ANGOLA, IND.-- The 6th-ranked Trine softball team staved off elimination in three-straight games over the last two days to rally and win their second-consecutive MIAA Tournament Championship.
The Thunder faced an uphill battle after dropping the opening game of the tournament to Calvin Thursday afternoon, but were able to win three-straight elimination games and the championship final to claim back-to-back MIAA Tournament crowns. Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) batted .650 over the course of the tournament with three triples, five RBI's and two steals. Kendra Marshall (Leesburg, Ind./Warsaw) hit the first two home runs of her Trine career and drove in seven runs while batting .368. Rachel Harris (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) and Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) each homered and drove in eight runs. Trine concludes the tournament 37-3 overall. They will await their placement in the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced Monday morning at 10 a.m.
Several Trine players reached milestones on the weekend. Clark tied Sarah Belote (2013) with 14 homers on the season, the second-highest total in school-history. Clark also moved into second in the single-season RBI-record books with 53.
Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) became the second pitcher in school-history to win 20 or more games in a season and top 200 strikeouts in a season. She ranks second in Trine single-season history in both categories. The junior also topped 400 career strikeouts and now has 412 in her Trine career.
Elimination Game: Trine 10, Calvin 1 (5)
Trine entered the day needing three wins to win the MIAA title and took the first step with a 10-1 victory over Calvin to reach the championship round.
The Thunder hit three home runs and scored eight runs in the first two innings to build a lead Calvin could not overcome. RBI-singles by Clark and Marshall got the Thunder on the board, and Harris capped the inning in style with a two-run shot to left-center.
Those four runs chased Calvin starter Cassidy Vlot from the game before she recorded an out. Vlot had held the Thunder to one run in the Knights' opening round victory over TU.
The power surge continued for the Thunder in the second. A three-run bomb by Clark was followed by a solo shot by Marshall to give Trine back-to-back jacks. Marshall's homer was the first of her Trine career.
The Thunder tacked on single runs in the third and fourth. Fuller picked up the win in the circle, working the full five innings. She surrendered a run on three hits, walked one and struck out five.
Vlot picked up Calvin's only RBI of the game with an RBI-single in the first. Vlot had a strong tournament for the Knights with a victory in the circle and four RBI's.
Clark finished with three hits and four RBI's. Marshall drove in three runs on a pair of hits, while Harris knocked in a pair of runs.
Championship Round: Trine 11, Hope 3
Trine continued to stay hot at the plate to force a deciding championship game.
The Thunder jumped right out in front in their half of the first. Searles led off with double and showcased her blazing speed in coming around to score on an infield single by Clark. Later in the inning, Clark would score on a groundout by Rachel Harris. Clark finished the game with three hits and three RBI's. Searles also had three hits in the game.
A five-run fifth broke the game open. An RBI-double by Marshall and a two-run single by Leah Hall (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) pushed the score to 5-0. Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) capped the scoring with a two-run homer to left center to make the score 7-0.
The Thunder tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth on RBI-singles by Clark and Harris.
Julie Sobieski plated a pair of runs for Hope in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single down the left field line. Sobieski led all players in the tournament with nine RBI's.
The Thunder tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh on an RBI-single by Searles and an RBI-double by Marshall. Hope's Becca Phillips added an RBI-single in the bottom of the inning.
Fuller worked another complete game for Trine. She retired the first 13 batters of the game in order and allowed three earned runs on eight hits. Fuller struck out nine.
Championship Final: Trine 8, Hope 1
Trine got a dominating effort from Justine Robles (Long Beach, Calif./Lake Wood) and the bats provided the rest as the Thunder clinched their second-consecutive tournament title.
The Dutch drew first blood in the top of the first inning. A leadoff walk drawn by Autumn Anderson and a sacrifice bunt put Anderson in scoring position. Payton Wells singled through the middle to score Anderson and give Hope a 1-0 lead.
After that, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way for Robles. The sophomore only allowed five baserunners the rest of the way to improve to 10-2 on the season. Robles turned in a pair of solid starts in the tournament, going 1-1 with an 0.64 ERA. In the title-clinching victory, she allowed an earned run on three hits, walked five and struck out nine.
Trine answered with three in the bottom of the first. Clark, Marshall and Hall all contributed RBI-singles in the inning. Marshall's solo homer in the fourth made the score 4-1.
The Thunder added four runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Searles knocked in two runs on a single, and Harris capped the scoring with a two-run double that split the right-center gap.
Trine's senior class of Schnarr, Haleigh Daniels (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton), Jamie Lydick (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) and Jillian Craig (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) finishes their MIAA-playing careers having won an MIAA-regular season or tournament title in each of their four seasons.