Behind seven runs in each contest, the Case Western Reserve University softball team swept a non-conference doubleheader with Heidelberg University at Mather Park in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday evening, winning the first game 7-2 and taking the nightcap 7-6.
The Spartans improve to 26-9 on the season and extend their home winning streak to 15 games. The Student Princes fall to 20-14.
Game 1: CWRU 7, Heidelberg 2
The first four Student Princes reached base to start the first game, resulting in one run for the visitors. However, first-year pitcher Lexi Miskey retired the next three batters to prevent a big inning and get the Spartans out of the frame.
Case Western Reserve quickly responded in the bottom of the inning when sophomore shortstop KaiLi Gross scored on a double by sophomore outfielder Stevie Rieger. After an error allowed a baserunner to reach, senior infielder Liv Thomas hit her ninth home run of the season to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead. The homer was the 25th of Thomas's career, putting her one away from third in program history.
Heidelberg cut into its deficit with a run-scoring double in the second inning. CWRU added four runs in the bottom half of the inning, increasing its lead to five. Junior infielder Amanda Riely started the scoring when she crossed home on a single by junior outfielder Carli Tucci. With the bases loaded, sophomore catcher Jordon Manworren hit a single to drive in two runs. Rieger scored the final run on a wild play, stealing home while another runner was put out on the bases.
Following scoreless third and fourth innings for both sides, the Student Princes loaded the bases to start the fifth. Miskey forced a double play with an out at home and a groundout to escape the jam and maintain the five-run Spartan advantage. Miskey (13-4) shut out Heidelberg in the final two innings, allowing two earned runs in seven innings.
Both Manworren and Thomas drove in three runs in the first game, while Gross swiped three bags.
Game 2: CWRU 7, Heidelberg 6
The Spartans struck first in the nightcap, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Manworren hit a double to left center field, scoring Rieger to put Case Western Reserve on the board. The hit extended her hitting streak to eight games. First-year utility player Isabella Russo drove in a run with a bases-loaded groundout to double the CWRU lead.
With four doubles and a single, the Spartans scored four runs in the next inning. Tucci led off the frame with a double, and she scored on a two-bagger by sophomore outfielder Kela Jagoda. With two outs, Manworren and Thomas had back-to-back run-scoring doubles. Senior infielder Grace Yeung capped the scoring with a single, giving the hosts a 6-0 advantage. Jagoda recorded her first multi-hit game of the season in the contest, going two-for-three at the plate.
Heidelberg roared back with six unanswered runs, four in the third inning and one each in the fourth and fifth innings, to tie the score at six.
In the bottom of the fifth, Gross singled with two outs to put the go-ahead runner on base. Rieger followed with a double, the team's seventh of the game, to put the Spartans ahead 7-6.
In the next inning, Heidelberg loaded the bases with two outs, but Case Western Reserve escaped with a fielder's choice on a ground ball to Gross. First-year pitcher Kylie Hosey allowed a hit but struck out two batters in the seventh inning to seal the doubleheader sweep. Hosey (13-5) recorded five strikeouts in seven innings.
In the fourth inning, Manworren hit her third double of the game, tying a program record done twice by former Spartan Nicole Doyle in 2017 and 2019. It was the second time Manworren had three hits in a game this season. Case Western Reserve's seven doubles in the contest tied for second most in a game in program history, while all nine batters in the starting lineup reached base in the game.
The Spartans will conclude the regular season at Mather Park on Saturday, when the team hosts the College of Wooster for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
