By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Battle Creek, Mich.---Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) had three homers, two doubles and 13 RBIs to lead the No. 17 Owens Community College softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Kellogg Community College on the road today.
She joined Emily Rockman (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) and Tori Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) as one of three players this year to homer three times in one doubleheader. Weidinger hit hers all in one game, and she is the only in program history to do so.
Game 1: Owens 14 Kellogg 2 (Five Innings)
George finished just a triple shy of the cycle as she went 4-for-4 with three runs, two doubles, a homer and seven RBIs in today's first game win.
After stranding two runners, including George's double, in the first inning, the Express exploded for six in the second, three in the third and five in the fourth.
Josie Hall (New London/New London, Ohio) led off the inning with a solo homer. The next three runners reached to set up a two-run single by Molly Gast (Sylvania Southview/Toledo, Ohio).
Up 3-0, George followed Gast with a two-run double in the next at bat. Weidinger then made it three straight run scoring hits with an RBI single to center for the inning's sixth and final run.
In the top of the third, George had a two-run single to center and Weidinger had an RBI single to right that stretched the lead to nine.
Express starter Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) then gave up her only runs of the game in the bottom half on a two-run homer by Anorah Seita.
The Express fourth inning saw a two-run homer from Taylor Miller (Erie Mason/Toledo, Ohio) and a three-run homer from George. In fact, the first five batters in the inning reached and scored before a single out was recorded.
Aside from George's big game, Miller went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, Weidinger went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Emily Morrow (Monroe Jefferson/Newport, Mich.) went 2-for-5 with three runs. Gast also had a solid game by finishing 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.
In all, the Express had three homers (Miller, George, Hall) and two doubles by George.
While her team was pouring the runs on, Ducat improved to 19-3 this year in the circle. In five innings, she allowed six hits, two runs and zero walks while striking out seven.
Seita went the distance in the circle for Kellogg. She allowed 17 hits, 14 runs (13 earned) and three walks while striking out two.
Game 2: Owens 15 Kellogg 0 (Five Innings)
The Express scored 10 times in the second inning, highlighted by a grand slam from George and a three-run homer from Ducat, to capture their second five inning win today.
In the second, aside from the homers from George and Ducat, the Express also got a two-run single to center from Ducat, who was 2-for-2 with five RBIs in the inning.
Morrow's RBI single to left in the third put the Express up 11-0 before her teammates added four more in the fifth. They got their first run of the inning on a sacrifice fly from Gast before adding a second on a throwing error on a double steal. George then, fittingly, capped the game's scoring with a two-run homer.
While the Express offense was producing 29 runs on the day, Lexi Williams (Home School/Swanton, Ohio) picked up another win in the circle while improving to 6-4 this year. In her five innings, Williams allowed five hits while striking out one.
George finished 3-for-4 with two homers, two runs and six RBIs. She flew out to right field in her third at bat of the second game, which was the only time she got out all day.
Ducat finished 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs and five RBIs, Alexandra Veres (Cardinal Stritch/Toledo, Ohio) went 2-for-3 with two runs and Gast was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.
The Express offense produced four more extra base hits to push their daily total to nine. Weidinger had one double, George had two homers and Ducat had one.
Holiday Londstreth (10-6) took the loss for Kellogg. She allowed 17 hits, 15 runs (14 earned) and two walks with zero strikeouts in five innings.
Wrap Up
The Express are now 25-7 overall this year. They will conclude their regular season tomorrow with a home doubleheader against Macomb Community College at 4 p.m. Postseason play then begins Wednesday in Lansing, Mich.
The Express have also won six straight following today's wins, as well as nine of their past 10. In those six games, they are averaging just over 14 runs per game while giving up just over one run per game. Moreover, they have 15 games of at least 10 runs this year.
Kellogg fell to 19-22 with their two losses today.
With her monstrous day today, George upped her team-high batting average to .556. She also has team-highs in runs (41), doubles (15), triples (3) and walks (13). She is second on the team in homers (8) and RBIs (43). Weidinger leads in homers (10) and RBIs (46).
Additionally, George (1.056) and Weidinger (1.031) are both leading the team in slugging percentage. In fact, no one in program history has achieved a slugging percentage over 1.000 in one season.
George fell just a solo homer shy of the home run cycle. She hit a three-run homer in the first game, a grand slam in her second at bat of the second game and a two-run homer in her final at bat of the day.
Weidinger upped her averaged to .526 this year with her six hits today.
Ducat's homer, which was her first of the season, gives the Express 10 players with at least one homer this year.