SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tiger softball team dropped both games in a doubleheader to conference-leading Allegheny College on Saturday, by scores of 0-4 and 3-5. Despite a dark outlook for postseason possibilities following the two losses, there were some great highlights to come out of the day.
The postseason may very well be out of reach for the Tigers after Saturday. After Hiram upset Kenyon with a sweep on the same day, the Red & White find themselves in fifth place in the conference standings, and will be eagerly awaiting the results of Oberlin versus Denison on Sunday. A split would place Denison at 7-7, equaling Wittenberg and Kenyon and placing the three schools in a three-way tie for fourth. However, Denison is heavily favored over Oberlin, who has not won a conference game all year.
Despite the tension that will surely ensue as the Tigers wait for news of a split in Granville, Saturday was a banner day for one Tiger senior. Shortstop Sarah Fetters (Woodhaven, Mich./Maumee (Ohio)) broke two more Wittenberg career records, bringing her total to four. With her third at-bat, Fetters broke the career record for at-bats at 480, and by the end of the day she had pushed the mark up to 484. With her second hit, she took first-place in career hits, setting the new mark at 176. These two new records join assists and doubles as her top-spots in the record books. She finished with 331 career assists and 41 lifetime doubles. Additionally, Fetters started all but two games in her career, both of which she missed due to injury, and has played in 148 games total.
In Game One, the Tiger bats were quiet, as sophomore Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) pitched a good game. She allowed just two earned runs, the other two coming unearned off of Tiger fielding errors. In Game Two, junior Rachael Hatcher (West Carrollton, Ohio/West Carrollton) threw the complete game and garnered the loss, giving up five runs, all earned, on 14 hits and one walk. On the bright side, she fanned four batters, bringing her within one strikeout of the career record, which stands at 261. Boswell falls to 8-6 with the Game One loss, and Hatcher drops to 9-5 on the season following Game Two.
The late-game played host to the record-breaking base hit for Fetters, who went 2-for-3 in the game. She drove in two runs as well, joining senior Nicole Ottavi (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) as the only two run producers. Ottavi went 2-for-4 with one RBI in her final home game.
Fetters, Ottavi, and senior left fielder Amy Myser (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) finished their careers on Saturday, at least on home turf at Betty Dillahunt Field. All three have been on all-conference teams, and all three have been nominated for CoSida/ESPN Academic All-America this year. Their tremendous careers were honored in a short postgame ceremony.
Written by: John Strawn