After Wittenberg starter Brook Boswell shutout the Big Red in game one, DU finally got to the senior in the fifth inning of game two when Denison strung together five hits, resulting in four runs which helped DU to a 7-3 victory in the night cap. Wittenberg took game one, 1-0.
Trailing 3-2 in the fifth inning, Denison's Erica Evans (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) led off with a single that hopped over the bag at third base. Brie Berkopec (Mars, Pa./Mars Senior) followed with a single through the left side of the infield forcing Boswell out of the game for reliever Anna Kvartunas. Alex Murray (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/NDCL) got to Kvartunas right away, drilling a double off the wall in left-center field. Jessica Robertson (Mount Gilead, Ohio/Mount Gilead) added an RBI single that scored two runs after a fielding error in the outfield allowed an extra run to cross home plate.
After the dust settled in the inning, Denison held a 6-3 advantage. They would add one more run in the seventh inning off a double by Evans that scored Emily Croll (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor).
The victory in game two went to Leslie Brenner (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) who pitched five innings in relief of starter Nikki McCoy (Ney, Ohio/Fairview). Brenner allowed only two hits in the second game and struck out four to improve to 12-6. The loss was charged to Kvartunas who dropped to 0-2. Evans was 3-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI. Evans and Berkopec also extended their hitting streaks to 16 and 17 games, respectively. In game one, Lauren Lynn's (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) 17-game hitting streak was snapped. The longest hitting streak in DU history is 19 set by Samantha Rumschlag (Carmel, Ind./Cathedral) in 2008.
In game one, Boswell kept the Big Red off balance, holding them to just four hits in seven innings. Brenner was sharp in seven innings for Denison but the senior allowed one run off a double by Cameron Catalfu that scored Haley Gerken.
Denison will host Otterbein College on Thursday (April 22) in a doubleheader that will begin at 3:30 p.m.
