by GREENCASTLE, Ind.– The Trine softball team earned a victory over Thomas More in an elimination game, but saw its season come to an end in the regional championship as DePauw defeated the Thunder to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.
The Thunder concluded last night’s suspended game by earning a 4-0 victory over Thomas More to reach the regional championship game. Trine still needed two wins to claim the regional title as they advanced to the championship round to face DePauw, but the Tigers fought back from an early three-run deficit to bring about the end of the season for the Thunder. Trine concluded the season 39-5 overall, having reached the NCAA Regionals for the eighth-straight year. The Thunder won its fourth-consecutive MIAA Championship and third MIAA Tournament in a row.
Leah Hall (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) came through with a clutch hit in the victory over Thomas More, clearing the bases with a three-run double in the bottom of the third. Hall concluded her career fourth in Trine history in RBIs with 137 in her career. She would later score on an error in the four-run fourth.
That was the final inning played Saturday night, as the two teams resumed play Sunday morning. Bree Fuller(Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) completed the three-hit shutout in what would be the final start of her Trine career.
Fuller struck out five in her 14th-career shutout. The senior finished her career with a 64-6 record, including 17-1 in her senior campaign.
Trine scored three in the first two innings of game two. Carly Searles (Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians) scored the first run on an error in the first. Fellow seniors Rachel Harris (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) and Hall each drove in runs with RBI-doubles in the second.
DePauw struck back and took the lead with a four-run third. Linsey Button struck with a two-run single, while Elizabeth Getz and Lauren Godden each added RBI-singles. Button was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional. The Tigers would never trail the rest of the way.
DePauw added two insurance runs in the fifth on a sac fly by Sammi Bell and an RBI-single by Button.
An RBI-double by Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) scored Searles in the sixth to cut the score to 6-4, but an RBI-single by Bell brought the Tigers’ lead back to three.
Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers) launched a solo home run to lead off the seventh to cut the deficit to two. The Thunder did not go quietly, as they brought the tying run to the plate three times but were unable to score.
Fuller, Searles and Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Edison) were named to the all-tournament team for Trine.
Trine’s senior class of Fuller, Searles, Newell, Harris, Hall and Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) leaves as the only class in team history to win MIAA titles all four years. The Thunder accumulated a 160-26 record over the last four years.
Searles concludes her career as NCAA Division IIIs all-time leader with 306 career hits, 261 runs scored and 48 triples.
