WINTER HAVEN, Fla.-- Rose-Hulman prevailed in a marathon 11-inning game to defeat Trine, 9-5, Monday morning at Chain Of Lakes Stadium.
The Engineers fought back from a two-run deficit in the late innings and pushed across four runs in the 11th inning to earn the victory. Zach Hull picked up three hits and drove in three runs for RHIT. Kory Shackle (Butler, Ohio/Mount Vernon) notched three hits, knocked in a run and stole a base for Trine. The Thunder are now 1-2 on the young season. The Engineers are 2-0 and receiving votes in the NCBWA/D3Baseball.com Top 25 poll.
Ethan Prebynski (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) notched two hits to move into a tie for fifth in career hits in the Division-III era at Trine. Prebynski has 113 career hits.
A two-run RHIT first put the Thunder in a hole early, as Hull and Josh Koutnik provided RBI-singles. Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union) continued his hot start to the season for Trine with an RBI-single to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth.
Another RBI-single by Hull restored the Engineer lead to two, before Trine used back-to-back two-run innings to take the lead.
Kyle Auernhamer (Vassar, Mich./Vassar) raced home on a double-steal to cut the score to 3-2, before Prebynski drove home Shackle with an RBI-single to tie the score through five.
Robert Ross (Valparaiso, Ind./Washington Township) provided a pinch-hit RBI-single for his fist collegiate hit to put the Thunder up 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Shackle added an RBI-single later in the inning. Trine loaded the bases with two outs, but was unable to pus across another run.
Zach Trusk homered in the eighth to cut the Trine lead to one, before Hull's final run-scoring single of the day sent the game to extras in the ninth.
The Engineers took advantage of two walks and an error in the 11th to plate four runs. Evan Witsken's RBI-single proved to be the game winner. Patrick Klima extended the lead with a two-run single, before Kody Alan knocked in the final run of the contest.
Trine returns to action tomorrow when they face Milwaukee School of Engineering in a doubleheader at Lake Myrtle Park. First pitch is scheduled for noon.