HOLLAND, Mich. -- The Trine University softball team was swept by host Hope College in their regular-season finale. The difference in both games was razor-thin as the Flying Dutch picked up both the wins by one run, 7-6 in the first contest and 6-5 in the second.
The two teams end the season in a tie atop the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings and sharing the regular-season championship. Both teams will learn their seed for next week's eight-team conference tournament later this weekend. The top two seeds will each host a pod of four teams for the opening round, beginning on Thursday, May 6.
Hope denied the Thunder runs in the first inning after the team loaded the bases with two outs and then converted on their opportunities in the bottom half of the inning taking a 2-0 lead.
Trine tied the game in the top of the third when a pair of runners crossed homeplate. Freshman Scarlett Elliott (Utica, Ohio / Utica) tallied the opening RBI with a single in the inning and would then score the second run on an error later on. The tie was short-lived as Hope retook the lead with a run in the bottom half of the inning.
The Thunder took a lead of their own in the fourth inning. Senior Victoria Porter (Canton, Mich. / Canton) singled to left field to bring in the first run of the inning before Elliott struck again with a double later on.
The 4-3 lead lasted into the fifth inning when the Flying Dutch responded again with three runs to take a 6-4 lead.
Elliott continued her strong day at the plate with a home run in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to one and senior Bailey Vande Giessen (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Central) tied the game with a solo shot of her own in the top of the seventh.
A pair of doubles in the bottom of the eighth gave Hope the 7-6 victory in walk-off fashion.
The Thunder found themselves in a hole again in the second game, as they trailed 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third. They then got the offense running scoring four runs to take the lead. Senior Mercede Daugherty (Watervilet, Mich. / Watervilet), sophomore Amanda Prather (Indianapolis, Ind. / Roncalli), Porter and Elliott each recorded RBI singles to score the runs.
The Flying Dutch took back the lead in the fourth inning with a two-run homer and then added to the lead in the fifth with a solo shot.
Elliott would cut the deficit to one again with her second homer of the day, but the offense dried up and the Thunder fell 6-5 in the game.
The Thunder fall to 28-8 overall and 14-2 in MIAA play following the pair of losses.