ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team swept their first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) series of the season, defeating Kalamazoo College twice at home. The team outscored the opposition 23-0 in the games, with Debbie Hill throwing the fifth perfect game in program history in the second half of the doubleheader.
Before Hill's historic start, Alexis Michon took to the circle with some history of her own on the line. The senior had yet to allow a hit at home this season, a streak of 12 innings. She extended it through the first three innings of her start before allowing three hits in the top of the fourth. Despite loading the bases in that inning, Michon settled back in and struck out the final two batters to keep the Hornets off the board. Michon finished the game with her fifth shutout of the season with seven strikeouts and just the three hits.
The Thunder put their first run on the board in the first inning when Tyra Marcum hit a line drive over the leftfield fence. In the third the team added three more to their score, both on RBI-doubles that hit the centerfield fence. Karley Trine had the first for two runs and Hill had the second for one run.
Keelin Wheaton recorded a single through the left side to score the lone run of the fourth, making the score 5-0. The team then threatened to walk the game off in the fifth when Marcum doubled to right center to score a pair and make the score 7-0. It took one more inning to end the game when Ainsley Phillips recorded the walk off single for the 8-0 win.
The Hornets served as the home team on the scoreboard in the second contest, so the Thunder didn't have to wait long to build a lead. Trine tripled to bring in the first run of the game as just the second batter. Macy Rocha followed up with a groundout that scored Trine from third before Emma Lee had a triple of her own to score another. Emma Beyer singled to left field to make the score 4-0.
Trine and Marcum had back-to-back homers in the second inning to build the lead to seven and Wheaton made it eight with a double in the third.
Any run would have been enough with Hill pitching perfection in the circle. The junior forced ten groundouts and a flyball to go with four strikeouts during her perfect game. She becomes the only Thunder pitcher to record multiple perfect games.
The Hornets ran out of pitching late in the game, with Trine batting through the lineup during the fifth inning and adding seven more runs along the way for a 15-0 lead. Phillips, Rocha and Beyer were joined by Whitney Duell and Mila Stepanovich in bringing in runs during the half inning.
The Thunder improve to 18-4 overall and 2-0 in MIAA play following the pair of wins. They are next scheduled to take the field when they host Adrian College for another doubleheader on Tuesday, April 8. The first game is set to start at 3 p.m.
