COLUMBUS, Ohio— Mount Union's softball team swept Capital in an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, winning game one 10-5 and winning game two 15-2 in five innings.
The Comets (11-13, 4-4 OAC) would strike first in game one when Kyleigh Kirby hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
The Purple Raiders (13-9, 3-3 OAC) would come back to tie the game at a run apiece in the top half of the fourth inning when sophomore Kaitlynn Bamler (Twinsburg) hit an RBI single to center field that scored junior Kaitlyn Culver (Girard). They would then explode for a five-run inning in the fifth, scoring off RBIs from senior Adri George (Eastlake / North), junior Abbie Gayner (Akron / Revere), senior Tori Sickafoose (Magnolia / Sandy Valley), and freshman Allison Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) to take a 6-1 lead. Mount Union would add two more runs in the top half of the sixth, the first coming after freshman Lindsay Jones (Berlin Center / Western Reserve) scored on an error by the shortstop and then junior Kendyll Cahill (Groveport / Groveport Madison) scored on a Bamler RBI to stretch the lead to 8-1.
Capital would answer with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the same inning, the first two coming off a two-run home run from Megan Perry, and then Autumn Bridges hit an RBI single to cut the lead to just four runs.
The Raiders would push their lead back out to six runs in the following inning when Sickafoose hit a two-RBI single that brought in George and Cahill. The Comets would get one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Kirby hit her second home run of the game, but that is as close as they would get, as Mount Union would go on to take game one 10-5.
Cahill got the start in the circle for Mount Union in game one and gave up five runs, three earned, on eight hits, and struck out five in a complete game win.
The Raiders would strike first in game two, scoring three runs in the second inning, the first coming off a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Kyndall Hahn (Garrettsville / James Garfield) followed by an RBI single from Jones and an RBI double from junior Sydney Mercer (Salem / West Branch) to take a 3-0 lead.
The Comets would answer with a run of their own in the bottom half of that same inning when Keaura Shilling hit an RBI double to cut the lead to two runs.
Mount Union would have a massive fourth inning, scoring eight runs with RBIs coming from Mercer, junior Faith Reicosky (North Canton / Hoover), Gayner, junior Lydia Brunner (Minerva), and sophomore Josie Pfaff (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown Area) to extend the lead to 11-1. The Raiders would then go on to add four more runs the following inning, this time with RBIs coming from Brunner, Hahn, and Mercer to make the lead 14 runs.
Capital would score a run in the bottom of the fifth when Kirby hit a solo home run to left center, but they wouldn't be able to plate any more runs as the Raiders would go on to take game two 15-2 in five innings.
Freshman Emma Reemsnyder (Canton / GlenOak) got the start in the circle for Mount Union in game two and gave up just a single run on four hits and struck out one in three innings of work. Junior Chloe Bird (Norton) would come in to throw the final two innings in relief and gave up one run on four hits and struck out one.
The Raiders hit the road again tomorrow for a non-conference doubleheader against Wooster, with game one beginning at 1 p.m. and game two following at 3 p.m.
