The eighth-ranked Case Western Reserve University softball team extended its winning streak to six games with a pair of victories on the second day of The Spring Games on Monday at the Legends Way Complex in Clermont, Florida, defeating Mount St. Joseph University 2-1 and Ohio Northern University 4-2.
The Spartans improved to 8-1 with the two wins, while the Lions fell to 4-6 and the Polar Bears dropped to 3-1.
#8 CWRU 2, Mount St. Joseph 1
In a classic pitchers' duel to start the day, neither team was able to score for the first four innings of the contest between the Spartans and Lions. CWRU threatened in the first inning when senior Kela Jagoda led off the contest with a double and advanced to third on a single later in the inning. However, a double play ended the Spartan threat.
The Lions put two runners aboard in the bottom of the first and third innings, but junior pitcher Lexi Miskey was able to escape each jam with strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, an MSJ runner reached second following a two-out error and wild pitch. With two outs, a single and an error sent the runner home, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead. Miskey escaped further harm by inducing a lineout.
The next inning, senior Savannah Gazda led off with a pinch-hit walk. A two-out walk by senior Stevie Rieger kept the inning alive, and senior KaiLi Gross delivered a go-ahead two-run double to give the Spartans a 2-1 advantage.
Mount St. Joseph, looking to respond in the bottom of the sixth inning, put two runners on base with a pair of walks. Miskey escaped the jam with her 10th strikeout of the game, preserving the one-run lead heading into the final frame.
Miskey worked around a two-out error in the last inning to preserve the win. She recorded her first double-digit strikeout game of the young season and the 12th such game of her career. She allowed no earned runs on four hits in seven innings, totaling 10 strikeouts to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Mount St. Joseph pitcher Casey Kemp kept the Spartan bats in check, allowing two runs on just three hits and three walks in seven frames. She took the hard-luck loss, falling to 3-2 this season.
#8 CWRU 4, Ohio Northern 2
After a scoreless first inning, ONU broke the deadlock with a run-scoring groundout in the top of the second.
The Spartans responded with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. First-year Nylah Durham began the inning with her first career hit and advanced to second with a steal. Following an infield single by Jagoda and sacrifice bunt, Rieger drove in the tying run with a single. Jagoda then scored on a throwing error by the Polar Bear catcher on a steal. Gross doubled home Rieger to make the score 3-1.
Ohio Northern loaded the bases with one out in the fourth inning and cut into the deficit with a two-out infield single. Junior pitcher Kylie Hosey limited the damage, ending the inning with a strikeout.
First-year Alaina Steffes added a key insurance run with a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Hosey worked around a two-out single in the final inning to end the game.
Hosey worked around 10 hits, allowing just two runs with five strikeouts in seven innings. She earned the win in the complete game effort, improving to 4-0.
CWRU matched a season-high with 11 hits in the contest, including three from sophomore Elizabeth Berry, the fourth three-hit game of her career.
The Spartans continue their Florida trip tomorrow, facing Swarthmore at 9 a.m. and Haverford at 1:30 p.m. at the Fortune Road Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
