ALBION, Mich. – The Trine University baseball team dropped a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) road contest on Sunday afternoon to Albion College, 7-5. The Thunder are now 14-22 overall and 5-13 in league play while the Britons exit the season series with records of 11-25 and 8-10.

Sophomore Matthew Martin led off the game with an extra-base hit, a double to right center, but was left stranded 90 feet from home when the inning came to an end. A sacrifice fly for the home team in the bottom half of the inning provided Albion with a 1-0 lead. The Britons would tack on two more runs in the second, but a key double play on a line drive to senior first baseman Jackson O'Keefe got Trine out of a jam.

The Thunder would chip away at the Briton advantage with a run in both the third and fourth innings. Junior Daniel Rumberger singled to start the third and a double by senior Avery Fulford and groundout by senior Robert Kortas resulted in the first run of the game for Trine. A two-out RBI double off the bat of Rumberger scored sophomore Preston Henschen in the fourth to make the score 3-2.

The teams matched each other run-for-run in the middle innings. Albion used a pair of hit by pitches in the bottom of the fifth to plate two runs and the Thunder would answer with two of their own in the top of the sixth. Once again, it was Rumberger with an RBI double to score the first run and Martin followed that up with one of his own to close the gap to one yet again, 5-4.

The Britons provided run support for their bullpen with two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 7-4, a tall task for Trine to make a comeback with just six outs to play with. The Thunder would not go away quietly in the ninth as the team would score one, but could not come all the way back. An error and wild pitch allowed junior pinch runner Tyler Beyke to score on a sacrifice fly by Kortas to get to the 7-5 final score.

Rumberger led the team with a 3-for-4 day (two doubles) as well as two RBIs and two runs scored. Martin finished at 3-for-5 and drove in a run on one of his two doubles. Henschen was able to reach base twice via a hit and walk. On the mound, freshman Jack Villarreal received the loss (1-1) in his first career start. Sophomore Noah Brettin pitched a bulk of the innings for the team and struck out a team-high three batters. Freshman Will Gimble pitched a scoreless inning in the eighth.

The final series of the season begins on Thursday, May 4 (4 p.m.) with a single-game at Hope College. Senior Day takes place the following day in a home doubleheader to wrap up the 2023 season.