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Box Score 3 Raleigh, NC - With Sunday's schedule washed out due to forecasted rainfall, the Oberlin College softball team played three games on Saturday at the William Peace Classic. The Yeowomen dropped game one to Kean College, 13-8, and rallied late in an 8-7 loss to North Carolina Wesleyan. The marathon day continued with a 19-3 defeat at the hands of No. 19 Christopher Newport.
The Yeowomen will head back north with a mark of 2-5 on the season.
Kean 13, Oberlin 8 Recap
It was a back-and-forth battle between the Cougars and the Yeowomen with Kean eventually pulling away late to earn the victory on the strength of a seven-run fifth inning.
Oberlin had plenty of offense with 11 hits but was hindered by allowing 12 free bases on 10 walks and two hit batters.
The Yeowomen wasted no time getting on the board, striking for two runs in the top of the first inning on Vianca Dagnino's two-out two-run opposite field single to right field that plated Cat Moruzzi and Mia Brito.
The Cougars answered back with three runs in the home half of the first before tacking on a single tally in the second to claim a 4-2 lead.
Oberlin scratched out a run in the third as Alaina Di Dio worked a bases-loaded walk but the Cougars got that run right back in the bottom of the inning to make it a 5-3 ball game.
First-year Loren Carter belted a solo home run in the fourth but the trend continued with Kean responding to every Oberlin run.
The Yeowomen went into the fifth down 6-4 but would get even on Haley Bartsch's two-RBI single to left center that sent Di Dio and Caley Dunlop across the dish. Unfortunately, Heather Clevenger was able to pitch out of the jam and leave the bases loaded.
Di Dio battled through command issues to get through the front four innings inside the circle for the Yeowomen, but not before she got touched up for seven hits and six runs (four earned) to go along with six walks and two hit batters in the no-decision.
Unfortunately, first-year Jess Friedman did fare much better as she was saddled with the loss as the Cougars erupted for seven runs off the Oberlin rookie in the fifth, using four hits, four walks, and an error in the inning to break the game wide open.
Friedman tried to help her own cause at the plate in the sixth, blasting a two-run shot over the wall in left center in the sixth but it was too little too late to impact the final outcome.
Carter finished 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored. Dagnino and Bartsch also had two hits in the loss.
North Carolina Wesleyan 8, Oberlin 7 Recap
It appeared as if the Battling Bishops were going to cruise to an easy win over the Yeowomen as they exploded for six runs in the top of the first inning, using five hits and three walks to their advantage. The big blow came off the bat of Abby Todd as she blasted a grand slam over the left field wall.
NCW would add another tally in the top of the second to make it 7-0 but Oberlin would settle in from there and slowly work its way back into the game.
Facing an 8-0 deficit in the home half of the fourth, the Yeowomen offense came to life as the first three hitters all reached base. Kathryn Beeman led things off with a single, Lalli Lopez worked a walk, and Kyra Davis sent a single back up the box. Sadie Seaman would plate the first run on a groundout before Lopez scored on a passed ball. Katie Austin would later pick up an RBI with a single up the middle to shrink the gap down to five.
After a rough start for Austin inside the circle, she was able to hold the Bishops scoreless over the final three frames to keep the Yeowomen within striking distance. After the rocky first, she allowed just five more hits over the final six innings as she finished with four walks against six strikeouts.
In the sixth, the Yeowomen put the pressure back on the Bishops, using two hits and an error to score four runs in the frame. Haley Bartsch scored pinch runner Caley Dunlop before Cat Moruzzi sent a three-run home run to straight away center to trim the gap all the way down to just one.
Beeman led off the Oberlin seventh and was robbed of a base hit on a leaping catch by senior shortstop Meredith Mize. Mia Brito would later get aboard with a two-out single but closer Emily Humphrey was able to induce a game-ending pop up of Vianca Dagnino to preserve the win.
Moruzzi accounted for a third of Oberlin's nine hits in the game while also adding a walk.
Christopher Newport 19, Oberlin 3 Recap
The nationally-ranked Captains lived up to the praise as they jumped on the Yeowomen early and never looked back.
First-year Loren Carter smacked a two-run home run for her second round-tripper of the day and third of the season and Caley Dunlop scored on a wild pitch to account for the Oberlin scoring.
More details may be added as they become available.
The Yeowomen now have a few weeks off from competition before returning to the diamond on March 19 at Carnegie Mellon University.
