WESTERVILLE, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace college softball team split an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader today (Friday, April 29, 2011) at Otterbein University in Westerville to clinch a spot in next weekend's OAC Tournament. Otterbein won the first game, 6-4, and BW captured the nightcap, 8-1. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 but was postponed due to rain.
With the split, the Yellow Jackets improved to 22-9 overall and 10-6 in the OAC and are in fourth place. The best fifth place Marietta College (8-8 in the OAC) can do is tie B-W in the standings, but B-W would earn the tie-breaker due to splitting OAC twibills with the top three teams. With its split, Otterbein is now 21-13 overall and 6-8 in the OAC. The Cardinals have been eliminated from the OAC postseason chase.
In game one, the Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead in half in the top of the second inning when freshman designated hitter Tabitha Murray (Mogadore/ Field), this week's OAC Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, led the inning off by reaching on an error. Freshman third baseman Kaity Mullen (Avon Lake) made it a 4-2 deficit when she hit her third homerun of the season.
Otterbein increased its lead to 6-2 in the second inning. B-W cut the lead to 6-3 in the sixth frame when senior centerfielder Tanya Davis (Hinckley/ Medina Highland) reach on a error and moved to third when Murraysingled. Davis scored on fielders choice by junior RF Sarah Baker (Mentor/ Lake Catholic). In the top of the seven inning, B-W cut the lead to 6-4 when freshman catcher Meghan Kossow (Tonawanda, N.Y.) hammered a pinch hit and her first collegiate homerun to right center field. The Yellow Jackets then loaded he bases but could not score.
At the plate, the Cardinals outhit B-W, 9-8. Murray led the way for the Yellow Jackets going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base, and Davis was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Baker, Kossow, Mullen and Resek all contributed one hit. Mullen had two RBI and Baker and Kossow each had one.
On the mound freshman Justina Wise (New London) started and took the loss to fall to 11-5. Despte a 6-0 BW deficit, senior MacKenzie Rohrbacher (Sandusky) took over in the second inning with no outs and two runners on base and pitched five innings of relief. She allowed just two hits, no runs and struck out four Cardinal batters.
In the nightcap, Otterbein again took an early 1-0 lead after the first inning, before the Yellow Jackets took command with a three-run fourth inning. Murray led off with a single up the middle, but was erased whenBaker reached on fielder's choice and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kossow then reached on an error and Baker advanced to third. Junior 2B Katie Finley (Vermilion) singled throught the left side to scoreBaker and Kossow advanced to second. Freshman outfielder Stephanie Durig (Vienna/ Mathews) came into pitch run for Kossow and scored on an RBI single down the left field line by freshman shortstop Lauren Feciuch (Kent/ Field). Resek's RBI single to center field scored Finley to give the Yellow Jackets a 3-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, B-W added to its lead when Davis led off the inning with a double to right field and Murrayand Mullen each singled to load the bases. Kossow knocked a base hit through the right side that scored Davis and Murray to increase the lead to 5-1.
In the sixth inning, Resek led off the inning with a single through the right side and would score on an RBI single by Davis. The Yellow Jackets added to their lead when Kossow led off the seventh inning with a single and Finley hit her first home run of the season to left center to make it 8-1.
At the plate, B-W erupted for 16 hits and was led by Resek who went 4-for-5 with a double, RBI and a stolen base. Freshman LF Ashley Elber (Huron/ Milan Edison), Davis, Finley, Murray and Kossow each contributed two hits. Finley had three RBI, Kossow had two and Davis had one.
On the mound, Murray improved to 6-0 this season, including her third straight complete game victory. She retired 12 of the last 13 batters, including 10 straight at one point. Murray allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
B-W is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, April 30, when it hosts the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum University on Seniors' and Parents' Day at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds Field at 1:00 p.m. The OAC Tournament is next weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 6-7 at the site of the 2011 OACregular season champion.
FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics