Rebecca Taylor leads Spartans on mound, at plate in sweep of Big Red
The Case Western Reserve University softball team kicked off their home opening weekend with a sweep of Denison University at Mather Field before traveling to Heidelberg University to sweep the Student Princes. The four-game win streak improved the team to 13-12 overall and the Spartans are above .500 for the first time since the beginning of March.
The Spartans, who had a stellar 12-6 home record last season, opened their 2013 home schedule with a pair of wins over the Big Red. The team took their home opener 6-2 before rallying for a walk off 6-5 win in the nightcap.
Sophomore pitcher Rebecca Taylor continued her brilliant second season in Spartan uniform against the Big Red. Rebecca Taylor improved to 11-9 on the season with her 12th complete game. She allowed just two-earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Playing at first base in the nightcap, the second-year Spartan also had an exceptional day at the plate going 4-for-7 in the two games with four RBI, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh in the team’s 6-5 win.
In the first game, the Spartans scored in the opening frame as sophomore second baseman Molly O’Brien led off with a walk, stole her fifteenth base of the season, moved up on a rundown throwing error, and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman Erin Dreger.
Denison briefly tied the score with a Rachel Laughlin solo homer in the fourth, but the Spartans answered with five in their half of the fifth with an RBI single by junior shortstop Makenzie Lein and two-run singles from Rebecca Taylor and junior catcher Amy Taylor.
The Big Red could only generate one more score in the sixth with a solo homer by Meghan Edwards.
For the game, Dreger was 2-for-2 with an RBI, O’Brien was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and both Taylors were 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Denison’s Rebecca Dyer (5-4) suffered the loss on the mound with five earned runs in six innings and seven strikeouts. Edwards and Gretchen Staubach were each 2-for-3 at the plate for the visitors.
In game two, Denison broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the third thanks to a grand slam by Edwards. The Spartans scored once in the bottom of the inning via an RBI double by freshman third baseman Rachel Komar, but the Big Red countered with a single run in the fourth on a Rosie Glaser RBI single.
The Spartans out hit their competition over the weekend 41-27, outscoring them 29-17.
The visitors then held the momentum until the top of the fifth when Amy Taylor made a heads up throw from behind the plate to pick off a Denison runner leading off second to end the frame. An inning later, the Spartans began their comeback with four runs on two hits and two errors in the sixth.
With the bases loaded, sophomore right fielder Gena Roberts popped a short single into left field to plate Rebecca Taylor, who had reached via an error. Sophomore left fielder Ashley Parello followed with an RBI fielder’s choice to score Dreger before a deep fly ball off the bat of freshman outfielder Kristen Klemmer was dropped, allowing the tying two runs to score.
Freshman pitcher Rebecca Molnar, who was stellar in relief, held Denison scoreless in the seventh to set the stage for Rebecca Taylor’s game-winning single that plated Komar who doubled one batter earlier.
Molnar (1-3), allowed just one unearned run, and picked up her first collegiate win with six strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.
Denison’s Kelsey Hager (6-3) was the victim of three errors and took the loss despite only surrendering two earned runs in 6.1 innings. Edwards and Laughlin were each 2-for-4 at the dish.
In the weekend’s second pair of games at Heidelberg, the Spartans topped the Student Princes 6-4 and 11-6. The two games were marked by a pair of late game offensive outbursts as Case came from behind to plate three runs in the seventh inning of the first game and scored five runs to secure the second game in extra innings.
The Spartans will now embark on a short four-game road trip against John Carroll University on Thursday, April 11, and Oberlin College on Saturday, Apr. 13, before an eight game home stand. Case will look to keep their perfect record at Mather Field when they host the University of Mount Union on Monday, April 15. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled to be thrown out at 3 p.m. with the second game set to start at 5 p.m.