Box Score FINDLAY, Ohio. – The No. 3 seed Trevecca Nazarene University softball team (33-14) participated in their first-round matchup of the 2023 Great Midwest Championships against the No. 6 seed Northwood University (33-23) and won 2-0. With the win, the Trojans move on in the winner's bracket to face the No. 2 seed Hillsdale College (32-18) on Thursday at 11:30 AM.
The second round game features two of the best in the circle this season in the G-MAC. Joni Russell of Hillsdale is the Great Midwest Pitcher of the Year. The Charger didn't disappoint in today's 2-0 win over Ashland today. She pitched a complete game shutout, allowing four hits with no walks, and struck out 13 while improving to 17-6 on the year.
The win is No. 500 in the career of Trevecca coach Ben Tyree. In his 15th season on the Hill, Tyree has an all-time record of 500-216-2 and is now 51-26 in the postseason, including a 32-18 record in the Division II era. Check below for more notes on the career of Ben Tyree, the Great Midwest's winningest coach.
*Great Midwest Championships | Trevecca Preview
POSTSEASON ESSENTIALS
2023 Great Midwest Championships | Home
Live Stats (Anderson Field) | Live Stats (Iriti Field)
WATCH LIVE | Great Midwest Digital Network
SERIES HISTORY/NOTES
Trevecca leads the all-time series 5-2. Trevecca and Northwood split their two games this season. The April Fool's Day double-header in Nashville started with a 7-1 Trojan win, but the Timberwolves rallied for the split, winning game two 10-6. This is the first year for the Timberwolves in the league, but the teams met four times before this season. Each of those was in non-conference classics. TNU won four of the first five meetings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless top of the first inning by Northwood, Trevecca got on the board in the bottom of the first. Gracie Kirby singled to centerfield, driving in Kendall Andrews for a 1-0 TNU lead. Andrews reached on a two-out walk.
Both pitchers, Hailey Leister (22-9) and Ashlan Sensing (17-7), settled in after the first as both teams' bats went cold. The duo are arguably two of the best hurlers in the league.
The Trojans were held to a pair of hits combined in the second, third, and fourth innings. On the other side, Ashlan Sensing had a perfect game going through four and two-thirds. Sensing hit Timberwolve Gianna Fantin with a pitch with two out in the fifth to end the perfect game. Then struck out Lundquist to end the inning.
The first Northwood hit didn't come until there was one out in the sixth. The Timberwolves settled for two hits and a total of three base runners.
The Trojans added insurance in the fifth when Kendall Andrews singled to right driving in Jessie Brown for a 2-0 TNU lead. Brown had reached on an error, then stole second.
Sensing missed out on her second perfect game and third no-hitter of the year but pitched another complete game shutout. It is her 36th career complete game, placing her in the top three in the NCAA Era at Trevecca.
With her eight strikeouts, she now has an even 300 career strikeouts. She is No. 2 in the NCAA Era at Trevecca in that category.
CIRCLE & BOX NOTES
- Kendall Andrews went 1-2 with an RBI and one run scored, and three stolen bases. She now has 37 stolen bases on the year.
- Gracie Kirby went 1-2 with an RBI.
- Jessie Brown scored one run and grabbed another stolen base; she has 33 stolen bases this season.
- Ashlan Sensing (17-7) did not allow a run while holding Northwood to just two hits. She struck out eight batters in seven innings pitched.
UP NEXT
The Trojans move on in the winner's bracket to face the No. 2 seeded Hillsdale College (32-18) on Thursday at 11:30 AM.
The Trojans are 5-11 all-time against the Chargers. The Chargers have dominated the series with the Trojans since joining the conference in 2018. Hillsdale beat Trevecca twice in non-conference games in 2016 and 2017. The 2016 meeting was in Trevecca's Music City Invitational at Drakes Creek Park in Hendersonville. Including those first two wins, Hillsdale won eight of the first nine meetings in the series. HC joined the Great Midwest in 2018 and went 6-1 against TNU in the first seven meetings.
GREAT MIDWEST CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Trevecca won the first four Great Midwest Athletic regular-season titles and postseason championships. In 2021, the Trojans added a fifth regular-season G-MAC title.
BEN TYREE NOTES
Ben Tyree is in his fifteenth as the head coach at Trevecca and owns ten 30-win seasons, seven in the D2 Era. Tyree owns the most wins in Trevecca history and has tallied more Great Midwest wins than any other league coach.
Overall: 500-216-2
Conference: 223-67-1 (154-50 Great Midwest)
Postseason: 51-26 (32-18 D2 Era)
Ben Tyree surpassed the 400-win mark in 2020
Fourteen of his 15 seasons have produced 21 wins or more
*2020 season 15-3 due to the COVID-19
Great Midwest Coach of the Year – four times
Coach of the Year – seven times (w/ NAIA years)
ALL-TIME TREVECCA NOTES
The Trojans are assured of their 23rd consecutive winning season, dating back to the 2000-2001 season. After producing a winning record (22-20) in the program's first season (1991-1992), the team didn't have another winning record until the 2000-2001 season.
This is the eleventh season for Trevecca with an NCAA Division II schedule.
347-157 Overall - NCAA Era (11 years)
32-18 Postseason - NCAA Era (11 years)
7 - 30-Win Season in NCAA D2 Era (11 years)
948-572-3 All-time Record (NAIA/NCAA - 32 Seasons)
16 - 30-Win Seasons (32 Seasons)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday | May 3
GM 1: #8 TIFFIN beat #1 ODU | 5-2 | Anderson
GM 2: #5 FINDLAY defeated #4 CED | 5-1 | Iriti
GM 3: #2 HILLS defeated #7 ASH | 2-0 | Anderson
GM 4: #3 TREV defeated #6 NORTH | 2-0 | Iriti
Thursday | May 4
GM 5: #1 ODU vs. #4 CED (9:00 AM) TBD
GM 6: #7 ASH vs. #6 NORTH (9:00 AM) TBD
GM 7: #8 TIFFIN vs. #5 FINDLAY (11:30 AM) TBD
GM 8: #2 HILLS vs. #3 TREV (11:30 AM) TBD
GM 9: Winner GM 5 vs. Loser GM 8 (2:00 PM) TBD
GM 10: Winner GM 6 vs. Loser GM 7 (2:00 PM) TBD
Friday | May 5
GM 11: Winner GM 7 vs. Winner GM 8 (9:00 AM) Anderson
GM 12: Winner GM 9 vs. Winner GM 10 (11:30 AM) Anderson
GM 13: Winner GM 12 vs. Loser GM 11 (2:00 PM) Anderson
Day Four- Saturday
GM 14: Winner GM 11 vs. Winner GM 13 (9:00 AM) Anderson
GM 15: If Necessary Game (11:30 AM) Anderson
MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS
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