SPRINGFIELD, OH - In the final tune-up before taking the plunge into the 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) schedule, Wittenberg Softball took a pair from visiting Wilmington. In the opener, the Tigers rallied from a five-run deficit to post an 8-6 win, and the momentum carried into the nightcap as Wittenberg dominated Game 2 for a 8-0 shutout in six innings.
The Tigers improved to 14-4 with the sweep, while Wilmington slipped to 7-6. Wittenberg's next four games are all league match-ups, starting with a road trip to Wooster on Saturday, March 29, and ending with a visit to preseason league favorite Denison on Saturday, April 5.
The Quakers struck for two runs in the first inning and a four-spot in the fourth to open up a 6-1 lead in the opener. But the Tigers got the bats going from that point, adding to a run scored in the third with one in the fourth, two in the fifth, and a game-winning four-run rally in the sixth. In that inning, Kirsten Wright (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge) doubled home a pair to tie the score at 6-6, Diana Quevedo (La Quinta, CA / La Quinta) drove in Wright with a double of her own, and Rebekah Giel (Amelia, OH / West Clermont) capped the rally with the third double of the inning to send Quevedo home.
The rally was made possible by a stellar relief performance from Lilly Shaw (Washington Court House, OH / Washington). She hurled 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three batters to get credit for her second win of the season.
Giel finished 3-for-4 at the plate, while Wright and Meghan McCans (Arcanum, OH / Arcanum) each went 2-for-4. McCans was the only Tiger to score more than one run in the game, while Wright was the only Tiger to record more than one RBI as Wittenberg spread the offensive production throughout the lineup.
Game 2 required no late-game heroics, thanks in part to an outstanding pitching performance from Julie Hall (Powell, OH / Bishop Watterson). She scattered five hits and did not walk a batter across her six shutout innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.
After pounding 11 hits in Game 1, the Tiger offense came back with 10 more in Game 2. McCans, Wright, and Quevedo all finished with two hits in the contest, with Wright driving in three runs, including the last two on a walkoff double off the center field fence. Julia Burch (Dublin, OH / Dublin Jerome) and Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, OH / Canal Winchester) each scored twice in the game.