Softball Opens 2013 Season With Pair Of Florida Victories

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Wittenberg softball team pinned two wins to the board to open the 2013 season on Monday, taking a 1-0 decision off Eastern Nazarene to start and an 11-3 win over WPI to end a productive day on the diamond.

The games represented not only the Tigers' first two wins of the season, but also those of Laura Matthews' career as a collegiate skipper.

Sophomore pitcher Julia Williams (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) held Eastern Nazarene scoreless for all seven innings of the first game, allowing only four hits with five strikeouts and just one walk in the Tigers' first game of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.

The Tigers needed just the lone run thanks to Williams' efforts, and the run was provided by junior third baseman Kaitie Harrison (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge), who drove in junior designated player Rachel Ross (Westerville, Ohio/South) in the sixth inning. Ross singled her way aboard, move to second on a sacrifice by sophomore catcher Ashlee Wright (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont), stole third and came home when Harrison dropped a single into right field.

Harrison finished the game 2-for-3 with the game's only RBI, while freshman shortstop Loren Combs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) went 2-for-3 in her first collegiate outing. Also registering her first collegiate hit was freshman left fielder Shannon Lance (Loveland, Ohio/Kings), who went 1-for-2. Ross rounded out the Tigers' six hits with a 1-for-2 day with one run scored and a walk.

Against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Tigers put nine hits on the scoresheet and benefitted from five WPI errors. Ross led the lineup with three RBIs on 2-for-3 hitting with two runs scored and a walk. Harrison kept the pace up with a 2-for-3 outing with an RBI, a walk and three runs scored.

Wright went 1-for-3 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored, while junior center fielder Laura Rose (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and Lance finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs. Freshman Kaela Hughes (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) posted her first collegiate hit and drove in two runs with a fourth-inning single.

Ross went the distance in the game, holding WPI to four hits and three runs, two earned, on seven strikeouts and three walks.

With a successful first day in their pockets, the Tigers are scheduled to take on Wartburg at 9 a.m. Tuesday, followed by an 11 a.m. meeting with Regis (Mass.) in Cape Coral. The Weather Channel forecasts a 60 degree temperature under sunny skies for the first pitch of the day, with temperatures climbing to 73 by the end of the second outing.

John Strawn '07