Tigers Break Single-Season Steals Record on Senior Day

Springfield, OH - Wittenberg Softball concluded a busy week with three straight wins after adding two more in a doubleheader sweep of Oberlin on Senior Recognition Day. Before taking the field on a sunny spring day, which would end of victories by scores of 5-2 and 13-0, the student-athletes recognized for playing their final game at Wittenberg were Audrey Fyffe (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge), Diana Quevedo (La Quinta, CA / La Quinta), Samantha Zungri (Canal Winchester, OH / Canal Winchester) and Audrey Robinson (Sunbury, OH / Highland).

The wins moved the Tigers to 25-11 overall and 7-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), and they clinched a spot for Wittenberg in the four-team postseason tournament. In addition to securing the opportunity to compete for the NCAC Tournament title and a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2017, the Tigers also stole 13 bases on the day to break the single season record set last season. With two regular season games and at least two NCAC Tournament games remaining, the Tigers are at 137 stolen bases for the season.

In game one, Zungri recorded her ninth win of the season by tossing seven innings, allowing only two runs on six hits and one walk while recording four strikeouts. Oberlin started the scoring by with one in the first inning and adding another in the top of the third. The Tigers answered in the bottom of the third wiith a two-RBI double to left field from Julia Burch (Dublin, OH / Dublin Coffman). Burch then scored on a groundout, and the last run of the inning was scored on a single to right field from Madison Millington (Westerville, OH / Westerville South) to make it 4-2. The last run of the game was also scored by the Tigers, as Burch grounded out to give the Tigers the 5-2 finalk margin of victory.

Game One Team Leaders

• Meghan McCans (Arcanum, OH / Arcanum) led the team in hits with two and Kirsten Wright (Springfield, OH / Kenton Ridge) paced the team in walks with three.
• Bryant led in runs scored with two and was tied for the team lead in stoeln bases with three along with McCans as Burch logged two of her own.
• Burch also led in RBIs with three while Millington and Rebekah Giel (Amelia, OH / West Clermont) each had one.

Game One Team Comparison

• Oberlin led Wittenberg in hits, six to four, but the Yeowomen also committed four errors, while to Tigers didn't commit a single one.
• The Tigers led in all other statistics aside from extra base hits as each team had a double in the game.

Game Two

Julie Hall (Powell, OH / Bishop Watterson) threw her second complete game shutout in as many starts, but this time she only had to make it through five innings as the Tiger bats were on fire. In the five innings Hall threw, she allowed only four hits and one walk as she struck out three batters. At the plate, every single starter for the Tigers either recorded a hit or reached base as they totaled 12 runs on 11 hits. The Tigers also scored in every inning they played, as they batted around and scored five runs in the first, added another six in the second, and then added single runs in the third and fourth innings to account for the final score 12-0. 

Game Two Team Leaders

• Giel and Hanna Ecker (Heath, OH / Heath) each recorded two hits each to lead the team and Ecker also paced the team in RBI's with three.
• Burch, Giel and Ecker each also tied for the lead in runs scored with two each and McCans led in walks with two.

The Tigers will take the field to end the regular season on May 3 as they head to Delaware, Ohio, to take on Ohio Wesleyan in a doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.

Written By: Grant Martin