OLIVET, Mich. – Junior Lauren Clausen's perfect game headlines a convincing sweep of Olivet College by the Trine University softball team. The team recorded two run-rule victories over the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) opponent.
Clausen, who pitched in the second game of the doubleheader, completed just the second perfect game in program history. She joins Bree Fuller, class of 2015 and recent Trine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, who recorded the first perfect game on April 4, 2014 against St. Mary's College.
Before Clausen's date with history, the Thunder started the first game at the plate. Senior Ellie Trine led off with an infield single before moving to second on a wild pitch. Two of the next three batters walked, loading the bases with one out. Senior Amanda Prather drew the third walk of the inning to bring in the first run of the game and junior Scarlett Elliott singled to left field for the second. The team scored one more run in the inning off the bat of freshman Reese Ruvalcaba who reached on a fielder's choice.
In the bottom of the first, junior Alexis Michon took the circle and began work on her shutout performance. She would ultimately pitch all five innings allowing just five hits while striking out four. The win is her sixth of the season.
Trine went on to score in each of the contest's five innings. One run in both the second and third, three more in the fourth and five in the fifth to build their final lead of 13-0.
Three different members of the team recorded two RBIs in the game including Elliott, who had a solo home run in her second at-bat, Cassie Woods and freshman Debbie Hill. Freshman Emma Lee, joined Prather and Ruvalcaba in recording one RBI each. The other four runs in the game came off an error drawn by Lee, a throwing error drawn by a steal attempt from junior Emily Wheaton, a bad throw after an Ellie Trine single and a wild pitch.
The second game began with the first three outs of Clausen's perfect performance, all coming on groundballs inside the infield. All told, six of her fifteen outs were groundouts, six were flyballs, one a lineout and two strikeouts. The win is her third of the season, as she improves to a 3-0 record.
Offensively the game started in similar fashion to its predecessor. This time it was Hill who drew the walk with bases loaded to get the team on the board at 1-0. Woods recorded a single to center field in the second inning that ended up bringing in a run off of the fielder's errant throw.
After a scoreless third, the team posted its best production in the fourth scoring five runs to build the lead to seven. Lee started the stretch by reaching base on a throwing error by the third baseman. Two runs came in on the play, with one going down as an RBI for the freshman who ended up on third. Hill followed up with an RBI double, followed in turn by Elliott with an RBI single. After the second out of the inning Elliott would scamper home on a single from freshman Ashleigh Tranter.
After what would end up being the final three outs of the game for Clausen in the top of the fifth, sophomore Angelena Perry led off with a bunt single. Junior Emersyn Haney replaced her at first as a pinch runner and stole second before advancing to third on the second out of the inning. Senior Anna Gill then finished off the game with a sharply hit ball toward the second baseman, forcing an error and bringing Haney home. The run walked off the game with an 8-0 score.
Trine improves to 21-3 overall and 4-0 in MIAA play following the pair of victories. They will return home for their next competition, hosting Albion College on Saturday, April 15. The MIAA doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.