ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University softball team found themselves in a pair of tight battles with visiting Defiance College, who will return home with a split. The Thunder took the first game 3-2 before dropping the second 5-4.
The Yellow Jackets struck first in the opening game of the day. The team plated a pair of runs in the top of the third inning on the back of four hits.
The 2-0 lead would last until the bottom of the fourth inning, when junior Ashley Swartout (Westfield, Ind. / Westfield) put the Thunder on the board with a single swing of the bat, recording her third homer of the season. The team followed up the big hit by maneuvering baserunners onto first and second with two outs. Freshman Scarlett Elliot (Utica, Ohio / Utica) then launched a ball into right-center where the opposition's fielder recorded the error. Both leading runners were able to score on the play giving Trine the 3-2 lead.
The Thunder held on to the slim lead through the final three innings on the shoulders of senior Hannah Kampmann (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin Derham Hall) who entered the game in relief in the fourth inning. She pitched four innings allowing no runs and recording two strikeouts to get her third win of the season.
The second game of the day started much the same as the first. After a leadoff double, Defiance homered to put themselves up 2-0.
Trine responded with a two-run homer of their own in the bottom of the second inning. Senior Bailey Vande Giessen (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Central) picked up the one-out double and was brought home by junior Taylor Murdock's (Lapel, Ind. / Lapel) second career homer, which came to dead center.
The team wasn't done scoring. With two outs, junior Lexi Clark (Niles, Mich. / Edwardsburg) reached base on balls, before quickly being brought home by sophomore Ellie Trine's (Kokomo, Ind. / Kokomo) triple down the leftfield line. Freshman Madey Flick (Wheatfield, Ind. / Kankakee Valley) then came up with the pinch-hit single to bring in Trine from third.
The Yellow Jackets cut into the lead in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly but were unable to tie the game leaving a runner in scoring position.
The Thunder were poised for another close victory in the top of the seventh with two outs, but two runners in scoring position. A fielding error at shortstop allowed those two runners to cross home and give Defiance back the lead at 5-4.
Trine didn't go quietly in the bottom half of the inning as they methodically loaded the bases with just one out on the board. But the Yellow Jackets ended the threat by catching one run at the plate and then ending the game on a ground out.
The Thunder finish the day 7-3 overall. They will take the field again on Friday, March 26 when they host both Adrian College and Hope College for non-conference games. The first game is set to start at noon.