From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The Case Western Reserve University softball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday in Notre Dame, Indiana at the NCAA Division III Regional Championships, as the second-seeded Spartans defeated fourth-seeded Mount Aloysius College 7-0 in the first game of the day, and then held on for a 6-2 win over host and first-seeded St. Mary's College (Ind.) in the late contest.
With the two wins, CWRU advances to the regional championship game against Ohio Northern University tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. The Spartans will have to win two games against ONU to advance to the Super Regionals next weekend, as the Polar Bears will enter tomorrow's game with a 2-0 record.
In addition, Case Western Reserve set the school's new single-season wins record as they improved to 33-9 on the season. The 2018 Spartans surpassed the 2015 team that went 32-11 during that campaign. Mount Aloysius ended its season with a 21-15 overall record, while St. Mary's concluded their season with a 36-7 overall record.
Game 1: CWRU 7, Mt. Aloysius 0
The Spartans made the most of their seven hits and took advantage of two errors from the Mounties to claim a 7-0 win over Mt. Aloysius in the early game.
CWRU broke through for four runs in the top of the second, including a RBI sacrifice fly from sophomore Nicole Carty, a RBI double from sophomore Ilissa Hamilton and a RBI single from freshman Dusstyn Reynolds.
The score remained 4-0 until the top of the third when Carty singled down the left field line to score junior Nicole Doyle and freshman Sarah Miller, increasing the Spartan lead to 6-0. CWRU added another run in the top of the fourth after an RBI single from Miller and that would be enough as the Spartans secure the 7-0 shutout victory.
Hamilton started and went three innings on the mound, allowing only two hits and striking out three batters as she improved to 15-5 on the season. Freshman Sidney Brannam pitched three innings in relief and senior Katie Dzierwa pitched one inning as they combined to only allow four hits and strike out two batters.
Doyle and Miller each finished the game with two hits, while Carty went one-for-two with one walk and three runs batted in.
Hannah Ruby started and took the loss for the Mounties as she dropped to 11-5 for the season.
Game 2: CWRU 6, St. Mary's 2
CWRU got on the board first after Hamilton delivered an RBI single that scored senior Maren Waldner, giving the Spartans the 1-0 lead in the top of the second. The Spartans added another two runs during the following inning when Waldner hit a clutch two-out, two-run single up the middle that scored freshman Arisa Cleaveland and Doyle.
The Belles responded in the following half inning with two runs of their own to cut the CWRU lead down to 3-2 after three innings of play.
The score remained 3-2 until the top of the sixth when Carty added to her already impressive day with a solo home run to left field that gave the Spartans a huge insurance run and increased their lead to 4-2. Later in that same inning, Cleaveland hit a RBI single to center field that scored Hamilton and then Doyle followed with a RBI groundout that scored senior Katie Wede from third to give CWRU a 6-2 advantage.
Hamilton started the second game of the day and went the distance as she held the Belles to two earned runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out five batters. She improved to 16-5 on the season with the victory.
At the plate, Waldner went two-for-three with two RBI's and one run scored, while Doyle added a two-for-four performance with one run scored and one run batted in.