Don Danklefsen

National Softball Recruiting Verified account @NatlSBRecruit · Oct 26

College Softball Program of the Day #015: Trine University Thunder

80 home runs. 436 runs. A .370 team batting average. Trine just put together the best offensive season in program history and played for a national title again.

2027 and 2028 players, if you want to win at the D3 level, this is the standard in Angola, Indiana.

The 2026 season by the numbers:
- 41-8 overall
- MIAA regular-season champions at 14-2
- 5th straight MIAA tournament title, 12th in program history
- NCAA Division III national runner-up
- Final NFCA poll: No. 2
- 4th championship series appearance in the last 5 seasons
- 4th straight 40-win season

The offense set program records in on-base percentage (.460), runs (436), doubles (111), home runs (80), RBI (409), total bases (875) and walks (213), with a .659 team slugging percentage. The pitching staff posted a 2.76 ERA with 246 strikeouts in 304.1 innings, and Trine outscored opponents 436-151.

The road to Salem went through Earlham, Loras and Rochester in regionals, then Muhlenberg in the super regional, where the Thunder dropped Game 1 and came back to win the next two, including a 3-1 win in 10 innings. At the finals they beat Belhaven twice and Simpson 9-1 before falling to Redlands in the championship series.

The stars: junior infielder Tyra Marcum hit .449 with 18 home runs, 60 RBI and a .966 slugging percentage. Senior Debbie Hill hit .430 with 17 homers and 60 RBI, then went 13-3 with a 1.93 ERA in the circle. Senior outfielder Emma Lee hit .403 with 17 homers, 61 RBI and 18 steals. Senior Karley Trine hit .417 with 60 hits. Sydney Adolfson went 14-1 with a 2.72 ERA, and freshman Kami Arnett went 7-2 with 64 strikeouts and made the All-Tournament team at the finals with Marcum.

Head coach Donnie Danklefsen has led the program since 2004 and guided it through the move from NAIA to NCAA Division III. He is 725-214 (.772), passed 700 career wins this spring, and has won national championships in 2023 and 2025 with runner-up finishes in 2022 and 2026. His staff was named NFCA Division III Coaching Staff of the Year in 2023 and 2025.

The staff around him: pitching coach Dennis Smith, assistant Zech Huston, who works with the outfielders and runs data analytics after stops at Webber International and Western Michigan, and assistant Alexis Michon, who pitched for Trine on both national title teams.
@TrineSoftball @TrineAthletics @MIAA1888 @CoachD_TUSB @CoachHustonTUSB @General_TUSB

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Parkview Sports Medicine @PSM1Team · Jun 4

🥎Congrats to @TrineSoftball on finishing as @NCAADIII Softball National Runners-Up. @TrineAthletics staved off elimination 5 times during their national tournament run, advancing to the championship series for the 4th time in 5 seasons.

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