DELAWARE, Ohio - It took four tries, but the Wittenberg Tigers finally got the North Coast Athletic Conference sweep they so needed. By scores of 4-0 and 8-6, the Tigers topped homestanding NCAC rival Ohio Wesleyan to take an important step toward their 2007 season goals.
The wins pushed the Tigers past the 20-win plateau for the fourth time in the last five years - an unprecendented run of success in the 22 years of documented softball at Wittenberg. The Tigers will take marks of 20-10 overall and 5-3 in the NCAC into Thursday's rescheduled doubleheader at Wooster before Wittenberg returns home for a Senior Recognition Day game against Oberlin on Saturday.
Wednesday's opener was all about freshman Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield), who continued her hot pitching streak with the first complete-game shutout of her collegiate career. She allowed just four hits and two walks in winning for the third time in the last eight days.
Offensively, the Tigers spread 10 hits around quite evenly, with junior Sarah Fetters (Maumee, Ohio/Maumee) and sophomore Julie Ziegler (Sandusky, Ohio/Perkins) banging out a pair of hits each. Freshman Cameron Catalfu (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) scored twice, while Ziegler and junior Nicole Ottavi (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) contributed runs batted in.
The nightcap didn't quite go according to the same pitching script, but the Tiger offense did more than enough by scoring eight runs in the first five innings on 10 hits. When senior Grace Wigton (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Christian) came on to provide 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the save, the Tigers were able to complete the sweep.
The Tiger offense was sparked by junior Amy Myser (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) with two hits and three RBI and senior Stephanie Zorn (Grapevine, Texas/Colleyville) with three hits. Eight different players scored one run in the game for Wittenberg.