HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Like the frigid temperatures of Ohio, the Ohio Dominican softball team opened the 2014 season with cold bats. The Panthers fell in game one with a 4-0 shutout loss to North Alabama and followed that with a 7-0 loss to preseason No. 9 ranked University of Alabama at Huntsville in game two. The opening games on Friday afternoon were part of the Ringor Charger Chillout Tournament.

After a scoreless three innings in game one, the Lions opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning after a solo homerun to left field by Chole Wolf.

Harlie Barkley started a three-run inning in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an infield single. Chelsea Showers moved Barkley over to second on a single up the middle. After advancing the runners over and a walk by Libby Olinger, Brittany Gillison singled to center field, scoring Barkley and Showers. The Lions scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch.

North Alabama kept the Panthers bats silent, allowing just one hit over seven innings. The single belonged to sophomore Kelsey Albanese (Westerville, Ohio).

Junior Rachael Stanzel (Angleton, Texas) took the loss for the Panthers, pitching 4.2 innings with two strikeouts.

The Panthers suffered a 7-0 setback to Alabama Huntsville in the second game of the day.  Stanzel started and absorbed the loss. Sophomore Lizzy Weber (Canton, Ohio) had the only hit for ODU.

The Chargers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. ODU would keep UAH bats silent until the sixth inning where four more runs were scored by the Chargers to extend their lead 7-0.

Ohio Dominican resumes action tomorrow for day two of the Ringor Tournament. ODU faces Kentucky Wesleyan in the first game at 1 p.m. and Union (TN) at 3 p.m. All games are listed as Eastern Standard Time.

Contact: Sarah Twiggs
twiggss@ohiodominican.edu