MEADVILLE, Pa. - Life on the road is never easy when playing conference opponents, so a doubleheader split for the Wittenberg Tigers at Allegheny is most certainly a result Head Coach Laura Matthews will gladly accept and move on quickly.
Allegheny pulled out a 3-2 win in Game 1, but Wittenberg showed some resiliency with a Game 2 victory by the same score. The Tigers head into another key road doubleheader on Sunday at Kenyon sporting records of 11-11 overall and 4-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), while Allegheny is now 5-9 overall and 1-3 in the NCAC.
The opener went the way of the home team, but only by the most narrow of margins. Both Tigers were driven in by senior Ashlee Wright (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), who doubled to center field in the first to score sophomore Abby Baker (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) and homered in the sixth down the left field line.
As a team, however, Wittenberg managed just five hits in the game. Allegheny countered with five hits, which the Gators parlayed into three runs in the first two innings against Tiger freshman Chelsea Zang (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton). Zang allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks in five innings before freshman Abby Haab (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
The Tigers flipped the script in Game 2, as Haab picked up the pitching victory with three innings of three-hit softball, allowing two unearned runs before giving way to Zang, who yielded three hits and a walk but did not allow a run. She picked up the save and she also picked up a pair of hits and scored a run.
Wittenberg scored all three of its runs in the third inning as Wright contributed an RBI single, freshman Charlee Clark (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) lined out to center field for a sacrifice fly, and junior Shannon Lance (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) drove in what turned out to be the winning run with an infield single.
Lance finished a perfect 2-for-2 and reached base all three times she batted in Game 2. Wright, Zang and sophomore Casey Hobbs (Fairborn, Ohio/Carroll) scored the Tigers' runs.
Written By: Ryan Maurer