WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rallied from a 5-3 deficit to earn a 9-5, 11-inning victory over Trine University in the second game of the team's annual Spring Trip to Florida on Monday.
The Fightin' Engineers scored once in the seventh inning and once in the ninth to knot the score at 5-5 to force extra innings. Rose-Hulman scored four times in the decisive four-run 11th inning to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Junior Zach Hull led the Rose-Hulman offense with three singles and three RBIs, including the game tying single in the top of the ninth inning. Junior Kody Alayon and junior Patrick Klima also had three hits each. Alayon added two stolen bases and one RBI, while Klima had a double and one RBI.
Junior Zach Trusk blasted a home run, had two hits, scored twice and added one RBI. His round tripper turned a 5-3 deficit into 5-4 in the seventh inning. Junior Caleb Kissel also had a multiple-hit game with two singles and scored two runs for the 15-hit Fightin' Engineer attack.
Junior Karson Nixon allowed one earned run in 5.2 innings of work to keep the Engineers within striking distance. The tandem of Gunnar Hutchison and Cody Sunderhaus shutout the Thunder to force extra innings. Junior Alec McNally picked up the win with a scoreless 10th inning, before John Krasich tossed a scoreless 11th frame.
Rose-Hulman stands 2-0 on the season and returns to action on Tuesday at 9 a.m. against Concordia (Minn.). The Fightin' Engineers have also announced a Wednesday schedule addition, facing Neumann. The site and time of Wednesday's game will be announced when available.