ADRIAN, Mich.-- Trine opened MIAA play with a 7-6 victory over Adrian Sunday afternoon before game two was postponed due to weather.
The eighth-ranked Thunder scored six runs in the first two innings and survived a four-run Bulldog rally in the seventh. Game two was postponed to tomorrow at 5 p.m. The game will be played at Adrian. Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey), Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) and Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Edison) each knocked in two runs for Trine. The win extended the Thunder winning-streak to 12 games. Trine is 17-1 overall and has won 47-straight MIAA regular-season games. The Bulldogs fall to 10-7 overall and open conference play 0-1.
Searles catalyzed the first-inning rally with a leadoff single and a steal of second. An Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers) single and steal put runners at second and third with one out. Fox got the Thunder on the board with an RBI-single, which Schnarr followed with a two-run double to put Trine up 4-0 after one.
Searles launched a two-run homer as part of a three-run third. Fox added an RBI-double in the inning to make the score 6-0.
The Bulldogs broke through in the second on a two-run double by Kaitlyn Hinojosa. That was all the scoring the game would see until an eventful seventh-inning.
Schnarr singled with two outs to set the stage for what would prove to be an important insurance run. Kendra Marshall (Leesburg, Ind./Warsaw) ripped a clutch double to left to score pinch-runner Emily White (Fortville, Ind./Mount Vernon) to make the score 7-2.
Adrian rallied in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with none out on a pair of singles and a walk. K'ya Toles-Burton followed with a grand slam to left-center to cut the score to 7-6.
Kaitlyn Schneider tripled with two out, bringing the winning run to the plate for the Bulldogs. Justine Robles (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) entered the game for the Thunder to get a huge strikeout to send Trine home with the victory. Robles earned the save- her first of the season.
Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) earned her 54th-career victory to move into a tie for third on Trine's all-time list. The senior worked 5.1 innings, surrendering two earned runs on five hits, walking five and striking out six. Fuller became the second pitcher in team history to reach the 500-strikeout plateau.
The two teams will conclude the scheduled doubleheader with game two tomorrow at 5 p.m.