Tigers Split Final Regular Season Doubleheader

Granville, OH - The Tigers took on the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University for their last doubleheader of the regular season before moving on to the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament. The game was played on the campus of Denison University as rain throughout the week caused postponement to Sunday and a change of location before ultimately going through another rain delay in order to get the games in.

Working late into the night, the Tigers took the win in a high scoring Game 1 as they narrowly defeated the Battling Bishops, 10-9. In Game 2, the Tigers' bats cooled in a 3-1 loss. With the doubleheader split, the Tigers end their regular season with records of 26-12 overall and 8-6 in the NCAC, while Ohio Wesleyan ends its season 11-27 (5-9 NCAC). The split left Wittenberg in fourth place in the final NCAC regular season standings.

In Game 1, Julie Hall (Powell, OH / Bishop Watterson) started in the circle for the Tigers and allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits in three innings of work. Lilly Shaw (Washington Courthouse, OH / Washington) entered in relief and was credited with her thrid win of the season despite allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out one batter in 3.2 innings. Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, OH / Canal Winchester) came on to get the game's final out to earn her first save of the season.

The bats were hot in Game 1 as all of the Tigers' 10 runs came in two innings. In the second, the scoring started with an RBI single from Audrey Fyffe (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge) while the fifth run of the inning was scored on a throwing error that allowed Meghan McCans (Arcanum, OH / Arcanum) to cross the plate and make the lead 5-0. In the next two innings, the Battling Bishops cut the lead to two, but Wittenberg continued to pile on runs in the fourth. McCans hit a single up the middle to plate the first run and Shannon Flaherty (Burlington, KY / Saint Henry District) had the fourth RBI base hit of the inning that scored one. A throwing error led to the fifth run of the inning to make the Tigers' lead 10-3. Ohio Wesleyan cut the lead down to four and the fifth and almost came back in the bottom of the seventh before Zungri slammed the door to secure a heart-stopping 10-9 win for Wittenberg.

Game One Team Leaders

• Flaherty led the team in hits with three and McCans, Rebekah Giel (Amelia, OH / West Clermont) and Diana Quevedo (La Quinta, CA / La Quinta) each recorded two.
• McCans paced the team in RBIs with three and four other players each had one.
• McCans and Quevedo were each responsible for two run to tie for the team lead and Quevedo and Flaherty each had a stolen base.

Game One Team Comparison

• Wittenberg committed two errors to three for Ohio Wesleyan, and the Tigers finished with three extra base hits to two for the Battling Bishops.
• The Tigers stole two bases and held the Battling Bishops without a theft in the game, and OWU left 11 runners on base compared to only four for Wittenberg.

Game Two

After finishing out Game 1, Zungri started Game 2 in the circle. She allowed three runs, one of which was earned, on five hits and three walks while striking out two batters in five innings of work. Lilly James (Troy, OH / Troy) entered to throw the final inning, allowing one walk and striking out one batter while not allowing a hit. On the offensive side, the Tiger bats went cold. In the top of the seventh, Kayla Drake (Wilmington, OH / Clinton Massie) singled to load the bases with two out and James drew a walk to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Battling Bishops, but the Tigers were unable to push across any additional runs.

Game Two Team Leaders

• Drake and Giel shared the team lead in hits with two each and James was the only player with an RBI.
• McCans, Giel and Gada Bryant (Westville, IL / Bismark Henning) each stole a base in the game as well.

Game Two Team Comparison

• Wittenberg led in hits, six to five, but the Tigers committed three errors to only one for the Battling Bishops.
• The Tigers once again led in stolen bases, three to zero, but were also caught stealing twice.

The Tigers' next game will be on Thursday, May 8, at 12:30 p.m. as Wittenberg takes on top-seeded Denison in the double-elimination NCAC Softball Tournament.

Written By: Grant Martin