CLEVELAND, Ohio – Thanks to a pair of stellar pitching performances by freshmen Mackenzie Lein (Petersburg, MI/Ida) and Katherine Seo (Salt Lake City, UT/Olympus), the Case Western Reserve University softball team swept visiting Albion College (MI) on Sunday, March 20 at Mather Park. The Spartans took game one, 4-2, and followed with a 5-1 victory in the second game.

With the sweep, the Spartans improve to 4-14 for the season. Albion drops to 7-6.

Lein led the way in the opener with a complete game, allowing two earned runs on 11 hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Seo was dominant in game two, tossing a complete game and allowing no earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts.  

In game one, the Spartans got on the board first with two runs in the second. Back-to-back doubles from senior first baseman Anneliese Fetterman (Cupertino, CA/Monta Vista) and junior designated player Lauren Wolz (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) provided the first run, and a two-out RBI single by Seo accounted for the second. Albion cut into the lead with one in the fifth following an RBI single by Kaitlyn Downey, but Lein was able to strand a pair of runners in scoring position to preserve the lead. The Britons threatened again in the sixth with two runners in scoring position and no out, but a line-drive double play turned by senior shortstop Beth Andrasik (Sagamore Hills, OH/Nordonia) helped the Spartans out of the jam.  

Case added some insurance in its half of the sixth when Fetterman doubled home Lein, who led off the inning with a double. Sophomore OF Kayla Lang (Broadview Heights, OH/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) also singled home a run several batters later to make the score 4-1. Albion could only muster one run in the seventh as the Spartans snapped a 12-game losing skid.

For the game, Wolz was for 2-for-2 and Fetterman was 2-for-3.

In game two, the Spartans scored one in the second when Seo hit an RBI single. Case then added three more in the third thanks to RBI hits from Wolz and junior third baseman Kaeleen Boden (Strongsville, OH/Holy Name) and a double-steal attempt that plated junior catcher Ianna Wasser (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate). Case made the lead 5-0 in the fifth as Wasser grounded out to drive home Fetterman. Albion could only manage an unearned run in the sixth as the Spartans cruised to the 5-1 win.

At the plate, Seo, Wolz, Boden and Lang all recorded two hits.

The Spartans continue their 10-game home stand with a doubleheader versus La Roche College (PA) on Wednesday, March 23 at 3:30 p.m.