ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Wilmington College softball team fell in a pair of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) games at the University of Mount Union on Saturday. The Purple Raiders won game one 4-1 and took the nightcap 14-4 in five innings.
In game one, Mount Union tagged WC starter Izzy Rothrock for two runs in the on two hits in the bottom of the first. After a pair of scoreless innings, the Fightin' Quakers used a Mount Union error to load the bases in the fourth, but Bailey Hypes struckout swinging.
In the fifth, Wilmington had a walk and three hits including an RBI-single up the middle from Lizz Hadley, the Quakers ran into two outs. The Purple Raiders got the run back and more in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI-single from Grace Heath and a sacrifice fly.
Izzy Rothrock fell to 2-7 on the season as the freshman pitching five innings and surrendered four earned runs on six hits with a strikeout. Madi Jursich pitched the sixth for WC while tallying a strikeout. Alyssa Rose improved to 7-2 for Mount Union, striking out five on five hits with three walks. Ashley Cascio pitched the seventh, walking a single batter to get a save.
Hadley finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for Wilmington while Lindsey Carter had a hit and stole a base. Five Purple Raiders were in the hit column with Isabella Sherban going 2-for-2 with a double.
The nightcap was a tale of two halves of the game. Wilmington plated one run in the first on another RBI-single from Hadley, and even though a double play ended the inning, the visitors put together a four-hit second inning with RBI-singles from Mollie Moore, Carter and Hayley Suchland.
The 4-0 lead would last long, however, as two-RBI triple from Sherban and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning pulled the hosts within a run at 4-3. The Quakers couldn't continue their offensive pace from the first two innings, and Mount Union got to WC pitching for four runs in the third and batted around for a seven-run, seven-hit fourth inning. Three Quaker flyouts in the top of the fifth ended the game.
Wilmington starter Alexis Stringfellow pitched a single inning while Carter took the loss in relief, allowing four earned runs on four hits in one inning pitched. Jursich, Hannah Hall and Taylor Evans also pitched out of the Quakers' bullpen. For Mount Union, Peyton Morrison received a no-decision allowing three earned runs in two innings while Cheyanne Bosse won her second game of the year in relief, allowing a single hit in three innings.
Carter was the lone Quaker to have a multi-hit game. Four Purple Raiders – Payton Guspyt, Rose, Natalie Martin and Sherban had multi-hit games as the hosts tallied 15 hits that included six doubles and two triples.
Wilmington (11-11, 5-7 OAC) will host Otterbein University on Tuesday. First pitch from Tewksbury-Delaney Field is scheduled for 3 p.m.
