity Christian would strike with four more runs in the top of the 8th to beat the Trojans.  Kyle Keller's homerun in the bottom of the 8th gave the Trojans hope, but Trinity Christian managed to hold on. 

On the day, the Trojans played shorthanded and sometimes out of position due to the injuries to two starters in the lineup. Offensively the Trojans notched nine runs, including Aaron Manes' second long ball of the day.  TIU had a golden chance in the bottom of the 7th with the bases loaded, but could not push across the tying or winning run, and fell once again 11-9. The two losses give the Trojans an 11-9 overall record, and a 4-6 conference record.9

March 27, 2007

The Trojans split their second doubleheader in a row today this time to Robert Morris College losing the first contest 5-3, and winning the second 8-4.  The games give the Trojans an 11-7 record overall and a 4-4 record in conference.  

In the first game, the Trojans strung a few base hits together and opened up an early 1-0 lead.  However, the bottom of the third inning did Trinity in, as Robert Morris scored all five of its runs on just four hits.  Trinity fought back in the 5th inning, when Brennan Smith's two out single scored two, but the Trojans could not inch any closer and dropped the quick game, 5-3.  Freshman Pitcher Shawn Gorsline gave up just five hits over 6 innings for Trinity, and Catcher Dave Hardt collected three hits. 

The second game of the afternoon saw the Trojans get their sticks out and put up eight solid runs.  Once again Trinity jumped out to an early lead, but eventually was tied by Robert Morris 2-2.  Trinity began to pull away and in the top of the 5th connected on four doubles, including Smith's third of the game.  The Trojans also received RBIs in this contest from Bryan Dovichi, Aaron Manes, Joel Hoberg, Eric Gavlick, and Scott Bates.

The Trojans were backed up once again by a strong start from Freshman Drew Wicklund who notched his fourth victory.  Offensively Brennan Smith led the way for the Trojans with four doubles and two runs scored. 

March 24, 2007

The TIU baseball team split a doubleheader with conference rival Judson College today, winning the first game in dramatic fashion 7-6, and losing the second contest 3-1.  Trailing 3-0 in the first game, the Trojans started to mount their comeback in the bottom of the third inning.  Kyle Keller scored on a Bryan Dovichi RBI Double to make the score 3-1.  The very next batter was Aaron Manes, who belted a two-run homer, his 5th of the season and 4th of the week.  The game was tied until the bottom of the fourth when Dovichi came up with a clutch two-run single to give the Trojans a 5-3 lead.  Throughout the next few innings, Judson chipped away and eventually took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning.  In the bottom of the 7th, Aaron Manes scored the game tying run on a bang bang play at the plate, in which he slid under the tag.  The very next batter was Catcher Dave Hardt, who delivered the game winning hit, with a line drive to right field scoring David Perry.  Freshman Drew Wicklund picked up the victory in relief. 

The second game saw Judson score three runs early and hold on for a 3-1 victory.  Judson scored its three runs in the first three innings, on a single and two RBI groundouts.  The Trojan bats never got it going, and did not score until the bottom of the 7th.  The Trojans had the game winning run at the plate, but came up just short.  Senior Tony Simon went the distance on the mound for the Trojans, giving up just three runs over seven innings. 

Trinity will play this Tuesday at home against Robert Morris.  The game was scheduled to be played at Robert Morris, but will now be played at TIU at 1:00 PM. 

March 23, 2007

The Trojans hosted Olivet Nazarene University today and fell to the Tigers in both games 18-4 and 11-4.  Under very rainy and sloppy conditions, the Trojans jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but after several errors and timely hitting the Tigers broke open the game and the Trojans could not catch up.  A bright spot in the first game was Aaron Manes, who belted his fourth homerun of the season.

The second contest was not much different as the Tigers continued to hit the ball in timely situations and mounted a big lead against the Trojans.  Down 7-0 in the 5th inning, the Trojans started to chip away against Olivet.  Eric Gavlick reached on his second single of the game, Dave Hardt singled, and Kyle Keller hit a double to drive in Gavlick.  The Trojans scored three more runs in the inning to come within three of Olivet.  However, Olivet scored four more times in the top of the 6th inning, and eventually held on for the victory. 

March 20, 2007

The Trojans took the field today at home for the first time this season, winning both games of the double header against Calumet College St. Joseph, improving their record to 9-3 overall and 2-0 in conference.  

In the first contest, the Trojans fell behind early, but battled back to capture the 8-5 victory.  Down 4-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning, Trinity got on the board with back to back solo homeruns by Aaron Manes and Todd Brunschon.  The Trojans added another run that inning to make the score 4-3.  In the bottom of the 5th, it was Manes' turn again, and the senior responded with his second long ball of the day, this time a three run homer to deep left.  This gave the Trojans their first lead, and eventually the win.

Freshman Drew Wicklund picked up his second win for the Trojans.

In the second game of the double dip the Trojans started out fast, ran into a little trouble, but eventually prevailed for their second win of the day.  Leading the way for the Trojans in the 15-11 victory was Brunschon who hit another home run, a three run shot, which scored Joel Hoberg and Aaron Manes.  Manes, Hoberg, Bryan Dovichi and Kyle Keller all had multiple RBIs for Trinity.  Calumet tied the game in the 6th inning, but the Trojans pulled right back ahead in the bottom of the inning when Hoberg scored on a bunt single by Troy Anderson.  The Trojans scored three more times and held on for the win.

Bryan Dovichi also came in to the game as a relief pitcher and picked up the victory on the mound. 

2007-2008 Signings

TIU baseball is pleased to announce the signing of the following players to Letters of Intent:

Brandon Combs - Outfielder - Trotwood, Ohio

Kyle Lewis - Pitcher - Elmhurst, Illinois

Caleb Johnson - Pitcher - Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Stephen Temple - Infielder - Norfolk, Nebraska

Jack Olson - Pitcher - Westchester, Illinois

Angel Bruno Jr. - Pitcher - Chicago, Illinois

Rolando Roquebert - Outfielder - Panama

Luis Torres - Outfielder - Vega Baja, Puerto Rico

Diron Buglio - IF - Libertyville, IL

Forrest Powell - IF/OF - Las Cruces, NM

Francisco Malave Sosa - C - Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Scott Lawson - IF - Peoria, Illinois

Jarrele Wright -OF- North Chicago, Illinois

March 6, 2007

In the second game of the day, the Trojans ran into Northwestern's ace on the mound and were defeated 4-2.  

Trinity and Northwestern went back and forth for the first three innings, without scoring a run.  Northwestern finally got on the board in the fourth inning with a two-run homerun.  Trinity battled, but were unable to get much going on the offensive end until the Seventh inning.  In the top of the Seventh, while down 4-0, Aaron Manes and Todd Brunschon each reached on a walk and a base hit respectively.  Manes then scored on a Eric Gavlick single and Pinch Runner Bryan Talbot scored on a Wild Pitch.  However, in the end the Trojans came up just short.

Freshman Starting Pitcher Shawn Gorsline, continued the early pitching success for the team, going the distance and only giving up four hits.  It was also the second straight complete game by a freshman for the Trojans.  The loss gives the Trojans a 4-2 record overall this season.

March 6, 2007

The Trojans continued play today in their Spring tournament and defeated Cedarville College 8-4.  Freshman Drew Wicklund picked up his first college victory and his first career complete game, going all 7 innings.

The offense was solid once again, and Joel Hoberg got things started early with a solo homerun, his first of the year.  Hoberg came up big later as well, with a two-run double.  The Trojans also got RBIs from Brennan Smith, Eric Gavlick, and Dave Hardt.  The win improves the Trojans record to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the tournament. 

March 5, 2007

In the second game of the day, the Trojans took the field against Grace College and won the battle putting up an offensive show, scoring 19 runs and holding the Lancers to only 2 runs.  Trinity's big inning came in the fourth, where the offense put up 10 runs, highlighted by a Grand Slam off the bat of Aaron Manes.  Rob Luck, notched his first win as a Trojan allowing just two hits and no runs. 

March 5, 2007

The Trojans suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Northwestern University 3-2.  Northwestern got on the board first with a double and an error in the top of the second inning.  Trinity came right back and tied the game on an RBI double by Bryan Dovichi.  In the top of the fourth Northwestern added two more runs to take a 3-1 advantage.  A Kyle Keller solo homerun brought the Trojans closer, but the team was eventually defeated. Starting Pitcher Alfred LaVire was solid in his first outing, going the distance and striking out 11. 

March 3, 2007

The Trojans put forth a dominating effort Saturday and defeated Clearwater Christian once again, 11-1.  Trinity got it going right away with RBIs in the first inning by Aaron Manes and Todd Brunschon.  In the top of the 4th, Eric Gavlick and Kyle Keller reached and scored on Brennan Smith's double.  Smith then scored on a single by Bryan Dovichi.  The offense got it going again in the top of the 6th when Joel Hoberg, Aaron Manes, Todd Brunschon, David Perry, and Eric Gavlick all crossed the plate.

Mike O'Leary notched his first win of the season, going 6 1/3 innings, striking out 4.  The second game of the double-header was postponed due to rain. 

March 2, 2007

The Trojans took the field in Clearwater, Florida for the first game of the season and defeated Clearwater Christian 9-3.  Richie Frank picked up his first win of the season, going 8 innings, striking out 6, and giving up only 5 hits.

Offensively the Trojans were led by leadoff man Brennan Smith who hit a two-run homerun in the third, and by Eric Gavlick who went 3-5 and picked up 2 RBIs.  Joel Hoberg, Aaron Manes, Kyle Keller all had two hits a piece, and rightfielder David Perry walked 5 times.

December 13, 2006

The 2006 baseball awards have been announced.  The following members of the 2006 team earned awards:

Tim Dovichi - 1st Team CCAC All-Conference, 1st Team NCCAA All-Region, NCCAA Regional Player of the year.

Aaron Manes - 1st Team CCAC All-Conference, 1st Team NCCAA All-Region

Bryan Dovichi - Honorable Mention CCAC, 1st Team NCCAA All-Region

Joel Hoberg - 1st Team NCCAA All-Region

October 24, 2006

The Black vs. Blue World Series came to an end with the Black squad winning the five game series 3-2.  Mike O'Leary pitched the final game for the Black team and earned the win with relief help from Rob Luck and Bryan Dovichi, while Alfred LaVire pitched for the Blue.

January 13, 2006

Trinity International University is pleased to announce the following signings for the 2006-2007 baseball season.

Kyle Keller-shortstop-Baton Rouge, LA
David Woodbridge-outfield-Libertyville, IL
Alfred LaVire-pitcher-Flint, MI
Scott Bates-catcher-Orland Park, IL
Brent Behling-pitcher-Hartland, WI
Andrew Wicklund-Zion, IL
Nathan Alvarado, Jr.-Hawaii
Shawn Gorsline-Freeport, IL