ADA, Ohio - For the second consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) twinbill, the Wilmington College softball team rallied from a game-won shutout to win the nightcap as the Fightin' Quakers fell to Ohio Northern University 3-0 in game one and took game two 8-4 on Tuesday.
Game one was a pitcher's duel between WC's Izzy Rothrock and ONU's Ashley Lenser. The hosts broke through in the third as the first two batters reached base via singles, and after a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, Rothrock and the Quakers' defense did their job. Hannah Rubel grounded into a double play to end the inning, but the runner scored before the final out, giving the Polar Bears a 1-0 lead.
Judaea Wilson provided one of WC's two hits in the game, doubling to left field with two outs in the sixth, but a strikeout ended the threat. ONU tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom half, with one being unearned.
Rothrock dipped to 1-4 with the loss despite allowing just two earned runs in 5.1 innings. Hillary Huffer recorded the final two outs for the Quakers. Lenser struckout 10 in the complete-game shutout for the Polar Bears.
Offensively, the top of Wilmington's lineup provided both hits with Wilson's double and a single from Lindsey Carter. ONU's did the same with 4-of-5 hits coming from the top three in the order. Abby Elliott was the lone individual to tally a multi-hit game for either team in game one.
In the nightcap, Arianna Layne got things started in the first with a her second home run of the season, a two-run shot over the left field fence scoring Hayley Suchland. Mollie Moore added an RBI-double in the second, but WC blew the game open in the top of the third as two hits, including a double from Layne and three ONU errors plated four runs. Up 7-0 a third Layne RBI-hit in the fourth put the visitors up 8-0 and threatened to end the game an inning or two earlier.
The Polar Bears, who left the bases loaded in the second, scored three runs in the fourth that included a two-run home run of the bat of Elliott and added another on a double from Lenser in the sixth. The Quakers shut the door in the seventh, however, to earn the split.
Huffer, who relieved starter Alexis Stringfellow in the fourth, earned her second career victory, striking out five and allowed just two hits and one earned run in the final 3.1 innings. Stacey Walters dipped to 2-3 on the season for ONU, allowing four earned runs on five hits in two innings.
Layne finished game two 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored while Suchland had two hits and stole a base. Sydney Motylinksi and Lenser both had two hits for the Polar Bears, who lost their first OAC contest in game two, in defeat.
Wilmington (8-6, 2-2 OAC) is scheduled to return to the diamond against Marietta College at home on Saturday. First pitch from the WC Softball Complex is slated for 1 p.m.
