HILLSDALE, Mich. — With a 4-1 victory in game one of a GLIAC doubleheader at Hillsdale on Sunday, Ohio Dominican's softball team clinched a berth in the 2017 GLIAC Softball Tournament, which will be played at the Marathon Diamonds at the University of Findlay, May 5-7.

The Panthers (26-20, 13-7 GLIAC) are currently fourth in the GLIAC standings and are 9-2 in their last 11 games. The squad will conclude the 2017 regular season at Ashland on Friday.

ODU defeated Hillsdale by a final score of 4-1 in game one of the doubleheader, finishing with 12 hits overall. Sophomore pitcher Abby Lamping (Cleves, Ohio) allowed just one earned run on six hits in 7.0 innings of work to pick up her 11th win of the season.

Sophomore Kelly Mix (Baltimore, Ohio) went 3-for-4 with one RBI. Senior Kelly Wallace (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, bringing her RBI total to 36 for the season, which ranks second in the GLIAC. Junior Taylor Kline (Bellville, Ohio) finished 2-for-4 and stole three bases for ODU.

The Panthers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as Kline stole home during a run-down to give ODU a 1-0 lead.

Ohio Dominican extended its advantage to 2-0 in the top of the fifth after a sacrifice fly by Wallace scored freshman Taylor Farmer (Mt. Blanchard, Ohio).

The Chargers would threaten the Panther lead after scoring one run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 2-1, but Ohio Dominican pushed the lead out of reach in the top of the seventh. Kline led off the inning with a single and stole second, then two batters later, Wallace singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw, scoring Kline to give ODU a 3-1 lead. With two outs, Mix singled to right to score Wallace, pushing the lead to 4-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

Lamping recorded two strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh en route to retiring the Charger batters in order, earning the win, 4-1.

Hillsdale defeated Ohio Dominican in game two of the doubleheader by a final score of 9-3. Wallace went 2-for-4. Junior Jordan Nichols (Peotone, Illinois) went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run, her third long ball of the year. Freshman Cameron Barber (Powell, Ohio) finished 2-for-4 while pitching 5.2 innings for ODU.

Ohio Dominican will face Ashland on Friday, April 28 in a GLIAC doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m.  

Contact: Aaron McPherson
mcphersa@ohiodominican.edu