-- Story provided by Trine University Athletics --
MARSHALL, Texas – It took an extra inning of work, but the Trine University extended their stay in Texas with a 3-2 victory over Linfield University. Freshman Emma Lee played the part of hero with an eighth inning hit and some savvy baserunning.
The Thunder offense picked up where they left off at the end of their first game of the week. The team quickly plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 2-0 lead. Cassie Woods lead off with a single before coming home on a hit by Karley Trine. Classmate Debbie Hill brought Trine in with the team's third hit of the game.
In the top half of the innings, senior Anna Koeppl made the start in the circle for the Thunder. Things were interesting during her first two innings with runners reaching scoring position each time. But Linfield left those runners stranded until the third inning. The Wildcats took advantage of a trio of errors by the Trine defense to score their first run before their second came in on a single.
With just one out on the board and runners still positioned on second and third, the batter laid down a squeeze attempt that ended up sitting right in front of home plate allowing the run to score and the batter to reach first safely. At the appeal of his infield, Head Coach Don Danklefsen quickly chose to use one of his challenges to force a video review.
"I trusted our catcher and Anna Koeppl who doesn't know how to lie," explained Danklefsen after the game, "If Koeppl tells you something you know it's probably the truth. We thought the ball hit the bat twice."
Review showed that it had and the run was taken off the board and the game continued with a 2-2 score. Koeppl earned the final out of the inning to keep it that way heading into the fourth.
Alexis Michon entered the game in relief for the beleaguered Koeppl in the fourth and went on to have one of her best performances of the season. She would go for five innings allowing just three hits with three strikeouts in that time.
"Sometimes in the bullpen my pitches don't move the way I want them, but today they were spot on," said Michon, "The mentality I try to have when I come in is that the game is over. I'm not letting these runners score. I'm not letting them hit."
Despite her great performance she also received plenty of help from the defense. After the early errors, the Thunder played spectacularly in the field, including the highlight of a diving catch by Amanda Prather that stole a hit.
"The defense behind me gives me a ton of confidence," continued Michon, "In the past I had to be focused on getting strikeouts, this year that's not as important. Today was one of the best defensive performances I've seen from our team."
The shutout performance was necessary for Trine, with Linfield finding their rhythm defensively as well. Neither team scored through the final four innings sending the game to extras. The top of the eighth was highlighted by three quick outs by the Wildcats giving the Thunder a chance to end the game in the bottom.
After a fly out to start the inning, Emma Lee came to the plate after she started the game for the first since early May.
"I was pretty nervous," said Lee about her final at-bat, "But I kept hearing the dugout and Coach D telling me that they believed in me. That helped a lot so I went up there and tried to put the ball in play and start something."
She did just that with a double to centerfield that was just out of the outfielder grasp. Karley Trine followed up with a fly ball to centerfield, that Lee was able to tag-up on.
What gets missed because of the hit is the tag up play," said Danklefsen, "She did a great job of utilizing that out and moving to third to put her in great position."
In the next at-bat the Wildcat's pitcher threw a ball over her catcher's outstretched hand allowing Lee to sprint toward home. The play at the plate was close and led to another video review, this time initiated by the officials, but the call of safe was upheld and the Thunder took the victory 3-2.
The Thunder will face the winner of today's game between Moravian and Berry, which at the time of this release looked to be going in favor of the Vikings. Either way Trine is scheduled to take the field tomorrow, June 3 at 2:30 p.m. CT / 3:30 p.m. ET.
"I saw the fight today that I did not see yesterday," concluded Danklefsen, "If they keep bringing that we can hang around for quite awhile."
