Scots to Make Postseason Push With Pair of NCAC Twinbills

Rachel Gaines

Currently in sixth-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference, The College of Wooster hopes to make a move up the standings this week during road doubleheaders against the league’s seventh- and eighth-place teams. The Fighting Scots will first travel to winless Oberlin College (0-19, 0-4 NCAC) on Wednesday, April 16, with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m. Wooster has swept the teams’ annual match-up each of the last seven seasons, including 6-0 and 2-1 last spring. This Saturday, April 19, the Scots will be at Kenyon College (8-12, 2-4 NCAC), which comes into the week as the conference’s seventh-place team. The all-time series between the two is close, with Kenyon leading 10-6, however, the Ladies have won the last seven meetings, following a 7-1, 3-1 sweep in 2007.

Last Week: The Scots went 2-4 over three doubleheaders, as their records now stand at 13-15 overall and 3-5 in the NCAC.

On April 7, John Carroll University utilized a combination of clutch hitting and solid pitching for a 6-0, 3-1 sweep of host Wooster during non-conference action. In the opener, third baseman Rachel Gaines (Burghill, Ohio / Badger) accounted for two of her squad’s six hits (2-for-2) and walked in her other plate appearance to highlight the Scots’ efforts. John Carroll, which scored three runs in the third and fourth innings of game one, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first of the nightcap. Wooster stayed close, though, eventually plating one in the fourth when sisters Caitlin Gaffney (Tallmadge, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban) and Molly Gaffney (Tallmadge, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban) walked and singled back-to-back, and then Ali Barone (Akron, Ohio / St. Thomas Aquinas) drove home the former with a single to center. That would be all the damage the Scots’ offense could do, as they were unable to take advantage of a solid pitching performance from Ronni Wasmuth (Farmersville, Ohio / Valley View). Wasmuth went the distance, allowing the three runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out a pair.

On April 9, Wooster rallied late in both games for a 3-2, 4-3 sweep of Allegheny College, which currently sits atop the NCAC standings. Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh of the first game, Kate Kiley (Dedham, Mass. / Noble and Greenough) singled, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored the game-winner on a two-out fielding error. The two teams had traded single runs in both the first and third innings, with Katelynn Caywood (Amherst, Ohio / Amherst Steele) driving in Kiley in the first via an infield single and then Priscilla Staples (Stoughton, Mass. / Fontbonne Academy) in the third after Staples had tripled. While those were the offensive heroes, Andrea Kelley (Westerville, Ohio / Westerville South) earned the complete-game win, yielding just the two runs on six hits and three walks. In the second game, the Scots broke a 3-3 tie during the bottom of the sixth when Kim Skully (Brooklyn Hts., Ohio / Cuyahoga Heights) singled and eventually came home on a two-out passed ball. Wooster had been down 3-1 entering the home-half of the fourth, but answered with two runs, with the key hit being a Gaines double. Wasmuth picked up the win in relief, pitching two innings of one-hit scoreless ball. Offensively, over the two games, the Scots were paced by Kiley, who was 3-for-6 with two stolen bases, Skully, who went 2-for-5 with two walks, and Caywood, who collected three RBI while going 2-for-4 at the plate.

On April 12, Denison University powered its way to a 5-4, 10-6 sweep over host Wooster, as the Big Red combined for six homers in the teams’ NCAC doubleheader. The Scots took advantage of a couple of Denison errors to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth of the opener, tying it 3-3. The Big Red led off the fifth, though, with back-to-back home runs, and then held Wooster to one run the rest of the way. In the nightcap, the game was knotted 2-2 in the fourth when a Denison hitter belted a grand slam, however, the Scots were unphased and came right back with three runs in their half of the fourth, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Staples. The Big Red’s bats got hot again in the fifth, putting together a second-straight four-run inning. That resulted in a 10-5 lead, which was too much for Wooster to overcome. Leading the Scots on the day were Kiley (3-for-6 with three runs scored) and Skully (3-for-5 with two RBI).