The seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve University softball team won its first game of the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, defeating Penn State Behrend 7-4 at Mather Park in Cleveland on Thursday.
The Spartans, who improved to 35-6 on the season, will face 25th-ranked Calvin at 11 a.m. tomorrow for a spot in the regional championship. The Knights defeated 23rd-ranked Dominican 4-2 in the second game on Thursday. Lions, who fell to 33-9, will take on the Stars in an elimination game scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
First-year Karen Potts delivered a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie. It was her sixth home run of the season and her first of the postseason.
In the first inning, CWRU loaded the bases with three consecutive singles to begin the frame. Sophomore Elizabeth Berry plated the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly, and two batters later, junior Katelyn Lamm brought in a pair of runs with a two-out single to make the score 3-0.
First-year Nylah Durham led off the following inning with a double and scored on a triple by senior KaiLi Gross.
In the fifth inning, the Lions tied the score with four runs, scoring one on a walk, one on a single, and two on a double.
Following Potts's home run, junior pitcher Lexi Miskey struck out the side in the final frame to secure the win. Miskey, who improved to 21-3 on the season, pitched six and two-third scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts. The 11 punchouts gives the junior hurler 189 for the season, the second-most in a single year in program history. Miskey set the program record with 207 strikeouts last season.
Potts had her fifth three-hit game of the season, reaching twice in addition to her home run. Gross collected three hits, her third such game in 2024, and senior Stevie Rieger had her 16th multi-game of the year with two singles.
