GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 18, 2023) – Playing in its first of three North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheaders this week, the Denison University softball team fell for the first time this season in conference action. The Big Red won 9-1 in six innings in game one, but then fell 10-2 in five innings in game two at home against Ohio Wesleyan University on Tuesday.
 
Game 1 (Denison 9, Ohio Wesleyan 1):

• Brianna Gonzalez made a diving catch in center field for the final out of the top of the first inning, and then Maggie Ballentine led off the bottom half of the inning with a double over the head of the right fielder before scoring with two outs on a fielding error by the Battling Bishops.
• The Big Red then exploded for six runs, all on two outs, in the bottom of the second inning as Macie Harkovich had an RBI-single and Jacqui Abogado came up big with a three-run double to right field, all before back-to-back errors by the OWU shortstop allowed two more runs to score.
• With the Battling Bishops threatening with two runners in scoring position and one out in the top of the third inning, Sydney Silverstein (8-4) got a popout to Ballentine at second base and a foul out to Abogado at third to keep OWU off the scoreboard.
• Then in the top of the fourth inning and with runners at the corners with one out, Silverstein again got out of it with a popout and a fielder's choice both to Indy Workman at shortstop.
• OWU got its first run of the day after loading the bases on two walks and a Big Red fielding error and then getting a hit by pitch to make it 7-1 with one out in the sixth inning before leaving the bases loaded.
• In the bottom of the sixth inning, Denison loaded the bases with nobody out after back-to-back walks by Ballentine and Harkovich and a single to right field by Abogado.
• Workman followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Ballentine, and then Brooke Surbaugh singled to center field to score Harkovich and end the game in six innings.
• Abogado finished 2-for-4 with three RBI's.
• In addition, Erika Gustafson and Alessandra Groome were both 2-for-3 in game one.
• Silverstein allowed five hits, one run and three walks in 5.2 innings to earn the win.

 
Game 2 (Denison 2, Ohio Wesleyan 10):

• OWU put up four runs in the first inning, scoring on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to center field before scoring two runs on a passed ball.
• In the bottom of the first for Denison, Ballentine and Abogado both singled, but twice in the inning the Big Red fell victim to fielder's choices after having to wait to advance on balls lost in the sun by the OWU defense.
• Surbaugh then singled to load the bases for the Big Red in the first inning, but a third fielder's choice ended the inning.
• A two-out double to center field led to another run for OWU on the ensuing single to make it 5-0 in the second inning, but Denison was able to get on the board in the bottom half as Groome led off with a walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Ballentine.
• After another run for the Battling Bishops in the third inning, relief pitcher Sophia Parpala was able to get an infield fly followed by a swinging strikeout to leave the bases loaded and prevent more runs from scoring, but in the bottom half, a one-out double by Workman was erased on a lineout double play to the first baseman.
• A leadoff double for OWU in the fourth inning led to a two-out, two-run triple to make it 8-1, and then a leadoff single led to a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 9-1 in the fifth inning.
• In all, the Battling Bishops scored 10 runs on 12 hits, four Big Red errors and three passed balls.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Denison got a run as after a leadoff double to the right center field gap by Jordyn Maurer, the pinch runner, Harkovich, just beat the throw home to score from second on a single to right field by Workman.
• However, a fielder's choice and a lineout to the pitcher promptly ended the contest in five innings.
• OWU's Katie Chittum limited the Big Red to eight hits and two runs while earning the complete game victory.

 
Records:

• Denison's record moves to 13-11 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC while OWU's went to 10-16 and 5-3.
• It was the first meeting between the two teams since Denison's 3-2 game-two win in last year's regular-season finale that featured a two-out, two-run home run by Jessica Hopkins to put the Big Red in front in the top of the seventh inning.

 
Next Up: Denison will finish off the week with back-to-back conference series at the College of Wooster on Saturday, April 22, and at Kenyon College on Sunday, April 23. Both doubleheaders are set to begin at 1 p.m.