ALMA, Mich. - The Wittenberg Tigers have a number of issues on the softball diamond in 2005, but none has cost the team more games than its porous defense. Continuing on its murderous non-conference schedule, the Tigers were dumped twice by Alma, 5-0 and 12-4.
The losses dropped Wittenberg to 3-15, while the perennial powerhouse Alma Scots improved to 14-6. The Tigers have played four nationally ranked teams in 2005 and have been swept by two of the top teams in the Great Lakes Region in the last week (Alma and Bluffton).
The Tigers committed three untimely errors in the first game, leading to five unearned runs against the pitching tandem of sophomore Grace Wigton and freshman Taryn Hensel. They combined to allow just six hits and three walks, nearly matching the totals posted by Wittenberg's offense (six hits and one walk). Difference was that the Tigers were unable to string the hits together, leaving six runners on base.
The six Tiger hits were spread throughout the lineup. None were for extra bases.
In the nightcap, the Tigers battled well until a disastrous sixth inning led to eight Alma runs, the last five of which were unearned, and the invoking of the run rule. It was the third time this season Wittenberg had lost in a run-rule shortened game.
Senior Norah Gillam was hit hard but she still deserved a better fate. She allowed 14 hits and 12 runs, but just five of them were earned. The key to Alma's offensive onslaught was the way the Scots took advantage of Wittenberg errors, following both of them with run-scoring hits, including a game-ending three-run homer in the sixth inning.
Offensively, Wittenberg again put together a six-hit attack, but again the rallies were few and far between. Senior Ashley Lands continued to hit well, adding her first extra-base hit to more than 20 other base knocks on the season. Sophomore Stephanie Zorn went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and sophomore Erin Collinsworth finished 2-for-2.