by LOUISVILLE, Ky.– Trine’s Carly Searles has been selected as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Hitter of the Week, the association announced Wednesday.
Searles (Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians) was a perfect 14-for-14 at the plate last week as the Thunder swept doubleheaders from conference foes Olivet and Albion. The senior racked up 11 runs scored, three doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBIs. Searles extended her streak of consecutive at-bats with a hit to 16 games before it was snapped yesterday, the second-longest such streak in the history of collegiate softball at any division. Her final hit in the stretch was her 48th-career triple- three shy of the all-time NCAA mark.
A two-time All-American, Searles is putting together a senior campaign that should once again be worthy of national honors. Entering the week, the center fielder was leading the nation in triples and runs per game. Her .528 average entering play yesterday ranked 10th nationally. She has since raised that average to .531, which puts Searles on pace for another school-record. (continued below graphic)
Searles is the NCAA Division III all-time leader in career triples. Yesterday, Searles became the all-time leader hit-leader in MIAA conference games in league history. She holds Trine career records for batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, total bases and stolen bases. Searles also holds eight Trine single-season records.
Trine is ranked sixth inthe nation in the latest NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll. The Thunder clinched at least a share of the MIAA-regular season title with a sweep of Alma yesterday. Trine is 31-2 overall, with a 13-1 mark in conference games.
Trine concludes the regular-season this Saturday, April 25 with a doubleheader against MIAA-foe St. Mary’s. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
