GREENCASTLE, Ind. — The fourth-seeded Wittenberg softball team fell 8-0 in five innings to top-seeded DePauw and 3-0 to second-seeded Denison on the opening day of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday to end its 2024 season.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (21-21 overall), DePauw (25-14-1 overall), Denison (25-11 overall)
• Venue: DePauw Tigers Field - Greencastle, Ind.
• NCAC Tournament site
• The four-team, double-elimination NCAC Tournament features top-seeded DePauw, No. 2 seed Denison, No. 3 seed Hiram and No. 4 seed Wittenberg.
• This marked Wittenberg's 14th all-time appearance in the NCAC Tournament and first since 2018.
• During the regular season, Wittenberg dropped both games of its doubleheader against DePauw, falling 8-6 and 4-2, and Denison, falling 3-2 and 11-1.
• Junior Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Canal Winchester) was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Seniors Julia Burch (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) and Hanna Ecker (Heath, Ohio/Heath) and graduate student Samantha Casteel (Loveland, Ohio/Little Miami) tallied one hit each for Wittenberg. Casteel's hit was a double.
• Senior Kira van Ravensberg (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) got the pitching start for Wittenberg, and sophomores Lilly James (Troy, Ohio/Troy) and Julia Hall (Powell, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) pitched in relief.
• Emily Timberman led the DePauw offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and one run.
• Riley Depa pitched all five innings for DePauw and tallied five strikeouts en route to improving to 10-5 on the season.

Game 1 - DePauw 8, Wittenberg 0 (5 inn.)

• DePauw broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI single.
• DePauw clung to that slim 1-0 lead before breaking through with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game via the mercy rule. Those runs came via a bunt single, RBI fielder's choice, two-run homer, a pair of bases-loaded hit-by-pitches and a bases-loaded walk.
• Wittenberg's best scoring opportunity came in the top of the third following a one-out double from Casteel. But a strikeout and groundout kept Wittenberg off the scoreboard.
• DePauw out-hit Wittenberg by a 9-3 margin and committed one error to Wittenberg's three.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Zungri, sophomore Ashlynn Stamper (Yellow Springs, Ohio/Beavercreek) and freshman Rebekah Giel (Amelia, Ohio/West Clermont) tallied one hit each for Wittenberg. Zungri also recorded a stolen base.
• van Ravensberg got the pitching start for the Tigers. She allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits while tallying two strikeouts. James pitched the final 1.1 innings in relief and recorded two strikeouts.
• Annabelle Calderon and Brooke Surbaugh led Denison with two hits each, and Jordyn Maurer had a triple and two RBIs.
• Sydney Silverstein pitched the complete-game shutout for the Big Red and recorded one strikeout.

Game 2 - Denison 3, Wittenberg 0

• Calderon opened the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth inning.
• Maurer added a 2-RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth to increase Denison's lead to 3-0.
• The Tigers' best scoring chances came in the third and seventh innings. Zungri hit a leadoff single in the top of the third, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a two-out steal but was stranded there. Stamper led off the top of the seventh with a single, but the Tigers again left the runner stranded to end the game.
• Denison out-hit Wittenberg by a 7-3 margin, and each team committed one error.

Records & Milestones

• Wittenberg is now 12-28 all-time against DePauw and 32-40 all-time against Denison.
• Burch has 160 hits and 45 steals in her career. She ranks fifth all-time at Wittenberg in hits and is fifth all-time in steals.
• Ecker has 125 hits and 71 RBIs in her career. She closes the season 18 hits and seven RBIs shy of joining the program's all-time top 10 in those categories.
• Sophomore Meghan McCans (Arcanum, Ohio/Arcanum) recorded a school-record 36 steals this season and ranks sixth all-time with 44 career steals. The prior school record for single-season steals was 33 set by Loren Combs in 2014.
• In the circle, van Ravensberg closes the season with 28 career wins, which ranks ninth in program history. She also has 123 career strikeouts, which ranks 10th all-time at Wittenberg.
• James has 12 career saves, which is a program record.
• The Tigers tallied a program single-season record 129 stolen bases this year. The prior record was 100 set in 2013.
• Wittenberg increased its win total by 11 this year after finishing 10-25 in 2023.