Norah Gillam

Beth Walters

The Tiger softball team is showing what it is made of, battling back from a rash of injuries and hard luck to win four of five games last week. With just one week of regular season conference games remaining, Wittenberg is now in position to claim one of four spots in the NCAC tournament, which is scheduled for May 3-5.

Last week, the Tigers started things off on Wednesday with a 5-4 win over Kenyon. After a lengthy lightning/rain delay, Wittenberg rallied from a four-run first inning deficit to defeat the Ladies. Game 2 was called after two innings due to darkness and will not be made up. Freshman Norah Gillam (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) and junior Beth Walters (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) each had two hits and an RBI to key the offense in the win.

Rain forced a difficult weekend road trip, but the Tigers split a Saturday doubleheader with Hiram and then swept two from Oberlin on Sunday to climb above .500 in the NCAC for the first time this year. This week's action against first-place Denison on Tuesday and second-place Wooster on Saturday will determine the Tigers' postseason fate.

Against Hiram, freshman pitcher Christy Cartaya (Mason, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) threw her best game of the season in the opener, shutting down the Terriers on just four hits and no walks. The Tigers got their lone run on Gillam's second hit of the game in the top of the seventh inning, driving home sophomore Daena Sisk (South Bend, Ind./Marian). In the nightcap, the Terriers claimed a 6-1 victory.

On Sunday at Oberlin, Wittenberg again got a stellar pitching performance to win the first game, this time featuring sophomore Carmen Montgomery (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) in a complete-game three-hitter in which she didn't walk a batter in a 2-1 win. The nightcap also featured Montgomery as she banged out four hits to lead the Tigers in come-from-behind fashion.