SALEM, Va. – The Trine University softball team opened the 2026 NCAA Division III Softball Championship Series with a six-inning loss to the University of Redlands. The Bulldogs walked off the game with an 11-3 score.
The Thunder made history in their first at-bats and built an early lead along the way. After Whitney Duell led off with a full count walk, Jo Trine looked to do the same, but a review of the count sent her back to the plate for an extra pitch. She made more than the most of it, hitting a home run to the longest part of the fence in center field. The homer was the 77th of the season for the team who is now the most prolific home run hitting squad in program history.
Tyra Marcum made sure there was no doubt about the record, following up with a solo homer of her own, the 18th of the season for the junior. The pair long balls gave the team a 3-0 lead.
For the bottom of the inning, the Thunder went to the field, with Debbie Hill pitching. She made quick work of the first two Bulldog batters before a bloop single put the first runner on base. Hill followed up by securing a strikeout to end the inning.
After a quiet second, Redlands responded to the initial salvo. They plated six runs in the at-bat, forcing Hill from the circle. All six runs were credited to the senior, but only four were earned. Alex Rodriguez entered in relief and after some initial jitters was able to get out of the inning with the score 6-3 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The struggles continued through the rest of the contest, with Redlands adding one run in the fourth and then the final four in the bottom of the sixth.
Trine falls to 41-7 overall after the loss. They now will need to win two games tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3 to secure their third championship. It is a familiar spot for the Thunder, who have won five elimination games during this NCAA postseason.
"We lost in the conference tournament, we lost in the regionals, we lost in the super regional," said Head Coach Donnie Danklefsen, "We have a great group of seniors who have been here and done this. We've been in this situation so many times and found a way to get it done. I think we can do it again."
The senior class also has experience with the situation in the championship series, winning a pair of games against Salisbury University to capture the first national championship in 2023. The Thunder have not lost back-to-back games since the end of the 2024 season.
"We have lost a lot of important games this year, but they weren't the most important games," said Jo Trine, "We've always fought back. Not only are we proving to other teams that we have fight and can do the hard things, but we are proving it to ourselves. We've been here before and we always find a way, together, to get out of it."
"We can't let what happened today, carry into tomorrow. We can't get upset with each other about the mistakes that happened," said Emma Lee, "We need to use it as motivation. If we stay together and play together we are going to be fun to watch."
"We just have to win one tomorrow and everything changes," concluded Danklefsen.
Game two of the series is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. With a win the Thunder would force a decisive game three that is scheduled to begin around 1:30 p.m. Trine will be the home team for game two, with a coin flip set to determine home and away for the final game.
