COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Trine University softball team finished up competition at the 2025 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Leadoff Classic with another split. Their comeback against top-ranked East Texas Baptist University wasn't enough and they fell 8-5 to the defending national champions. The team bounced back in game two of the day, defeating #6 Tufts University 11-2.
The Tigers pounced early in the game to take a lead, scoring a pair of runs in the first period and taking the 2-0 lead into the second. Macy Rocha responded in her first at-bat of the game with a solo homerun that made the score 2-1. It was a short-lived one-run deficit, with ETBU extending the lead in the bottom of the second. They homered twice in the half inning on the way to a 6-1 lead.
Emma Lee led off the fourth with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Talisa Chafey brought in the run with a groundout in the next at-bat. The Tigers scored two more in the bottom of the fourth to build an 8-2 lead.
The Thunder started a comeback push in the fifth inning. After loading the bases with some walks and hits, Debbie Hill and Rocha each recorded RBI-singles to make the score 8-4. Rocha came up with a second home run in the seventh to make the score 8-5 which went final.
Trine opened the scoring against the Jumbos when Lee stole home in the second inning. Ainsley Phillips scampered home on a Whitney Duell single later in the inning. Tyra Marcum hit a homer in the second before Lee had an RBI double and April Sellers an RBI single. Marcum finished the stretch in the top of the fourth with another solo homerun that made the score 6-0.
After a run for Tufts in the bottom of the fourth, the next scoring came in the seventh for Trine. Phillips tallied a three-run homer followed by RBI singles from Hill and Rocha that made the score 11-1. The Jumbos scored one run in the bottom of the seventh before the game went final at 11-2.
Alexis Michon earned the win in circle for the Thunder. She went five innings and recorded five strikeouts while allowing just four hits and one run. Hill finished out the game allowing the final run on four hits while striking out one.
The Thunder leave Georgia with a 3-3 record. The team will continue their Spring Break trip in Florida after a pair of travel days. They next take the diamond on Wednesday, March 5. They start the day against Saint Mary's (Minn.) University at 9 a.m. followed by a game against Bethany Lutheran College.
