CLERMONT, Fla. – Following a long rain delay and the cancelation of one of their games, the Trine University softball team picked up a second run-rule victory by the score of 8-0 over Saint Joseph's College of Maine.
The Thunder were scheduled to take on Muskingum University in addition to the Monks, but due to inclement weather throughout much of the day the second game was canceled and the remaining game was pushed back to a 9:15 p.m. start time.
After a quiet first inning for both teams, Trine started the scoring in the top of the second. Three walks, interrupted by a fielder's choice and a pop out, gave the team bases loaded with two outs on the board. Two more walks would bring in a pair of runs earning RBIs for freshman April Sellers (North Salem, Ind. / Tri-West) and junior Ellie Trine (Kokomo, Ind. / Kokomo).
A quick bottom half of the inning brought the Thunder back to the plate. Again with two outs, this time with a runner on second, freshman Ainsley Phillips (Yorktown, Ind. / Yorktown) notched a single to left center scoring a run. After another walk, a sharp hit ball from sophomore Giselle Riley (Temecula, Calif. / Temecula Valley) forced an error and scored another run.
Both teams would go quiet in the fourth and fifth. Riley would lead off the sixth with a triple with her runner coming home on a Trine single. Trine would come home a few batters later on an error. Sophomore Scarlett Elliott (Utica, Ohio / Utica) would then record the team's second triple of the inning bringing in a pair of runs to make the score 8-0.
Despite some drama fueled by walks in the bottom of the inning the team would finish off the game by holding the Monks scoreless.
Sophomore Elizabeth Koch (Franklin, Wis. / Franklin) pitched a fantastic game allowing just three hits and a walk while recording 10 strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. After leaving the game for the first part of the final half innings, she returned to record the final out.
The Thunder improve to 2-7 following the win. The team is scheduled to finish their spring break slate of games tomorrow, Friday, March 11. They are set to face Penn St.-Behrend at 9 p.m. and then Rowan at 1:30 p.m.