COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Panthers stay home this weekend as they are set to face the Cedarville Yellow Jackets and the Thomas More Saints in a pair of doubleheaders. The Ohio Dominican softball team is receiving votes in the NFCA DII Coaches Poll for the second week in a row.
About Ohio Dominican
Last weekend, Ohio Dominican faced Trevecca Nazarene, Kentucky Wesleyan, and Saginaw Valley, splitting each series to go 3-3. The Panthers are currently 14-6 overall, and 2-2 in the conference. The Black and Gold registered 46 hits with 22 runs batted in as a team.
Leading the way at the plate were
Emily Walker (Plain City, Ohio),
Kaleigh Golden (Thornville, Ohio), and
Alli Madden (Cincinnati, Ohio). The trio recorded 21 hits collectively while also stealing 10 bases. Walker stole five times, Madden with three, and Golden collected two. The Panthers were 15-15 in stolen base attempts. Additionally,
Emily Holland (Mineral Ridge, Ohio) registered a team-high five RBIs, with five hits and two doubles.
In the circle,
Addison Smodilla (Terre Haute, Ind.) picked up two wins with a 2.72 ERA. Also picking up a win was
Grace Hammer (Uniontown, Ohio), striking out 14 batters in 14.1 innings pitched over the course of the weekend. Hammer is currently ranked 6th in the G-MAC in ERA at 1.52.
About Cedarville
The Yellow Jackets enter the weekend 9-16 overall, while opening conference play 2-0 last weekend against Thomas More. Both games went 10 innings, with Cedarville coming out on top each time with scores of 2-1 and 3-2.
Leading the way at the plate is Kaley Clark with a .348 batting average. The senior has two homeruns on the year with a team-high 22 runs batted in.
On the rubber, Casey Bertke leads the team with a 5-6 record while registering a 3.05 ERA. The senior right-hander received G-MAC and NCCAA Softball Pitcher of the Week honors after allowing one earned run in 17 innings for a final ERA of 0.41 last week. She pitched all ten innings in the first Thomas More matchup, retiring 11 batters.
All time, the Panthers are 14-5 against the Yellow Jackets, with their last matchup resulting in a 3-2 win last May in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament.
About Thomas More
The Saints are currently 5-17 overall, with a 0-2 conference record after suffering two ten-inning losses to Cedarville last weekend.
Josie Wefer leads the team in batting average, hits, and RBIs. The junior has registered 20 hits and 8 RBIs with a .286 batting average. Wefer recorded her first homerun of the season in the Saint's second game last weekend.
In the circle, Annika Gels leads the team with a 5-8 record. Over the course of the weekend, the graduate student struck out 15 batters in 12.2 innings.
This will be the first meeting with the conference newcomers.
First Pitch
First pitch is set for 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM on Friday against Cedarville at Panther Field. The Thomas More doubleheader will begin at 1:00 PM.
