SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Case Western succumbed to Wittenberg's dominant pitching and their own errors, as the Tigers went on the prowl for 6-2 and 4-1 wins at home on Saturday.
Along with improving to 12-6 overall on the season, the Red & White also gave Head Coach Becky Hall her 200th and 201st career victories. Read more about Coach Hall and her special achievement.
The Tigers handled most of the first game, earning one run in the first inning, adding two in the third, and completing their scoring with three in the fifth. Case did not reach the board until the sixth inning when they posted two runs. It took the Spartans all six of those innings to figure out sophomore starting hurler Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield), and even then only one of the runs was earned. Boswell went the distance, allowing just one earned run and fanning six.
Offensively, Boswell did as much to win the game in the batter's box as she did on the mound. She went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, to match the line of the game's other offensive standout, senior rightfielder Nicole Ottavi (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone).
The second matchup was more of the same. Pitching again held Case to low scoring and the offensive made the performance stand with solid production. This time it was junior Rachael Hatcher (West Carrollton, Ohio/West Carrollton) who completed the game from the mound, allowing just one run and marking seven Ks.
Sophomore third-bagger Jade Chivington (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) helped the Tigers to a big three run first inning with a double down the left field line, driving in two runs. Case Western scored its lone run in the top of the third, while Wittenberg added another run in the bottom half when sophomore Cameron Catalfu (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) scored on a Boswell sacrifice fly. Three innings of scoreless softball followed, as Hatcher closed out strong.
The Tigers travel to Heidelberg Sunday for a 1 p.m. matchup before opening North Coast Athletic Conference play at Denison on Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m.
Written by: John Strawn