WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Otterbein University pitching duo fo Bryn Grabowski and Jess Gunter held the Wilmington College softball team to six hits and three runs in two games as the Cardinals beat the Fightin' Quakers 4-1 and 6-2 in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) twinbill at the WC Softball Complex on Thursday.
In game one, a Hannah Lewis single to left center scoring Megan Payne for the Cardinals proved to be the game-winning run and the only run for either team in the first four innings. A Hayley Suchland two-out single in the first inning would prove to be the Fightin' Quakers' only baserunner until the fifth inning as Grabowski would retire 13 consecutive batters.
Grabowski's counterpart, freshman Izzy Rothrock, kept Otterbein from scoring further until the fifth. Otterbein tallied four hits and used two Quaker errors to score three runs and take a 4-0 lead. A Logann Julian walk ended the string of retired batters, but Wilmington's only run, an unearned one, would come off the bat Suchland has she drove in Carter in the sixth.
Rothrock took the loss, allowing six hits and five walks that scored four earned runs in 4.2 innings. Hannah Hall pitched the final 2.1 innings for WC, striking out one with a single walk. Grabowski improved to 13-4 on the year with seven strikeouts in a three-hit victory.
Offensively, Suchland had two of the Quakers' three hits with Judaea Wilson tallying the other. Caroline Heller was the lone Cardinal to finish with multiple hits in game one.
In the nightcap, Gunter helped her own cause with a two-run RBI-single to center field in the top of the second. The Quakers answered in the bottom half of the inning as Lizz Hadley and Julian reached base via a walk and bunt single respectively. A grounding from McKenna Archey followed by an RBI-single from Andrea Edmisten tied the game.
Unfortunately for WC, Otterbein plated three runs in the top of the third to take a 5-2 lead, and the Quakers would tally a single hit over the final five innings.
Gunter earned the compete-game win, allowing three hits with four strikeouts and four walks while Alexis Stringfellow allowed three earned runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings to dip to 5-6 on the season. Hall and Lindsey Carter both pitched at least two innings to finish the game for WC.
Savannah McCoppin went 3-for-3 with an RBI for Otterbein while Heller, Taylor Baran and Isa Lewis also had multi-hit contests. Suchland, Julian and Edmisten all had hits for Wilmington in defeat with Suchland's being a double.
Wilmington (12-18, 5-11 OAC) will head to Muskingum University to conclude the 2022 season on Saturday.
