SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers are struggling against some of the best softball teams in the region, but perhaps that will make them better in the long run. As a team, the Tigers are now batting a paltry .226 as a team on the 2006 season after falling twice to Alma, 7-2 and 3-0.
Wittenberg is now 6-8 on the season after losing four straight games in two days upon their return from a Spring Break trip to Kissimmee, Fla. Alma is 9-3 on the season.
In the opener, Alma scored runs in five of the first six innings to take a commanding 7-0 lead. Only a two-run single in the seventh inning by junior Erin Collinsworth staved off a shutout for the Tigers as she drove home sophomore Sarah Fetters and junior Stephanie Zorn, who had led off the inning with back-to-back base knocks. Sophomore Taryn Hensel took the pitching loss after she allowed five earned runs in five innings, surrendering 10 hits but walking no one.
In the nightcap, the Tigers were held to just three hits and no runs. Freshman Rachael Hatcher tossed a complete game, scattering 10 hits and allowing three earned runs. But Zorn, Hatcher and Collinsworth were the only three Wittenberg players to reach base, each collecting a single. Just one base-runner reached third base in the game for Wittenberg, and that came after Zorn's single as pinch-runner Julie Ziegler stole second base and went to third on a passed ball but was stranded.