Posted: Mar 09, 2017
LEESBURG, Florida—Wittenberg softball entered Thursday with an unblemished 4-0 record thus far in 2017. The Tigers fell 2-0 to Moravian in the early morning, and then turned around and defeated Roanoke on a walk-off two RBI base hit by Abby Baker. Wittenberg exited the day at 5-1, with contest against Penn State-Behrend, Sage, Millikin and Amherst yet to be played in sunny Florida.
MORAVIAN NOTES
- The Tigers ran into a buzz-saw on the mound in Moravian's starter, as the Tigers were held to one hit in the game, striking out 14 times.
- Freshman shortstop Olivia Hopkins recorded the only hit in the 2-0 loss, as Chelsea Zang fell to 2-1 on the mound after surrendering two unearned runs, while striking out six.
ROANOKE SCORING BREAKDOWN
Bottom 7th
- Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Wittenberg got on the board after Lauren Buelow smashed a double to right field, plating Victoria Toetz.
- Down to their last out, Hopkins came up big in the clutch, lacing a line drive to centerfield that scored Buelow, tying the game at 2-2.
Bottom 8th
- After Roanoke took a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth, Abby Curnutte moved up the placed runners to second and third with one out in the inning.
- Again, down to their final out with runners on second and third, senior Abby Baker sent a ball into right field, plating Briana Gibson and Hopkins to give the Tigers the dramatic 4-3 win.
KEY STATS
- Wittenberg's starter in game two, Abby Haab, pitched four strong innings for the Tigers, allowing one earned run on six hits.
- Zang handled the final four innings of work for the Tigers, recording the win after striking out four, while allowing three hits.
- Buelow, Hopkins, and Curnutte paced the Tigers with two hits each, as Baker's two RBI's led the Tigers in that category.
- Wittenberg played stellar error-free defense in the game two walk-off victory, as the Tigers pitching staff only surrendered one walk as well.
- Four of the Tigers ten hits were for extra bases against Roanoke, as Rachel Black, Casey Hobbs, Toetz and Buelow all recorded doubles.
UP NEXT
- Wittenberg is back in action on Friday against Penn State-Behrend at 4:30PM, and then again against Sage at 7:00PM.
- The Tigers conclude their spring break tilt on Saturday with contests against Millikin at 9:00AM, followed by a 11:30AM game against Amherst.