ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team secured at least a share of their fourth-straight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season title with a sweep of visiting Saint Mary's College. Junior Alexis Michon secured the 16th no-hitter in program history and freshman Debbie Hill hit for the cycle to lead the way for the Thunder.
Michon made the start in the first game of the doubleheader and pitched a nearly flawless five innings. She allowed three baserunners in the game, two on walks and one on a hit-by-pitch, as she recorded the no-hitter, the third of the season for Trine. Michon struck out nine of the 18 batters she faced in the contest.
The offense would add ample run support for Michon's performance, scoring 17 runs to post the lopsided victory. They scored eight of those runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Senior Ellie Trine led off the game with a walk, before scoring on a triple by Cassie Woods. Freshman Karley Trine brought in the next run with a single up the middle before coming home on a huge home run by Hill. Freshman Ashleigh Tranter brought in the next run on a single that also drew an error by the right fielder.
Ellie Trine's second at bat was a triple of her own that brought in a pair of runs, before Woods recorded another RBI this time on a single.
The second inning was a slow one for Trine, with just one run coming home, this time on a groundout by senior Amanda Prather.
Five would cross home in the third inning. Woods brought home Ellie Trine for a third time for the first run, before coming home herself on a single by Karley Trine. Hill forced an error that brought in another run, before Prather cleared the bases with a two-RBI single later in the inning.
Three runs in the fourth finished off the scoring in the game. Freshman Michaela Doiron brought in the first run of the inning with the second hit of her young career. Prather had a second groundout RBI later for the second run and freshman Jordan Kohut brought home the final run on a single.
Prather's four runners batted in were the team high in the contest with four other members of the team tallying at least two.
Trine cruised to a second victory in game two, this time by the score of 22-0. Hill was the star this time as she went four-for-four while hitting for the cycle. She also recorded a staggering nine RBIs in the contest, the second best single-game performance in program history.
The team scored three runs in the top of the first to get the offense primed. The RBI's went to Prather off of a single, Hill off of a double and Carolyn Biel off of a walk during the inning.
Senior Anna Koeppl then took the circle for the bottom half of the inning. After the first batter reached on an error, Koeppl settled in and recorded three quick outs sending the offense back to the plate.
Three more runs scored in the second inning. Hill started the scoring with a two-RBI single that brought home Prather and Woods. Junior Emily Wheaton entered the game as a pinch runner and promptly stole second before reaching home on an error by the catcher.
The third saw Hill record the third leg of the cycle in spectacular fashion. The team loaded the bases with two outs on the board, before Prather was hit-by-pitch to bring in the first run of the inning. Hill followed up by hit a towering fly ball down the leftfield line that bounced off of the foul poll to count as a home run. The grand slam made the score 11-0.
Koeppl exited the game after the third inning. She finished with three innings of work allowing just one hit while striking out three. Junior Lauren Clausen entered in relief in the fourth. She finished off the last two innings allowing two hits and a walk.
Five more runs reached home in the fourth. Ellie Trine brought home the first with a single. Woods hit a blistering ball right at the leftfielder getting a hit and a two-base error that scored a pair of runs. Hill then finished off her cycle with a deep ball to right field that brought her all the way to third base while also scoring a pair of runs.
The bottom of the inning saw the Belles mount their most dangerous attack of the day. The lead off batter reached on a double and then looked close to scoring when the next batter singled to center field. Ellie Trine had other plans, fielding the single and coming up throwing. Her rocket reached home with the runner in no-man's land allowing Biel to make the throw to third for the first out.
Not to be outdone, Prather flashed her own brilliance to record the final out. A sharp hit ball went directly toward junior Scarlett Elliott to start the play and ended up being to hot to handle for the third baseman. Prather snatched the ball out of the air off of Elliott's glove and then fired the throw to first to end the inning.
The team scored six runs in the fifth inning to build their lead to its final 22-0 form. Ellie Trine and freshman Reese Rubalcaba both recorded RBI-singles while Prather and freshman Emma Lee both had two RBIs in the inning.
Ellie Trine made another great defensive play to end the game. She came well into right field tracking a troubling flyball and made the diving catch to record the out.
The Thunder improve to 30-4 overall following the pair of lopsided victories. It is the 13th time during head coach Donnie Danklefsen's tenure, and the third straight, that the team has reached the 30-win mark.
More importantly the team improves to 13-1 in MIAA play with just two games remaining on their schedule. With second-place Calvin University currently owning a 9-3 record, Trine has secured at least a share of the MIAA regular season title. It is the fourth-straight regular season title for the team, with a champion going uncrowned during the 2020 season. For Danklefsen it is the tenth title in his 19 seasons at the helm.
They will need just one win in their final doubleheader of the season to secure the outright title. The team heads to face Kalamazoo College on Friday, May 5 to finish off the regular season. That doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.