TIFFIN, Ohio – The no. 17 nationally ranked Mount Union softball team swept Heidelberg in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Friday afternoon, winning game one 4-3 in eight innings and winning game two 7-1.
The Purple Raiders (21-5, 11-1 OAC) would strike first in game one when they broke the scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning, the first coming off an RBI single from freshman
Grace Bates (Mount Vernon) that scored fellow freshman
Alli Hodgkinson (Akron / Manchester) and then sophomore
Allison Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) hit an RBI single that scored senior
Kaitlyn Culver (Girard) to take a 2-0 lead.
The Student Princes (19-12, 4-6 OAC) would answer with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the same inning, the first coming after Adyson Bowe stole home and then Megan Miller hit an RBI single to tie the game at two runs apiece.
Then, in the top half of the eighth senior
Sydney Mercer (Salem / West Branch) hit an RBI double to left center that scored senior
Lydia Brunner (Minerva) to give Mount Union a 3-2 lead and break the school record for career doubles. It was the 47
th double of her career breaking the previous record of 46 that was set last season by
Adri George.
Senior
Faith Reicosky (North Canton / Hoover) would then bring in Mercer with an RBI of her own to extend the lead to two runs. Heidelberg would get one back in the bottom half of the inning when Taylor Forrest had an RBI but that is as close as they would get as the Raiders would go on to win game one 4-3.
Senior
Kendyll Cahill (Groveport / Groveport Madison) got the start in the circle for Mount Union in game one and pitched all eight innings, giving three runs on eight hits and striking out four.
Heidelberg would strike first in game two, scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning when Alexis Burton hit an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.
The Raiders would answer in the following inning, scoring four runs, the first coming off an RBI single from Reicosky then freshman
Isabella Thomas-Friend (Amherst / Marion L. Steele) would hit a bases clearing, three-RBI double to give Mount Union a 4-1 lead. Reicosky would then hit a two-RBI single in the fourth inning to extend the Raider lead to 6-1 before hitting her fourth RBI of the game in the sixth inning to add to the lead.
The Student Princes wouldn't have an answer over the final two innings as the Raiders would go on to take game two 7-1.
Sophomore
Emma Reemsnyder (Canton / GlenOak) got the start in the circle in game two for Mount Union and went the distance giving up just one run on eight hits and struck out three.
The Raiders return home next when they host Wooster on Sunday, April 19 on Senior Day with games beginning at 1 and 3 p.m.