By Sports Information Intern Aaron McPherson

CANTON, Ohio — Ohio Dominican's softball team defeated Malone 6-4 in nine innings in the first game of a road doubleheader to deliver Panthers' head coach Marcella Vanlandingham's 600th career win and completed the sweep by taking game two 11-6 on Tuesday.

The Panthers (20-26, 7-13 GLIAC) have won three of their last four games and have scored 24 runs during the stretch.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the third inning of game one, sophomore Taylor Kline (Bellville, OH) singled to center field to score senior Brier Sanner (Hartville, OH), tying the game 1-1.

ODU added two more runs in the fourth. With the bases loaded and game tied 1-1 with two outs, freshman Kylie Dempsey (Liberty Township, OH) singled to left center and advanced to second on the throw, scoring freshman Kelly Mix (Baltimore, OH) and freshman Maria Simmonds (Columbus, OH), giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead.

With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the fifth and senior Montana Fishel (Gahanna, OH) on second, junior Kelly Wallace (Oshkosh, WI) doubled to center field to score Fishel and give Ohio Dominican a 4-3 lead.

After a Malone run in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at 4-4, ODU added the final runs of the contest in the top of the ninth. A wild pitch scored Suyak and advanced Kline to third, then senior Kelsey Albanese (Westerville, OH) singled to score Kline, giving the Panthers a 6-4 lead headed into the bottom of the inning. Junior Casey Murdoch (Morrow, OH) closed the game with a strikeout, earning the win and 600th career victory for Vanlandingham.

In game two, the Panthers rallied from a 4-1 first inning deficit to win 11-6, scoring a season-high 11 runs on 13 hits.

Malone scored four runs in the first inning and led 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Sanner led off the fourth for the Panthers with a single up the middle, then Dempsey got in on the action with a bunt that advanced Sanner to second. After an error by the third baseman on a sacrifice bunt from Suyak loaded the bases, Kline took it from there, doubling to left center field to score Dempsey and Sanner to tie the game at 5-5.

Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth, Murdoch began the inning with a home run, her first of the year, tying the game at 6-6. Three at bats later, Dempsey singled to left center to score Sutter and give the Panthers their first lead of the game, 7-6.

In the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, Sanner doubled and advanced to third on the throw, scoring Murdoch, Wallace and Albanese to give Ohio Dominican a 10-6 lead. A groundout by Dempsey scored Sanner, increasing the Panther advantage to 11-6, which was held en route to victory.

Murdoch picked up another win, her fifth of the year, and freshman Abby Lamping (Cleves, OH) recorded her second save of the season.

Dempsey went four-of-seven on the day with four RBIs. Kline recorded five hits and three RBIs in the two games, and as a team, Ohio Dominican finished the day with 17 runs on 23 hits.

The Panthers will travel to Lake Superior State on Friday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader..

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu