
Case Western Reserve University senior Annie Wennerberg earned her 52nd career victory in the first game against the University of Mount Union to match the all-time wins record, and help the Spartans to split a doubleheader against the Purple Raiders, winning 8-4 in the first contest, but falling 7-1 in the second game.
Wennerberg's win was her 11th of the season and 52nd of her career, as she is now tied with from Spartan Rebecca Taylor (2012-15) for the most wins in the program's history.
With the split, the Spartans are now 17-11 for the season, while Mount Union moved to 15-17 overall.
Game 1: CWRU 8, Mount Union 4
The Case Western Reserve bats came alive for seven runs in the fifth inning of the game, to defeat the Purple Raiders 8-4 during the first game. Junior Maren Waldner and freshman Emily Nishiwaki each tallied two hits each, including a two run home from Waldner.
Mount Union took the early with a run with a run in the third inning and then added another in the fourth to lead 2-0. However, in the bottom of the fourth, Wennerberg opened the inning with a triple to right field. Freshman Nicole Carty then followed with an RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Purple Raiders would score another run in the top of the fifth, before the Spartans would erupt for a seven-run fifth inning. Junior Katie Wede started the inning with a double, followed by single from sophomore Nicole Doyle that would allow Wede to score due to a throwing error by the shortstop. Waldner the delivered a two-run shot over the right-center field wall to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. CWRU then struck later in the inning when freshman Callie Wang delivered a RBI double down the left field line. Freshman Caitlin Smith then singled to center to score Carty from third. Nishiwaki capped off the seven-run inning with a triple to right-center, scoring Wang and Smith to give the Spartans an 8-3 lead.
Mount Union would score one more in the seventh, allowing the Spartans to secure the 8-4 victory.
Wennerberg pitched the complete game to earn the win and improve to 11-5 on the year. She allowed two-earned runs on 10 hits and one walk, while striking out four batters.
Hanna Wharton took the loss in the game one for Mount Union, dropping to 0-1 for the campaign.
Game 2: Mount Union 7, CWRU 1
The Purple Raiders took the 7-0 advantage, before sophomore Sharilyn Sakamoto got the Spartans' on the board in the bottom of the seventh with a base hit, scoring Wennerberg from third. The RBI was Sakamoto's first on the season.
Junior Katie Dzierwa took the loss for CWRU, falling to 5-5 on the year. Doyle led the Spartans at the plate in the second game as she collected two hits, including her team-leading 11th double of the season.
The Spartans will be back in action this weekend, when the team welcome the University of Chicago to Mather Park for a four game series on Saturday and Sunday. The first game of the doubleheader on Saturday is slated to start at 1:00 p.m.