The 15th-ranked Case Western Reserve University softball team outscored Denison University 19-1 en route to a non-conference doubleheader sweep on Sunday afternoon at Mather Park in Cleveland. CWRU won both games in five innings, taking the first contest 9-1 and the nightcap 10-0.

The Spartans improved to 14-7 on the season, while the Big Red fell to 10-9.

Sophomore outfielder Alaina Steffes drove in five runs on two hits, and sophomore infielder Karen Potts, graduate student infielder KaiLi Gross, and senior infielder Isabella Russo each drove in three runs across the two games. CWRU totaled 17 hits, including 10 that went for multiple bases.

Game 1: #15 CWRU 9, Denison 1 (5 inn.)

The Big Red opened the scoring in the doubleheader when Jacqui Abaogado launched a solo home run to lead off the second inning.

After senior pitcher Lexi Miskey retired the next six batters that she faced with five going down on strikes, CWRU evened the score on a double from junior infielder Elizabeth Berry in the bottom of the third inning. Denison threatened to reclaim the lead in the following frame when Annabelle Calderon led off the fourth with a triple. However, she was stranded there as Miskey induced a soft lineout and two swinging strikeouts to keep the score tied.

Steffes started a two-out rally in the bottom half of the stanza with a walk. Following an error that kept the inning alive, sophomore outfielder Nylah Durham plated the go-ahead runs with a double, making the score 3-1.

Miskey struck out the side in the fifth, finishing the game with a season-high 12 punchouts in five innings of work. She allowed just two hits and one run to improve to 9-3 on the season and lower her earned run average to 2.61.

The Spartans scored six times in the fifth to secure the run-rule win. Gross worked a nine-pitch walk with one out and moved to second one pitch later on a single by senior catcher Katelyn Lamm. After an out, first-year catcher Lacey Lara singled, allowing Gross to score. Steffes followed with a two-run single of her own to increase the lead to five. A walk and a single loaded the bases for Potts, who ended the game with a three-run double.

Durham and Berry both had two hits in the contest, the fifth multi-hit game of the campaign for the junior and first of the year for the sophomore. Steffes drove in multiple runs for the third time in 2025, and Potts had at least two RBI for the sixth time this year.

Game 2: #15 CWRU 10, Denison 0 (5 inn.)

In the first inning of the second game, the Case Western Reserve offense picked up where they left off at the end of game one, scoring six runs to take a quick lead. Potts and Berry led off the frame with back-to-back doubles before Gross slugged her first of two home runs to make the score 3-0 after just three batters. It marked the team-leading sixth round-tripper of the season for the grad student.

Two runners reached on a double and an error, setting the stage for Steffes to hit a towering three-run home run, doubling the lead. It was her third long ball of the season, which ranks second on the team.

Gross slugged her second homer in as many at-bats in the next inning, a line drive that snuck just inside the right field foul pole. It was her second multi-homer game this season after she slugged a pair of four-baggers in a 12-5 win over Haverford on March 13 and the 21st instance in program history. Gross joined Sarah Miller, Liv Thomas, Annie Wennerberg, Ashley Parello, and Grace Tritchler as the only players in program history with at least two games of two or more home runs.

Gross singled with two outs in the fourth inning, and first-year catcher Riley Williams collected her first career hit to keep the Spartans at bat. Russo followed with a three-run homer, her second of the campaign, to increase the lead to 10.

Senior pitcher Kylie Hosey (5-4) faced just one batter more than the minimum in four shutout innings, striking out four while allowing one hit. She lowered her ERA to 3.82 in 2025. First-year Laura Meoli completed the shutout with a scoreless fifth inning, striking out her first career batter in the process.

Russo drove in at least two runs for the team-leading seventh time this season with her second three-RBI effort. Gross had three hits in a game for the fourth time this season, the most on the team.

CWRU will resume conference play next weekend, heading to Atlanta for a three-game series against 21st-ranked Emory starting on Friday, April 4.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU last hit four home runs in a single game on March 3, 2024, against DePauw and the team has accomplished the feat 12 times in program history. The single game record is five, set against John Carroll on April 19, 2012
• Gross slugged her 29th and 30th career home runs to break a tie for second in program history. Wennerberg is the only other member of the 30-home run club in CWRU history, setting a program record with 33 long balls from 2014-17.
• Gross also started her 169th career game, the most in program history, and appeared in her 170th contest, tying her with former Spartan Kela Jagoda for the program record
• The shutout was the second for the Spartans this season and their second of the weekend after the team blanked Capital in an 8-0 win on Thursday
• The Spartans have won their last seven games against the Big Red in a streak that dates back to 2014. The team is 11-1 in the last 12 matchups