OLIVET, Mich. -- The Trine University softball team came up with two victories on the road as they defeated host Olivet College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader.
The two teams found themselves in a pitchers duel to start the first contest of the day with neither team allowing a run through the first four innings of the game.
In the top of the fifth, the Thunder broke up the stalemate by scoring four. Junior Michaela Hartline (Niles, Mich. / Brandywine) started the scoring with an RBI single. Freshman Taylor Murdock (Lapel, Ind. / Lapel) then cleared the bases with a two-run triple. Sophomore Mercede Daugherty (Watervilet, Mich. / Watervilet) then brought Murdock home with a single of her own as the next batter.
The Thunder would add another two runs in the top of the sixth as Makenna Hartline (Niles, Mich. / Brandywine) brought in two with a bases-loaded single. The six runs would be enough as the team took the contest 6-2.
In the circle, junior Hannah Kampmann (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin Derham Hall) picked up her seventh win of the season finishing the game with five hits, no walks and six strikeouts.
In the second half of twinball, the Comets scored the first runs of the contest, bringing in two in the top half of the second inning.
The Thunder bats responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the same inning. Victoria Porter (Canton, Mich. / Canton) came up big with a bases-loaded single to start the scoring. Daugherty did the same a few batters later with a single of her own.
Trine would take the 4-2 lead into the top of the fifth when Olivet pulled within one on the back of a double. But Trine responded in their half of the inning with an RBI double of their own, from senior Lainey McCue (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake).
The Comets would pull within one again, but the five runs would be enough as the Thunder came away with the win 5-4.
Senior Kate Saupe (Farwell, Mich. / Farwell) got the win in the circle, her ninth of the season. She finished the game allowing six hits but no walks while tallying three strikeouts.
Trine improves to 17-3 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA following the sweep. They are scheduled to take the diamond again tomorrow, April 6 when they host Manchester University for a pair of games. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.