RICHMOND, Ind. — The Wittenberg softball team split a doubleheader at Earlham on Saturday, winning the first game 5-2 before falling 4-3 in eight innings in the second contest. Sophomore Lilly James (Troy, Ohio/Troy) broke the program's all-time career saves record in the Game 1 victory.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (11-11 overall), Earlham (5-9 overall)
• Venue: Ellie Bewley Softball Stadium - Richmond, Ind.

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Senior Hanna Ecker (Heath, Ohio/Heath) led the Wittenberg offense with two hits and two RBIs.
• Senior Julia Burch (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) also tallied two hits.
• Sophomore Ashlynn Stamper (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Beavercreek) recorded one hit and two RBIs.
• Freshman Rebekah Giel (Amelia, Ohio/West Clermont) posted one hit and two runs scored.
• Freshman Caylee Roe (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua) had the Tigers' lone extra-base hit of the game with a double.
• Wittenberg finished with seven stolen bases, led by two each from Giel and sophomore Meghan McCans (Arcanum, Ohio/Arcanum).
• Sophomore Julia Hall (Powell, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) earned the win in the circle, pitching 5.2 innings and allowing two runs, neither of which were earned, on eight hits and one walk while striking out two to improve to 2-4 on the season.
• James earned her fourth save of the season, pitching the final 1.1 innings and allowing just one hit while tallying one strikeout.
• Bo Shelton led the Earlham offense with three hits, including a double and a triple.

Game 1 - Wittenberg 5, Earlham 2

• Wittenberg opened the scoring after a two-out double from Roe in the top of the first inning. Ecker followed with an RBI single.
• After plating a pair of runs in the top of the third, the Tigers increased their lead to 5-0 on a 2-RBI single from Stamper, who was pinch hitting, in the fifth.
• Earlham scored twice in the bottom of the sixth on back-to-back two-out RBI singles.
• Later in the bottom of the sixth, Earlham advanced runners to second and third, but James got out of the jam by inducing a groundout.
• James allowed a one-out double in the bottom of the seventh but proceeded to end the game and secure the win for the Tigers with a strikeout and a groundout.
• Earlham out-hit Wittenberg by a 9-8 margin but committed four errors to the Tigers' two.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Burch and graduate student Samantha Casteel (Loveland, Ohio/Little Miami) led the Tiger offense, each finishing with two hits and one RBI. Both of Burch's hits were doubles, and one of Casteel's hits was a double.
• The Tigers' other extra-base hit in the game was a triple from Roe.
• Junior Harper Crews (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) had a team-high two steals in the game for the Tigers to go with one from McCans.
• Senior Kira van Ravensberg (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) pitched the entirety of the game for Wittenberg, allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out three and falling to 4-5 on the season.
• Emmerie Stump led the Earlham offense with four hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs.
• Morgan Cooksey earned the win in the circle for Earlham, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out two to improve to 3-4 on the season.

Game 2 - Earlham 4, Wittenberg 3 (8 inn.)

• Earlham opened the scoring with a pair of runs via an RBI double and RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.
• Wittenberg answered in the top of the fifth with an RBI double from Burch and tied the score at 2-all in the seventh with a one-out RBI bunt single from Casteel. Still with one out later in the frame, the Tigers had runners on second and third but were unable to bring them home.
• van Ravensberg pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
• Roe opened the top of the eighth with a triple and scored on a groundout from sophomore Kayla Drake (Wilmington, Ohio/Clinton Massie) to put the Tigers up 3-2.
• In the bottom of the eighth, Earlham put runners on second and third with no outs, and Stump followed by providing the walk-off hit with a 2-RBI double.
• Earlham out-hit Wittenberg by a 9-7 margin and committed three errors to the Tigers' none.

Quotes

• Head coach Ashley Goodwin: "We didn't know if we would get these two games in today with the weather, but Earlham has great facilities, and we were able to play. Julia Hall did a great job keeping Earlham off balance in Game 1, and Lilly James came in and shut them down. Our hitting came in clutch to close it out. In Game 2, Kira threw great and our defense played well, but we just didn't do enough offensively to win the game. We are looking forward to our home opener tomorrow."
• Sophomore Lilly James on breaking the progam's all-time career saves record: "This record means so much to me, as it shows the work I've put in over the past year and how much I've grown as a pitcher, both mentally and physically. It gives me a sense of pride and confidence that I can do the things I always thought I couldn't do a few years back, all with the help of my amazing team and coaches behind me."

Records & Milestones

• Wittenberg is now 10-1 all-time against Earlham.
• Burch has 137 hits and 32 steals in her career. She ranks eighth all-time at Wittenberg in steals and 10th all-time in hits.
• Ecker has 106 hits and 66 RBIs in her career. She is 24 hits and 12 RBIs shy of joining the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• McCans has 23 steals this season and 31 in her career. She ranks seventh all-time at Wittenberg on the single-season steal list and ninth on the program's all-time top 10 list for career steals.
• In the circle, van Ravensberg has 24 career wins, which ranks ninth in program history. She also has 106 career strikeouts, which is tied for 10th all-time at Wittenberg.
• James now has seven career saves, breaking the program record of six set by Sarah Waugh from 1994-97.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Sunday hosting a doubleheader against Otterbein for their 2024 home opener beginning at 1 p.m.