WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College softball team close out its home slate with an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) series split against Otterbein University on Saturday. The Cardinals won game won 2-0 while the Quakers reversed that with a 2-0 win in game two.
The day,, which began with a celebration of four seniors – Lindsey Carter, Bailey Hypes, Lizz Hadley and Alexis Stringfellow - ended with Head Coach Beth Floyd's 200th career victory.
In game one, Cardinal starter Bryn Grabowski had things working, striking out 10 of the first 11 batters. Carter, who singled to right center with two outs in the first and later was caught stealing, was the only Quakers not to strike out through four innings.
Otterbein, which failed to capitalize on three WC errors in the first three innings, opened the top of the fourth with a walk and three consecutive singles in the fourth. The Quakers best chance to score came in the fifth as a one-out error got to third on a single from Rachel Berry, but a strikeout ended the threat.
Bryn Grabowski improved to 10-6 on the season with the shutout, striking out 13 Quakers and allowing just two hits and a walk. Fifth-year senior Stringfellow allowed just the two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks in the final home start of her career.
Caitlin Wilkins and Kendal Sestili were the only two individuals from either team to have multi-hit games with Wilkins' double being the only extra-base hit of the contest. Carter and Berry had WC's two hits.
The Quakers scored first in the nightcap as Samantha Schwab singled home Judaea Wilson in the bottom of the first, but settled for a single run as Carter was gunned down at home trying to score from second. The hosts threatened to extend their advantage in both the second and third innings, but left the bases loaded each time.
The Cardinals drew three walks to load the bases in the fourth, but Izzy Rothrock struck out Sydni Clever to end the threat. The WC offense gave Rothrock an insurance run in the bottom of the inning as Schwab singled down the left field line scoring Wilson. Rothrock would take a no-hit bid into the fifth where Wilkins broke it with a single.
That would be in for the Otterbein offense as Rothrock earned a shutout with a 126-pitch effort that included 10 strikeouts and seven walks. Autumn Fowler fell to 1-4 on the season for the Cardinals by allowing a single earned run with four walks in 2.2 innings.
The Quakers finished with 10 hits including two doubles from Carter. Wilson finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Schwab had two hits and drove in both runs. Olivia Doll also hit two singles for WC.
Wilmington will conclude its 2023 season with a pair of games at John Carroll University tomorrow (Sunday) beginning at 1 p.m.
