GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin softball team fell to the No. 4 ranked Thunder of Trine on Saturday afternoon. The Knights fell in game one, 5-0. Trine edged Calvin in game two, 3-2. Calvin falls to 11-7 on the year and 0-2 in the MIAA. Trine is now 21-1 in 2017 and 2-0 in MIAA Play.

"I thought Anna and Paige both pitched very well and our defense stood firm today," said head coach Becky Hilgert. "They made some key plays with runners on base. Offensively we struggled to string hits together. In game one, I felt we were slow to adjust at the plate. In game two, we had multiple opportunities to move runners but we just did not execute.  In these tight games our hitters really need to focus on productive at bats and I think that mindset got away from us at times."

The Knights and Thunder found themselves in a pitchers duel in game one. Sophomore Anna Gernant (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) recorded 15 strikeouts in game one. Saturday marked the sixth time this season that Gernant has had 10 or more strikeouts.

Trine got on the scoreboard in the second inning with a two-run homerun. A single in the fourth inning gave Trine a 3-0 lead and a double in the sixth inning scored two runs.

Danielle Ray improved to 9-0 on the year for Trine with 11 strikeouts.

Trine scored all three of its runs in game two in the third inning.

The Knights threatened in the first four innings, but left 10 runners on base in the first five innings.

Calvin was able to get two runs across home plate in the sixth inning. Junior Jessica Brasser (Rockford, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) singled to right field to score sophomore Maddie DeGroot (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) from second base. Anna Gernant was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score sophomore Rachel Borden (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg).

Senior Paige Groom (Potterville, Mich./Potterville) had a solid outing in the circle. Groom finished with three earned runs and one strikeout.

The Knights return to MIAA action on Tuesday when they travel to Adrian.