DC Softball Splits with Trine, Hands Thunder Second Loss

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Shauna Bowers pitched an eight-inning complete game, and Tasha Stucke forced the winning run home with a bases-loaded walk, as Defiance knocked off Trine, 4-3, in game two of its doubleheader with the Thunder. Trine won the first game, 6-1, giving DC a 4-6 record to start the season.

The Thunder, which came into the game with an 8-1 record, was carried by starting pitcher, Andi Gasco, in game one. Gasco allowed just four hits and one run in the game, and gave herself some run support with a solo homerun in the second inning that tied the game, 1-1, after DC took the lead with a run in the first. DC's run came courtesy of Kaycee Butt, who ripped a shot down the right field line to bring Stucke in from second base, after she led off the frame with a walk.  

The 1-1 tie turned into a four-run deficit in the third inning, when a couple of singles and an error made it a 3-1 game, and Lauren Harris finished the damage with a two-run shot over the left-field fence. Gasco took care of the rest, picking up 13 strikeouts in DC's game-one loss.

Defiance responded to hand the Thunder its second loss of the season in game two, and Bowers picked up her second win of the season as she went the distance, allowing three runs on nine hits with nine strikeouts. The game marked just the third time this season Trine's offense, which averaged 6.7 runs per game entering the contest, has been held to less than five.

After trading zeros for the first four innings, Trine took the lead with a run in the top of the fifth, but Defiance responded quickly with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Butt picked up her second RBI of the day with a single up the middle, bringing in Stucke, who reached base on a fielder's choice, and advancing Katie Miller to second after she drew a walk. Butt advanced to second on the throw home, and Mallory Faling followed with a walk to load the bases for Marah Robinson. Robinson ripped a two-run shot to left field, giving Defiance a 3-1 advantage going into the sixth.

Both teams went scoreless in the sixth, and Defiance picked up two quick outs in the seventh before Trine went on a two-out rally, picking up three-consecutive hits, including two doubles, to knot the game, 3-3, after seven.

Bowers held the Thunder scoreless in the extra inning, and DC's offense did the rest, recording three-straight hits to load the bases for the Yellow Jackets' leading hitter. Stucke didn't need to use her bat this time, however, as she watched four balls fly by to force home the game-winning run.

Stucke picked up two hits in the game, extending her hitting streak to 10-consecutive games this year and 13-straight since the end of the 2010 season.

The Yellow Jackets will return to the diamond on Friday, when they host a doubleheader against Baldwin-Wallace College (8-0), beginning at 3:00 p.m.