CLERMONT, Fla. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College softball team opened its trip to Florida with a pair of wins on Monday, downing Lake Erie 6-2, and posting a 5-2 win over Tiffin with a four-run rally in the sixth innings. The two victories moves the Panthers to 9-5 on the season.
Game One: Kentucky Wesleyan 6 – Lake Erie 2
The Panthers scored five runs in the first two innings and that's all it took in game one. With one out and two runners in scoring position, Mallory Nease hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Jaclyn Parker. A single from Abbey Winstead would bring home Courtney Lockwood to put Kentucky Wesleyan up 2-0 after two innings.
Four hits in the third inning produced three runs for the Panthers. Meredith Daunhauer led off with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a single from Maddie Dawson. Jaylin Tidwell cleared the bases with a single to extend the lead to 4-0. Lockwood tacked on the final run with a sacrifice fly, bringing home Tidwell.
Lake Erie scored one run each in the fourth and fifth inning to cut the deficit to three runs, but the Panthers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. With two outs and two runners on, Tempel drove in Hannah Slack with a single.
Tidwell finished game one three-for-four at the plate with two runs batted in and scoring one herself. Daunhauer, Dawson and Lockwood recorded two hits each while Lexie Mullen, Parker, Winstead and Tempel had one hit a piece.
Autumn Grady pitched 6.0 innings to stay a perfect 4-0. The three-time Great Midwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week struck out two while allowing two runs off of seven hits and not giving up any walks. In one inning of relief Casey Smith allowed one walk while holding Lake Erie hitless.
Game Two: Tiffin 2 – Kentucky Wesleyan 5
A tight defensive game saw only three hits after the first three innings. The Dragons struck first with a solo home run in the top of the third.
Daunhauer led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and scored on a base hit from Dawson to knot the game at one.
Tiffin scored one run in the top of the sixth to regain a one run lead. The Panthers responded with four runs off of three hits and three errors to take the 5-2 win. Aggressive base running Daunhauer on third with no outs. Dawson drove her in with a double, and scored on a single from Tidwell. An error from the catcher allowed Lexie Mullen to score, and a Parker took advantage of a wild pitch and passed ball to score the final run for the Panthers.
Dawson finished game two two-for-three with two runs driven in and one run scored. Daunhauer scored twice while batting one-for-three. Tidwell, Mullen and Parker each went one-for-three.
Maci Brown went the distance in her third win of the season. Brown tabbed nine strikeouts and allowed two runs off of six hits while not allowing any walks.
The Panthers will take on University of Michigan-Dearborn at 1 pm on Tuesday followed by another matchup against Tiffin at 3:30 pm. Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCpanthers on Twitter and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page.
