FREELAND, Mich.-- For the second-straight week, Trine's Carly Searles was named MIAA Position Player of the Week and Justine Robles was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week.
Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) clinched her second-career MIAA batting title by hitting .667 (8-for-12) in leading Trine to wrapping up its fourth-consecutive MIAA Championship. The senior hit three home runs, knocked in four runs, stole three bases and scored 10 runs on the week. Searles finished the MIAA season with a .608 batting average and set a single-season conference record with 31 hits in league play. She is now the MIAA career-leader with 109 career hits, a .505 batting average and 18 triples in conference play.
Searles is closing in on a pair of national records. The two-time All-American has 48 career triples, three away from tying the all-time NCAA mark for all divisions. She is also tied for second in NCAA Division III history with a 293 career hits- six shy of tying the national record. As of the last national statistics report, Searles was leading the nation in triples and runs per game.
Robles (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) picked up her third-consecutive Pitcher of the Week honors as she struck out 18 in a pair of complete games last week. She struck out 10 in a two-hit shutout of Alma to set the Trine single-season record with seven shutouts on the year. She followed that up with an eight-strikeout performance in a 5-2 victory over Saint Mary's. All three of Robles' career Pitcher of the Week honors have been earned in the last three weeks.
Robles led the MIAA in wins and finished second in the league in strikeouts during the conference season. The junior has struck out 7.94 batters per seven innings this season, the sixth-highest rate in team history. Robles is seventh in a single-season in school history with 17 wins and eighth with 132 strikeouts.
Trine will host the MIAA Tournament this Thursday and Friday, April 30-May 1. The Thunder carry a 33-2 overall record into the tournament, having clinched a fourth-consecutive MIAA Championship with a 15-1 mark in league play.
Trine will face Saint Mary's in the first round Thursday. First-pitch is slated for 1 p.m., or a half hour following the preceding game between Hope and Alma.