ANGOLA, IND.-- The Trine baseball team walked-off with a pair of victories to earn the sweep over Albion Sunday afternoon in the home opener for the Thunder at Jannen Field.
Jeff Phillips (Prospect, Ohio/Marion Pleasant) scored on an error in the bottom of the seventh of game one to give Trine the 2-1 victory, while a walk-off RBI-single by Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) capped off a 13-inning game two and gave the Thunder a 3-2 victory in the nightcap. Eddie Tomich (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) worked a complete game and did not allow an earned run to earn the victory in game one. Trine caps off its season series with Albion with a 3-1 record against the Brits. The Thunder improve to 9-7 overall, 4-2 in the MIAA. Trine is 6-1 in one-run games this season. Albion falls to 6-11 overall, 2-5 in conference play.
Game One: Trine 2, Albion 1
Tomich's gem and a couple of timely hits led the Thunder to the 2-1 victory.
Kyle Auernhamer (Vassar, Mich./Vassar) singled home Jordan Baer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Leo) in the fourth inning to give Trine a 1-0 lead. Auernhamer had a strong weekend for the Thunder with four hits and four RBI's over the four-game series. Baer had two hits and raised his average from .175 to .326 over the course of the weekend.
A Micahel Fischbach RBI-single plated an unearned run in the top of the sixth to tie the score. That was all Tomich would allow, as the the junior yielded just four hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out four to improve to 2-2 on the season.
Phillips drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, and came around to score when Adam Sullivan's (Fort Wayne, Ind./Elmhurst) sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown away by Albion.
Game Two: Trine 3, Albion 2 (13)
After falling behind in the top of the 13th, the Thunder came from behind and walked-off on Thorn's single to get the sweep.
The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie through the first 12 innings. The Brits got their run on a double-steal in the top of the fifth, with Tony Cappalletty coming home from third. Luke Porter's (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) RBI-single in the bottom of the sixth scored pinch-runner Mitchell Hall (Lansing, Mich./Waverly) with the tying run.
Albion took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 13th when Shane Lindemann came in to score on an infield single off the bat of Ben Crawford.
Sullivan got the Thunder in business in the bottom of the inning, legging out an infield single on what initially appeared to be a routine play. Sullivan showed his speed once again, stealing second to move into scoring position. A single through the middle by Porter scored Sullivan with the tying run. Porter had two RBI's in game two.
Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) then coaxed a walk. Porter and Prebynski moved up to second and third respectively with steals to set the stage for Thorn. The sophomore ripped a long shot to left that scored Porter with the winning run to give Trine the 3-2 win.
Kirby Spangler (Rennsselaer, Ind./Rennsselaer Central) picked up his first collegiate win in relief. Andy Farrell (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/St. Vincent St. Mary) turned in another solid effort with 6.2 innings of work, allowing a single earned run on four hits and striking out two. Jake Weimer (Pittsboro, Ind./Brownsburg) turned in 4.1 key shutout innings of two-hit relief for the Thunder.
Trine returns to action tomorrow when they host Hope at 2:00 p.m. at Jannen Field. The game had previously been scheduled to be played at Hope. The game was moved to Jannen Field due to field conditions in Holland. The Flying Dutchmen will be considered the home team in both games.
