SAVANNAH, Ga. – After falling 8-3 to Malone in their opening contest, Ohio Dominican's softball team bounced back with a 3-0 victory over West Liberty (W. Va.) in its second game Wednesday at the Boombah Smash Hit Tournament, hosted by the Savannah College of Arts and Design.

ODU now stands at 3-9, while Malone is 3-6 and West Liberty is 1-10.

Junior Caitlin Chaney (Newark, Ohio) shut down the West Liberty offense, allowing just three hits in her complete game effort. She only allowed two runners to reach scoring position and worked out of trouble in the seventh after allowing three walks.

The Panthers jumped to an early lead against the Hilltoppers, scoring in the bottom of the first after junior Erin Sutter (Mansfield, Ohio) walked, stole second and came in to score on a single by Kylee Crislip (Louisville, Ohio).

The score remained 1-0 through the fifth when ODU pushed across a pair of insurance runs. Freshman Caitlin Jividen (Wheeling, W. Va.) had an RBI single to score sophomore Brooke McCartney (Salem, Ohio), and Jividen scored on Sutter's squeeze bunt for the 3-0 margin.

Three Panthers errors led to four unearned runs in ODU's setback to Malone in the first game of the day. The Panthers got on the scoreboard first with an RBI groundout from Chaney in the top of the first that scored Sutter, but the Pioneers answered with an unearned run in the bottom half of the frame.

ODU regained the lead in the third on an infield single by McCartney, plating Crislip to make it 2-1. Again, Malone came back in their half of the inning, taking advantage of a passed ball and an error to score twice and take a 3-2 advantage. ODU pushed across the tying run in the fourth on another infield hit, this one off the bat of Sutter, but Malone scored once in the fifth and four times in the sixth to take the victory.

The Panthers managed just five hits in the setback, while Malone recorded 11 hits.

Sutter finished the day 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI and Crislip went 3-for-5 with with a run and an RBI. Jividen also recorded three hits between the two games.

Ohio Dominican is off Thursday and has a pair of makeup games scheduled for Friday. ODU will take on host SCAD at 10 a.m. and will play Findlay in a non-conference matchup at 2 p.m. to close play at the Smash Hit Tournament.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu