Granville, Ohio- The Denison Big Red softball team hosted day one of the North Coast Athletic Conference Softball Tournament on Thursday, splitting the day, falling to Wittenberg 7-1 in game one and narrowly escaping Hiram in the first elimination game of the tournament, 6-5. The DePauw Tigers, the Hiram Terriers, and the Wittenberg Tigers join the Big Red.
Up Next: Denison will face Wittenberg in a rematch for a spot in the title game against DePauw. The first game will be at 11:00 a.m., followed by game six at 1:30 p.m.
Opening Round (Denison 1, Wittenberg 7)
The Big Red opened the tournament with a hard-fought loss to the Tigers from Wittenberg. The Tigers were able to avenge two 2-0 losses from earlier in the season. Wittenberg team was able to slowly tack runs on, rather than one "big" inning. After falling to an early 4-0 deficit in the fourth inning, Madilyn Moffitt launched a homer over the left field fence, chipping away at the lead and giving spark to the Denison offense, but, following the solo shot the Tigers were able to record three straight outs to extinguish the Denison flame. Wittenberg tacked on two runs later in the 6th inning.
Brooke Surbaugh, Moffitt, and Andrea Care made appearances in the circle for the Big Red. The trio allowed just two earned runs. However, five errors in the field ultimately were too much for Denison to come back from.
The offense was paced by Annabelle Calderon with two walks and led by Mofftt's home run. Indy Workman added a double on the day.
Tournament Game 4 (Denison 6, Hiram 5)
The Big Red, playing in what could have been their final game of the season, refused to quit in their second game of the NCAC tournament. After falling behind 4-0, it wasn't until the sixth inning that the Big Red would cross home plate. Senior catcher Annabelle Calderon pulled a pitch over the left field wall, breaking the shutout and getting the Big Red on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. In the final inning, Denison scored five runs to take a 6-4 lead. Jacqui Abogado crossed home on a throwing error while Carley Melton and Indy Workman brought in RBIs. On Melton's RBI, Emily Orsini, Bri Gonzales, and Alex Longstreth cleared the bags on a throwing error. Hiram had two outs and runners on the corners in the final frame. The Terriers scored 1 to bring the game to 6-5. The next at bat, now with runners at one and two, the Big Red were able to keep Hiram at bay, loading the bases after a single. With the bases now loaded, Brooke Surbaugh drew a line out to first, completing the amazing comeback and sending Denison into Friday play.
At the plate, the Big Red were led by Annabelle Calderon, Jacqui Abogado, and Alex Longstreth, who each collected two hits for the offense. In the circle, Sydney Silverstein and Brooke Surbaugh shared action, striking out seven between the two arms.
