ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University softball team competed today in the opening games of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Softball Tournament. They dropped their first game of the day to Saint Mary's College and then had their second suspended due to darkness while tied at four with Hope College after eight innings of play.
In the Thunder's first game of the day, the Belles struck first with a pair of runs in the second inning. Trine would respond in the bottom of the third when sophomore Mercede Daugherty (Watervilet, Mich. / Watervilet) Drove a single through the left side of the infield with bases loaded.
The 2-2 tie was short lived however as Saint Mary's took back the lead with a fielders choice tally in the top of the fourth. Once again the Thunder responded in the bottom half of the inning with a crucial pinch-hit base hit from sophomore Kennedy Baugh (Walton, Ky. / Notre Dame Academy).
The two teams settled in defensively and headed into the seventh inning still tied at three. The Belles took back their lead with a two-run single in the top of the inning.
The Thunder came to bat trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Junior Makenna Hartline (Niles, Mich. / Brandywine) led off the inning with a towering home run to left field to pull the team within one at 5-4. But that would end up being the final run of the game and Trine fell to the opposition.
The loss put Trine into the bottom half of the double-elimination tournament, forcing them to take the field again immediately to attempt to stave off elimination in a contest against Hope College.
This time the Thunder struck first tallying a run in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead. The Flying Dutch closed the gap in the bottom of the third with a run of their own.
The Thunder opened the fourth inning up 2-1. Freshman Lexi Clark (Niles, Mich. / Edwardsburg) came up with a clutch double to give the team some breathing room at 4-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, Hope responded to cut the lead back to two at 4-2. They would then score two more in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth inning, the game was suspended due to darkness. The two teams will resume play at 11:15 a.m. tomorrow, May 3. The rest of the tournament will continue following that game.