ALBION, Mich.-- The Trine baseball team closed out the 2016 campaign by splitting a doubleheader with Albion Friday afternoon in the final games played at Frank Joranko Field.
The Thunder fought back in the late innings of game one to force extra-innings and win by a 5-4 final. Game two went the way of the Britons, as Albion earned the 5-2 victory in the final game before renovations take place in its home home stadium. Senior Jake Weimer (Pittsboro, Ind. / Brownsburg) earned the victory in relief in his final career appearance in game one. Kory Shackle (Butler, Ohio / Mount Vernon) paced the offense with four hits, two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Game One: Trine 5, Albion 4
After falling behind early, the Thunder rallied in the late innings and prevailed in eight innings to take game one.
Steven Marowski and Michael Fischbach continued their hot hitting from the series-opener yesterday to get the Britons on the board. Marowski knocked in a run in the first, while Fischbach added a two-run single in the third.
Trine climbed back into the game with a run in the fifth and tied things up with a two-run sixth. Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wis. / Hartford Union) got the Thunder on the board with a run-scoring single in the fifth. Shackle's RBI-single to left cut the score to 3-2. Trine tied things up when Jacob Heller (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Prairie Heights) executed the squeeze-bunt with the bases loaded in the sixth.
A leadoff double by Colton Conn (Cincinnati, Ohio / Indian Hill) set the table for a two-run eighth. Conn scored on a throwing error, with Shackle reaching on the play. Two batters later, Palmer singled home Shackle with what would prove to be an important insurance run.
The Britons rallied in the bottom of the inning with a run scoring on a RBI-groundout by Ronnie Williams, but Weimer held Albion there to earn the victory.
Weimer held the Britons to a run on two hits in three innings of relief work. The senior improved his career record to 5-1. He wraps up his career second in team history with 11 career saves.
Game Two: Albion 5, Trine 2
A strong outing from Matt Temrowski led the Britons to the game two victory.
Marowski once again delivered a RBI hit to get Albion on the board. Justin Dennis added a two-run double in the fourth.
The Thunder cut the deficit to 3-2 with a two-run fifth. Shackle came through with an RBI-single to score fellow senior Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind. / Portage) with the first run. J.J. LaBounty (Avon, Ind. / Covenant Christian) added a RBI-single to cut the score to 3-2.
Dennis and Marowski struck again for RBIs in the sixth to give the Britons the final 5-2 margin.
Palmer concluded the season with 83 total bases, the fourth-most on record in a season in team history.
Thorn's playing career concluded with 26 career doubles, tied for fifth-most on record in program history. Thorn's 14 doubles this season were tied for the second-most in a season in team history.
Trine concludes the season with a 18-21 overall record. The Thunder finished conference play an even 14-14.