COLUMBUS, Ohio – In their third straight home game, the Ohio Dominican softball team hosted the Timberwolves of Northwood University on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers took game one, 2-1, but fell in game two, 4-3, snapping their perfect record in conference play.
Senior Braxton Downs (Louisville, Ky.) led the way going 4-6 from the plate with two runs batted in and a stolen base. Following her was Alexis Stevens (Marion, Ohio) with three hits, an RBI, and a stolen base. Kaleigh Golden (Thornville, Ohio) collected two doubles and accounted for two runs.
In the circle, Marlee Jacobs (Plain City, Ohio) improved to 15-3 on the season after pitching a 7.0 inning complete game with two strikeouts.
Game One
Golden opened the bottom of the opening frame with a double but was stranded at third base. The Timbies struck first in the top of the next inning with a solo homerun, taking an early 1-0 lead.
Downs collected her first hit in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single through the right side. In the bottom of the next inning, Makaila Moses (Lancaster, Ohio) and Gracie Jo Thompson (Ashville, Ohio) registered base hits.
Bringing it down to the wire, the Black and Gold got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. ODU scored two runs off of two errors with Downs notching her second hit of the game. The Panthers took a 2-1 lead heading into the final inning.
In a last ditch effort, NU tallied two hits but left two on base with Jacobs retiring the final batter to snag the 2-1 win.
Game Two
With the momentum from game one, the Panthers scored first in the opening frame. Golden and Stevens both singled, setting the plate for a sacrifice fly from Downs to give Ohio Dominican a 1-0 lead.
The Timberwolves answered in the top of the following inning off of two hits and an error, including a two-run homerun. NU went ahead 3-1. In the bottom of the third inning, Golden snagged a leadoff double. Stevens came up with a RBI single, cutting ODU's deficit to 3-2.
Back-to-back doubles in the top of the fifth frame extended the Timbies lead to 4-2. The Panthers responded in the bottom of that inning, with two hits and a walk, resulting in another run for ODU.
Moses recorded a double to open the sixth but was stranded at third. In their last at bat, the Panthers rallied with two outs snagging consecutive singles from Stevens and Downs. Ohio Dominican couldn't score, falling in their first conference game.
Up Next
The Black and Gold will return to action tomorrow, hosting Ashland University for a doubleheader starting at 12:00 PM, weather permitting.
