ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University softball team opened Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play with an explosive offensive performance, sweeping visiting Adrian College in a pair of run-rule games.
The first game was a historic one for head coach Donnie Danklefsen. The win was the 700th of his career. He is the 193rd coach at any level of NCAA softball to reach the milestone, the 43rd to do it in Division III. In addition he boasts a top ten winning percentage among active coaches with more than five seasons in Division III and is 11th all time. He ends the day with a 701-207 record, a .772 winning percentage.
The Thunder ultimately walked the game off in the bottom of the sixth to win 15-5, but it looked like the contest would come down to the wire through the first four innings. The Bulldogs struck first in the game, homering to plate a pair of runs.
Trine responded quickly with back-to-back homers of their own. Tyra Marcum struck first with a two-run towering hit over the right field fence. Debbie Hill followed up with a high fly ball that made it over the left field fence and gave the team a 3-2 lead.
Adrian scored in the third to tie the game, before the Thunder retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Emma Lee brought in the first with sacrifice fly turned error by the left fielder. Clare Feehan followed up with a bases loaded walk.
Again the Bulldogs had an answer, scoring two more in the fourth to tie the game at five. Those final runs force a final pitching change for Trine, with Hill taking over for the final two and a third innings. She was dominant in those innings, allowing just two baserunners on two hits. She struck out a pair while earning the win.
Mylee Boling retook the lead with a sacrifice bunt that turned into an error by the second baseman. Keelin Wheaton followed up with a bunt single that scored another. Feehan added to her day with a bases clearing double in the sixth that put the team up 11-5. Marcum ended the game a few at-bats later with her second homer of the day, a walkoff grand slam.
If anyone thought the Thunder offense would be spent after the first game they were wrong. The team opened the second contest with the most prolific inning on record for the program. Trine scored 17 runs in the top half of the first. Macy Rocha and Lee were the stars, with each recording a grand slam in the inning. Lee did it in her first at-bat to give the team a 6-0 lead. Rocha did it in her second at-bat of the inning, making the score 13-0.
Trine added six more runs in the second and five in the third to end the game with 28 on the scoreboard. Adrian scored four of their own during the contest, making the final score 28-4. The Thunder had 20 of their 23 members appear in the game and sacrificed scoring chances in the later innings to ensure the game finished before darkness fell.
Two members of the team went a perfect 4-for-4 in the game. Lee led the team with six RBIs along the way while freshman Natalie Summers finished just behind her with five. Marcum and Rocha finished tied with four, while Karley Trine had three.
The final tally of 28 runs is the fourth most in a single game by Trine University softball and the most since 2015. The 27 runners batted in is the third most by the program. Seven doubles is tied for fourth and the 24 hits is fifth.
Sydney Adolfson made the start in the game and finished with three innings of work and the win. She allowed two runs on five hits. Alex Rodriguez finished the final two innings and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, in low lit conditions. Each pitcher had a strikeout in their outing.
A few members of the team compiled truly gaudy numbers between the two days. Lee finished the doubleheader a perfect 7-for-7 with two homers, two doubles and seven RBIs. All told that led to a 2.143 slugging percentage for the day. Marcum finished 4-of-7 with three homers and two walks and 10 RBIs. She finished with a slugging percentage of 1.857.
In just her single game of action Summers went 4-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs, earning a 1.500 slugging percentage. Hill came in with a 1.333 slugging percentage and a homer. Feehan finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs spread over the two games. She ended up with a 1.250 slugging percentage.
The Thunder improve to 17-1 overall and 2-0 in MIAA play following the victories. They are next scheduled to compete when they travel to face Hope College on Saturday, April 11. That doubleheader is set to start at 1 p.m.
