UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – Senior Danielle Monnier was dazzling in the circle, picking up both wins as the Wilmington College softball team earned its first-ever sweep of John Carroll. The Fightin' Quakers won the first game, 1-0, and then held off a JCU rally for the 7-6 win in the nightcap.
Monnier (Houston, OH/Houston) scattered five hits over seven innings with seven strikeouts for the win in the opener. With the Blue Streaks attempting to put together a rally early in the second game, Monnier entered to quiet the JCU bats.
The first three batters reached and a run already scored when she entered the circle in the third inning, and the Blue Streaks failed to cross anymore runs across the plate. John Carroll would finally get to the senior flamethrower with two outs in the seventh inning with a three-run homer to pull them to within one. However, Monnier battened downed the hatch and got the final out to seal the sweep.
"Danielle was tremendous today," said head coach Beth Floyd. "She was hitting her spots and really dominating. (We decided to bring her back in the second game because) she had everything under control, and had them off balance in game one. I was fully confident she could come in a shut down their rally."
Senior Catlin Shilling (Waverly, OH/Waverly) recorded both of Wilmington's hits, but WC took advantage of two JCU errors in the third inning to score the game's only tally.
Two spectacular defensive plays enabled the Fightin' Quakers to come away with the win. Junior Allie Noggle (Ashville, OH/Teays Valley) made a nice stop on a ball up the middle to get the runner at first, and then freshman Ashley McCray (Vandalia, OH/Butler) capped the double play by nailing the runner, who was trying to score from second, at the plate in the bottom of the third.
Freshman Kerrie Trautman (Hartville, OH/Field) sealed the win with a two-out diving catch in the fifth inning as JCU had the tying run on third.
After Trautman saved game one with her glove, it was her bat that enabled Wilmington to get off to a fast start. She had a RBI single to tie the game in the second, and then scored two more with a single in the third to give WC the lead for good. She finished the game 2-for-4 with a career-high three RBI.
Noggle was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Shilling was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI. Sophomore Hillary Daria-White (Felicity, OH/Felicity Franklin), in her first start in the lineup, was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
"We played with a tremendous amount of confidence today," said Floyd. "I was proud of how we bounced back from (Tuesday) to beat a great John Carroll team. If we play this way, we can beat anybody."
Wilmington (11-12 overall, 2-4 OAC) travels to play Capital 1 p.m. Saturday in an OAC doubleheader.