HARTFORD, Conn. — Tiny Trinity College is streaking again, this time in baseball.
The Division III school, whose football team won 31 in a row before losing a game in 2006 and whose men’s squash team hasn’t dropped a match in more than a decade, is 34-0 this season in baseball.
“Going into the season, we knew we had a real good team,” said senior pitcher Michael Regan, who is 7-0 with an ERA of 1.37. “Me and my roommates would joke around saying, ‘Whoa, we could run the table here.’ But we didn’t really think we could do it.”
If they can, they will make history.
No college baseball team has gone undefeated to win a national championship. The Division III record for wins to start a season was 33 by Johns Hopkins in 2004.
Texas had a 34-game streak to start its season in 1977, and Division II Savannah (Ga.) State holds the all-time mark, winning 46 in a row to start the 2000 season.
“It’s a good season,” said junior catcher Sean Killeen, who is batting .407 with six home runs. “But going undefeated is not what our ultimate goal is. Our ultimate goal is to go to regionals and then to the World Series. If it means going undefeated to do that, then that’s great.”
The Bantams are hosting the conference tournament this weekend. The NCAA Division III regional championships will be held in Harwich, Mass., on May 14-18.
Trinity lost in the NCAA regionals a year ago, finishing the season 30-8. The Bantams made it to the Division III World Series in 2003 and 2005, going 0-2 in the championships both years.
There have been some close calls for Trinity this season. While the Bantams have outscored opponents 298-79, they have won three 1-0 games and five others by two runs or fewer.
On March 25, the Bantams were tied 0-0 with Springfield headed into the ninth inning.
“We end up throwing a guy out at the plate in the top of the ninth, then we come back and score a run and win 1-0,” Regan said.
“Obviously, a good team is going to find a way to win, but at the same time it’s like, ‘Wow, we’re able to sneak these out on tough days.’ ”
Another defining moment, players said, came April 19, when the Bantams trailed Tufts 8-1 in the fourth inning, but came back for a 17-10 win.
“Every guy has an incredible competitive drive,” said pitcher Tim Kiely, who is 7-0 with a 1.47 ERA. “We are not OK with accepting failure, and that’s been a huge thing.”
