HIRAM — The Wittenberg softball team opened its North Coast Athletic Conference schedule Tuesday with a doubleheader at Hiram. The Terriers came away with a 10-2 win in five innings in Game 1 and a 7-3 victory in the second game, which was suspended due to darkness in the top of the seventh inning with two outs and a runner on first base. The game was later declared final.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (14-14 overall, 0-2 NCAC), Hiram (10-10 overall, 2-0 NCAC)
• Venue: Myrtis E. Herndon Field - Hiram, Ohio
• The Tigers tallied three stolen bases in Game 1 and added one more in Game 2, giving them a single-season program record of 101 on the season. The prior record was 100 set in 2013.

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Senior Julia Burch (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome), junior Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) and sophomores Meghan McCans (Arcanum, Ohio/Arcanum) and Ashlynn Stamper (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Beavercreek) led the Wittenberg offense with one hit each.
• McCans, Zungri and junior Harper Crews (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) had one stolen base each as the Tigers tied the program's single-season steals record.
• Kylie Perez led the Hiram offense, going 3-for-3 with a double and a triple to go with three RBIs and two runs.

Game 1 - Hiram 10, Wittenberg 2 (5 inn.)

• Hiram plated four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
• The Tigers made the score 4-1 when Zungri scored on a wild pitch in the top of the second frame.
• The Terriers added a run in the bottom of the second, but the Tigers answered with a run of their own in the top of the fourth on an RBI sac bunt from graduate student Samantha Casteel (Loveland, Ohio/Little Miami).
• Hiram added five runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game via the mercy rule.
• Hiram out-hit Wittenberg by a 13-4 margin and committed four errors to the Tigers' three.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Freshman Syd Little (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) led the Wittenberg offense with two hits.
• Zungri had the Tigers' lone extra-base hit of the game with a double to go with two RBIs.
• Sophomore Julia Hall (Powell, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) had one hit and one RBI.
• Burch recorded the record-breaking stolen base.
• In the circle for the Tigers, sophomore Lilly James (Troy, Ohio/Troy) recorded three strikeouts over four innings in relief of senior starter Kira van Ravensberg (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista), who tallied one strikeout over two innings.

Game 2 - Suspended with Hiram leading 7-3

• Hiram scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and added two more in the third and one each in the fourth and fifth frames for a 7-0 lead.
• Wittenberg got on the scoreboard via a two-out, 2-RBI double from Zungri in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, but the Tigers were unable to take advantage.
• In the top of the seventh, Burch drew a leadoff walk, stole second and advanced to third on a one-out groundout before scoring on a single from Hall in what turned out to be the final at-bat of the game.
• Wittenberg finished with eight hits and two errors, and Hiram had 11 hits and no errors.

Records & Milestones

• Wittenberg is now 30-21 all-time against Hiram.
• Burch has 144 hits and 39 steals in her career. She ranks sixth all-time at Wittenberg in steals and is tied for ninth all-time in hits.
• Senior Hanna Ecker (Heath, Ohio/Heath) has 109 hits and 69 RBIs in her career. She is 34 hits and nine RBIs shy of joining the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• McCans has 30 steals this season and 38 in her career. She is tied for third all-time at Wittenberg on the single-season steal list and ranks seventh on the program's all-time list for career steals.
• In the circle, van Ravensberg has 26 career wins, which ranks ninth in program history. She also has 111 career strikeouts, which ranks 10th all-time at Wittenberg.
• James has eight career saves, which is a program record.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, April 17, hosting an NCAC doubleheader against Ohio Wesleyan beginning at 3:30 p.m.