COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior Madison Shemwell (Owensboro, Kentucky) went 3-for-5 from the plate with two RBIs in game one as she helped lead Ohio Dominican Softball to a home-opening series split against Saginaw Valley State University on Wednesday afternoon.

Neither team crossed the plate in the first two innings as both Ohio Dominican's Sydney Long (Ashland, Ohio) and Saginaw Valley State's Alyssa Muench were imposing in the circle. The Black and Gold broke through in the bottom of the third inning as Keirah Smetzer (Ashland, Ohio) opened the inning with a walk. She moved into scoring position off a double from Allison Madden (Cincinnati, Ohio) bounced around in centerfield to put runners at second and third.

Freshman Kaleigh Golden (Thornville, Ohio) drove in her teammates with an RBI single to right-center field to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. The Cardinals responded to cut the lead in half, capitalizing on a throwing error that allowed one run to score. SVSU added a home run in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2.

A single from the visitors in the top half of the seventh inning gave them a short-lived 3-2 advantage. A double off the bat of Shemwell drove in Madden to tie the game and force bonus softball. Just two extra innings were required by an RBI single from Shemwell punched in the game-winning run to deliver a 4-3 victory in nine innings of action.

ODU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game two thanks to some small ball. Shemwell opened the second game with a walk before being moved over to second base off a bunt single from Golden. The duo moved to second and third off a sacrifice from Braxton Downs (Louisville, Ohio).

A wild pitch allowed Shemwell to score with Golden adding to the lead following a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Alexis Stevens (Marion, Ohio). Saginaw Valley State scored six unanswered runs to take a 6-2 advantage into the bottom of the fourth inning. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Shelby Flynn (Health, Ohio) would be the final run of the day for the Black and Gold as the Panthers fell in game two by the score of 6-3.

UP NEXT
ODU heads to the circle city to battle the University of Indianapolis on Wednesday, March 23. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2 PM.

Contact: Ralph Schudel
schudelr@ohiodominican.edu