DETROIT – Ohio Dominican's softball team had its biggest win of the season, defeating No. 11 Wayne State 4-0 in game one, but a 10-2 setback in game two helped end the Panthers' season just shy of qualifying for the GLIAC Tournament.

Needing to win both games against the top team in the league while also needing a pair of Tiffin losses, ODU took care of business early in the opener against Wayne State ace Lyndsay Butler, who was 24-3 with a 0.58 ERA entering the game. However, the loss in game two, along with Tiffin's extra inning win in its second game of the day against Saginaw Valley, ended ODU's season.

In the opener, senior Kelsey Albanese (Westerville, Ohio) had an RBI single in the first inning to score sophomore Taylor Kline (Bellville, Ohio), who had singled and stole second to start the frame. In the third inning, Albanese had a two-run double to left-center, then scored on an RBI basehit by junior Kelly Wallace (Oshkosh, Wisc.) to give ODU a 4-0 lead.

That was more than enough support for freshman Abby Lamping (Cleves, Ohio), who threw a complete game shutout for a second straight day. The Warriors managed just four hits off of her and had just two runners reach second base, none after the third inning.

Lamping needed just 62 pitches to finish the game, throwing 42 of them for strikes. It was just the second time that Wayne State was shut out all season. Lamping struck out three and walked just one batter.

Albanese finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs and Kline had two hits, scored two runs and stole two bases.

Wayne State (42-7, 21-13 GLIAC) came out strong to start game two, though, scoring a single run in each of the first three innings before scoring four times in the fourth to go in front 7-0.

Senior Julia Suyak (Trenton, Mich.) had a two-run single in the fourth to make it 7-2, but the Warriors scored three times in the fifth to close out the game.

Suyak had two hits for the Panthers in game two.

Ohio Dominican closes its season with a 25-27 record, 12-14 in GLIAC play. The Panthers won seven of their last eight games to close the season.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu