Gritty performance gives softball 9-5 win

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
St. Thomas	0	0	0	1	2	2	4	9	11	4
Trine University	0	0	2	1	1	0	1	5	6	2

St. Thomas

Trine University

ANGOLA, Ind. – Trailing 3-1 in the fifth inning, the St. Thomas softball team (42-6) scored two runs in the top of the fifth and two more in the top of the sixth to claw its way to a 9-5 win over Trine University (33-13) on Friday afternoon at SportONE/Parkview Field. With the win, the Tommies take the first game of a best-of-three series in the NCAA Super Regional and are one win away from advancing to the NCAA Championship weekend.

After cruising through the first two and a half innings in a scoreless tie, a pair of St. Thomas errors allowed Trine to take a 2-0 lead headed to the fourth inning. A fielding error put runners on second and third before a throwing error allowed both runs to score.

The Tommies got one back in the top of the fourth inning when freshman Melissa Berry scored on a groundball out up the middle, but the Thunder came right back with a leadoff solo home run from Kaylee Fox to answer in the bottom of the fourth.

Now trailing 3-1, the Tommie women went to work. St. Thomas scored runs in each of the final three innings of the contest, beginning in the top of the fifth, where Jenna Broman and Megan Bush started things off by drawing back-to-back walks. Each would move up on a passed ball to put a pair of runners in scoring position for Berry, who singled up the middle to tie the game up.

Trine came right back to take the lead once again in the bottom half of the inning. After three straight bunts that saw the leadoff batter, Emily White, advance to third, another Tommie error allowed White to score and give the Thunder a 4-3 lead headed to the sixth inning.

But St. Thomas had the answer once again. Pitcher Kiersten Anderson-Glass singled, she was pinch-ran for by Danielle Wigen, who advanced to second on a groundout and eventually scored on a ripped line drive double just out of the reach of the shortstop by KJ Delisle. The Tommies got one more in the inning to take a 5-4 lead thanks to a Thunder error.

Trine went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and St. Thomas went to the top of the seventh looking to add an insurance run.

The Tommies got the insurance they were looking for and then some in the top of the final inning. In total, St. Thomas went on to score four runs in the inning coming from five hits. Senior Megan Dupuis led off the inning with a single up the middle. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Melissa Berry and took third on a single from fellow senior Micaela Trainor. Dupuis then scored on a suicide squeeze by Kiersten Anderson-Glass.

Both Anderson-Glass and Trainor came around to score on Dana Connelly's only hit of the ballgame and Connelly scored on a Thunder error to score the fourth run of the inning.

Trine scored one in the bottom of the seventh, but any hope of a two-out rally was extinguished when Erica Robles was gunned down at second base by Micaela Trainor in a run down.

The 9-5 win is St. Thomas' fifth in a row and 15th win in its last 16 games. Friday's result also keeps its unbeaten record in the 2016 NCAA Tournament intact.

The Tommies will take on Trine again tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 pm central time. They need just one more win to capture the best-of-three series and move on to championship weekend in Salem, Virginia.

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Team Stats

Melissa Barry

Kierstin Anderson-Glass

Megan Dupuis

Micaela Trainor

Players Mentioned

Megan Bush

Dana Connelly

Megan Dupuis

Micaela Trainor

Danielle Wigen

University of St. Thomas Athletics