CLERMONT, Fla.-- The sixth-ranked Trine softball team split a pair of games on day three of the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
The Thunder rallied back from a six-run deficit to defeat Roanoke, 8-7, in eight innings in game one. Trine was shut down by Ferrum for its first loss of the season game two, falling by a 1-0 final. Kaitlyn Clark (Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) and Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers) each drove in two runs to pace the Thunder offensively. Bree Fuller (Hubbardston, Mich./Fulton) picked up her 50th career win in game one. Trine is now 5-1 on the season.
Game One: Trine 8, Roanoke 7 (7)
After spotting the Maroons a 7-1 lead through four innings, the Thunder fought back to pull off a spectacular comeback in extra-innings.
Roanoke scored two runs in each of the first three innings, and added a single run in the fourth to take their six-run lead. A Taylor Carter two-run single and an RBI-single for Ruthie Williams highlighted the Maroons' offensive output. Roanoke also scored two runs on passed balls.
A four-run fifth got Trine right back into the game. Singles by Kendra Marshall (Leesburg, Ind./Warsaw) and Emily McCarty (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) put runners at the corners with one out. A Leah Hall (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) groundout brought home a run, before three big hits brought the Thunder back within striking distance.
Carly Searles' (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) 40th-career triple scored another run, with Clark following with an RBI-single to score Searles to pull Trine within three. Newell followed with an RBI-double to cut the score to 7-5. Searles is now three triples from tying the all-time NCAA Division-III career mark.
The Thunder entered the final inning needing two runs to tie and got just what they needed to extend the game. Back-to-back doubles by Rachel Harris (Uniontown, Ohio/Hoover) and Rachelle Noble (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) cut the score to 7-6. Noble picked up her first career hit and RBI in her first collegiate at-bat.
After a Hall single and a pop out, Clark came through in the clutch with an RBI-single to tie the score.
The extra-inning saw Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) placed on second to start the inning under international tiebreak rules. Schnarr came in to score on a passed ball for the winning run.
Fuller came on in relief to pitch 5.2 big innings to earn her 50th-career victory. The senior surrendered an earned run on just one hit, walked two and struck out nine. The win runs Fuller's career record to 50-5, a .909 winning-percentage.
Game Two: Ferrum 1, Trine 0
An unearned run proved to be the difference in a pitcher's duel, as the Panthers snapped Trine's unbeaten streak to start the season.
Miyana Ross scored the lone run of the game in the top of the fourth on an error.
That was more than enough for Panther hurler Courtney Rudd, who held the Thunder to just two hits. She did not walk a batter and struck out nine.
Justine Robles (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) nearly matched Rudd pitch for pitch. Robles allowed an unearned run on three hits and struck out 10.
Trine gets a day off before returning to action Thursday afternoon in the Dot Richardson Spring Games. The Thunder will face Muhlenberg and Cabrini.