SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - As the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) softball tournament looms nearer and nearer, the Wittenberg Tigers must continue to fight for a spot. Wittenberg may not have made the strongest case Sunday against Hiram, but they did pick up a 'W' in one column at the expense of an 'L' in another. The Hiram Terriers took Game 1 by a score of 3-0, taking advantage of the quiet Tiger bats, while Wittenberg came back to win the second matchup 7-2.
Taking the tough luck loss for lack of run support in Game 1 was sophomore Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield), who threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, three walks, and one strikeout. Junior Rachael Hatcher (West Carrollton, Ohio/West Carrollton) cruised to a win in Game 2 in a 9-hit, one -walk and four-strikeout performance. She currently stands 11 strikeouts off the school's all-time career record of 261. The Tiger fielders, who average almost two errors a game, made only one on the day.
The first game saw only three Tigers hit, and each of them only once. It was a much different story in Game 2, as the Red & White built a 6-1 lead through five innings on the strength of 13 hits. Boswell helped tremendously, driving in five runs on a 2-for-4 outing from the plate as the designated player. The Tiger outfield combined to provide many of the scoring opportunities, together going 7-for-12 and crossing the plate four times, though not actually driving in any runs themselves. The outfield crew included senior Amy Myser (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) (2-for-4) in left, sophomore Cameron Catalfu (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) (3-for-4) in center, and senior Nicole Ottavi (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) (2-for-4) in right.
Wilmington College comes to Springfield to face the Tigers, now 21-11 overall and 7-5 in the NCAC, on Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. start time.
Written by: John Strawn