PICTURED ABOVE: Alyssa Leonard hit a leadoff single to right field for the Thunder in the bottom of the first inning.

Anogla, Ind. – The Wheaton Thunder softball team lost a 3-0 decision to Trine University on Friday morning in the Angola Regional of the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. Trine advances with a 2-0 record in the tournament to Saturday's championship session. Wheaton is slated to University of Chicago at 4:00 p.m. (EDT) in an elimination game. Chicago defeated Grenville 7-6 earlier today in the first elimination game of the tournament.

Trine scored three runs, on six hits, with zero errors and Wheaton had no runs, on three hits, with three errors. Thunder starting pitcher Katie Thornton (24-9) worked seven innings in the circle. Thornton (PICTURED LEFT) allowed three runs, with only one earned run. She scattered six hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.

Alyssa Leonard, Megan Neuhaus and Ellen Radandt each tallied singles for the Thunder.

Trine pitcher Justine Robles (15-7) had a strong outing in the circle as she held Wheaton scoreless, on just three hits. Robles struck out three and walked one. Centerfielder Erica Robles was 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs and strong play in the field. Leftfielder Kaitlyn Clark aided Trine with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate and she drove in a run.

Thunder head coach Katie East said, "We came out ready to go against Trine today, but we had a tough day defensively. We made a couple of errors that cost us some big runs today,  that is what determined the game for us. We came back and we had some really hard-hit balls, however we just hit the ball straight to them. We are ready to come back and play this afternoon in the next game and compete tomorrow."

Alyssa Leonard led off the bottom of the first inning for Wheaton with a long single to right field, however, she was thrown out at second base trying to stretch the hit into a double.
Erica Robles led off the top of the third inning with a single and she sped from first base to third base on a sacrifice hit in the following at bat. An errant Wheaton throw in an attempt to get Robles out at third base sailed into foul territory down the leftfield line and allowed Robles to score in giving Trine a 1-0 lead.

Trine pitcher Justine Robles kept Wheaton hitless over the second and third innings with a strong effort. Not to be outdone, Thornton held Trine to just two hits over the first four innings.
Megan Neuhaus hit a one-out single to the left field gap in the bottom of the fourth inning for Wheaton. However, Robles induced a strikeout and a fly out to centerfield on the next two at bats to keep Trine's 1-0 lead intact through four innings.

Trine opened the top of the fifth inning with three singles and took advantage of a Wheaton miscue to score two runs in the inning as Trine increased its lead to 3-0. Ellen Radandt hit a looping single to left field to open the bottom of the fifth inning, but Wheaton was again unable to touch Robles' strong pitching.

Each team had a baserunner in their respective portion of the sixth inning, but no one scored as the matchup remained 3-0 through six innings. Thornton kept Trine off the base paths in the top of the seventh inning. Robles induced Wheaton into three-up-and three down in the bottom of the seventh as Trine emerged with the 3-0 victory and advanced to Saturday's championship session.

Note Worthy: Trine's earned run in the top of the fifth inning snapped Katie Thornton's streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run at 31-2/3 innings.