TIFFIN, Ohio— Mount Union's softball team split a doubleheader to open Ohio Athletic Conference play with Heidelberg on Saturday afternoon, losing game one 11-3 in six innings and winning game two 13-1 in six innings.
The Purple Raiders (11-7, 1-1 OAC) would strike first in game one, scoring a run in the top of the first inning when senior Tori Sickafoose (Magnolia / Sandy Valley) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score junior Faith Reicosky (North Canton / Hoover) to take a 1-0 lead.
The Student Princes (11-9, 1-1 OAC) would quickly answer with four runs in the bottom half of the same inning, with RBIs coming from Abbie Marshall, Emma Dean, and Aubrey Conklin to claim a 4-1 lead.
Mount Union would cut into the lead in the third inning when senior Adri George (Eastlake / North) would hit an RBI single that scored Reicosky to cut the lead to two runs. Heidelberg would answer once again in the bottom half of the third when Conklin hit a three-run home run to left field to push the lead out to five runs.
The Raiders would once again cut into the lead in the fifth inning when Reicosky hit an RBI double that scored junior Sydney Mercer (Salem / West Branch) to cut the lead to 7-3. However, the Student Princes would once again extend their lead in the bottom of the fifth, this time scoring off RBIs from Marshall and Jade Torres to push the lead to six runs. They would then add two more runs in the sixth inning when Gabbie Stallbaum hit a solo home run to left center and Dean hit an RBI single as they would go on to win 11-3 in six innings.
Junior Kendyll Cahill (Groveport / Groveport Madison) got the start in the circle for Mount Union in game one and gave up seven runs on five hits and struck out three in four innings of work. Junior Chloe Bird (Norton) would come in to pitch the final 1.2 innings in relief and gave up four runs, three earned, on four hits and struck out one.
The Raiders would strike first again in game two when Mercer hit a solo home run to left center in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Mount Union would then add two runs to their lead in the third inning, the first coming from a sacrifice bunt from Reicosky that brought in Mercer, and then Cahill hit a solo home run to right center to make the lead three runs. They would continue to add to their lead in the fourth inning, scoring four more runs with RBIs from Reicosky, George, and Sickafoose to make it 7-0.
With her two-RBI single in the fourth inning, George broke the school record for career RBIs, becoming the all-time leader with her 122nd career RBI.
The Raiders would go on to add an eighth run in the fifth inning when Allison Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) stole second and then scored after a throwing error by the Heidelberg catcher to make the lead 8-0.
The Student Princes would cut into the lead in the bottom half of that same inning when Marshall hit a solo home run to left field to cut the lead down to seven runs.
However, Mount Union would go on to add five runs in the top of the sixth inning, scoring off RBIs from Cahill, junior Abbie Gayner (Akron / Revere), sophomore Kyndall Hahn (Garrettsville / James Garfield), and Mercer to push the lead to 12 runs. Heidelberg wouldn't have an answer in the bottom half of the inning as the Raiders would go on to win 13-1 in six innings.
Freshman Emma Reemsnyder (Canton / GlenOak) got the start in the circle for Mount Union in game two and gave up zero runs on four hits and struck out two in two innings of action. Sophomore Haleigh McCalla (Youngstown / Springfield Local) would come in to throw the next three innings in relief and gave up one run on two hits and struck out one. Freshman Daniella Vecchio (Monongahela, Pa. / Ringgold) would come in to pitch the final inning and gave up zero runs on zero hits and struck out one.
The Raiders are on the road again tomorrow as they head to Angola, Ind., to take on no. 11 nationally ranked Trine in a doubleheader, with game one beginning at 12 p.m., followed by game two at 2 p.m.
