WESTFIELD, IND. – The Trine University softball team split on their lone day of competition at the abbreviated DePauw University Invitational. The Thunder dropped their first game of the day to Washington (Mo.) University by the score 11-3, before coming out on top of host DePauw by the score of 8-7.
Trine took an early lead against the Bears, with senior Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio / Edison) bringing in a run with a single during her first at bat. The score would hold at 1-0 until the bottom of the second when Washington's offense came alive. The Bears would come away with eight runs in the half inning taking a commanding 8-1 lead heading into the third.
The Thunder were unable to pull themselves back into the game trading runs with the opposition for the next three innings before Washington got the walk off victory in the bottom of the sixth to finish with an 11-3 win.
Freshman Kennedy Baugh (Walton, Ky. / Notre Dame Academy) led the way for Trine in the contest finishing with two hits and an RBI.
The second game was a nail biter with, requiring an extra inning to determine a winner. In the first, the Tigers got the early lead scoring one run in the top of the inning. The Thunder responded in their own at-bat with four runs to take a 4-1 lead into the second. The lead was short lived with DePauw evening the score at four in the top of the second.
The game would enter the seventh inning with both teams tied at five. The Tigers pulled ahead in the top half of the inning with a two-out RBI single. The Thunder tied the game again on sacrifice fly by sophomore Nicole Ferraro (North Royalton, Ohio / Holy Name), but they were unable to pull ahead and the game would head to an eighth inning with the score tied at six.
The teams immediately went to the international tiebreaker, placing a runner at second to begin the inning. DePauw brought in that runner, but no more, to take a 7-6 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
Trine came to the plate with the top of their order set to bat and the game on the line. Senior Erica Robles (Long Beach, Calif. / Lakewood) reached the base path on a bunt and advanced to second on the throw to third. The Thunder's runner on second beat out the throw and the team found itself with a runner on second and third with no outs. Freshman Mercede Daugherty (Watervilet, Mich. / Watervilet) came to the plate beamed a two RBI, walk-off single to left field, giving the Trine the 8-7 victory.
With the split, the Thunder end the day 13-3. They are scheduled to take the diamond again Friday, March 23, when they travel to Anderson (Ind.) University for a doubleheader that is set to start at 3 p.m.
