Softball heading to Championship Weekend

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

Trine University

St. Thomas

ANGOLA, Ind. – With one out in the bottom of the seventh, senior Megan Duquis slapped an RBI single to score pinch-runner Danielle Wigen for the winning run as the No. 12-ranked St. Thomas softball team defeated Trine University 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at SportONE/Parkview Softball Field.

The win secured a sweep of the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional and punched the Tommies' ticket to the eight-team Division III Championship Weekend May 26-31 in Salem, Va. It is the second time they have advanced to Championship Weekend in the last three years and sixth in the last 15 seasons. St. Thomas improves to 43-6 on the year, while the Thunder drop to 33-14 overall.

"It was a fun two games against Trine," said Head Coach John Tschida. "We knew they were going to come out fighting today. Their pitcher did a great job. She threw harder and crisper than yesterday. We had a couple opportunities to get to her, but she stayed real calm and poised. I thought she threw an outstanding game. Overall it was a well-played game."

Saturday's contest took on a similar feel to Friday's game one, as the two teams began to feel each other out through the first three innings. During that frame, no runs were scored and the two teams combined for five hits.

But Trine was able to crack Kiersten Anderson-Glass' code in the top of the fourth. NCAA rules mandated the two teams each play as the home team once during the three-game series, which led to the Thunder serving as the away team. The run came in the form of the long ball when Lainey McCue knocked a two-out solo home run to left center to take the 1-0 lead.

"You can't flinch," stated Tschida of the home run. "You have to stay in the game. We couldn't give up a big inning. We had to stay poised under pressure. We knew that was going to be important, so when they hit the homer, we just had to go to work."

A one-out double for Dana Connelly did not yield anything for the Tommies in the bottom half of the inning, as they entered the late innings trailing for the second straight day, this time down 1-0.

After retiring the Thunder without allowing a run in the top of the fifth, St. Thomas came back to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Megan Dupuis reached on a fielder's choice, then stole second to put herself in scoring position. The senior continued to force the issue by stealing third, which caused an errant throw by the Trine catcher and allowed Dupuis to score and tie the game.

Both teams went quietly in the sixth inning and a 1-2-3 top of the seventh gave the Tommies a chance to advance in the bottom of the final inning.

St. Thomas did not let the chance go to waste. After Chase Shortly drew a leadoff walk, Danielle Wigen pinch ran for the catcher and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Megan Bush.

With one out, it was time for a senior to take center stage. That senior was Megan Dupuis.

The second baseman stepped up to the plate and knocked a line drive to center field that brought Wigen around to score the game-winning run and send the Tommies on to Salem.

For the game, Kiersten Anderson-Glass worked her magic on the rubber, throwing six and one-third innings, giving up just one run and spread around six hits. Katie Jo Delisle came in to finish off the last two outs with two straight strikeouts. Together, the two pitchers retired the final nine batters of the game.

"We work a lot in practice on staying poised in any situation," mentioned Anderson-Glass of her pitching performance throughout this NCAA Tournament run. "I think that has helped me a lot. We also play in a lot of games in the summer against this type of competition, and this felt similar to one of those games."

The Tommies tallied four hits, each recorded by a different player and did not commit and error, while Trine scored one run on six hits and suffered four errors. Dupuis, Melissa Barry, Micaela Trainor, and Connelly each recorded a hit. Barry finished the weekend 4-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

"My job was just to get on base," mentioned Barry. "It didn't matter how, whether it was forcing them to make a play on a bunt or hitting a slow chopper and running it out, I just needed to get on base and do my job to help my team be successful in the end."

St. Thomas has now won 16 of its last 17 games and will take a string of six straight wins to the east coast next week.

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Team Stats

Emily White

Erica Robles

Jessica Eppenberger

Jenna Beeso

Players Mentioned

Melissa Barry

Megan Bush

Dana Connelly

Katie Jo Delisle

Megan Dupuis

Chase Shortly

Micaela Trainor

Danielle Wigen

University of St. Thomas Athletics