By Sports Information Student Assistant Caitlin Reynolds
ANGOLA, Ind. - The Trine University baseball team took advantage of the nice weather at home and earned a little pay back against conference opponent Albion, as they shut out the Britons in both games of the doubleheader by scores of 4-0 and 10-0.
Senior pitcher Phil Stakely (Ostrander, Ohio/Buckeye Valley) threw Trine’s sixth no-hitter on record and the first in over a decade.
In the opener, Trine (7-7, 3-3 MIAA) would open scoring up in the second inning with a run and added two more in the third and one more in the fourth for good measure.
The winning run would come in the second inning for the Thunder, as senior Tom Wilder (Petersburg, Mich/Summerfield) started the inning off with a double to left field. Wilder would move to third on a sacrifice by junior Andrew DeGood (Hamilton, Mich/Hamilton) and then fellow senior Matt Zurbriggen (Crown Point, Ind./ Crown Point) would bring him home with a sacrifice fly to the right fielder.
In the fourth, freshman Carter Stafford (Waterloo, Ind./DeKalb) would drive in fellow freshman Kory Shackle (Butler, Ohio/Mount Vernon) on a single for the game’s final run.
Senior Kyle Lidster (Griffith, Ind./ Griffith) would get the win on the mound for Trine, going 6 2/3 innings and giving up just three hits with two strikeouts. The win puts Lidster at 1-1 on the season. Senior Nick Cocanower (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) would earn his third save in relief, striking out the only batter he faced to end the game.
The Thunder bats really came alive in game two, coupled with a dominant performance on the mound from Stakely.
Trine would open scoring in the second inning again in game two putting up four runs before adding one in the third and then finishing it up with a five spot in the fifth.
DeGood got things started in the second with a single through the
left side, and Zurbriggen would bring him in with a double that hit
the left center fence. Sophomore Jordan Baer (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Leo)
would follow that up with his first career home run over the left
field fence. After a walk and single, Sophomore R.J. Flowers
(Hamilton, Mich./ Hamilton) would come up and single to bring in
another run.
The Thunder continued to roll in the fifth. Zurbriggen started things off with a walk, stole second and then moved to third on a wild pitch. After another walk and hit batter, Stafford singled to the shortstop to score Zurbriggen. Two more runs would come in as sophomore Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind. / Dekalb) reached on an Albion error and advance to second. Flowers would bring in another run with a ground out to first, and the final run would come as Wilder singled through the left side to bring in Prebynski.
Stakely would go the distance for the Thunder pitching a no-hitter with just one walk while striking out three. This win was the first of the season for Stakely. Trine’s last no-hitter came on April 28, 2002 as Ray Sterling held Concordia (MI) hitless in a 7-0 win. It is also the first no-hitter thrown in conference play by a single pitcher since 2009.
The Thunder offense was red hot on the day led by Stafford and Wilder, each getting three hits. Stafford would add two RBIs and Wilder would chip in with one. Prebynski and Zurbriggen both added two hits and two RBIs on the day while Baer added two RBIs of his own. Flowers lead Trine with three RBIs on the day.