COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Trine University softball team finished their second day at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Leadoff Classic. The tenth-ranked Thunder dropped their first game against #25 Huntingdon (Ala.) University in extra innings before defeating #7 Case Western Reserve University 2-1.
The Hawks struck first in the opening game of the day, tallying a solo home run with two outs on the board in the first inning. When their defense took the field for the bottom of the inning the crowd got a taste of what it would be like through the rest of the contest, messy but effective. The Thunder leadoff reached base on a walk and moved to third with a wild pitch and a passed ball. But Whitney Duell made it no further with the next three batters sitting down in order.
Ultimately Huntingdon allowed just six base runners by Trine, three on walks, two on errors and one on a hit, which didn't come until the seventh inning. The Thunder scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth, without the benefit of a hit. Ainsley Phillips walked to lead off the inning before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Duell. Karley Trine followed up with a hard-hit ball to left field, that was dropped by the fielder scoring the run.
With the teams playing under internationally tiebreaker rules, the Hawks started with a runner on second in the top of the eighth. A stolen base and a sacrifice fly to right field gave them the lead and they held on through the bottom of the inning for the 2-1 victory.
The second game of the day was just as low scoring but turned out in favor of the Thunder, as they handed the Spartans their first loss of the season. Tyra Marcum brought in the first two runs of the game with a single swing of the bat in the fourth inning.
The two-run lead ended up being enough, with Alexis Michon pitching in midseason form. The senior finished the game allowing just two baserunners, both on, and one run. She struck out ten of the 23 batters she faced in the contest on the way to the 2-1 win.
The Thunder finish the day 2-2 overall. They will face their third, and perhaps toughest, day at the Leadoff Classic tomorrow, Sunday, March 2. They begin the day at 9 a.m. against the defending national champions and top-ranked team in the country from East Texas Baptist University. Then at 11 a.m. they face sixth-ranked Tufts University.
