ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team secured their spot in the 2025 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Angola, Indiana Regional early in the day with a 9-1 victory over second-seeded Baldwin Wallace University.
Serving as visiting team in the game, the Thunder opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. Debbie Hill brought in the first run of the contest with a single up the middle. The lead was short-lived with the Yellow Jackets responding spectacularly in the bottom of the same inning, scoring a run on a solo shot to left field.
After the lone mark against her stat line, Alexis Michon settled into another dominate performance. The senior ultimately went all seven innings, allowing just the one run on four hits while striking out 11 batters. The win is her 20th of the season.
It took some time, but Trine eventually retook the lead in the fourth inning, in relatively storybook fashion. With a pair of runners on the bases, Karley Trine was called on to pinch hit, her first at-bat since Saturday, April 26. After a few pitches, she cleared the outfield fence for what would have been a three-run homer, had she not got a bit excited on the basepath and advanced past the runner at first. The statistical single still plated a pair of runs and gave the team a 3-1 lead.
The Thunder really got it going in the sixth inning, scoring five more runs for a commanding 8-1 lead. Whitney Duell, Emma Lee and Macy Rocha each had single RBI plays with Tyra Marcum doubling up by scoring a pair on a single. The team added their last run in the seventh inning on a double by Duell.
Trine improves to 38-5 overall following the victory. They need just one more win to secure a spot in the super regional round of the tournament, a best of three series they would most likely host. Standing in their way will be University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who won a pair of games today after a first game loss. They will take the field at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, May 17.
