FINDLAY, Ohio – In the GLIAC elimination game, the Ohio Dominican softball team started its offense early, toppling Walsh 7-1 to advance to the next round of the tournament. The Panthers are now 27-26 overall.

For the first time in the tournament, the Panthers struck first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second. Junior Brier Sanner (Hartville, Ohio) continued her success at the plate, lacing a two-out single up the middle to score freshman Allie Hinton (Newcomerstown, Ohio), who had earlier, reached on a fielding error. Junior Alex Cribari (Lyndhurst, Ohio), who advanced to third on Sanner's single, scored on a throwing error by the pitcher.

The following inning, sophomore Montana Fishel (Gahanna, Ohio) and senior Caitlin Jividen (Wheeling, W. Va.) hit back to back singles to start the bottom of the third. After advancing to second and third on a designed play, Hinton hit a deep fly ball to right center to bring home Fishel and give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.

Staying locked in at the plate; Sanner roped a two-out double to left center field and later would score on a double by sophomore Lizzy Weber (Canton, Ohio) to extend ODU's lead 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

With a little help from the wind blowing into right field, Hinton blasted her third triple of the season, scoring sophomore Julia Suyak (Trenton, Mich.) who pinch ran for Thomas to give the Panthers a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. A single up the middle from sophomore Kelsey Albanese (Westerville, Ohio) scored Hinton for the Panthers sixth run. After swiping second, Albanese scored on an errant throw by Walsh's catcher to lead 7-0.

In the top of the seventh, the Cavaliers broke up the shutout when Anna Anderson hit a solo homerun over the right field fence. The homerun was the first on the tournament on field five through five games.

Starting senior Rachael Stanzel (Angleton, Texas) picked up the win for the Panthers, going the distance while allowing just one run on six hits.

Ohio Dominican will have a tough road ahead to get out of the conciliation bracket, facing a tough Ashland squad in game number two today in another elimination game.

Contact: Sarah Twiggs
twiggss@ohiodominican.edu