LAKE MYRTLE, Fla. – The Trine University baseball team picked up their first win of spring break on Tuesday morning 3-1 over Saint Vincent College. The Thunder scored a pair of runs late in the game and took advantage of five Bearcat errors. Trine is 4-2 overall this season and Saint Vincent suffers their first loss of the 2023 campaign at 2-1.
Junior starting pitcher Michael Brucker escaped a bases loaded jam in his first inning of work after getting a strikeout swinging to end the frame. The Thunder offense would give Brucker the lead in the top of the second inning.
Seniors Adam Stefanelli and Matt Weis hit back-to-back singles with one away that put runners on first and third. Fellow classmate Avery Fulford hit a high fly ball to centerfield that would do the trick in driving in a run via sacrifice fly. Junior Daniel Rumberger and senior Tyler Robinson kept the inning going with a single to center and a walk, but Trine would leave three on base as well.
The third inning saw junior Dalton Nikirk get to third with one out, but was stranded 90 feet from home. The Bearcats scored an unearned run in the bottom half thanks to two errors, but once again the Thunder were able to limit the damage after getting out of the inning with the bases loaded.
Brucker exited the game at 3.0 innings pitched and retired six on strikes with three hits and four walks. Senior southpaw Cole Decker (2-0) appeared from the bullpen and settled in nicely over the next five innings. He kept Saint Vincent off the scoreboard with five strikeouts, three hits allowed and three walks.
Trine put runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, but none of the opportunities resulted in runs and the score remained 1-1. In the top of the eighth, the Thunder manufactured a second run to take the lead.
Weis and junior Jack Kletzly reached first and second thanks to a base on balls and hit by pitch, and a fielder's choice by Robinson resulted in a run scored off a throwing error. Trine plated an insurance run in the ninth thanks to an error as well to make it 3-1. Sophomore Noah Brettin locked down the bottom of the ninth for his first save of 2023 in a 1-2-3 inning.
Weis led the team by reaching base three times, twice on walks. Stefanelli was the only batter with multiple hits in the game, while Robinson had one hit and one walk.
The Thunder take on Grove City College on Tuesday, March 7 beginning at 1:15 p.m. as the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational continues.
