From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The Case Western Reserve University softball team ended its season on a positive note on Monday afternoon, sweeping a doubleheader at Mather Park against Baldwin Wallace University with a 7-0 win in game one, followed by a 4-3 victory in game two.
The two wins give the Spartans a four-game winning streak to end the season, as the team ended the year with an overall record of 21-19. Baldwin Wallace dropped to 10-24 with the pair of losses.
Game 1: CWRU 7, Baldwin Wallace 0
Junior Annie Wennerberg recorded her second-complete game shutout of the season and sophomore first baseman Grace Tritchler hit her team-leading seventh home run of the season, leading the Spartans to a 7-0 victory in game one.
The Spartans sent eight batters to the plate andput two on the board in the bottom of the first inning, loading the bases with one out before Wennerberg drew an RBI walk, and freshman designated player Alex Favazza followed with an RBI single to right center. The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth, when Tritchler hit a two-run home run, extending the lead to 4-0. A two-RBI single later in the inning from senior right fielder Kristen Klemmer gave the Spartans a 6-0 advantage, and Klemmer would score on a wild pitch three batters later to push the lead to 7-0 after five innings.
Wennerberg retired the first six batters she faced in the game, faced the minimum through the first five innings, and did not allow a hit until the top of the sixth inning. She allowed just two hits and a walk in the game while striking out five batters, andimproved to 14-10 on the year with the win, her third victory in her last three starts. The shutout was her second in her last three outings.
The Spartans collected 13 hits in the game including a three-for-four performance by Favazza to raise her season batting average to .336. Freshman shortstop Nicole Doyle, sophomore center fielder Katie Wede and Wennerberg each had two hits in the game as well.
Mackenzie Nelson started and went the distance for Baldwin Wallace, taking the loss in the game to fall to 0-2 on the year.
Game 2: CWRU 4, Baldwin Wallace 3
A two-out pinch hit single by senior Rebecca Molnar in the bottom of the sixth inning turned a one-run deficit into a lead for the Spartans, who completed the sweep of Baldwin Wallace with a 4-3 win in the second game of the day.
Wennerberg would again get the Spartans on the board in the second game, hitting a solo home run to lead off the second inning, her sixth of the campaign. In the top of the third, Baldwin Wallace had a chance to tie the game after Abbie Thompson singled to left field with two outs and a runner on second, but left fielder Abbey Filliez threw out Tori Young trying to score on the play.
Baldwin Wallace evened the score in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from DJ Rogers, ending Wennerberg's streak of 16.2 innings without an earned run allowed, and tying the game at 1-1. The score remained tied until the top of the sixth, when the Yellow Jackets took advantage of a pair of Spartan errors to score two unearned runs, and take a 3-1 lead.
An RBI single by Klemmer with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth scored pinch runner Sharilyn Sakamoto and pulled the Spartans back within a run. Then, playing in the final game of her career and in her first at bat of the season, senior Rebecca Molnar worked a 3-2 count with runners at second and third and two outs, before singling into right center field, scoring two runs and giving the Spartans a 4-3 advantage heading into the seventh. The hit and the RBIs were each the first of her career.
Molnar would stay in the game to pitch the top of the seventh, getting the first out on a fly ball to right field, and then after allowing a walk, would catch a line drive and throw to first for an inning-ending double play.
Sophomore Katie Dzierwa pitched two innings of relief and allowed just a pair of unearned runs, picking up the win in the game to end her season with a 4-6 record. Molnar earned the save in the game, her first of the year.
Wede finished the game one-for-three with a stolen base, tying former Spartan player and current assistant coach Molly O'Brien's program single-season record of 22 stolen bases, set during the 2013 campaign. Wennerberg and Favazza each had a pair of his in the game.