Tigers Gain NCAC Tournament Berth With Doubleheader Sweep of Oberlin
OBERLIN, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers completed an unlikely rally Saturday, sweeping a pair of games from Oberlin College by scores of 7-0 and 12-1 to reach the four-team North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. Wittenberg, which has won five of its last six games over an eight-day span, finished in a three-way tie for third place in the NCAC regular season standings and will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament by virtue of tiebreaker criteria.
OBERLIN, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers completed an unlikely rally Saturday, sweeping a pair of games from Oberlin College by scores of 7-0 and 12-1 to reach the four-team North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. Wittenberg, which has won five of its last six games over an eight-day span, finished in a three-way tie for third place in the NCAC regular season standings and will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament by virtue of tiebreaker criteria.
The Tigers are now 20-16 overall and 8-6 in the NCAC, equalling the mark of Allegheny and Ohio Wesleyan, which both split doubleheaders Saturday. OWU picked up the No. 3 seed in next weekend's tournament - which will be hosted by regular season co-champion Denison - due to a 3-1 record in games against Wittenberg and Allegheny. The Tigers are 2-2 in games against OWU and Allegheny and the Gators were just 1-3.
Against Oberlin, the Tigers again rode the strong right arm of freshman pitcher Rachael Hatcher to victories. In improving to 13-6 on the season, Hatcher allowed just three hits in the opener and five hits and one walk in the nightcap. Oberlin managed just a single earned run in the second inning of the second game.
Wittenberg banged out 27 hits in the two games and, perhaps more importantly, committed just one error in the field. Junior Lucy Huelsman continued her late-season surge, collecting three hits in four at-bats in each game to spark the offense. She scored five runs and drove in two more in the nightcap.
Junior Stephanie Zorn also had a big day at the plate, finishing 4-for-8 with six runs batted in. Sophomore Amy Myser went 4-for-4 in the opener and sophomore Taryn Hensel and freshman Erin Meredith each enjoyed three-hit games in the 12-1 rout.