Phillips tosses no-hitter as Tri-C dominates Mott C.C., 8-0

FINDLAY, Ohio (athletics.tri-c.edu) – Sophomore pitcher Julee Phillips (Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio) continued her reign of terror over the NJCAA Great Lakes District A Championship field, throwing a no-hitter with nine strikeouts as the Cuyahoga Community College Triceratops (32-6, 16-1 OCCAC) topped the Mott Community College Bears (33-12, 24-6 MCCAA), 8-0 over five innings today, May 8.

The win extended Phillips's clean innings streak to 12.0 after a complete game shutout in the win over Muskegon Community College last night. Her nine strikeouts also put Phillips at 200 strikeouts on the season and moves her into fourth in the nation in strikeouts.

Phillips had plenty of help from her offense, with home runs from Katelyn Smith (So./Columbus, Ohio) and Lexi Gray (So./Tallmadge, Ohio/Baldwin-Wallace) in the third inning jump starting a great day at the plate for the Triceratops. Ultimately, it was a two-run double by Sophie Durbin (So./Mansfield, Ohio/Mount Vernon Nazarene) in the home half of the fifth that capped off the day for the Triceratops and extended Durbin's hitting streak to 11 games.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Phillips came out firing on all cylinders, punching out two Bears in each of the first three innings to set the tone for the game.
• A leadoff home run by Smith in the bottom of the third energized the Triceratops dugout and got the offense rolling. Even more so when Gray followed with a solo shot of her own to put Tri-C up 2-0 through three innings.
• Mott landed their only baserunner in the top of the fourth off of an error, but Phillips locked in and forced two quick infield popouts before striking out the final Bear batter of the inning.
• Tri-C scored another run in the home half of the fourth, making the score 3-0 on an RBI walk by Durbin.
• The Triceratops blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs to force the run-rule victory over the No. 2 seeded team in the field. An RBI single by Adriana Guarnieri (Fr./Chillicothe, Ohio) got the party started, with Jayliana Wilt (Fr./Youngstown, Ohio) following with a  two-RBI single of her own the next plate appearance and Durbin putting the game on ice with her two-RBI, sending the Triceratops to the championship game with an 8-0 run-rule victory.

UP NEXT

The Triceratops head to the Great Lakes District A Championship game tomorrow, May 9, against the winner of the Mott Community College and Glen Oaks Community College. First pitch from Field #2 at the Marathon Diamonds in Findlay, Ohio is scheduled for 11 a.m.

In the bracket's double elimination format, one win would give the Triceratops the district championship. If they were to fall in the first game, a second will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.

Tickets are available at the gate or online. Any scheduling changes or time changes will be broadcast on the official website of Tri-C Athletics, athletics.tri-c.edu, and on the official Tri-C Athletics Instagram and X accounts.

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Follow the softball team on Instagram at @tri.c_softball.