By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College softball team swept Lakeland Community College at home today and secured its second straight outright Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship.
Game 1: Owens 11 Lakeland 3 (Five Innings)
Owens produced 10 combined runs in the third and fourth innings to earn a come from behind victory in today's first game.
Makayla Burtscher (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.), Jacey Gray (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) and Ericca Herzog (Southview/Sylvania, Ohio) each produced two hits.
After Lakeland scored a single run in the first inning, Burtscher led off the home half with an inside the park home run to right field to tie the game.
Lakeland's Kaitlyn Laseke answered with a solo home run in the top of the second off Owens starter Lexi Williams (Home School/Swanton, Ohio).
In the third, after Lakeland produced a walk and two singles off Williams, Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) entered in relief. She struck out the first two hitters she faced to strand a pair of runners.
From there on, it was all Owens.
In the home half, Katie Jensen (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio) had an RBI groundout with the bases loaded and Herzog doubled home two more runs in the inning to give Owens a 5-2 lead.
Ducat then picked up one more strikeout in a 1-2-3 fourth inning before Owens plated six runs in the home half. Burtscher tripled to right field and Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) followed with an RBI single through the left side to get the rally going.
Paige Younker (Wilmington/Port William, Ohio), Williams and Herzog followed with RBI singles, while Jensen had an RBI double to left center to close the scoring.
Lakeland's offense produced a single run in the fifth, but Ducat picked up three more strikeouts to strand the bases loaded and end the game.
Burtscher (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI), Gray (2-for-3, 2 R, SB) and Herzog (2-for-2, 3 RBI) led the Owens offense, while George added two walks and two stolen bases.
Ducat (13-5) picked up the win in relief. Her final line included 2.2 innings, three hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts. The final line for Williams included 2.1 innings, seven hits, two runs and one walk.
Kandis Laseke (0-1) took the loss for Lakeland. She allowed two hits, four runs and one walk over 1.1 innings of relief.
Game 2: Owens 10 Lakeland 6
Nine first inning runs carried the Express to a game two victory.
In the first, Owens produced nine runs on five hits and seven Lakeland errors. Burtscher capped the inning with her second inside the park home run of the day, while Ducat produced an RBI double, Josie Hall (New London/New London, Ohio) had an RBI single and Lyndi Winzeler (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) had an RBI groundout.
In the second inning, Lakeland scored their third and fourth runs of the game off Owens starter Samantha Fowls (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio), and Ducat replaced her with two outs and got a groundout to end the threat.
Lakeland would add single runs in the third and fourth to pull within three, but Younker's fourth inning RBI triple put Owens up 10-6.
From there, Ducat held Lakeland down while improving to 14-5 with the victory. She now has four wins over the past two days. In today's second game, she went 5.1 innings and allowed five hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks while striking out four.
Fowls, who earned a no decision, went 1.2 innings and allowed two hits, four runs and two walks while striking out two.
Tayler Gustin took the tough luck loss for Lakeland. She only pitched one inning and gave up five hits while striking out two. All nine of her allowed runs were unearned.
For Owens offensively, Gray (2-for-4, R), Tori Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) (2-for-3) and Cassidy Rolf (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) (2-for-3, R) led the way.
Lakeland fell to 5-20 overall and 0-12 in the OCCAC with the losses.
Notes
With the victories, Owens is now 25-13 overall and 9-1 in OCCAC play. They have clinched the outright title in the OCCAC as second place Sinclair (6-4 OCCAC) can't catch them. Those two teams will meet for the season's final conference doubleheader on Friday at Owens beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Today's OCCAC championship is the second straight for the Owens softball program and its 13th in program history.