TYLER, TEXAS— Trine's first National Championship appearance came to an end as the Thunder were defeated by East Texas Baptist, 11-3, Friday afternoon at Suddenlink Field.
The Tigers scored early and often on their way to the victory, as ETBU scored 10 runs in the first three innings of the contest. Alyssa Romero knocked in three runs to lead the way, while Lacey Lindsey and Lacy Liles each added a pair of RBI's. Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers) homered in her first at-bat of the season to drive in two for Trine, while Rachel Harris (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) added a homer for the Thunder. The loss ends Trine's season with a school-record 43 wins and six losses. The Thunder won their first-ever Regional Championship and Super-Regional Championship, producing an All-American, two Academic All-Americans, six All-Region performers and eight All-MIAA selections on their way to the best season in school-history.
Harris hit a solo home run to get the Thunder on the board in the bottom of the fifth. The homer gave the junior nine bombs on the season, tied for seventh in a single-season in school-history.
Newell provided the highlight of the day for the Thunder, homering in her first at-bat of the season to drive in two runs. The junior had worked back from injuries to provide an emotional lift for Trine with the two-run homer. Newell was an All-Region performer in 2013.
Jayme Perez got the Tigers right on the board with a solo shot to center to leadoff the game. ETBU went on to add another run, as Kaitlyn Hollingshead was hit by a pitch with the bases-loaded to force in a run to make the score 2-0.
ETBU continued to tack on runs in the second, as Romero launched a two-run homer to start the scoring. Liles added an RBI-single to make the score 5-0.
The Tigers blew the game open with a five-run third. An RBI-single by Romero got things started, before another run scored on an error. A two-run double by Lindsay made the score 9-0, before a run scored on an illegal pitch to cap the scoring. The Tigers added a run in the fifth.
Shelby Parker picked up the win, allowing an earned run on three hits in five innings. She walked one and struck out three to improve to 24-6 on the season.
Trine's senior class of Haleigh Daniels (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton), Jamie Lydick (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield), Jillian Craig (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) played the final game of their Thunder careers.
The past four seasons have seen the Thunder win 151 games, the most of any four-year stretch in school-history. Over that time, Trine appeared in the NCAA Regionals every season, and won three MIAA Regular-Season and Tournament Championships.
Daniels finishes her career second in Trine history in games started (176) and second in career doubles (40).
Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) concludes the season with a school-record .470 batting average.