LOUISVILLE, KY.-- The Trine softball team has climbed to the no. 6 national ranking in the Week 5 NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll, released Wednesday.
The Thunder received votes totaling 145 points in the poll, to climb from last week's no. 13 national ranking. The climb of seven spots is the biggest improvement of any team ranked in the poll and is the highest ranking for the team this season. Trine swept DePauw and Case Western Reserve in neutral-site games last week to extend their winning-streak to 13 games. Trine holds a 14-1 overall record this season. The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Votes reflect games played through Monday.
During the 13-game winning streak, Trine is batting .394 and averaging 9.6 runs per game. Thunder pitching has held opposing hitters to a .220 clip during the winning-streak while posting a 2.48 ERA. Overall, Trine is batting .372 and getting on-base at a .454 rate. The team has hit an MIAA-leading 15 home runs while slugging a league-best .603.
Individual Thunder players rank atop the MIAA-leaderboard in numerous statistical categories. Junior outfielder Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) leads the league in batting average (.556), on-base percentage (.613), slugging percentage (.981), hits (30), stolen bases (12), triples (7), total bases (53) and extra-base hits (12). Searles has an active 10-game hitting-streak.
Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) leads the league by a wide margin with six home runs. She has homered in five of her last seven games. Clark is tied with Searles for the most RBI's in the conference with 19. Clark is currently riding a five-game hitting-streak.
Rachel Harris (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) has six doubles to lead the conference. The junior is batting .419 with an on-base percentage of .519 to go along with two homers and 16 RBI's.
Junior Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) has led the Thunder in the circle this season. Fuller is 8-1 with a 1.78 ERA. She leads the MIAA in wins and innings pitched (51). Fuller ranks second in the league in strikeouts (70), and strikeouts per seven innings (9.61).
Trine returns to action Thursday, Mar. 27 when they travel to Ohio Northern for a twinbill beginning at 2:30 p.m. The meeting will be the first between the two schools since the 2012 NCAA Regionals.