GAMBIER — Sophomore Meghan McCans (Arcanum, Ohio/Arcanum) broke the school's single-season steals record as the Wittenberg softball team swept a tightly contested doubleheader at Kenyon in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Thursday. The Tigers got a 4-3 win in nine innings in Game 1 and completed the sweep with a down-to-the-wire 4-3 victory in Game 2 to extend their current win streak to five games.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (19-15 overall, 5-3 NCAC), Kenyon (14-16 overall, 1-7 NCAC)
• Venue: Kenyon Softball Complex - Gambier, Ohio

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• McCans led the Wittenberg offense, going 4-for-5 with a triple to go with two runs scored and two stolen bases.
• Senior Julia Burch (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) tallied two hits, one RBI and two steals.
• Junior Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) and freshman Rebekah Giel (Amelia, Ohio/West Clermont) recorded two hits each. Zungri added a stolen base.
• Senior Hanna Ecker (Heath, Ohio/Heath) tallied a double and a run.
• Sophomore Lilly James (Troy, Ohio/Troy) pitched a scoreless final 4.1 innings for the Tigers and earned the win to improve to 7-2 on the season. She allowed just one hit while tallying four strikeouts.
• Senior Kira van Ravensberg (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) got the pitching start for Wittenberg. She allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out three over 4.2 innings.
• Maeve McLaughlin led the Kenyon offense with two hits, one RBI and one run.

Game 1 - Wittenberg 4, Kenyon 3 (9 inn.)

• The Owls opened the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning for a 1-0 lead.
• The Tigers tied the score at 1-1 on an RBI groundout from freshman Syd Little (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) in the top of the fourth.
• Kenyon regained the lead at 3-1 via a 2-RBI double in the bottom of the fifth.
• Wittenberg answered in the top of the sixth with an RBI single from junior Harper Crews (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) and tied the score at 3-3 on a one-out fielder's choice RBI from sophomore Ashlynn Stamper (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Beavercreek). Stamper's RBI was set up by a leadoff triple from McCans.
• James pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
• After a scoreless eighth inning, McCans hit a one-out single, advanced to second on an interference call and stole third. Burch then drove her home with a single, which proved to be the game-winning RBI after James closed out the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.
• Wittenberg out-hit Kenyon by a 12-8 margin and committed three errors to the Owls' two.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Ecker, Giel and Crews led the Wittenberg offense with two hits and one steal each. Giel added two runs to her stat line.
• Stamper finished with one hit and two RBIs.
• Burch added one hit, one run and one steal.
• Sophomore Julia Hall (Powell, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) got the pitching start for the Tigers and earned the win to improve to 5-6 on the season. She allowed two unearned runs on two hits and one walk while striking out two.
• James earned her eighth save of the season after pitching the final two innings and giving up just one unearned run on two hits while striking out three.
• Keala Montgomery led the Kenyon offense with two hits, one RBI, one run and one steal.

Game 2 - Wittenberg 4, Kenyon 3

• The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead after McCans scored on an error in the top of the first inning and added an RBI groundout in the second.
• Wittenberg increased its lead to 3-0 on a steal of home by Giel in the top of the fourth.
• The Owls scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 3-2.
• An RBI single from Stamper put the Tigers up 4-2 in the top of the fifth.
• Kenyon made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh after getting a runner to second base with two outs. An RBI single from Montgomery brought the Owls within one, 4-3, and she advanced to second on the throw home. A wild pitch advanced her to third base, and the next batter, Madison Buckwalter, battled to a full count before striking out looking on a pitch from James to end the game.
• Wittenberg out-hit Kenyon by an 8-4 margin and committed six errors to the Owls' two. All three of Kenyon's runs were unearned.

Quote - Sophomore Meghan McCans

• On breaking the single-season steals record: "Thanks to all my teammates and coaches for pushing me this year. Thank you to Coach V for going out of his way to help me get faster. I set a goal in the fall to achieve this record, and I was bound and determined to do that. Go Tigers!"

Records & Milestones

• Wittenberg is now 37-16 all-time against Kenyon.
• Burch has 155 hits and 43 steals in her career. She ranks fifth all-time at Wittenberg in steals and is tied for sixth all-time in hits.
• Ecker has 119 hits and 71 RBIs in her career. She is 24 hits and seven RBIs shy of joining the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• McCans has a school-record 34 steals this season and is tied for sixth all-time with 42 career steals. The prior school record for single-season steals was 33 set by Loren Combs in 2014.
• In the circle, van Ravensberg has 27 career wins, which ranks ninth in program history. She also has 117 career strikeouts, which ranks 10th all-time at Wittenberg.
• James has 11 career saves, which is a program record.
• The Tigers have tallied a program single-season record 121 stolen bases this year. The prior record was 100 set in 2013.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday hosting an NCAC doubleheader against DePauw for Senior Day beginning at 1 p.m.