WILMINGTON, Ohio – The University of Mount Union stayed in the race for an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championships with a sweep of the Wilmington College softball team at the WC Softball Complex on Sunday. The Purple Raiders won game one 18-2 in five innings and took the nightcap 18-1, also in five innings.
In game one, Mount Union batted around in each of the first two innings and led 7-0 as pitcher Kendyll Cahill was perfect through two. The visitors added two unearned runs run in the top of the third, and though Lizz Hadley ended the no-hit bid with a single to left to open the bottom half of the inning, the hosts failed to score her.
Mount Union batted around once again in the fourth inning and scored seven runs on five hits with one Quaker error in the process. The lone bright spot in game one for WC was a two-run home run over the left field fence from McKenna Archey. The long-distance bomb was Archey's second of the season and the first home run hit by the Quakers at home.
Cahill improved to 17-4 on the season allowing the single hit in three innings with four strikeouts. Izzy Rothrock dipped to 2-6 as the starter and was one of four Quakers to pitch. Aiyana Hancock was the only one to not surrender an earned run.
Mount Union pounded out 19 hits with Sydney Mercer hitting a double and a triple with three RBIs. Alexandra Drewek went 2-for-2 with a triple and four RBIs for the Purple Raiders. For WC, Mollie Moore and Judaea Wilson joined Hadley and Archey in accounting for the four Quaker hits.
The nightcap followed a similar script as Mount Union drew three walks off Wilmington starter Alexis Stringfellow in the top of the first. All three scored along with another run to put the visitors up 4-0. Wilson doubled to left to begin the bottom half of the inning, but didn't come around to score. The Purple Raiders put the game away in the second inning, batting around twice and plating 14 runs on seven hits with three Quaker errors. The hosts' one run came in the third as Claire Scully drew a lead-off walk, stole second and scored on consecutive groudouts.
Scully and Wilson had the only two hits of the game for Wilmington while Ally Nittoli went 3-for-3 with four RBIs to lead Mount Union's 18-hit effort. Stringfellow took the loss as one of five Quakers to pitch. Hillary Huffer and Holly Zeuch were the bright spots, combining to pitch three scoreless innings.
Wilmington (13-19, 1-13 OAC) heads to John Carroll University on Saturday.
