COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican softball team looks to continue its winning ways when it travels to Cedarville, Ohio to battle Cedarville University in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday afternoon.
ODU has won its last eight straight contests dating back to March 30 against Ashland University. The Black and Gold sit atop of the G-MAC with a 21-13 overall record and an astounding 11-1 record in conference play.
The Panthers went a perfect 6-0 last week scoring series sweeps against Lake Erie College, Walsh University, and Malone University.
Junior Braxton Downs (Louisville, Ohio) led the charge offensively as she hit for a robust .647 batting average. The ODU third basemen also secured 11 hits (four home runs) and six RBIs. Those figures proved strong enough to lift Downs to her first G-MAC Player of the Week honors of her collegiate career.
Downs was supported by Kaleigh Golden (Thornville, Ohio) and Alli Madden (Cincinnati, Ohio) who each hit for a .500 average. Golden tied for the team lead in extra-base hits with two, while Madden drove in four runs.
Sydney Long (Ashland, Ohio) and Addison Smodilla (Terre Haute, Indiana) once again proved successful in the circle. The duo combined for a 6-0 record and strike out 24 batters in a combined 38 innings of work.
ABOUT CEDARVILLE
The Yellow Jackets come into Thursday contest with an 18-11 overall record and 3-5 in conference play. Both teams split the series last season with the Black and Gold taking a 9-4 result in game one before falling 6-0 in game two.
Graduate McKenna Smith leads the Jackets in hitting as has a .404 batting average and a .952 on-base percentage. Sophomore Casey Bertke continues to be a mainstay in the circle as she leads the team with an 11-5 record. She has struck out 76 batters in 107 innings of work.
The series begins Thursday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3 PM.
Contact: Ralph Schudel
schudelr@ohiodominican.edu
