The Denison softball team opened its final week of the regular season with a key sweep of North Coast Athletic Conference foe Wooster on Wednesday afternoon in Wooster, Ohio.  The Big Red pounded the Scots 11-0 in the opener and rallied for a 4-2 victory in game two.

DU looked solid in all facets of game one.  The Denison offense pounded out 18 hits, the defense played a flawless game and the pitching was on point.  Senior hurler Rebecca Dyer tossed her sixth shutout of the season after scattering four hits and striking out a career-high tying 13 over the course of seven innings.

Dyer got plenty of run support as the Big Red scored 11 times behind 18 hits. The big blows for Denison came in the fourth and seventh innings. Freshmen Lindsey Kenyon and Kerry Hager each drove in two in the fourth, while Rachel Laughlin also had an RBI single in the inning. In the seventh, freshman Ryan Lee had a two-run double to left, while an RBI base hit by Meghan Edwards and a sacrifice fly by Hager accounted for DU's four tallies.

All nine starters in the lineup had a hit, with seven of those nine recording multiple hits.  Julie Rooney went 4-for-5 with two runs to lead the charge, while Kenyon, Hager, Edwards, Lee, Laughlin and Ellen McDevitt-Stredney all had two hits.  Hager and Lee each knocked in three runs, while Kenyon, Gretchen Staubach and Edwards all crossed the plate twice.

The Fighting Scots looked to split the doubleheader after grabbing a 2-0 lead after one in game two.  However, freshman pitcher Erin Laswell helped her own cause in the fourth with a single up the middle that drove in Lee and Edwards.

With the game tied 2-2 heading into the seventh, the Big Red bats came alive to score two more and grab its first lead of the game.  Hager broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Rooney. Staubach followed with some instant offense of her own as she sent a Rylee Bouillion pitch over the center field wall.  Wooster's first two hitters of the seventh both reached base, but three-consecutive fielder's choice outs at third secured the sweep.

Laswell earned her fifth win of the season after allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.  The freshman also went 1-for-1 with two RBIs and two walks at the plate.  Staubach provided the biggest pop at the dish in game two, going 3-for-4 with a solo home run.

With the sweep, Denison (18-12) moves into second place in the NCAC standings with an 8-4 conference record.  Wooster falls to 11-24 overall and 3-11 in league play.  The Big Red closes out the regular season with four key games this weekend. DU will travel to Delaware, Ohio on Saturday for a twinbill with the Battling Bishops.  On Sunday, Denison returns home for two make-up games with Kenyon.  Both doubleheaders are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.