WINTER HAVEN, Fla.-- After trailing throughout most of the afternoon, Trine rallied back with a five-run eighth to defeat previously-unbeaten Aurora, 7-6 Thursday afternoon at Chain Of Lakes Park.

The Thunder trailed by as much as four runs, before scoring a single run in the seventh and scoring five in the eighth to take the lead. Drew Palmer (Hartford, Wisc./Hartford Union) was a perfect 5-of-5 at the plate with two doubles and an RBI for Trine. Palmer's performance was just the second five-hit game at the school in the last 10 years. Cale Sparks and Dillon Popovich each had three-hit days for the Spartans. The Thunder improved to 4-2 with the victory and clinched at least a .500 record on the season-opening road trip. Aurora is now 5-1 on the season.

Palmer knocked in a run in the top of the first to give Trine a 1-0 lead, but the Spartans scored five straight runs. Aurora scored single runs in the first, second and sixth, and added two runs in the third. Tanner Oymaian drove in two runs for the Spartans.

Trine began to rally in the seventh when Kory Shackle (Butler, Ohio/Mount Vernon) picked up an RBI on a groundout to third. Shackle knocked in two runs on the day.

All five Thunder runs in the eighth came with two outs. Back-to-back RBI-singles by Colton Conn (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) and Kyle Auernhamer (Vassar, Mich./Vassar) cut the score to 5-4. Conn stole home as Zach Thorn (Portage, Ind./Portage) to tie the score at five-apiece.

Shackle put Trine ahead with an RBI-single to score Auernhamer, before Jake Kendall (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) gave the Thunder an important insurance run with another RBI-single.

The Spartans pushed across a run in the eighth, but Jake Weimer (Pittsboro, Ind./Brownsburg) shut the door to earn his first save of the season.

Weimer, Nick Gollifer (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) and Jacob Stauffer (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) combined for six innings of two-run ball in relief. Gollifer earned his first collegiate victory after allowing one earned run in 1.2 innings.

Trine concludes its performance in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational tomorrow when they face Mount Union in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.