ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team is heading to Texas for their second consecutive trip to the finals of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship after defeating visiting Concordia University Wisconsin in the decisive game of the super regional round. The Thunder pulled away in the final innings to secure a 7-2 victory.
"I'm very proud of our team," said head coach Don Danklefsen, "That's a very good team that we just beat twice. We did it as a team. Up and down the lineup different people stepped up, different kids made big plays and had big hits. That's why we are moving on."
The Thunder sent senior Anna Koeppl to the circle for the game and she turned in another great performance. She pitched a no-hitter into the third and allowed just two hits in her five and a third innings of work.
"Anna was great again on the mound today," continued Danklefsen, "It'd be very frustrating to be the coach in the other dugout when she is on her game. Her spin and movement are just so difficult to get a hit against."
One of the few Falcons hits came in the seventh inning and Koeppl showed her best work in response to it. She forced a grounder out of the next batter that came right back to her. After fielding it cleanly she had the opportunity for an easy out at first, but had the foresight to turn instead to the runner at second. A standoff ensued that ended with Trine tagging the lead runner out. Koeppl followed up by ending the inning and with one of her two strikeouts.
In the other halves of the innings, the Trine offense had some success in getting on base, but were unable to score until the fourth. Senior Amanda Prather tallied a sharp single to start off the at-bats and the mood in the stadium seemed to shift. After a bunt moved Prather to second, freshman Reese Ruvalcaba brought her home on a single to right field. Classmate Ashleigh Tranter then brought in a second run with a single of her own in the next at-bat.
The team added to their lead in the top of the sixth with an RBI-single form sophomore Emma Beyer and a sacrifice fly from senior Ellie Trine.
Koeppl left the game in the sixth, giving way to junior Alexis Michon who took a few batters to get into rhythm. Concordia Wisconsin took advantage of the slow start cutting the lead in half with a two-run homer.
With the momentum back on the side of Falcons, the Thunder came to the plate in the top of the seventh looking for insurance runs. Freshman Debbie Hill once again provided a spark for the team with a solo home run to right field. Tranter and Michon followed up later with RBIs of their own to build the lead to 7-2.
"Both of their pitchers were working the inside part of the plate to the point where all we were seeing was the inside," explained Hill, "So I just started waiting for those pitches and ignoring everything else. It paid off when I finally got ahold of one."
In reality, Hill "got ahold" of a few pitches through the day. Two of her earlier at-bats featured near home run length foul balls, but it culminated with the momentum changing hit in the seventh.
Two more Falcons reached base in the bottom of the seventh, but Michon pitched out of the threat first with a strikeout and then by recording the final out herself, on a groundball. She finished her one and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts, but more importantly she ended it at the bottom of the celebratory dogpile.
Following the game, it was announced that Koeppl was named the super regional's Most Outstanding Pitcher while Hill took home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award.
"The stakes were high, but you're just playing like it's another game, but I told them to take a second to reflect on what's just happened" said an emotional Koeppl after the game, "Look at what you just did. What you just did twice in a row. That doesn't happen very often. So be proud, but also be ready, because we still have more work to do."
That work will commence in Marshall, Texas on the campus of Eastern Texas Baptist University, the host of the finals of the 2023 NCAA Division III Softball Championship. It has been announced that, following reseeding, the Thunder will take the field as the three-seed. They will face off with Rowan University in their first game which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. central time on Thursday, June 1.
