LOUISVILLE, KY.-- The Trine softball team has climbed to the no. 13 ranking in the Week Four National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 Poll, which was released Wednesday morning.
The Thunder were previously ranked 16th in the nation in Week Three Poll. TU received votes totaling 104 points, up from 95 the previous week. Trine is riding a nine-game winning streak after completing a sweep of Bluffton Saturday afternoon. The Thunder have won their last six contests by run-rule in five innings. The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Records as of Monday are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
The Trine pitching staff has been dominant in recording four shutouts in the team's last six games. Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) has tossed two of those shutouts, and has not allowed a run over her last 10.1 innings pitched. During that span, she has allowed just four baserunners and struck out 21.
A balanced lineup top-to-bottom has produced nearly 10 runs a game for the Thunder this season. As a team, Trine is batting .369 and getting on base at a .451 clip. The team is slugging .577 on the season.
Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) has led the charge, leading the MIAA in batting average (.500), hits (19), runs scored (18), RBI's (13), stolen bases (10) and total bases (33). Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) leads Trine in the power department with three homers, which also leads the MIAA. Clark is batting .281 and has also knocked in 12 runs.
Overall, 10 Thunder players are batting .300 or better. Rachel Harris (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) is tied for the MIAA-lead with five doubles. She has a homer and has knocked in 12 runs to go along with a .448 average this season.
Haleigh Daniels (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) is coming off a big weekend in which the senior doubled, homered and knocked in six runs to pace the sweep over Bluffton.
Trine is scheduled to return to action this Saturday, Mar. 22 when they take on DePauw. The site for Saturday's games will officially be determined later this week.