Senior shortstop Sarah Miller of the Case Western Reserve University softball team hit two home runs and drove in four RBI's, as the Spartans swept a doubleheader over the University of Rio Grande, a NAIA opponent, at Mather Park in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday afternoon. CWRU picked up a 4-3 walk-off win over the Redstorm in the early contest, and 12-8 victory in the late affair.

The two wins raised the Spartans' record to 12-6 on the year, while Rio Grande fell to 15-10 with the losses. In addition, the Spartans have now opened the season undefeated at home as they are 8-0 at Mather Park.

Miller led the Spartans at the plate with a four-for-seven performance, including two home runs, one double and four runs batted in during the two games.

Game 1: CWRU 4, Rio Grande 3
Case Western Reserve struck early in the first game as Miller opened the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run to left center field. The home run was her fourth of the season.

The Spartans added another run in the bottom of the second, when junior Grace Yeung hit a single up the middle that scored first-year Stevie Rieger.

The score remained 2-0 until the top of the sixth when the Redstorm cut the Spartan lead to 2-1. CWRU answered in the bottom of the sixth when senior Dusstyn Reynolds scored senior Arisa Cleaveland on a RBI single through the right side of the infield.

Rio Grande scored two runs in the top of the seventh to even the score at 3-3.

Entering the bottom of the seventh, Head Coach Josie Henry made the call to have sophomore Carli Tucci pinch-hit in the number eight spot of the batting order. That decision paid off as Tucci launched her first-career home run over the left field fence to give the Spartans a walk-off victory.

Senior Sidney Brannam pitched the complete game, as she scattered eight hits, while striking out four batters and yielding three earned runs. She improved to 9-1 on the season.

Game 2: CWRU 12, Rio Grande 8
The Spartans scored at least a run in five of the six innings they batted in, including a four-run second inning and a three-run fourth inning, to secure a 12-8 win over the Redstorm in the late game.

First-year KaiLi Gross started and pitched four innings, holding Rio Grande to one run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two batters. She earned the win, as she is now 2-2 overall on the campaign.

The Redstorm took the early lead as they scored a run in the top half of the first inning.

Miller, who went three-for-four in the game, got the Spartans on the board quickly in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff home run, her second of the game and team-leading fifth on the season. CWRU added four more runs in the second inning as first-year Kela Jagoda hit a RBI single, Miller drove in another two runs with a single up the middle and Cleaveland closed out the inning with a RBI single to center field to push the CWRU lead to 5-1.

The Spartans added two more runs in the third and another three runs in the fourth to increase the advantage to 10-1. Tucci drove in the pair of runs in the third with a single to right field and junior Liv Thomas accounted for the big hit in the fourth as hit a two-run RBI single down the right field line.

Rio Grande attempted a comeback in the later innings as they scored a total of seven runs during the fifth and sixth innings to cut their deficit to 10-8. CWRU added insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth as Yeung ripped a two-run homer to right center field to push the lead to 12-8. The home run was her second of the season. The Spartans were able to hold off the Redstorm in the top of the seventh to secure the 12-8 victory.

Yeung finished the second game three-for-four with three runs scored and two RBI's, while Cleaveland also added a three-for-four performance.

Case Western Reserve will look to continue this momentum on Friday, as the team travels to Bluffton, Ohio for a doubleheader against the Bluffton University Beavers. The first game of the doubleheader is slated to start at 3:00 p.m.