WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – On the third day of the Rebel Spring Games, the Ohio Dominican softball team salvaged a split, losing game one 8-1 against Minnesota Mankato and winning game two 12-6 against Glenville State.

After a tough 8-4 loss to the Mavericks over the weekend, the Panthers rebounded in the rematch, by keeping the game scoreless until the top of the sixth when Mankato scored a run on a single to break the ice.

An inning later, the Mavericks bats exploded, scoring seven runs on five hits to go ahead 8-0. ODU posed a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, but managed just a single run off of a junior Rachael Stanzel (Angleton, Texas) double.

Stanzel led the Panthers offensively, going 2-for-3 with the lone RBI.

In the nightcap, it was ODU's turn to fire up the bats, scoring four runs on four hits in the top of the first. Junior Kelsey Seeds (Westerville, Ohio) started the inning with a walk, followed by a steal. Junior Taylor Thomas (Bellville, Ohio) hit an infield single, moving Seeds to third. After a steal by Thomas, freshman Casey Murdoch (Morrow, Ohio) hit a two-out, two-RBI double to left field. Senior Caitlin Jividen (Wheeling, W. Va.) followed with another double, scoring Murdoch. Freshman Kelly Wallace (Oshkosh, Wisc.) singled to left field, which batted in Jividen for the Panthers fourth run.

Glenville State got a run back in the bottom of the inning after a Panther error allowed a run to score.

In the top of the third, Thomas blasted a homerun to left field to extend ODU's lead to 5-1. Wallace hit a two-out double to left field, scoring Jividen who drew a walk in the at bat before.

Glenville State cut into the Panthers lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs on three hits to make the score 6-5. ODU responded with two insurance runs to go up 8-5 after a sacrifice fly by Jividen and a single by Wallace.

The Panthers scored two more runs to extend their lead 10-5 in the sixth after Thomas singled through the left side of the infield and junior Alexis Swisher (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored Thomas on an infield single.

ODU wasn't done scoring, tacking on two more runs in the top of the seventh after Wallace blasted a two-RBI homerun. Glenville State scored one run in the bottom of the inning but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.

Murdoch picked up the win for ODU, going four innings and allowing five hits withfour strikeouts. Offensively, the Panthers were led by Wallace, Thomas and Jividen. Wallace was a perfect 4-for-4 with five RBI from the plate while Thomas went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Jividen was 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Ohio Dominican will play two games on Tuesday, March 11 against St. Cloud State and top-25 ranked Augustana (S.D.).

Contact: Sarah Twiggs
twiggss@ohiodominican.edu