Box Score Appleton, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse baseball team fell 8-0 to Trinity University (Texas) Friday night in its opening game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.  The Eagles, ranked fourth on D3baseball.com, drops to 38-9 on the season while the Tigers, ranked third on D3baseball.com, improve to 40-7.

UWL, making its second straight appearance in the NCAA III Championship, returns to action Saturday, May 28 versus Emory University (Ga.) at 4:30 p.m. in an elimination game.  Trinity (Texas) will play State University of New York Cortland Sunday, May 29 at 10 a.m.

UWL and Trinity (Texas) were meeting for the second straight year in the NCAA III Championship after splitting a pair of games in 2015.  UWL earned a 10-7 victory to advance to the best-of-three championship series last year.  Trinity (Texas) had forced a second Pool B championship game in 2015 with a 16-6 win.

In the third-ever meeting between the two teams, UWL got the first two batters of the game on base with a Joel Zyhowski single and Adam Cordova walk, but failed to score. Trinity (Texas) came back in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single from Nicholas Jewett knocking in Colin Sarkowski.  The Tigers added a run in the bottom of the third on another two-out run-scoring single from Jewett knocking in Connor Moore.

Carter McEachern's fielder's choice knocked in Jose Santos in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead.

The game was delayed by 4:40 after the fourth inning due to rain.

The Tigers tallied three runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth to lead 6-0.  Santos scored after a UWL fielding error on a Andrew Waters single followed by back-to-back RBI doubles by McEachern and Austin Singer.  McEachern finished the scoring on a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth.

Caleb Boushley (10-1) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing 11 hits, six runs and one walk with two strikeouts.

UWL left 13 runners on base as it was shutout for the first time since a 2-0 loss to UW-Stevens Point May 8, 2015, a span of 60 games. The Eagles totaled nine hits Friday with Taylor Kohlwey finishing 3-for-5 in extending his hitting streak to 50 games.  Travis Buxton-Verstegen went 2-for-4.

Ryan Gray (9-3) earned the win for Trinity (Texas), going 6.innings, allowing eight hits and four walks while striking out six.  The Tigers finished with 12 hits. McEachern went 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI while Moore, Jewett and Waters each had two hits.  Jewett finished with two RBI while Santos and Waters also scored twice.

UWL returns to action Saturday, May 28 facing Emory University (Ga.) at 1:15 p.m. in an elimination game.