SPRINGFIELD — The Wittenberg softball team dropped both games of a North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader to Denison on Wednesday to close out its 2024 home schedule. The Tigers fell in a tight 3-2 game to open the doubleheader and closed out the day with an 11-1 defeat in five innings in Game 2.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (19-19 overall, 5-7 NCAC), Denison (22-10 overall, 9-3 NCAC)
• Venue: Dillahunt Field - Springfield, Ohio
• Wittenberg currently sits in fifth place in the NCAC standings, trailing fourth-place Wooster by one game. The top four teams will qualify for next week's NCAC Tournament.

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Sophomore Meghan McCans (Arcanum, Ohio/Arcanum) and senior Julia Burch (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) posted identical stat lines of one hit and one run to lead the Wittenberg offense.
• Senior Hanna Ecker (Heath, Ohio/Heath) also tallied one hit.
• Sophomore Ashlynn Stamper (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Beavercreek) and freshman Caylee Roe (Piqua, Ohio/Piqua) had one RBI each for the Tigers.
• Senior Kira van Ravensberg (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) got the pitching start for Wittenberg. She allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out one over six innings. Sophomore Lilly James (Troy, Ohio/Troy) pitched the final inning and recorded two strikeouts.
• Annabelle Calderon led the Denison offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run and double to go with two RBIs and one run.
• The Big Red pitching duo of Brooke Surbaugh and Madilyn Moffitt limited the Tigers to three hits while combining for two strikeouts.

Game 1 - Denison 3, Wittenberg 2

• Denison built a 3-0 via a two-run homer from Calderon in the top of the fourth inning and an RBI single from Jacqui Abogado in the top of the sixth.
• Wittenberg answered in the bottom of the sixth after loading the bases on three consecutive one-out singles from McCans, Burch and Ecker. Stamper drove in a run when she was hit by a pitch, and Roe followed with an RBI sac fly, but freshman pinch runner Kyleigh Bartlett (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) was thrown out trying to advance to third base to end the inning.
• Trailing 3-2, the Tigers were unable to muster any offense, as Moffitt induced a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to the end the game.
• Denison out-hit Wittenberg by a 7-3 margin and committed no errors to the Tigers' one.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Stamper led the Wittenberg offense, going 1-for-2 with a double and a run.
• Junior Harper Crews (Ypsilanti, Mich./Lincoln) was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
• McCans also tallied one hit.
• Abogado led the Denison offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBIs and two runs.
• Sydney Silverstein pitched all five innings for the Big Red and improved to 10-3 on the season.

Game 2 - Denison 11, Wittenberg 1 (5 inn.)

• Abogado got Denison on the board in a big way early, hitting a first-inning grand slam for a 4-0 lead.
• The Tigers scored their lone run of the game on an RBI single from Crews in the bottom of the second inning.
• Denison added a run in the third inning and plated six more in the sixth for an 11-1 lead en ruote to inducing the mercy rule victory after five innings.
• Denison out-hit Wittenberg by an 11-3 margin and committed no errors to the Tigers' one.

Records & Milestones

• Wittenberg is now 32-39 all-time against Denison.
• Burch has 158 hits and 43 steals in her career. She ranks fifth all-time at Wittenberg in hits and is tied for fifth all-time in steals.
• Ecker has 123 hits and 71 RBIs in her career. She is 20 hits and seven RBIs shy of joining the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• McCans has a school-record 35 steals this season and is tied for fifth all-time with 43 career steals. The prior school record for single-season steals was 33 set by Loren Combs in 2014.
• In the circle, van Ravensberg has 27 career wins, which ranks ninth in program history. She also has 121 career strikeouts, which ranks 10th all-time at Wittenberg.
• James has 11 career saves, which is a program record.
• The Tigers have tallied a program single-season record 123 stolen bases this year. The prior record was 100 set in 2013.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday, closing out their regular-season schedule with an NCAC doubleheader at Oberlin beginning at 1 p.m.