March 20, 2010
Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - Jordan Paden hit her third homer of the season, and Emily Wethington tallied three hits on the day while turning in a strong outing in the circle in game two as Ohio softball split its doubleheader with Butler, 2-0 and 2-1, Saturday.
Wethington (New Palestine, Ind.) picked up a combined three hits on the day, while Paden (Walla Walla, Wash.) and Alexis Zambrana (Alvin, Texas) each picked up two. Paden's shot to left center in game two was her third round tripper of the season and tied her for the team lead. Wethington picked up two hits in game one and added another in game two, while also giving up just one run on four scattered hits with six strikeouts in game two. She improved her mark to 4-5 on the year. Melissa Bonner (Kings Mills, Ohio) turned in a solid effort in game one, giving up just two runs and five scattered hits, but was handed the loss to fall to 1-6 on the season. Shalene Petrich (Chehalis, Wash.) saw her 11-game hit streak come to an end as she was unable to get a hit on the day.
Butler (15-4) struck first in game one, plating a run on an Erin Jackson double in the top of the third. The Bulldogs put their second run of the contest on the board in the next inning on a two-out double from Meaghan Sullivan to take a 2-0 lead.
Butler's Jen Chasteen kept the `Cats (5-16) off balance throughout the contest, allowing Ohio just three hits on the game. Ohio struggled to get the runners it needed on base and then move them over. The `Cats managed just to place just one runner at third in the contest, and it was erased on a putout at home plate. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, took advantage of their two big doubles to take game one.
Pitching controlled game two early as Wethington and Butler's Jenny Esparza kept the opposing offenses quiet. The Bulldogs mounted an early threat in the second by putting two on with just one out, but Wethington fanned two in a row to silence Butler.
Paden opened the bottom of the third with her shot to left center to put the Green and White up 1-0. Ohio threatened to put more on the board in the frame as it put two on with just one out, but Esparza managed to force a short fly out and get a strikeout to put a stop to anything more for the `Cats.
The Green and White mounted a small two-out rally in the fourth to score its second run of the contest. With two down, Deanna Hartsough (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Paden each singled. Elizabeth Eyrise (Brookfield, Wisc.) came in to pinch run for Hartsough and touched home following a pair of costly Bulldog wild pitches. Ohio then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, but Butler managed to force a pop out to get out of the inning.
Butler battled back in the fifth and put its only run of contest on the board following a groundout from Annie Dolan. That would be all the `Cats would allow in the frame as Wethington struck the final hitter of the inning out.
Perhaps the play of the day took place in the bottom of the sixth. The Bulldogs opened the stanza with a double, which eventually advanced to second following a ground out for the second out of the frame. Sullivan then looked poised to pick up her second RBI of the day and tie the action with a hard-hit grounder seemingly headed straight up the middle. Zambrana came ranging over, made the diving stop and then got up to throw the runner out at first to save the potential tying run. Wethington then put Butler down in order in the seventh to seal the win for the Green and White.
Ohio will have a short turnaround before returning to play Tuesday when it heads to Dayton to take on in-state foe Wright State in doubleheader. First pitch with the Raiders is set for 3 p.m.
