COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican softball team honored their three seniors this afternoon while clinching the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season title with their split against Cedarville University. The Panthers took the opening game, 5-4, but fell in the second end of the doubleheader, 2-1.

Junior Alexis Stevens (Marion, Ohio) led the way with two doubles and three runs batted in. Outfielders, Kaleigh Golden (Thornville, Ohio) and Alli Madden (Cincinnati, Ohio) each snagged two hits and an RBI. Golden added three walks and Madden had two sacrifice bunts.

In the circle, Marlee Jacobs (Plain City, Ohio) picked up her 20^th win. The freshman added two strikeouts in her 7.0 innings pitched. Senior Addison Smodilla (Terre Haute, Ind.) grabbed four strikeouts and netted a double at the plate.

Game One

The Yellow Jackets struck first in the opening inning after plating two runs off of two hits. Stevens collected her first double in the bottom of the frame but was stranded at second. Cedarville added another score in the top of the following inning, taking an early 3-0 lead.

The Black and Gold got on the board in the bottom of the third frame after back-to-back singles from Golden and Madden. A sacrifice fly from Stevens brought it to 3-1. CU extended their lead to 4-1 in the top of the fourth after stringing two hits together.
Smodilla doubled in the bottom of the fourth and scored off of an RBI single from Olivia Congleton (Belpre, Ohio), making it 4-2. ODU added two more in the next inning. Golden and Madden snagged their second hits of the game with Stevens hitting her second double and adding two RBIs. Downs recorded her first hit of the game as well.

Ohio Dominican took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with consecutive walks from McKenna Conley (Mt. Orab, Ohio) and Golden. A stolen base from Conley set her up to score off of a sacrifice bunt from Madden.
Cedarville had no response in their final at bat, giving the Panthers a 5-4 win in the opening game.

Game Two

Cedarville scored first in the top of the second after stringing together three hits, taking a 1-0 lead. The Black and Gold collected their first hit in the bottom of the fourth inning with Downs hitting a single through the left side.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Gracie Jo Thompson (Ashville, Ohio) singled down the right field line to get things going. A sacrifice fly from Conley advanced her to second with a wild pitch bringing her to third. Golden hit a sacrifice fly to score Thompson, tying it up at 1-all.

The Yellow Jackets collected two hits with two outs to plate one, taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning. Thompson collected her second hit of the game in the Panthers' final at bat, but was left on the bases. Cedarville took game two, 2-1.

Up Next

The Black and Gold look forward to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament starting Wednesday (May 3) in Findlay, Ohio.