GRANVILLE, Ohio — In 50 degree temperatures that felt like 42, and 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts, the Wittenberg softball team dropped the first of two championship games by a score of 4-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament against the Denison Big Red on Saturday. The winner of Game 2 will claim the NCAC Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament.
Denison won its way into the championship game after a 3-1 Game One loss to Wittenberg. The Big Red went on to defeat Hiram in the losers bracket in the finale of Friday's action, and mounted a dramatic five-run, seventh-inning comeback to oust Ohio Wesleyan 5-4 in the final elimination game Saturday morning. Wittenberg came through the winner's bracket, winning against both Denison and Ohio Wesleyan on Friday.
Tiger senior Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) limited the Big Red to just eight hits in their first meeting on Friday and took the circle to start things again Saturday. The Big Red, already warm from one game on a chilly, windy day, lifted four runs off of Boswell, all earned, on nine hits, two strikeouts and no walks.
Senior Meghan O'Neill (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) set down all three hitters she faced in relief in the sixth inning, and senior Melisa Shock (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) held the Bid Red scoreless on one hit and one error in the seventh.
Sophomore shortstop Jessica Snyder (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) paced the Tiger lineup with two hits in three at-bats, but senior third baseman Jade Chivington (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) provided the only run with an RBI single in the fourth, batting 1-for-3 overall.
Denison opened the scoring in the top of the second, playing as the visitors after coming through the losers' bracket, with an RBI single off the bat of designated player Molly Sack.
Sack also started Denison's biggest inning, a three-run fourth, with an RBI single. Lauren Lynn later singled a run in, and the third run came on an RBI groundout from Emily Croll. In all, the Big Red put up three runs on four hits and one error in the frame.
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Jessica Snyder singled to lead off the side, though two quick fly outs kept her on first. Junior outfielder Jessi Allen (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) drew a walk before Chivington singled into left center to drive home Snyder and notch the first run for Wittenberg.
With two runners on and only one out in the top of the fifth, Boswell brought back some of the defensive magic she displayed on Friday, snagging a line drive from the circle and flipping to first for a 1-3 double play to end the Big Red threat.
Denison posted 10 hits in the game against Wittenberg's three, while the Tigers committed three errors, though none came at the cost of runs. The two teams square off in the final game of the tournament at approximately 3:35 p.m