NCAC Play Begins With Scots Traveling to Hiram, Wittenberg

For Immediate Release

March 31, 2008

Written by Hugh Howard
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Kate Kiley

Already just 10 shy of the team record for wins in a season, The College of Wooster will step into North Coast Athletic Conference action for the first time this week. The Fighting Scots, who are looking to finish among the top-four in the league and thus earn a spot in the NCAC Tournament for the first time since 2005, are scheduled to be at Hiram College (4-8, 0-0 NCAC) on Wednesday, April 2, for a twin-bill, starting at 3:30 p.m. They split last year’s meeting, with Hiram shutting out Wooster 3-0 in the opener and then the Scots coming back for a 2-1 victory. This Saturday, April 5, Wooster will travel to western Ohio for its annual doubleheader with rival Wittenberg University (14-6, 0-0 NCAC), which enters the week on an eight-game winning streak. The Scots may have revenge on their minds after being swept by the Tigers 7-3 and 9-0 last year. Opening pitch is set for 1 p.m.

Last Week: Wooster had three doubleheaders against Ohio Athletic Conference competition on the schedule and got two of them in, going 1-3 to move its record to 10-8 overall.

On March 25, the Scots were swept at Marietta College, an NCAA Div. III Tournament qualifier from a season ago, by scores of 5-1 and 9-1. Wooster’s run in the opener came during the sixth when Kate Kiley (Dedham, Mass. / Noble and Greenough School) got on with a bunt single, moved over during a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Kim Skully’s (Brooklyn Hts., Ohio / Cuyahoga Heights) RBI single. Those were the only two hits the Scots had during game one. In the nightcap, Priscilla Staples (Stoughton, Mass. / Fontbonne Academy) gave Wooster a 1-0 lead with a first-inning solo home run, but Marietta eventually responded with three runs in the third and three more in the fourth to pull away to another victory. In addition to Staples’ homer, both Skully and Katelynn Caywood (Amherst, Ohio / Amherst Steele) went 2-for-3.

On March 30, the Scots used a four-run first inning to key a 7-5 triumph, earning a split of their doubleheader with visiting Baldwin-Wallace College. Baldwin-Wallace won the opener handily, 10-0 in five innings, but Wooster then set the tone early for game two. Kiley reached via a bunt single, then Staples walked, and after they each advanced a base via a sacrifice, Caywood brought them home with a two-run single. Caitlin Gaffney (Tallmadge, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban), Rachel Gaines (Burghill, Ohio / Badger), and Andrea Kelley (Westerville, Ohio / Westerville South) followed with back-to-back-to-back singles, resulting in the 4-0 lead. The teams would exchange runs in the second before the Yellow Jackets rallied for three in the fifth to pull within 5-4. Skully had an answer, leading off the bottom of that frame with a home run to left-center. The Scots added an insurance tally in the sixth to go ahead 7-4, as Courtney Joliat (Canton, Ohio / St. Thomas Aquinas) singled in pinch runner Molly Gaffney (Tallmadge, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban), who was making her first appearance of the season due to a previous injury. Kelley finished off Baldwin-Wallace in the seventh for the complete-game victory, and in doing so, moved to 6-2 on the season. She also had a two-hit game (2-for-3), as did Kiley, who singled twice, walked once, and stole three bases.