ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team swept visiting Ohio Northern University winning both halves of today's doubleheader. The team's high-powered offense was on full display as they recorded four homeruns in the two games.
The Thunder began the day with an 8-1 victory over the Polar Bears. Senior Amanda Prather scored the team's first run when she reached home on a passed ball. The opposition responded the top of the third inning to tie the game with a solo homerun.
The big hit was the last RBI of the game allowed by starting pitcher Alexis Michon who went for five innings allowing three hits while striking out nine batters. Freshman Debbie Hill entered in relief for the final two innings and allowed just one hit with two strikeouts during her outing.
Trine recaptured the lead in the bottom of the third inning when freshman Karley Trine cleared the bases with a three-run homerun of her own to make the score 4-1. She added another homerun in the bottom of the fifth, this time scoring two runs, and sophomore Ainsley Phillips added a solo shot to make the score 7-1.
Phillips recorded the final RBI of the game in the bottom of the sixth when she brought home classmate Emma Beyer on a sacrifice fly.
Senior Anna Koeppl made the start in the circle for the second game of the day and she came up with three outs on three pitches during the first inning of the game. All told she would carry a perfect game into the fifth inning, but allowed two baserunners before being pulled.
The Thunder picked up right where they started offensively in the game. After loading the bases with just one out in the bottom of the first, Prather cleared the bases with a grand-slam to centerfield. Hill then brought in two more runs on a single in the second inning. Phillips and senior Ellie Trine each recorded RBIs in the third inning to put Ohio Northern on notice with an eight-run deficit.
Trine made a host of substitutions during the fourth inning, but it did little to slow down the offense. Freshman Reese Ruvalcaba brought in the first runs of the inning with a two-RBI single. Classmate Ashleigh Tranter brought home another, before Emma Lee cleared brought home two more with a double to right centerfield. The score was 13-0 after the fourth inning.
With their backs to the wall, the Polar Bears broke up the perfect game and scored six runs in the top of the fifth inning to stave off the run-rule at 13-6. Neither team would score during the rest of the seven innings and Hill entered the game again finishing the final two and two-thirds innings of the contest. She struck out five and allowed just one hit.
Trine improves to 12-2 overall following the pair of wins. They will continue their season when they host Anderson (Ind.) University on Wednesday, March 29. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.