ANGOLA, Ind.-- The seventh-ranked Trine softball team swept a doubleheader with Olivet in MIAA-action Thursday afternoon at Cutler Athletic Complex.
The Thunder earned a pair of run-rule victories, taking game one 10-0 in six innings and following that up with a 12-4 victory in five innings. Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) finished with a perfect seven hits in seven at-bats and reached base in all eight of her plate appearances. Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Edison) homered twice to notch the seventh season of 10 or more home runs in school history. Trine stole four bases to set a new single-season team record with 96 stolen bases. The Thunder improved to 27-2 overall, with a 9-1 record in MIAA play. Olivet fell to 13-13 overall, 3-7 in league play.
Kendra Marshall (Leesburg, Ind./Warsaw) and Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) each extended long hitting-streaks with five-RBI days at the plate. Clark homered as part of an effort that extended her hitting-streak to 16 games, while Marshall extended her streak of games with a hit to 12.
Game One: Trine 10, Olivet 0
Justine Robles (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) fired a shutout and the bats produced 12 hits in a game one victory.
Robles allowed just two hits, walked five and struck out eight on the way to her sixth shutout of the season and 10th of her career. The junior tied the single-season team record for shutouts in a season and is now fifth in school-history in career shutouts. Robles improved her record to 14-2 on the season.
Searles notched three hits, walked once and scored all four times on base to set the table for the middle of the Trine lineup. Fox and Marshall were the main beneficiaries of Searles' on-base skills, as each player was able to take advantage of RBI opportunities.
Marshall got the Thunder on the board with an RBI-double in the first. Trine would add another run on an error. Fox blew the game open the following inning with an opposite-field, three-run homer to make the score 5-0.
Marshall and Fox did more damage in the fourth, as each player knocked in a run to extend the lead to 7-0.
Clark and Fox added RBI-doubles in the fifth, while Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) added a sacrifice fly for the final margin.
Game Two: Trine 12, Olivet 4
Marshall and Searles each had four hits as the two players combined for half of the Thunder's base hits in the 16-hit effort.
Trine wasted no time getting on the board with a three-run first, which included an RBI-double for Clark, an RBI-single for Marshall and another sac fly from Schnarr. Marshall added a two-run single in the second to make the score 5-0.
A seven-run third provided the rest of the scoring. Leah Hall (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) and Searles got the scoring started with back-to-back RBI-singles. Clark followed with a three-run homer, her sixth of the season. The home run pulled the junior into a tie for third with Lauren Harris (2010-13) on Trine's all-time career list with 27 career home runs.
After a Marshall single, Fox launched her second home run of the day to give her 10 on the season. Fox became the first freshman in team history to top 10 home runs in a season. She has homered nine times in the last nine games.
Olivet scored all four of its runs in the fifth. Devon Mayse doubled in a pair of runs, while Kelsey Scheenks and Ashlynn Grubb added RBI-singles.
Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) picked up the victory for the Thunder in five innings of work. The senior fanned eight batter to remain unbeaten in nine decisions this year.
Trine will host Albion this Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m.