CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Ohio Dominican's softball team opened the 2020 season with a pair of losses at Lee dropping game one 11-9 and falling 7-2 in game two.

Carson Hackerd (Frankfort, Ind.) and Brooklyn Rayburn (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) led the offense with three hits each on the afternoon with Hackerd homering twice in game one.

In game one, the Panthers fell behind early when Lee scored in the first but ODU would grab the lead with four runs in the third. Hackerd's first homer of the game led off the scoring and a wild pitch allowed freshman Madison Shemwell (Owensboro, Ky.) to score for ODU to take the lead. Allison Fathbruckner (Delaware, Ohio) stole home when Cameron Barber (Powell, Ohio) stole second and a Rayburn reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Barber to score.

Lee would add a run in the bottom half and would regain the lead with a four run fourth inning. However, the Panthers would answer with a four run inning of their own in the top half of the fifth. Freshman Braxton Downs (Prospect, Ky.) came in to pinch hit and hit a three run home run in her first career at-bat that brought Rayburn and Farmer home. Hackerd would add to the lead with her second solo home run of the day to make the score 8-6.

Lee used a four run sixth inning to regain the lead and in the seventh, a Shemwell single scored Rayburn but the rally was cut short when Hackerd was thrown out at the plate.

In game two, ODU took the early lead on a Barber single that scored Shemwell in the first. A three run home run for Lee gave them a lead they would not relinquish. Lee would add a run in the third and fifth innings and a Landry Slider (Stow, Ohio) solo home run in the sixth cut the Panther deficit to 6-2.

The Panthers will return to action next Saturday when they travel to Lincoln Memorial to take on McKendree and Lincoln Memorial.