Saint Mary's dropped both games of its home doubleheader Tuesday afternoon, falling to conference-foe Trine by scores of 7-1 and 6-1.
Trine got off to an early start in the first game, scoring runs in the first four innings to lead 6-0 halfway through the contest.
The Belles (20-10, 5-5 MIAA) attempted to rally in the bottom of the fourth, with freshman outfielder Victoria Connelly pushing across a run with an RBI single.
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, Trine thwarted the Belles' rally attempt, and didn't allow the hosts another run.
"We had some great at-bats, but just couldn't score the runners we had on," Belles coach Erin Sullivan said. "We missed out on timely hitting."
Trine would score once more in the contest, with the game ending with a score of 7-1.
Though they created many chances, the Belles struggled to get runs on the board.
"We left bases loaded twice in the first game, and ended the game with 10 left on base, so that hurt us a lot," Sullivan said.
The second game was much of the same for Saint Mary's, with Trine stringing together several early hits. The visitors' prowess at the plate paid off for the Thunder in the fifth inning, as they scored six runs to take a 6-0 lead. This would be the only scoring of the game for Trine.
Sullivan said the Thunder were able to capitalize on the Belles' errors in the fifth inning.
"Our pitching was good, but Trine was able to string hits together and managed to score on our mistakes," Sullivan said.
Saint Mary's responded right away in the top of the sixth, with junior catcher Morgan Bedan's RBI fielder's choice putting the home team on the board. Saint Mary's strung together two more hits together in the inning, but were ultimately kept from scoring again.
"It was a good team effort, but we took ourselves out of the games with our mistakes," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said she hopes her team will get another chance to play Trine in the MIAA tournament in a few weeks.
"We are hoping to face them again in the tournament, and make the necessary adjustments to take away a win," Sullivan said.
The Belles next travel to Albion College for a doubleheader Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Contact Nick Boyle at nboyle1@nd.edu
