ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine softball team captured its third-consecutive MIAA Tournament title, picking up a dramatic extra-inning victory in the final game and staving off elimination twice to get there.
For the second-consecutive day, the Thunder trailed by three going into their final at-bat and rallied back to earn an extra-inning victory. Trine fought back from a 7-4 deficit in the top of the seventh of the championship game, with a two-run homer by freshman Rachell Noble (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) sending the game to extras. Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) capped the comeback with a solo blast in the top of the eighth to clinch the championship. Trine has now won three-consecutive MIAA Tournament Championships and clinched an eighth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Regionals.
Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) became NCAA Division IIIs all-time career-leader in hits. The two-time All-American notched her 300th-career hit in the championship game to pass Michelle Carlson of TCNJ, who set the previous record of 299 in a career that spanned the 1991-92 and 1994-95 seasons. The senior concluded the tournament with 300-career hits.
Trine opened the day by defeating Saint Mary's, 10-2 in six innings in an elimination game to advance to the championship round against Alma. The Thunder prevailed in 13-5 in a five-inning slugfest to extend the championship series to a deciding game.
The championship game was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Thunder seize control early. Each team traded runs in the first, with Searles homering to tie the D-III hits record to lead off the game. Alma tied it up with a single by Mary Brooks.
Back-to-back RBI-triples by Kendra Marshall (Leesburg, Ind./Warsaw) and Clark extended the score to 3-1 in the third.
Alma struck back with a four-run fourth to take the lead. Cori Witham singled in a pair and Brittany Hein scored on a wild pitch to give the Scots the lead. Anna Couture capped off the scoring with an RBI-double that hit the very top of the fence in left-center and missed being a home run by inches.
Leah Hall (Indianapolis, Ind/Franklin Central) pulled Trine back within one with an RBI-single in the sixth, but the Scots plated two more in their half of the inning on an RBI-walk and a sac fly to bring the score to 7-4.
Marshall led off the seventh with a single, but the Scots recorded two outs to put Trine down to its last chance. Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers) doubled home a run with a shot to the left-center gap to cut the score to 7-5 and extend the game.
That's when Noble came through in the biggest at-bat of her freshman season, launching an 0-2 pitch over the center field wall to tie the score. The homer was Noble's fifth of the season.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Clark lofted a fly ball over the center field wall to give the Thunder the lead. The homer was the junior's 30th of her career, which moved her into second on Trine's all-time list.
Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) closed out the game and earned the victory in the championship game. The senior fired two innings of one-hit, shutout ball. She earned two wins on the day to improve to 62-6 in her career and now has the second-most wins in school-history.
The first game of the day belonged to Marshall at the plate, who had one of the best games of her career. The junior homered twice, tripled and knocked in six runs. The junior batted .500 with 10 hits in the MIAA Tournament.
Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Edison) homered twice in the 13-5 victory in game two. The freshman has now hit 14 home runs this season, tied for the third-most in a season in team history. Hall and Newell also hit home runs in the game for the Thunder.
Trine will await its selection to the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced via video-live stream Monday at 10 a.m. The show can be watched HERE.
