COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican softball team witness perfection on Thursday as junior pitcher Maria Staton helped the Panthers complete a non-conference sweep with a perfect game versus Cedarville University. ODU rallied to win game one 11-4 and saw 15 straight batters retired in the nightcap to win 10-0 in 5 innings.
Ohio Dominican's offense continues to come around as they ripped 25 hits versus another former AMC foe. ODU took the early lead in the opener thanks to back-to-back singles by Erin Sutter (So./Mansfield, OH) and Jennifer Baker (Jr./Cortland, OH). The Panthers (16-15) would press the issue and execute a double steal to perfection moving both runners into scoring position. Samantha Wolfe (Jr./Columbus, OH) and Muriel Kelley (Sr./Ocala, FL) would then drive in both runs to give the Panthers the lead, 2-0.
The Yellow Jackets would fight back in the bottom of the 2nd inning when they managed to push across four runs to take their only lead of the day, 4-2. That, however, would be all starting pitcher Erica Sutter (Sr./Mansfield, OH) would surrender to the Jackets. Sutter went on to win her fifth game of the season.
The Jackets had no luck slowing down the Panther offense as they shelled-out a total of fourteen hits in the winning effort, including a homerun in the top of the 4th by Kylee Crislip (So./Louisville, OH), her third in the last four games.
The story of the day came in game two as Staton (New Bremen, OH; pictured) recorded the ultimate feat by a pitcher as she retired 15 straight batters in the run shortened 5 inning affair. Staton kept the Jackets off balance to improve to 9-5 on the year.
ODU bats didn't slow down in the nightcap as they recorded 10 runs on 11 hits. The Panthers got on the board in the first when Samantha Wolfe laced a single to right-centerfield with two outs. She would score from first on Muriel Kelley's double to deep left-centerfield. Kylee Crislip would also score in the inning giving the Panthers the early lead, 3-0.
The Panthers didn't let up as they added seven more runs in the game. ODU was led offensively by Erin Sutter and Muriel Kelley who collected three hits each. Kelley also drove in three runs for the Panthers.
Ohio Dominican will return to action Tuesday, April 6th as they host Muskingum College in a non-conference doubleheader at Panther Field. Game one is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
