Oilers Outlast Yellow Jackets | Lowe Wins 300th Game as a Head Coach
Findlay, Ohio – In a matchup of two of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference's (G-MAC) best teams, the University of Findlay softball squad stole a pair of games against the Cedarville Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, April 18. Findlay used a late rally to take the opener by a score of 9-4 and in the second contest, a big break late in the game helped preserve a 2-1 victory. With the two wins, Findlay improves to 26-11 on the year with an 11-5 mark in the G-MAC while the Yellow Jackets fall to 17-21, also with an 11-5 record in conference play.
The two wins are historic for head coach Dani Lowe as she has now won 300 games in her coaching career. She won 96 games while serving as the head coach of Urbana University and has now won 204 at the helm of the Oilers.
In the opener, Cedarville got things started with a bang. A leadoff single and a home run were issued to the first two hitters of the game, putting the Yellow Jackets on top 2-0 early on, but in the bottom of the first, freshman Annika Bredel launched a ball off the scoreboard in left field, cutting the deficit to one.
When the second inning came around, it was Bredel again who found herself in a position to drive in runs as she stepped to the plate with the bases loaded an one out. Bredel ripped a ball to left field to score two runs and give the Oilers their first lead of the game at 3-2.
Two runs in the top of the fourth put Cedarville back in control at 4-3, forcing a pitching change for the home team.
Senior Molly Pfiffner entered and would not allow a run over the final three innings, giving her team a chance at victory.
The offense responded when, in the fifth, four extra-base hits, including a two-run blast off the bat of Bredel, put Findlay ahead 8-4. In that fifth inning, the Orange and Black would hit for the cycle as senior Olivia Carlton recorded a single, senior Caroline Turner and junior Kaitlynn Briggs each had doubles, freshman Alexys Antal had a triple, and Bredel recorded a home run.
Another run in the bottom of the sixth gave some extra cushion as Findlay would go on to a 9-4 victory.
Pfiffner would pick up the victory in the circle as she tossed four innings in relief. She did not allow a run and gave up just three hits. She did not walk a batter and struck out two to pick up her second victory of the season.
Game 2 was a nail-biter and, despite a stiff wind blowing straight out to center field, was a game that featured two outstanding pitching performances.
Findlay's Emma Jones and Cedarville's Casey Bertke went toe-to-toe.
The Yellow Jackets drew first blood, scoring a single run in the top of the first.
In the third, Findlay struck back. Freshman Jenna Poulson hit an infield single and later beat out a throw to second for a fielder's choice off the bat of Antal. A walk to Bredel loaded the bases and Carlton drove in the tying run with a ground out to second.
Findlay's first lead of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when, with two outs and runners on first and second, sophomore Hannah Baker pinch hit and roped a single to center, scoring sophomore Rachel Mease and putting the home team ahead 2-1.
Already in a high-intensity situation, the most dramatic moment of the game came in the top of the sixth. Cedarville began the inning with a single and the next batter, Arica Flaugher, launched a ball towards left field. What appeared to be a go-ahead home run was negated as the ball ricocheted off the top of the fence, popped up in the air, was corralled by the Oilers' leftfielder, and thrown back into the infield. The double put runners on second and third with no outs. Back-to-back pop ups were coaxed by Emma Jones before a walk loaded the bases. The Oilers got what they needed, a fly out to left field, ending the threat.
A pair of singles put two runners on for Cedarville in the top of the seventh, but again, a fly out and pop up ended the game in favor of Findlay.
Jones was spectacular in the circle for the Orange and Black as she went on to record her 13th win of the season. She threw a complete game and allowed just a single run on ten hits. She walked only one and struck out five of the 32 batters she faced.
Bredel was the big bat for Findlay on the day as she went 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs, five RBI, and two runs scored. Rachel Mease had three hits and two runs scored while Antal, Briggs, and Turner all had two hits.
Findlay is back in action this weekend with a doubleheader at Ashland University on Saturday, April 22 before hosting Walsh on Sunday, April 23 for Senior Day.