ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine University softball picked up a hard-fought victory over Alma College to advance to the final of Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Softball Tournament Pool A play. The Thunder held off a final inning push from the Scots to take a 5-4 victory.
The two teams played through the majority of the contest in a pitcher's duel with both teams scoreless through the fourth inning. Sophomore Anna Koeppl (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) started the contest for Trine and pitched the first five innings and holding a shutout through four.
In the top of the fifth inning, Alma broke up the duel with an RBI single up the middle of the diamond to take a 1-0 lead.
With the seal broken, the Thunder came to the plate trailing 1-0. Junior Taylor Murdock (Lapel, Ind. / Lapel) led off the inning with a single and reached second on a single from classmate Lexi Clark (Niles, Mich. / Edwardsburg) in the next at-bat. Sophomore Ellie Trine (Kokomo, Ind. / Kokomo) took full advantage of the runners with a huge home run to right-centerfield. Trine's third homer of the season gave the team the 3-1 lead.
The Scots cut the deficit to one with a homer of their own in the top of the sixth, chasing Koeppl from the circle. Freshman Adrienne Rosey (Schoolcraft, Mich. / Schoolcraft) took her place and struggled to start her outing with the opposition plating another run in the sixth to tie the game at three.
With one runner on Murdock returned to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and recorded a homer of her own to take back the lead in explosive fashion, but that would be the end of the threat for the team and Trine would take the 5-3 lead into the final inning.
Rosey started the inning strong with a strikeout and a fly-out to put two quick outs on the board, but the Alma offense started rolling. They would record a pair of singles followed by a double to cut the deficit back to one at 5-4.
With runners on second and third, Koeppl re-entered the game to pitch the final out. Her first batter faced drew a walk after a long at-bat, but the second batter would record the final out on a fly ball to left field.
Rosey earns her seventh win of the season in relief and Koeppl earns her first save of the season.
Trine improves to 30-8 overall following the victory. They will face off with Alma again on Sunday, May 9 at 1 p.m. with a second game to follow afterward if necessary. The Thunder will advance out of Pool A with a single win on Sunday.