ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's softball team split a doubleheader against Baldwin Wallace in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday afternoon, winning game one 4-3 and falling in game two 11-10.

The Yellow Jackets (12-6, 5-3 OAC) would strike first in game one when Lexie Vaillant hit a solo homerun in the top of the fifth inning to take a 1-0 lead. They would then add to their lead in the top half of the sixth when Avery Curran hit a two-run homerun to extend the lead to three runs.

The Purple Raiders (17-5, 7-1 OAC) would respond in the bottom half of the same inning, with a massive four-run inning to claim their first lead of the game. The first two runs came off a two-RBI single from freshman Alli Hodgkinson (Akron / Manchester) that scored seniors Sydney Mercer (Salem / West Branch) and Faith Reicosky (North Canton / Hoover) and then senior Kaitlyn Culver (Girard) would also hit a two-RBI single to score Hodgkinson and sophomore Lindsay Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) and grab a 4-3 lead.

Baldwin Wallace wouldn't be able to answer in the seventh inning as the Raiders would go on to take game one 4-3.

Senior Kendyll Cahill (Groveport / Groveport Madison) got the start in the circle for Mount Union and picked up the win, throwing six innings, giving up three runs on two hits and striking out five. Sophomore Daniella Vecchio (Monongahela, Pa. / Ringgold) came in to pitch the final inning in relief and picked up the save, giving up zero runs on zero hits.

The Raiders would strike first in game two when Hodgkinson hit a two-RBI single that brought in Reicosky and freshman Addy Antonetz (Zanesville / West Muskingum) and then freshman Grace Bates (Mount Vernon) would hit an RBI double that scored Cahill to give them a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

The Yellow Jackets would answer with a four-run inning in the third when Curran hit a two-RBI single and then Steph Mraz hit a two-RBI triple to take a 4-3 lead.

Mount Union would respond in the following inning when Mercer hit an RBI single that scored Culver to tie the game at four. Then, later in that same inning Reicosky and Antonetz would hit back-to-back sacrifice fly RBIs that brought in senior Lydia Brunner (Minerva) and sophomore Allison Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) to take a 6-4 lead.

Baldwin Wallace would answer once again in the top half of the fifth when Curran hit a two-run homerun and then Morgan Palos scored after a Mount Union error to reclaim the lead at 7-6. The Raiders would answer with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the same inning, the first two coming off a two-run homerun from Bates and then Culver scored after an error from the Baldwin Wallace third baseman, reclaiming the lead at 9-7.

The Yellow Jackets would score four runs in the top of the seventh inning to reclaim the lead, scoring off a solo homerun from Curran and then a three-run homerun from Sam Smearman. Mount Union would get a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Jones, A. stole home to trim the lead to a run, but that is as close as they would get as Baldwin Wallace would go on to win game two 11-10.

Cahill got the start in the circle once again for Mount Union in game two and gave up four runs on five hits and struck out two in three innings of work. Sophomore Emma Reemsnyder (Canton / GlenOak) would come in to throw an inning in relief and gave up just one hit and struck out one. Senior Brookyln Schlabach (Apple Creek / Waynedale) would come in to throw the next inning, giving up three runs, two earned on three hits and striking out one. Freshman Ari Simpson (Cardington / Cardington Lincoln) came in and gave up four runs, two earned on two hits and struck out one in an inning of work and junior Haleigh McCalla (Youngstown / Springfield Local) came in to throw the final inning and gave up just one hit and zero runs.

The Raiders hit the road next when they travel to Ada to continue OAC play against Ohio Northern on Saturday, April 11 with games beginning at 1 and 3 p.m.