Oilers Drop Two on First Day in Florida

Clermont, Fla. – The University of Findlay softball team dropped their first two games on their annual trip south on Saturday, March 2. The Oilers dropped the opener to Western Oregon University and later in the morning, saw a comeback fall short against West Virginia Wesleyan. With the two losses, Findlay falls to 3-5 on the young season.

Game 1 (Box Score | 8-2 L vs Western Oregon)

Findlay took a lead early in the contest, scoring a single run in the first inning on a single off the bat of junior Rebecca Harvey to take a 1-0 advantage.

That lead held up until the top of the fourth inning when the Wolves of Western Oregon broke the game open with six runs on eight hits, which all came consecutively. After a two-run home run from WOU's Chandler Rimer in the fifth, the Oilers trailed 8-1.

Findlay did score a single run on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch to freshman Madelyn Turner, but it was not enough to spark a comeback as the Oilers ultimately fell by a final of 8-2.

Harvey picked up a pair of hits in the contest while sophomore Dylan Wiley, senior Salwa Al-Hajabed, senior Amanda Delmonte, and freshman Caroline Turner each recorded one hit. Harvey and Madelyn Turner had the lone RBIs for the Oilers.

Senior Hailey Bryan took the loss in the circle for Findlay as she tossed 4.1 innings and allowed eight runs. Sophomore Megan Fisher entered the game in the fifth inning and pitched 2.2 innings, giving up no runs on four hits. Fisher struck out one batter.

Game 2 (Box Score | 4-3 L vs West Virginia Wesleyan)

Findlay again got off to a favorable start in the second contest of the day as they jumped out to an early lead. Junior Allison Brunner was hit by a pitch to start the game and sophomore Dylan Wiley followed that with a single. Another single came from Amanda Delmonte to give Findlay a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Salwa Al-Hajabed singled to score Wiley to extend the Oilers' lead.

Freshman Carly Brandon got the start in the circle for Findlay and struck out the side in the first inning, but in the second, West Virginia Wesleyan's Destiny Alvarado connected on a three-run home run to take back the lead from Findlay.

The Bobcats extended their lead to 4-2 in the third with a single run.

The first big threat for Findlay came in the top of the fifth inning when, with two outs, the Oilers got runners on second and third, but a pop-up ended the threat.

After a quiet sixth inning, Findlay again threatened in the seventh. A pair of singles put two runners on for sophomore Devyn Zuro who doubled to score a single run and give the Oilers runners on second and third. Again, with two outs, a fly ball ended the threat and this time, the game.

Brandon took the loss for Findlay after tossing six innings and allowing just four runs on four hits. She walked four and struck out seven.

Allison Brunner and Dylan Wiley each collected two hits.

Findlay is back on the diamond on Sunday, March 3 when they take on Georgian Court at 9:15 am and follow that with a game against Mercyhurst at 11:30 am.