SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After a two-hour delay due to rain, it was worth the wait for IU South Bend softball, as the Titans took a doubleheader sweep over Trinity Christian on Wednesday night at Dick Pfeil Field. The Titans earned an extra-innings walk-off victory in game one, 14-13 in 9 innings, then completed the sweep with a 9-2 win in game two.
Emily Anglin led the way for the Titans (13-15, 4-2 CCAC), going a combined 7-for-10 in both games, with five RBI on the night. The senior collected four base hits in the opening game, including a triple in the 8th inning to extend the game.
Trinity Christian (7-15-1, 2-4 CCAC) took an early lead in game one, with a pair of hits to lead off the game leading to a run and 1-0 advantage. IU South Bend answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning on a two-out, two-RBI single from Shelby Baker. The Trolls would post four more runs in the 2nd inning, to have the Titans tie the game in their next at-bat, with a three-RBI double from Danielle Gebhart.
The Trolls were not done yet, coming back with another four-run rally in the 3rd inning. After two runs for IUSB in the bottom of the 3rd, and two more in the 4th on RBI singles from Anglin and Maddy Edwards, the game was tied again at 9-9.
Trinity Christian took the lead in the top of the 6th with an RBI single, but Maddie Leisher tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out single. Another run scored on the next at-bat thanks to a Troll throwing error to give the Titans a 11-10 edge.
A two-out single in the 7th inning would score the game-tying run for Trinity Christian, and in the bottom of the 7th, Anglin would hit a leadoff single and end up on third following a wild pitch as the potential winning run, but a fly out would end the threat and send the game to extra innings.
The Trolls took a two-run lead in the top of the 8th, but the Titans answered yet again, scoring two runs on Anglin's two-out triple down the right field line. After Nicole Van Zant worked around a two-out double in the top of the 9th to keep the game tied at 13-13, the senior hit a double to left-center, then scored the winning run on Olivia Zarantonello's walk-off single up the middle.
Van Zant earned her fourth win of the season, pitching 6.2 innings of relief for the victory.
In the second game of the night, the Trolls took a 2-1 lead with runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, but IU South Bend rallied with four runs in the bottom of the 3rd to take the lead. The first five batters of the inning recorded base hits, with Leisher, Anglin, Gebhart, and Baker all recording RBI during the rally.
The Titans added three more in the bottom of the 5th to put the game away, highlighted by a two-out RBI double from Brittany VanderBrink.
Maddy Edwards pitched all seven innings to earn her fourth win of the season. The freshman struck out four while working around four hits and three walks to allow two earned runs in the game.
The Titans will look to continue the win streak on Thursday night, when they face Roosevelt in a doubleheader. First pitch from The Ballpark at Rosemont is set for 6:00 p.m. ET.
