CLERMONT, Fla.-- Carly Searles set the all-time NCAA Division III record for career triples as Trine picked up victories over Johnson & Wales and Becker in the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) notched her 43rd and 44th career triples to tie and then break the previous career-record held by SUNY Cortland's Donnalynn Cross (2008-11). The senior legged out a triple in each game. She is now seven triples away from tying the all-time NCAA record for all divisions. The senior has six triples this season after tying the Division-III single-season record last year with 17. Trine defeated Johnson & Wales, 4-2, before defeating Becker, 9-0 in five innings in game two. The Thunder will head north with an 11-1 record following the team's performance in the Dot Richardson Spring Games.
Trine 4, Johnson & Wales 2
The Thunder had to rally back in the late innings after falling behind 2-1. J&W scored a run in the top of the first on an error and a run on a Cynthia Proby solo homer in the third.
Searles tied the all-time triples mark in her first at-bat of the day and came in to score on Kaitlyn Clark's(Mount Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central) sacrifice fly.
Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich./Three Rivers) hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 3-2. Clark had led off with a single to set the table.
Leah Hall (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) added run-scoring single for an insurance run in the sixth.
Justine Robles (Long Beach, Calif./Lakewood) earned the victory in the circle to improve to 5-1 on the season. The junior surrendered an earned run on two hits, walked one and struck out a season-high 12. Robles set down the final 14 batters in order. She has struck out 53 to just two walks in 39 innings this season.
Trine 9, Becker 0
Searles raced into third with her record-breaking triple to lead off the game. Newell singled to score Searles to make the score 1-0 in the first.
Jamie Schnarr (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering) and Rachell Noble (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) each hit two-run homers as part of a seven-run third. Noble's round-tripper was her first in a collegiate uniform. Schnarr's bomb was her first of the season.
Kaylee Fox (Vermilion, Ohio/Edison) capped the scoring in the inning with a three-run double.
Bre Cooper (Beech Grove, Ind./Beech Grove) picked up her first victory of the season with three innings of work. The junior allowed one hit, walked two and struck out six.
Freshman Mollie Lovasko (Whiting, Ind./Whiting) finished off the shutout with two innings of work in her varsity debut. Lovasko struck out five of the six batters she faced in two perfect innings.
Trine returns to action next Saturday, Mar. 14 as the Thunder travel to DePauw to face a familiar foe in the Tigers. The two teams met three times last season, including once in the NCAA Regionals.