COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican softball team increased its winning streak to an astounding 14 consecutive games with a series sweep against Kentucky Wesleyan College on Sunday afternoon. The Black and Gold now ties the longest winning streak in ODU's Division II era as well as its longest streak as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. They also own the fourth-best winning streak in the nation.

The Panthers collected a 7-0 victory in the first game and an 11-1 victory in game two.

Following the series head coach Marcella Vanlandingham and her team paid homage to five members of the senior class. Keirah Smetzer (Ashland, Ohio), Madison Shemwell (Owensboro, Kentucky), Sydney Long (Ashland, Ohio), Erika Case (Reynoldsburg, Ohio), and Olivia Rettke (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) were all honored following the doubleheader sweep with a postgame ceremony celebrating their accomplishments.

GAME ONE

Long retired the first two batters in the top of the first inning but saw a runner reach base following an error. She retired the side with a flyout to bring the Black and Gold to bat in the bottom of the inning. Shemwell opened with a double to centerfield and freshman Kaleigh Golden (Thornville, Ohio) walked to put runners on first and second with no outs.

An RBI single off the bat of Alexis Stevens (Marion, Ohio) singled up the middle to drive in Shemwell. Rettke completed the scoring run plating two with her RBI double off the left field wall to give the hosts an early 3-0 lead.

With one out in the third inning Alli Madden (Cincinnati, Ohio) reached base off an error by the third baseman. She would score following an RBI single from Golden to push the advantage to 4-0.

Case brought a bang to the senior day celebrations when she hit a home run over the left center field wall. An RBI double from Sidney Jackson (Lewisburg, Ohio) gave ODU a 6-0 advantage, while Makenna Conley (Mt. Orab, Ohio) drove in a runner to life the Panthers to the 7-0 victory.

GAME TWO

The Black and Gold struck for a combined eight runs in the first two innings, firing the opening salvo in the bottom of the first. The first two Panthers got on base with a walk and a single to the right side. Case continued her RBI rampage as she hit a sacrifice fly to center field. A double steal from Braxton Downs (Louisville, Kentucky) and Golden plated another run.

After an RBI single by Kentucky Wesleyan cut the lead in half, the Black and Gold struck for six runs in the second inning. Smetzer opened the inning with a single. A sacrifice bunt off the bat of Addison Smodilla (Terre Haute, Indiana) moved Smetzer to second. The Panther senior moved to third base following a single from Madden.

A bunt single from Shemwell plated two runners to begin the scoring run. A double from Case off the left center wall plated three runs to swell the lead to 7-1. An RBI double from Downs gave the Panthers an 8-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning.

An RBI double from Anna Darrah (Canton, Ohio) extended the ODU lead to 9-1 in the bottom of the third inning. Freshman Shelby Flynn (Heath, Ohio) added an RBI single to extend the lead to 10-1. Golden added one more run as the Black and Gold collected an 11-1 win in five innings.

UP NEXT

ODU heads to the Circle City to battle the University of Indianapolis on Tuesday, April 26. The doubleheader begins at 3 PM.

Contact: Ralph Schudel
schudelr@ohiodominican.edu