Granville, OH – The Wittenberg University softball team split their opening road series with the Denison Big Red on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers dropped game one to Denison 6-3, before bouncing back and taking game two 8-3 from the Big Red. Wittenberg tallied 18 hits on the day with 11 coming in the game two win over the Big Red. Nikki Hawkins launched her first home run of the season in game one of the day, going 4 of 7 from the plate with two runs scored and an RBI.  Hanna Ecker, Mary Britton, and Brooke Dill each tallied multiple hits in the Tiger's game two win over Denison. Ecker recorded two RBIs, including a stolen base.

Game Breakdown

Denison took the early lead in game one with five unanswered runs through the first three innings. A solo home run to left field from Hawkins broke open the scoring for the Tigers. Wittenberg looked for a spark in the top of the sixth, as Alex Gibson drove in Clara Andersen. A single to right by Megan Niswonger pushed across Hannah Weymouth for the third Tiger run. Mary Britton earned her fifth win of the season in game two, tossing 4.1 innings, striking out one, and allowing five hits. Wittenberg was the first to strike in game two, plating one run in the second and one run in the fourth inning.

A single by Dill plated Gibson for the first Wittenberg run of game two. A wild pitch by the Big Red allowed Katelyn Niswonger to come around to score the fourth. Ecker started the rally in the fourth with a two-RBI single up the middle. The Tigers took advantage of a Denison error later in the inning allowing the fifth Wittenberg run to score. Wittenberg kept the scoring going in the seventh, with RBI singles coming from Megan Niswonger and Mary Britton extending the Tiger advantage to 8-1.