By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Dayton, Ohio---Emily Morrow (Monroe Jefferson/Newport, Mich.) and Josie Hall (New London/New London, Ohio) combined to hit 15-for-16 with eight runs and six RBIs in a sweep of No. 20 Sinclair Community College on the road yesterday.
Game 1: Owens 8 Sinclair 5
Along with Morrow and Hall, Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) also went 3-for-3 in the first game win against Sinclair, while Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) picked up her 12th win in the circle with a complete game.
The Express offense jumped out to a 6-1 lead through three innings. In the first, George lined a sacrifice fly to center to score Morrow, who had doubled to lead off the inning. Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) then hit a solo home run in the next at bat for a 2-0 lead.
After the Tartan Pride's Alex Hendrix tripled and scored on a groundout in the bottom half, the Express added one more in the second and three more in the third.
Morrow's RBI double scored Hall, who singled with two outs in the second. In the third, the Express offense pounded out seven hits - highlighted by a two-run single by Emily Rockman (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) and a squeeze bunt from Haley Hudgin (Ida/Ida, Mich.).
The Express pushed their lead to 7-1 in the sixth with an RBI single by Rockman before Sinclair tallied two in the bottom half to trim their deficit to four.
In the seventh, Morrow struck again with an RBI double that scored Taylor Miller (Erie Mason/Toledo, Ohio), who reached on a fielder's choice groundout, which made it 8-3.
The Tartan Pride got a two-run single from Kelly Wood in the home half of the seventh to trim the Express lead to three, but it wasn't enough as Ducat moved to 12-0 in the circle with her complete game victory.
Ducat allowed 10 hits, five runs and one walk while striking out two over her seven innings.
Katie Sturgis (4 IP, 12 H, 6 R) took the loss and fell to 7-3, while Kaila Sturgell (3IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 K) pitched in relief.
Hall (4-for-4, 2B, R), Morrow (4-for-5, 3 2B, R, 2 RBIs), George (3-for-3, 2B, R, RBI), Rockman (2-for-4, R, 3 RBIs) and Weidinger (2-for-4, HR) led the Express offense.
Hendrix finished 4-for-4 with three runs and one RBI for Sinclair.
As a team, the Express offense finished 17-for-34 from the plate with five doubles and one home run.
Game 2: Owens 14 Sinclair 7
The Express offense finished 21-for-37 in the second game victory, while Ducat came on in relief to pick up her 13th win.
Both teams combined for 16 runs through the first three innings with each team exchanging leads.
The Express got an RBI double from George and a two-run home run from Weidinger in the first before the Tartan Pride answered back with a Madison Monnin two-run homer.
In the second, Molly Gast (Sylvania Southview/Toledo, Ohio) delivered a two-out RBI single to push the Express lead to two before the Tartan Pride answered with four runs in the bottom half to take a 6-4 lead.
The Express offense wouldn't quit, though, as they poured on six runs in the third to regain the lead for good. The inning was highlighted by seven hits, including a two-run single from Miller, RBI doubles from Ducat, Weidinger and George and an RBI single by Morrow. When the dust settled, the Express had seized a 10-6 lead.
The lead was pushed to 11-6 in the fifth on another RBI single from Gast that scored Morrow, who had doubled to lead off the inning.
The Tartan Pride added their final run in the bottom half of the sixth.
Morrow delivered a three-run double in the seventh for the final runs of the game for the Express. Ducat, who relieved starter Lexi Williams (Home School/Swanton, Ohio) on the fourth batter of the second inning, then retired the Tartan Pride in order to end the game.
Ducat (13-0) tallied six innings of eight hit, two run, one walk and seven strikeout pitching, while Williams allowed five hits and five runs with one strikeout in one plus innings.
Sturgis, who relieved Sturgill for the start of the third inning, took the loss once again and fell to 7-4. She allowed 10 hits, seven runs and one walk with one strikeout in three innings. Sturgell threw four innings total and allowed 11 hits, seven runs and one walk with one strikeout.
Morrow finished 4-for-4 with three runs, two doubles and four RBIs, Hall was 3-for-3 with three runs and a walk and George was 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles and two RBIs. Alexis Goodpaster led the Tartan Pride with a 3-for-4, two run performance.
Wrap Up
The Express improved to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in OCCAC play with their sweep, while the Tartan Pride fell to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in OCCAC play.
Cuyahoga Community College will be the next opponent for the Express on April 9 with a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Express offense combined for 38 hits in 54 at bats. They increased their team batting average to .394, while Rockman, George, Morrow, Weidinger and Hall are all hitting over .400. Morrow increased her batting average to .488, while Hall's improved to .422 with their big days.