ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team will advance to their third-straight Super Regional series after shutting out the University of Mount Union in the final game of the Angola, Indiana Regional of the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
It took just five innings for the Thunder to win the championship with the team securing the 8-0 run-rule victory over the Purple Raiders in walk off fashion. The scoring started in the bottom of the first inning when Tyra Marcum and Debbie Hill posted back-to-back homers making the score 3-0.
Macy Rocha brought in the next run in the bottom of the third with an RBI-single with Emma Beyer and Scarlett Elliott each following up with RBIs of their own.
Beyer brought in the first run of the fifth as well, giving the team a 7-0 lead and putting Mount Union on the ropes. Elliott ended the game in the next at-bat with a single to left field that scored the game winner.
In the circle Hill pitched another gem, going all five innings while allowing just two hits. She struck out six along the way.
Following the conclusion of the game, Trine placed four members on the All-Tournament team including Elliott, Marcum, Rocha and Alexis Michon. Hill was named Most Outstanding Player for the tournament.
Elliott finished the weekend with the best batting average on the team going .667 in the three games. She also turned in a .625 on-base percentage, second highest, and a .833 slugging percentage, third on the team. She came up with two RBIs, including the championship sealing run.
Marcum was the premiere offensive player in the regional. She led the way with six RBIs, two doubles and a monster 1.143 slugging percentage. She recorded one of the two homeruns of the weekend and finished with a .429 batting average and a .444 on-base percentage.
Rocha also made her presence known in the batters' box. She finished the week with a team high .667 on-base percentage and with the most hits (5). She also finished second with four RBIs and a .625 batting average.
Michon saw her lone action on Friday when she pitched a complete seven innings in the first game against the Raiders. She allowed just three hits in her seven innings while striking out eight batters. The win propelled the Thunder to the championship game.
Hill earned the MOP honors with a now customary performance both in the circle and at the plate. Offensively she finished with the only other homer in the regional while coming in second on the team with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She was also third with a .556 on-base percentage. She started her weekend of pitching by joining Lauren Clausen in a no-hitter and then continued the dominance today with a two-hit effort. She ended the weekend with 11 strikeouts, a perfect ERA (0.00) and a team best 8.56 strikeouts per seven innings.
The Thunder end the weekend with a 42-3 overall record. They will next take the field on Thursday, May 23 for the opening game of the best of three super regional series. They are set to face the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the game. More information will be released on the series as it becomes available.