Wittenberg Pulls Out Doubleheader Sweep Against Mount St. Joseph
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers needed a win in the worst way. They got their money's worth at home Wednesday in a doubleheader sweep of Mount St. Joseph, claiming victories by scores of 2-0 and 3-2. The most encouraging part about the victories is the way the Tigers gained them. Wittenberg is not an offensive juggernaut, meaning the Tigers need to pitch well and play good defense to give an opportunistic offense a chance to win games.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers needed a win in the worst way. They got their money's worth at home Wednesday in a doubleheader sweep of Mount St. Joseph, claiming victories by scores of 2-0 and 3-2.
The most encouraging part about the victories is the way the Tigers gained them. Wittenberg is not an offensive juggernaut, meaning the Tigers need to pitch well and play good defense to give an opportunistic offense a chance to win games. In improving to 8-10 on the season, the Tigers committed one error in each game and their pitchers walked just one batter in 15 innings.
In the opener, the Tigers got a terrific pitching performance from freshman Rachael Hatcher, who won her fifth game of the season with a complete-game four-hitter. She got all the offensive support she needed in the third inning as junior Erin Collinsworth drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly and sophomore Nicole Ottavi added an RBI single.
Game 2 offered another pitchers duel, eventually won by Tigers junior starter Grace Wigton in eight innings. Wigton allowed just one run in the first seven innings, and then the Lions pushed across an unearned run in the top of the eighth. Wigton yielded nine hits and one walk in eight innings.
Kept in the game by a second straight outstanding pitching performance, the Tigers pulled the game out, first tying things in the bottom of the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by junior Stephanie Zorn and then winning it with two unearned runs in the eighth. Junior Lucy Huelsman's grounder to the pitcher was misplayed to allow Wigton to cross the plate with the tying run, and then Zorn capped things with an RBI single.