SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Wittenberg softball ran its mid-season hot streak to six wins in the last seven games with a sweep of North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC)-leading DePauw.
Since starting the NCAC schedule with three losses in their first four games, the Tigers have caught fire, starting with a Game 2 rally that earned a split at Allegheny on April 6. Following the sweep of DePauw, which came in with a 10-0 league record, Wittenberg improved to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in the NCAC.
DePauw remains atop the standings with a 10-2 record, to go along with a 16-14 overall mark. Five teams currently have a winning record, with only four spots in the NCAC Tournament available.
Injuries have shortened the rotation for first-year Head Coach Laura Matthews, especially in the pitcher's circle, but her young team continued to respond admirably. No one has stepped her game up more than junior Rachel Ross (Westerville, Ohio/South), who won both games against DePauw while pitching all 14 innings.
Ross improved to 11-4 on the season while dropping her earned run average to 2.37. After allowing just four hits and one earned run in both ends of the doubleheader, Ross has now pitched 97.1 of Wittenberg's 155 innings so far in 2013.
In the opener, Ross was staked to a 2-0 lead through the first four innings, and with her teammates playing errorless defense behind her she closed out the visiting Tigers while allowing just a single run in the top of the sixth inning. Junior Laura Rose (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) drove in the first-inning run, while freshman Shannon Lance (Loveland, Ohio/Kings) brought home what turned out to be the game-winner in the fourth inning.
Also of note, freshman Kaela Hughes (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate.
In the nightcap, the host Tigers put two runs on the board in the third and two more in the fourth, while DePauw was limited for the second straight game to a single tally in the sixth. Rose drove in a pair, Hughes added two hits and an RBI, sophomore Shelby Knapp (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) scored a run and drove in another, and Lance went 2-for-3 and scored a run.
Wittenberg was a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen bases in the two games, including 5-for-5 in Game 2 alone. The Tigers came into a doubleheader ranked No. 2 nationally with 3.24 stolen bases per game.