Thunder Belt Five Homers in Doubleheader Sweep

Thunder Belt Five Homers in Doubleheader Sweep

ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine softball team belted five home runs in a sweep of MIAA-foe Albion Saturday afternoon at SportONE/Parkview Softball Field.

Danielle Ray (Hamilton, Ohio / Badin) extended her shutout streak with a one-hit shutout to lead the Thunder to a 10-0 run-rule victory in five innings in game one. Trine followed up with four home runs, including two from Carly Bachna (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria), in a 12-1 victory in another run-rule shortened five-inning victory in game two. Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio / Edison), Claire Ryan (Union Grove, Wis. / Union Grove) and Lainey McCue (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) also homered for Trine. The Thunder improved to 26-2 overall and 7-1 in the MIAA. The Britons fell to 7-21 overall, 1-9 in conference play.

Game One: Trine 10, Albion 0 (5)

Ray's pitching and two big innings powered the game one victory.

Ray retired the first 10 batters of the game in order, eight of which came on strikeouts. The freshman struck out seven in a row after a one-out pop out in the first. Ray's only blemishes on the day were a double that the wind pushed just over the head of a Thunder outfielder and a walk in the fourth, her first walk 39.2 innings. Ray struck out 11. The performance extended Ray's shutout streak to 35.2 innings.

Fox got the scoring started with a two-run homer in the first. The homer was the 40th of the junior's career. She is two shy of tying Andi Gasco's (2010-13) career program record.

A six-run fourth provided the rest of the scoring. The Thunder put two on with one out before Michaela Hartline (Niles, Mich. / Brandywine) knocked home the first run of the inning with a RBI-single. After an Emily White (Fortville, Ind. / Mount Vernon) single loaded the bases, Makenna Hartline (Niles, Mich. / Brandywine) worked a walk to score another run and make the score 4-0.

A two-run single by Ryan and an RBI-single by Fox kept the line moving and made the score 7-0. Kristy Rawlings (Lizton, Ind. / Tri-West Hendricks) capped the inning with a three-run double to the left-center gap for the final margin. Rawlings' three-RBI effort was a career high and extended her hitting-streak to four games.

Ryan, Fox and Catherine Porter (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth Canton) each had two hits in game one.

Game Two: Trine 12, Albion 1 (5)

The Thunder pounded out 15 hits, including four homers in game two.

Three of those homers came in the first inning, two of which put Trine up 5-0 before the Britons could record an out. Ryan launched the first homer of the game, a three-run shot, to get the Thunder on the board. After a Fox single, Bachna hit the first of her home runs to make it a five-run lead. McCue capped the scoring in the inning with a solo homer, her first of the season.

Bachna added her second homer, a three-run shot, to put the Thunder up 9-0 in the fourth. The performances was the first multi-homer game of the freshman's career. She tied her career high with five RBIs and extended her hitting streak to five games.

Trine added three runs in the fifth when Michaela Hartline hit an RBI-single and later scored on a passed ball. Porter also scored on a wild pitch in the inning.

Albion scored its lone run when Brianna Charron scored on a wild pitch. Charron was the lone Briton to record a hit in each game.

Hannah Kampmann (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin Derham Hall) did not allow a hit in three innings to pick up the win. She improved to 11-1 on the season.

White and Bachna each had three hits in game two for the Thunder. White had a pair of defensive highlights as she threw out two runners at first base from right field, one of which saved a run.

Trine returns to action Thursday, Apr. 20 when the Thunder host Saint Mary's. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.