The pair of Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) softball teams in the postseason earned a split decision as they hosted NCAA Tournament play on Friday.
Trine (32-12) posted a 3-0 shutout of Wheaton to advance to the regional championship on Saturday. Meanwhile, Alma (32-9) suffered a 2-1 extra-inning setback to Benedictine in its first game of regional play.
Trine 3, Wheaton 0
Trine senior pitcher Justine Robles held Wheaton (32-13) to three hits to lead the Thunder to a berth in the Regional Championship at SportONE/Parkview Softball Field. The senior walked one and struck out three to notch her 16th career shutout and career victory No. 50 to improve to 15-7 on the season.
The Thunder opened the scoring in the third. After reaching on a single, sophomore Erica Robles went from first base to third on a sacrifice bunt attempt. The pressure on the Wheaton defense forced a wild throw and Robles wound up scoring on the play to make the score 1-0.
Trine tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the fifth. Erica Robles once again set the table with a leadoff single, followed by a single from senior Alison Lang with no outs.
Senior Kaitlyn Clark added to her school-record RBI total with a single to left to score Robles and make the score 2-0. Lang later scored when she forced an errant throw to third. She raced home on the throw to yield the final result of 3-0.
Trine will face University of Chicago in tomorrow's championship round, with the first pitch of game one scheduled for noon ET. The Maroons won a pair of elimination games over Greenville and Wheaton to advance to the championship.
The Thunder need one victory to claim its second NCAA Regional title. A victory by the Maroons in game one would force a winner-take-all game two for the chance to advance to the Super Regional. The winner of the Angola Regional will face the winner of the regional hosted by Lake Forest.
Benedictine 2, Alma 1 (10 inn.)
Alma senior Kayla Merice went 2-for-5 today and tallied the lone RBI for the Scots to score sophomore Erin Lee in the bottom of the third frame to generate a 1-0 advantage. Lee had previously reached base earlier in the inning with a single to right center and advanced home on a throwing error by Benedictine's shortstop.
Benedictine knotted the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth. The Eagles opened the frame with a single and walk. Later a two-out RBI single brought the runner across home plate.
Neither team scored in the final two frames to force extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Benedictine utilized a double and an RBI single its first lead of the game at 2-1. That lead held as Alma was unable to generate a hit in the bottom of the frame.
Alma pitcher Morgan Stratton (17-6) pitched all 10 innings. She fanned nine batters in the game.
With the defeat Alma moves into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament and faces Wittenberg at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
