CLERMONT, Fla. - The Wittenberg Tigers returned to action after an off-day in the Florida sun. The result was the same as the first two days of the Tigers' Spring Break trip, however, as Wittenberg finished with a two-game split with Haverford and Manhattanville.
The Tigers opened the day with a 2-1 loss to Haverford before rallying for a 6-5 extra-inning victory over Manhattanville. The results left Wittenberg with a 3-3 record with four games remaining on the trip.
Against Haverford, the Tigers were limited to a single run in the third inning. It wasn't enough to support stellar pitching from the freshman tandem of Abby Haab (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) and Chelsea Zang (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton).
Haab drew the starting assignment and allowed two earned runs on six hits and two walks in three innings. Zang was perfect in three innings of relief, striking out two batters without allowing any baserunners.
Offensively, Wittenberg's lone run was scored by junior Loren Combs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), who was driven in by senior Ashlee Wright (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont). The Tigers finished with five hits by five different players, including a double from junior Shannon Lance (Loveland, Ohio/Kings).
The day's second game was also a tight, one-run affair, but this time the Tigers prevailed, thanks in large part to a 13-hit attack. Zang collected three hits, while sophomore Casey Hobbs (Fairborn, Ohio/Carroll), sophomore Abby Baker (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield), junior Kaela Hughes (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) and freshman Charlee Clark (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) all contributed two hits in the game. One of Clark's hits was her first collegiate home run, a two-run shot in the third inning.
After the two teams finished seven frames knotted at seven apiece, Lance and Combs scored on a single by Baker. Manhattanville responded with one unearned run in the bottom of the eighth, but Haab set down the final two batters to secure her first collegiate victory. She tossed 3.1 innings of relief, allowing two hits and two walks but no earned runs.
Written By: Ryan Maurer