(ALLIANCE, OH)--Mount Union College's softball team kept its Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament hopes alive with 4-1 and 8-2 wins over Wilmington College Saturday at 23rd Street Field in Alliance.

The sweep sends the Purple Raiders record to 17-13 overall and evens their OAC record at 5-5 which keeps them just three games out of first place with eight conference games left.

Wilmington remains winless in the OAC (0-10) and falls to 6-16 overall.

Anna Horning (Cuyahoga Falls/Woodridge) got the Raiders on the board in the opener as her two-out RBI single in third and made it 1-0.

Horning again provided some punch with a two-run home run in the fifth inning that finished a three-run frame to extend the lead to 4-0. 

The first run of that inning came from pitcher Gia Mauer (Chardon/Chardon) who helped her own cause with an RBI single.  Mauer, making just her second start of the season, tossed a complete game two-hitter and struck out five for her first win of the season.

Wilmington avoided the shut out on a Cory Sheets RBI double in the sixth.

A Holly Sheets two-run home run in the first inning of game two gave Wilmington an early 2-0 lead.

Mount Union would score single runs in the second and third innings to tie the game and blew the game open with a five-run fourth inning and tacked on another run in the sixth for the 8-2 win.

The Raiders pounded out 11 hits as Horning, Alex Lucak (Maple Heights/Trinity), Meghan Allen (Hartville/Lake) and Meghan Simons (Minerva/Minerva) each had two hits while Mara Palombaro (Boardman/Cardinal Mooney) drove in two runs and Mauer drove in another run.

Mauer came on in relief and pitcher her way to her second win of the day as she allowed only two hits over the final four innings.

Mount Union completes the homestand Monday at 3:30 pm with a non-conference doubleheader against Ohio Wesleyan University.