ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University baseball team capped off the 2023 season with a victory against Hope College in Friday's doubleheader. The Thunder celebrated its nine graduating seniors prior to securing a 2-1 win in the final game of the year.
The senior class of Tyler Robinson, Robert Kortas, Matt Weis, Adam Stefanelli, Avery Fulford, Luke Cline, Cory Erbskorn, Jackson O'Keefe and Korey Brandow were celebrated prior to walking the stage at graduation tomorrow afternoon. With the split doubleheader on Friday afternoon, Trine finishes the season at 15-24 overall and 6-15 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play. Hope advances to the MIAA Tournament next week with records of 20-18 and 12-9.
GAME ONE RECAP:
The starting pitcher Cline (0-3) worked around an error in the first inning and another in the second to keep a zero on the scoreboard early in the first game of the day. The senior trio of Stefanelli, Fulford and O'Keefe twisted an inning-ending double play in the second to get Cline out of a jam. Another double play for the Thunder, this time on a baserunning mistake by the Flying Dutch, kept the scoreless game through three.
A crooked number for Hope in the fourth inning put the home team in a major hole. Hope was able to plate seven runs in the frame to take a commanding advantage. Trine showed fight to the end of the game and began to chip away at the deficit in the fifth.
Three singles in the fifth by Weis, Daniel Rumberger and Matthew Martin gave the team their first run of the contest and in the sixth, they would add two more. Stefanelli led off the inning with an infield hit and a double by Kortas secured a run. O'Keefe would take his place with a single and a one-base error as the score became 7-3.
Jack Villarreal was able to stabilize the game out of the bullpen and prevented further damage with a string of nine consecutive outs from the sixth through eighth innings. He would total 4.2 innings pitched for the Thunder.
In the bottom of the eighth, RBI doubles by Erbskorn and O'Keefe drew Trine even closer at 7-5. After Noah Brettin was called upon to get the final three outs in the ninth, the Thunder continued to keep the bats warm and the tying run came to the dish with a Martin single. A game-ending double play was turned by Hope to put an end to the rally.
O'Keefe led the team by going 3-for-4 in the game with an RBI. Martin, Stefanelli and Erbskorn had two hits apiece for the team as well and Stefanelli was the only man to score twice.
GAME TWO RECAP:
The talk of game two was the Trine pitching staff, which held Hope scoreless through the first eight innings. In total, the Flying Dutch were only able to score in 2-of-18 innings. The starting pitcher Will Gimble was able to make it through 5.2 innings of shutout baseball, a career-long outing for the freshman.
O'Keefe remained hot at the dish with the team's first single in the second, but a double play would erase the potential scoring threat yet again. Rumberger tacked on an infield single in the third inning, but once again the team came up empty.
Back-to-back singles to start the sixth inning allowed the Thunder to get on the board first. Rumberger set the table for the inning with a hit and Martin followed that up by beating out a bunt single. A throwing error by the opposing pitcher allowed two runs to score and that would be all that the team needed.
From the designated hitter spot, Kortas (1-0) was called upon to pitch and made it all the way to the ninth with a zero still on the board for the Flying Dutch. Hope would deliver a run to cut the Trine lead in half at 2-1 before the closer Brettin was called upon yet again. He would lock down his fourth save of the year with a foul ball out and a flyout to center field.
Rumberger had a pair of hits in the game and O'Keefe was able to reach base twice with one walk and one hit. Weis drew two walks as well for the offense.