COLUMBUS, Ohio - Thanks to some strong pitching by senior Shana Etter (Tuslaw, OH) and some fortunate bounces of the ball, Ohio Dominican's softball team rallied from a tough 4-3 setback in game one to defeat the 25th-ranked Tiffin Dragons, 3-1, in Wednesday afternoon's home finale at Panther Field.

After a 14-game skid, the Panthers have now won two of three to improve to 9-33 overall and 4-20 in the GLIAC. With just their second loss in the last eight contests, Tiffin now stands at 28-11 on the year and 19-5 in the conference.

The nightcap shaped up to be a pitcher's dual between Etter and Dragons' ace Mindy Meredith as the two combined to allow just three hits over the first five innings of the game.

ODU finally broke through as sophomore Brooke McCartney (Salem, OH) led off the top of the sixth with a single to right center and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Back-to-back fielding errors by the first baseman and right fielder on a hit by senior Samantha Wolfe (Columbus, OH) allowed McCartney to come around to score. Two batters later, freshman Caitlin Jividen (Wheeling, WV) delivered the eventual game-winner with a homerun, her third of the year that just sneaked over the right field fence.

The Dragons managed just one hit the rest of the way, a solo homer to left in the bottom of the seventh, as Etter held on to grab her third win of the year. Etter allowed just the one run on three hits, while striking out two and walking none on an efficient 66-pitch performance.

In the opener, Tiffin jumped out early on the Panthers with three runs on two hits in the top of the first. ODU rallied with two runs of their own in the home half of the first as McCartney singled home senior Jennifer Baker (Cortland, OH) and junior Erin Sutter (Mansfield, OH) after the pair reached on a walk and fielder's choice.

The score remained 3-2 until the bottom of the fourth when senior Cassandra Weitz (Dayton, OH) capped off her final home game with her first career long ball, a lead-off blast to left field to knot the game at 3-3.

The Dragons reclaimed the lead in their next at-bat as three singles made the score 4-3. After a quiet sixth and top of seventh, the Panthers opened the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles by junior Kylee Crislip (Louisville, OH) and McCartney. A wild pitch advanced both runners, but ODU could not generate the timely hitting as two strikeouts and a pop fly to second sealed the victory for Tiffin. The Panthers also had two runners in scoring position in the fifth after another pair of singles and a wild pitch, but a foul ball out to the catcher left the tying and go-ahead runs stranded. 

McCartney nearly matched her hit total from last week as she finished the day a combined 5-for-7, including 4-for-4 in game one, along with two RBI and a run scored.                               

The Panthers hit the road for their final eight games of the year, beginning tomorrow at 3 p.m. as they take on Lake Erie in Painesville in a GLIAC doubleheader.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu