ANGOLA, Ind. – Sophomore Adrienne Rosey (Schoolcraft, Mich. / Schoolcraft) recorded her second no-hitter of the season and then the Trine University softball team's offense took over to pick up a sweep of visiting Alma College in the penultimate Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader of the regular season.
The sweep ensures that the Thunder will finish no lower than second in the MIAA regular season standings and that the regular season title will be decided on Saturday, April 30 when the team hosts Hope College. Trine will take the outright title with a sweep of the Flying Dutch, but will finish second with any other result.
Rosey took the circle for the first half of today's doubleheader and would begin the day with a strikeout, one of nine that she would record in her seven innings of work. One runner would reach base on an error, but the inning was otherwise quiet.
The Thunder on the other hand would make noise in the bottom of the first. Senior Taylor Murdock (Lapel, Ind. / Lapel) recorded a single in her first at-bat and then moved to second on a ground out by the next batter. Sophomore Scarlett Elliott (Utica, Ohio / Utica) then brought in the run with a single through the left side.
The 1-0 lead would hold until the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior Amanda Prather (Indianapolis, Ind. / Roncalli) would record a leadoff single before moving to second when classmate Anna Gill (Ashville, Ohio / Teays Valley) drew a walk. Junior Ellie Trine (Kokomo, Ind. / Kokomo) would then bring in the run with a single of her own building the lead to 2-0.
The team would add another run in the bottom of the fifth and the sixth to build their lead to 4-0 heading into the seventh. Freshman Emma Beyer (Rochester, Mich. / Stoney Creek) would record the RBI in the fifth and senior Mercede Daugherty (Watervliet, Mich. / Watervliet) did the same in the sixth.
Rosey finished off the game with a "1-2-3" inning in the top of the seventh ending the contest with the no-hitter and shutout, allowing just three baserunners during the game, two on errors and one on a walk.
Where the first game was about the pitching circle, the second was about the batter's box for the Thunder. After a scoreless first inning the team opened the scoring in the top of the second. Prather would start the inning with a double and then freshman Ainsley Phillips (Yorktown, Ind. / Yorktown) would reach on a walk a few batters later. Trine would then blaze a ball into right center for a double clearing the bases and giving the team an early lead.
Alma would score their first runs of the day in the bottom of the third inning plating a pair on a hard-hit single of their own to tie the game at two.
Gill quickly responded in the top of the fourth inning for Trine, sending a blistering ball down the right field line to walk into third with a standup triple. She would score quickly after on a wild pitch. Murdock would then bring in another run a few batters later with another double. Two more runs would score in the inning both on errors with two-outs on the board making the score 6-2.
Junior Anna Koeppl (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) started the game in the circle for the Thunder and pitched the first three innings before allowing the two runs. She finished the game with three strikeouts. In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Lauren Clausen (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove) took over and would finish out the game with four strikeouts while allowing no runs to the Scots as they tried get back into the game.
With the defense playing well, the offense continued to work. In the top of the fifth, Phillips and Murdock both recorded RBI doubles to build the lead to 8-2. Then in the sixth Prather brought in a run on a bunt single and Gill made the score 10-2 with a sacrifice fly. That score would go final after the bottom of the sixth went scoreless.
Trine improves to 22-11 overall and 12-2 in MIAA play following the pair of wins. They will look to finish secure the MIAA title on Saturday when they host the Flying Dutch. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.