GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 13, 2024) – It was a special day for the Denison University softball team, which not only hosted its Senior Day on Saturday, but held a Turf Field Dedication and First-Pitch Ceremony in between games against the College of Wooster. In the end, the Big Red were shutout 6-0 in game one before bouncing back in a big way with three home runs in a 13-2 five-inning win in game two.
 
Game 1 (Denison 0, Wooster 6):

• Wooster scored five runs in a top of the first inning that featured three errors by the Big Red defense.
• Jordyn Maurer and Indy Workman drew back-to-back walks to lead off Denison's half of the first inning, but that was followed by three straight outs.
• Then in the second inning, the Big Red were unable to do anything with back-to-back singles by Madilyn Moffitt and Leilah Ferrari.
• Denison's biggest threat to score came in the bottom of the fourth when Brooke Surbaugh led off with a single to right field before a walk by Jacqui Abogado and a single by Moffitt loaded the bases with just one out, but a lineout and a groundball got the Fighting Scots' Tori Connor (5-4) out of the jam.
• Moffitt finished 2-for-3 and accounted for two of Denison's five hits in the game. She also pitched the final 5.2 innings for the Big Red allowing three hits, no runs, one walk and three strikeouts.
• For Wooster, Connor finished with seven innings pitched allowing five hits, three walks and three strikeouts to earn the shutout win. It was her second shutout in a row after collecting Wooster's first shutout of the season last time out with a 2-0 win over John Carroll University.
• In all, Denison finished with seven errors in game one.

 
Game 2 (Denison 13, Wooster 2):

• An error on the first at bat of the game led to back-to-back singles by the Fighting Scots to score the first run, and then a sacrifice bunt two batters later scored another run to make it 2-0.
• Fortunately for Denison, the bats woke up in the bottom of the first and Sydney Silverstein (6-2) found her groove and kept Wooster off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
• Denison's half of the first inning featured another leadoff walk by Maurer and a two-run home run to center field by Annabelle Calderon to tie the game. Then after a hit by pitch by Surbaugh was followed by singles by Alessandra Groome and Abogado to load the bases, Denison got four straight RBI's as a single to right field by Ferrari brought in the go-ahead run.
• Then after a leadoff walk by Workman in the bottom of the second, Calderon's second two-run home run in as many innings made it 8-2 before the inning ended with another RBI-single by Ferrari to make it 9-2.
• Denison scored four more runs in the fourth inning as Workman again led off with a walk and this time was followed by a walk by Calderon. Two batters later, an RBI-single by Groome scored Workman and setup a three-run homer to right center field by Abogado for Denison's third home run of the game.
• Groome finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored while Calderon matched her with three runs in addition to her pair of two-run home runs.
• Abogado was 2-for-3 with two RBI's and two runs scored while Ferrari was also 2-for-3 with two RBI's.
• Silverstein finished with five innings pitched allowing nine hits, two runs, zero walks and one strikeout.

 
Senior Day Recap:

• Clara Wolff has started in 117 out of 120 games in her career, including starting in all 57 games over the last two seasons. She has totaled 79 hits, 48 runs, 46 RBI's, 18 doubles and four home runs in her career. In 2023, Wolff was a First-Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection who started all 35 games in right field while hitting .313 with 31 hits, 17 runs, 17 RBI's and nine doubles. Wolff is a three-time Easton/NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete and NCAC Academic Honor Roll honoree, was a 2022-23 Denison Chi Alpha Sigma inductee, and was named to the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Team.
• The Denison softball team also recognized one of their graduating student managers, Lexi Knipp. Knipp is a psychology major from Lafayette, Indiana. She played two seasons for the Big Red, was a two-time Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete, and was a member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll in 2021-22.

 
Records:

• Denison's (14-8 overall, 3-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) game-two win snaps a four-game losing skid for the Big Red against Wooster (10-14, 1-1).

 
Next Up: Denison will head to Hiram College for a pair of important games starting at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17. The Terriers are the back-to-back NCAC Tournament Champions who just last season, advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.