Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Case Western Reserve University softball team dropped a pair of games at the College of Wooster on Sunday afternoon in Wooster, Ohio. The Spartans fell 10-9 in a back-and-forth affair in the early game and suffered a 4-1 setback in the second game of the day.
Wooster returned the Spartans hospitality, after CWRU swept a doubleheader at home against the Scots on Saturday. CWRU fell to 10-6 after the two losses, ending a stretch of four-straight wins and seven wins in its last eight contests, while Wooster improved to 5-3 overall.
Game 1 – Wooster 10, CWRU 9
In a game that featured eight lead changes, Wooster scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to pick up a 10-9 win over the Spartans.
Senior shortstop Sarah Miller was a home run shy of the cycle in the game, going three-for-four with three runs scored, a walk, and an RBI. Senior centerfielder Arisa Cleaveland went three-for-five with three RBIs, and first-year right fielder Kela Jagoda was three-for-four with a triple, two runs scored, and an RBI.
The two teams each exchanged runs through the first two innings, with the Spartans taking a 1-0 lead in the first after Miller tripled to open the game and scored a batter later on a single by Cleaveland, and a 2-1 lead in the second on an RBI single by Jagoda that played senior 2B Sydney Wagner.
With the score tied at 2-2 heading into the fourth, a throwing error and an RBI single by Cleaveland allowed CWRU to score two more runs to go ahead 4-2. Wooster answered back with a run in the bottom of the frame and two more in the fifth to go in front for the first time, 5-4.
In the sixth, Miller followed a Jagoda triple with a game-tying RBI single, and later crossed the plate on her own on an RBI groundout by first-year 3B KaiLi Gross to give CWRU the lead back. Junior 1B Liv Thomas doubled later in the inning to score Cleaveland, and put the Spartans in front 7-5.
Wooster answered with a three-run inning of their own in the bottom of the frame to go back ahead 8-7. In the top of the seventh, the Spartans regained the lead, with Miller and Jagoda scoring each scoring on a throwing error. CWRU would load the bases with one out, but would be unable to buffer their lead. The three stranded runners proved to be impactful, as Wooster scored two runs in the bottom of the frame, walking off on a one-out game-winning RBI single by Daphne Pate.
First-year Jenna Jaklich took the loss in relief in the game, falling to 0-3 on the year. Wooster's Marissa Norgrove earned the win to raise her record to 2-1.
Game 2 – Wooster 4, CWRU 1
The Spartans offense struggled to get back on track after the early game loss, as CWRU was held to one run on five hits in a 4-1 loss in the second game.
The setback came despite a solidly-pitched game from Gross, who went the distance in the loss to fall to 1-2 on the year. She scattered eight hits and three walks, while striking out a pair and yielding four earned runs. Junior 1B Grace Yeung paced the team at the plate, going two-for-three with a double and driving in the only run of the game for the Spartans.
Wooster scored a pair of runs in the second inning to take the lead. The score remained 2-0 until the top of the fifth, when senior right fielder Hope Yashnik singled with one out, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a base hit by Yeung. However, Wooster cemented their lead with two more runs in the bottom of the inning.
Norgrove picked up her second win of the day in the game, starting and recording a complete-game win to improve to 3-1 on the year.
The Spartans will return home to Mather Park this week to host the University of Rio Grande, an NAIA program, on Tuesday, March 30th. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
