Wittenberg Swept By 12th-Ranked DePauw

GREENCASTLE, Ind. — The Tigers of DePauw swept a doubleheader from the Tigers of Wittenberg in North Coast Athletic Conference softball action Tuesday, dropping Wittenberg to 7-5 and third place in the NCAC while nationally-ranked DePauw jumped to second place.

Wittenberg moved to 22-12 overall against the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's 12th-ranked DePauw, who have retained their national ranking dropping four NCAC contests in splits with Hiram, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster and Denison.

In game one, the Tigers erased a one-run, fifth-inning deficit when senior Katelyn Davis (Bethesda, Ohio/Union Local) scored on a passed ball, and the 1-1 score stood through the end of the seventh into extra innings, before Wittenberg leapt ahead with two runs in the eighth.

Sophomore Kaitie Harrison (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge) and senior Jessica Snyder (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) punched back-to-back two-out singles into right field, setting the table for a two-run triple from freshman Carly Cribbs (Rochester, Mich./Rochester).

DePauw answered back with two runs in the bottom half to keep the game alive, though, and the teams played through a scoreless ninth. DePauw scored the walkoff run in the 10th-inning to hand Wittenberg the loss.

Freshman Julia Williams (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) pitched 7 2/3 solid innings before leaving in favor of sophomore Kelby Kittles (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), who posted 1 1/3 scoreless frames in the circle. She was relieved to start the 10th by senior Anna Kvartunas (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic), who was in the unenviable position of dealing with the international tiebreaker rule, which places a runner at second to begin every half-inning past the ninth.

Sophomore Laura Rose (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) nearly led the Tigers to a comeback in game two, falling a home run shy of the cycle with an RBI in four at bats. Cribbs went 2-for-4 in the game and senior Tori Amicon (Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) pushed across three runs with a two-run single in the first and an RBI in the sixth.

The Tigers opened the game with two runs in the first inning, but DePauw was ready with a three-run counterattack, followed by single runs in the second and third to build a 5-2 lead that held through the fifth.

Rose tripled to start the sixth and Amicon brought her home in the next at bat to make it a 5-3 game, but the rally was iced before any more runs could cross. In the seventh, Snyder doubled and scored on a Rose single, but DePauw stiffened, ended the comeback bid and secured the sweep.

Sophomore Rachel Ross (Westerville, Ohio/South) pitched a complete game, holding DePauw to six hits with three strikeouts, but fell to 11-5 with the loss.

John Strawn '07