GRANVILLE, Ohio - An eight-game winning streak came to a dead stop Wednesday, as the Wittenberg Tiger softball team committed four costly errors in game one against Denison to drop a 6-4 decision. In game two, the Tigers came back to win 7-4 over the Big Red.
Sophomore pitcher Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) was saddled with the loss in the early game, plagued by her team's fielding errors, mostly in the deadly Denison second, where she would have worked herself out of a bases loaded jam if not for two errors, a stolen base, and finally one more error leading to four of the inning's five runs. Boswell hung on to finish the game, and after the second inning held Denison to no runs and just two hits. Her record drops to 5-3, while her ERA stays low at 1.62, thanks to her one earned run performance.
In the offensive columns for Wittenberg, senior outfielder Nicole Ottavi (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) went a perfect 4-for-4 with an RBI, crossing the plate once herself and stealing a base in the process.
In the nightcap, the Tigers put together some momentum in the third with one run and broke open for four in the fourth, starting with an Ottavi single. Boswell was next up, putting the ball over the left center wall for a two run home run, and before Denison could blink an eye, the next batter, sophomore third baseman Jade Chivington (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) launched another over the fence to make it a 5-2 ballgame. Later in the inning, senior shortstop Sarah Fetters (Woodhaven, Mich./Maumee (Ohio)) punched an RBI single through the infield for another run.
The subsequent Wittenberg fifth inning rang of deja vu, as Ottavi again led off with a single, but her hit was followed up by a Boswell walk, using her pitcher's eye to earn her way to first. Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball, before Chivington earned RBI number two with a sacrifice fly to left field. Boswell would score on the next at-bat on an error by the third baseman to round out the Tigers' scoring on the night.
Junior Rachael Hatcher (West Carrollton, Ohio/West Carrollton) took to the mound to win the second game, improving to 5-3 to match Boswell for the best record among Tiger pitchers who have thrown more than 20 innings. She went 6-2/3 innings, giving up six hits and just one earned run, while striking out four and walking only two. Hatcher now stands pat with a 2.79 ERA on the season. Sophomore lefty Melisa Shock (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) came in to collect the last out of the game, striking out her only batter faced with two on to pick up her first save of the season.
The Red & White move to 15-7 following the split, including a newborn 1-1 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Next up is a doubleheader against fellow conference opponent the College of Wooster on Saturday, April 5, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
Written by: John Strawn