LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The No. 18 Trine softball team completed a perfect opening weekend with victories over Wartburg and Transylvania Sunday afternoon at the University of Kentucky.
Freshman Makenna Hartline (Niles, Mich. / Brandywine) homered twice to power a 9-6 victory over Wartburg in game one. The Thunder then shut out Transylvania 8-0 in a run-rule shortened five-inning game two to complete a 4-0 weekend. Hartline was named the Most Valuable Player of the Transylvania Invitational after batting .333 with three home runs and five RBIs on the weekend. Pitcher Danielle Ray (Hamilton, Ohio / Baden), shortstop Carly Bachna (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) and catcher Catherine Porter (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth Canton) each earned All-Tournament honors as well.
Trine's talented class of newcomers had a strong debut in the tournament. Newcomers combined to hit four home runs, drive in another 14 and score 15 runs. Freshman pitchers accounted for all four wins in the circle.
Game One: Trine 9, Wartburg 6
Extra-base power from the Thunder bats was the difference as the two teams combined for 18 hits in game one.
The Knights scored first on a wild pitch, but Trine answered with four in the home half of the first. Lainey McCue (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) doubled home a run, while Bachna and Porter later added RBI singles to cap the inning.
Wartburg fought back with two runs each in the next two frames. Hannah Onken and Erika Countryman knocked in runs in the second before Taylor Smola doubled home a pair in the third.
Trine had its answer in the bottom of the fourth to retake the lead. The first of Hartline's two homers in the game knotted the score up at 5-5. A two out rally produced two more runs. Bachna doubled home another run and the Thunder plated another on an error to make it 7-5 through four.
A sac fly from Smola cut the Knights' deficit to one in the fifth, but Hartline struck again in the bottom of the frame. The freshman launched a two-run homer for her first career multi-homer game. Both of Hartline's hits in game one left the yard as the left fielder knocked in three.
Bachna and Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio / Edison) added multi-hit games for Trine. Ray picked up the victory with five innings of relief work. The freshman improved to 2-0 on the season.
Smola had two hits and drove in a pair of runs for Wartburg. The Knights fell to 7-3 overall.
Game Two: Trine 8, Transylvania 0 (5)
Early runs and the pitching of Hannah Kampmann (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin Derham Hall) allowed the Thunder to wrap up the weekend 4-0.
Hartline continued her tear at the plate, starting the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two run homer just two batters in. Trine proceeded to load the bases and McCue coaxed a bases-loaded walk to make the score 3-0. Porter put the exclamation point on the big inning by ripping a grand slam to left to give the Thunder a seven-run first. Bachna added a RBI-single in the second for all the scoring Trine would need.
Kampmann held things in control from there as the freshman worked all five innings to notch her second victory of the weekend. She scattered three hits, walked two and struck out one in the outing.
Porter and Nicole Ferraro (North Royalton, Ohio / Holly Name) each notched two-hit games in the nightcap.
Trine returns to action Sunday, Mar. 12 at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. The Thunder take on No. 20 Cortland at 9 a.m. before facing Wheaton (Mass.) at 1:30 p.m.
