Westerville, OH - The Tiger softball team traveled to Westerville to take on Otterbein in a doubleheader, and after dropping game one 10-7, they were able to answer in game two, blowing out the Cardinals by a score of 10-1. After splitting the games, the Tigers' record is now 12-4, while Otterbein's record moves to 9-7. 

In the first game, Julie Hall (Powell, OH / Bishop Watterson) started and threw four and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs on six hits while walking one and striking out three batters. Lilly James (Troy, OH / Troy) came on in relief and took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in one and a third innings of work.

At the plate, the Cardinals got on the board first, scoring a run on an RBI single. The Tigers were able to answer in the fifth inning, where Kirsten Wright (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge) singled home two runs and Diana Quevedo (La Quinta, CA / La Quinta) hit a bases-clearing double to plate three more runs to make the lead 5-1. Gada Bryant (Westville, IL / Bismark Henning) singled home another run to cap off a six-run inning and extend the lead to five. The Cardinals answered, pushing across five runs in the bottom of the fifth to bring the score even at six, and in the sixth, they plated four more to make it 10-6. In the top of the seventh, Quevedo scored on an Otterbein error, but the Cardinals buckled down and shut down the Tigers to take game one, 10-7.

Game One Team Leaders

• Rebekah Giel (Amelia, OH / West Clermont), Julia Burch (Dublin, OH / Dublin Jerome) and Quevedo all shared the team lead with two hits each.
• Quevedo's bases-clearing double gave her the team lead in RBIs with three and Wright plated two of her own.
• Quevedo also paced the team in runs scored with two, while five other players had one each.
• Burch and Bryant also each stole two bases to pace the team in steals.

Game One Team Comparison

• Wittenberg had only one error to Otterbein's three and each team logged 10 hits in the game.
• The Tiger pitching staff struck out five batters and walked three, while the Cardinals' only struck out three and walked four.

Game Two

Taking the circle to start game two was Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, OH / Canal Winchester), who threw four and a third scoreless innings while only allowing one run on two hits while striking out two and walking three. Freshman Lilly Shaw (Washington Courthouse, OH / Washington) recorded the last two outs of the game by striking out a batter, walking one, and allowing only one hit.

At the plate, the Tigers were on fire, scoring the first 10 runs of the game. In the first, Wright recorded another RBI single and Burch scored on a Cardinal error. Then Hanna Ecker (Heath, OH / Heath) singled home another two runs to plate four in the first inning. Another three runs scored in the second on a Geil sacrifice fly and Ecker drove home another two on a single to make it 7-0. Wright grounded out in the third to add another run and in the fifth, Wright drove in another before corssing the plate herself on a wild pitch to make it 10-0. Otterbein was able to finally get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth with a bases loaded single to end with the final score of 10-1.

Game Two Team Leaders

• Ecker paced the team with four RBIs and Wright was second with two.
• Burch, Wright, and Ecker each had two hits in the game.
• Wright scored three runs to lead the team, while Meghan McCans (Arcanum, OH / Arcanum) and Burch each scored two.

Game Two Team Comparison

• The Tigers had 10 hits to the Cardinals' three and Otterbein recorded a total of seven errors to Wittenberg's two.
• The Tigers also had one steal to none for the Cardinals and the only two extra base hits of the game came from Wittenberg players.

The Tigers play again on Thursday, March 27th, where they will take on Wilmington in a doubleheader at home with the first game starting at 3:00 p.m.

Written By: Grant Martin