ANGOLA, Ind. - St. Thomas scored six runs in the final two innings to defeat Trine 9-5 in game one of the NCAA Division III Softball Super Regional at SportONE/Parkview Softball Field.
The Tommies scored twice in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead and later went on to add four insurance runs in the seventh. Melissa Barry tallied three hits, two RBI and a successful sacrifice bunt for St. Thomas. Dana Connelly knocked in a team-high three runs on the day. Kaylee Fox homered for the Thunder, while Emily White tallied her first career three-hit game.
St. Thomas improved to 42-6 overall while Trine fell to 33-13 on the season.
Fox's homer was her 13th of the season. The solo shot over the scoreboard in right-center gave the Thunder a 3-1 lead in the fourth. The sophomore is now tied for third in program history with 29 career homers.
White was a catalyst in three Trine rallies, including the first of the day as the Thunder scored twice in the bottom of the third. The sophomore doubled with one out, before an error put runners on second and third. Alison Lang successfully executed the squeeze play to score White, while an errant throw to the plate allowed Erica Robles to score with the second run.
White also scored a go-ahead run on an error in the fifth to give the Thunder a 4-3 advantage. She later scored on Kaitlyn Clark's RBI-single in the seventh.
Connelly picked up her first RBI to get the Tommies on the board in the top of fourth. A two-run single by Barry tied the game up in the fifth.
St. Thomas took the lead for good with two runs in the sixth. KatieJo Delisle tied things up with a RBI-double to the left-center gap. Pinch-runner Ellie Wachman scored on an error with two outs to give the Tommies a 5-4 lead.
Four runs in the seventh gave St. Thomas more than enough insurance. Pitcher Kierstin Anderson-Glass helped her own cause by executing a squeeze play to score a run. Connelly added a two-run single, before an error brought home the final run of the inning.
Anderson-Glass worked the complete game to earn the victory in the circle. The freshman allowed six hits and five runs (three earned), did not walk a batter and struck out two. She improved to 30-4 on the season.
The loss leaves Trine in a situation where it would need to win twice on Saturday to advance to the NCAA Division III Softball National Championships. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. The if-necessary game would follow at 3:30 p.m. or half an hour following the conclusion of game one.
