GRANVILLE, Ohio — Facing a 5-4 deficit and a 2-2 count with two outs and two on in the Tigers' last chance in the top of the seventh, Wittenberg softball senior Amanda Delagrange (Akron, Ohio/Firestone) had to have known she was batting in what might have been the tournament's defining moment. Despite the high-pressure situation, she delivered a clutch bloop single to center field to score two runs and move the Tigers out from behind Ohio Wesleyan.
The Tigers scored one more thanks to senior outfielder Haley Gerken (Logan, Ohio/Logan) which allowed them to withstand a one-run rally by the Bishops in the bottom of the seventh and win by a final score of 7-6. The Tigers advance to the NCAC Tournament Championship Game(s) for the first time since 2003, when they went on to win the tournament.
Delagrange finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored to highlight the offense, while Gerken finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Freshman catcher Brooklyn Cox (Dayton, Ohio/Vandalia Butler) was 2-for-4 with an RBI and senior third baseman Jade Chivington (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) drove in two runs on a 1-for-3 day with two runs.
Junior left fielder Jessi Allen (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) went 1-for-3 with a run scored and senior outfielder Cameron Catalfu (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) was 1-for-2 with a run scored and a sacrifice hit.
Wittenberg again started senior Brooke Boswell (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) in the circle, and though her second game of the day was not as strong as the first, it was strong enough. She scattered nine hits, just one more than Game 1, but those hits scored six runs, all earned. She struck out three and walked two in the complete game win to improve to 16-9 on the season.
Ohio Wesleyan became the first team to scratch the board with a two-out RBI double off the bat of Rita Cook in the bottom of the first inning.
In the top of the third, the Catalfu drew a walk and Cox singled, before both moved up on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore shortstop Jessica Snyder (Northfield, Ill./New Trier). A sacrifice fly by Boswell moved both up again, Catalfu scoring to even things at 1-1.
The Bishops tacked one on in the bottom of the third with a runner on second, when Tara Van Vranken lined a double into left field. Jessi Allen was there to make the scoop and the throw and nearly caught the runner at the plate for the second time after throwing one out in the first game versus Denison, but the well-placed throw and subsequent tag were ruled not in time by the home plate umpire. A single in the next at-bat scored Van Vranken to make it a 3-1 game.
The Tigers regrouped with some help from Chivington when she blasted a no-doubt two-run home run over the left-center wall in the top of the fourth. The Tigers' second home run of the day put the two teams back into a deadlock at three runs apiece. Then, with one out, Cox dropped a single into short centerfield to score Amanda Delagrange from second base and put Wittenberg up one at 4-3.
The Bishops wasted no time in threatening again, loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth. They were able to convert one on a sacrifice fly to tie it back up at four all, but Wittenberg stemmed the damage with a fly out to short to end the side.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Bishops put another on the board without the benefit of loaded bases when Cook launched a leadoff home run to left center. Though it was just the fifth home run allowed by Boswell all season, it gave Ohio Wesleyan a 5-4 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Amanda Delagrange stepped to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs, representing the Tigers' last chance. Down to her and the team's last strike on a 2-2 count, she delivered a bloop single to center field, scoring two runs to put the Tigers on top 7-5 in the game's defining moment. Haley Gerken followed that up with what would become the game-winning RBI single to make it 7-5.
The Bishops pushed one across in the bottom half of the seventh, but it was not enough to derail the Tigers, who finished the game on top.
Written by: John Strawn '07