By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Katelyn Jensen (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio), Breanna Buck (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) and Jacey Gray (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) combined to go 10-for-18 from the plate today as the Owens Community College softball team split a doubleheader in its conference finale with Sinclair Community College.
Game 1: Sinclair 10 Owens 6
Sinclair rallied for seven runs in the final two innings to earn a come-from-behind victory in today's first game.
After Sinclair scored a pair of runs off Owens starter Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) in the first inning, Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) responded in the home half with a one out, solo home run.
In the second inning, Owens tied it when Sinclair's pitcher, Kaila Sturgell, threw wild to first on a sacrifice bunt from Buck. On the play, Haley Kreger (Bedford/Bedford Township, Mich.) scored from second.
In the third, Ducat gave up an RBI double to Kelly Wood that gave Sinclair a 3-2 lead. In the home half, Owens continued to struggle to take advantage of base runners as they left Lyndi Winzeler (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) and Ducat in scoring position to end the inning.
Over the first three innings, Owens left six runners on base, including five in scoring position.
The fourth inning, however, saw Owens get RBI singles from Gray and Paige Younker (Wilmington/Port William, Ohio) to take a 4-3 lead, although they stranded two more runners in scoring position to end the inning.
Later, Buck delivered a two-run home run in the fifth inning to give Owens a 6-3 lead. It was her third home run of the season.
Lexi Williams (Home School/Swanton, Ohio), who relieved Ducat in the middle of the fourth and stopped a Sinclair rally, saw Sinclair produce three runs on three hits and a walk off her in the sixth to tie the game.
After Gray was thrown out at home on a controversial call at the plate to end the sixth inning, Sinclair broke the game open with four runs in the seventh off Sam Fowls (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio).
Fowls (3-6) took the loss after the Owens offense went 1-2-3 in the seventh to end the game. She allowed four walks and three hits in her one inning of work.
Ducat allowed six hits, three runs and three walks over 3.1 innings, while Williams allowed four hits, three runs and one walk over 2.2 innings.
Offensively, Makayla Burtscher (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.), Gray and Jensen each picked up multiple hit games for Owens. Burtscher finished 2-for-4 with a run and a triple, while Gray was 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI, a walk and three stolen bases. Jensen finished 2-for-4 with a run. Buck finished 1-for-2 with her two-run home run.
Alex Hendrix led Sinclair with a 3-for-3 performance that included three RBI and two runs.
Sturgell picked up the win for Sinclair. She allowed four hits, two runs (one earned) and three walks over 5.2 combined innings. She started and later re-entered in the circle.
Game 2: Owens 8 Sinclair 7
Tori Weidinger's (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) two-run, walk-off single capped a huge comeback for Owens in an 8-7 victory in game two.
The combination of Ducat and Williams struggled early on as Sinclair jumped out to a 7-0 lead through two and a half innings. Williams, who relieved Ducat in the third inning, eventually settled down to retired 11 of the final 14 batters she faced.
While Williams was settling in, the Owens offense was chipping away.
In the bottom of the third, George had an RBI double and Weidinger had a sacrifice fly to pull Owens within five. In the fifth, Buck drilled a leadoff triple to right and later scored on a sacrifice fly from George to make the deficit four.
Then, in the sixth, Owens scored three runs to pull with one. The inning started with a single from Weidinger and a double from Emily Young (Maumee/Maumee, Ohio) to put two runners in scoring position. One out later, Jensen knocked both of them home with a double to left field. One out after that, Buck knocked Jensen home with a bloop single to shallow right field.
After Williams held Sinclair scoreless for the fourth straight inning, George was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the seventh. Gray then hit a ground ball to second base that was misplayed, allowing Owens to put runners on the corners with nobody out.
After Gray stole second, Weidinger knocked both of them in with a line drive to left field.
Weidinger (2-for-3, 3 RBI, BB), Jensen (2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B) and Buck (2-for-3, R, RBI, 3B, 2 SB) each had multi-hit games for Owens.
Defensively, Cassidy Rolf (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) was locked in at third base. The freshman turned a key unassisted double play in the third inning to prevent Sinclair from adding further runs.
Williams improved to 9-3 with her win in relief. She allowed eight hits, two runs and one walk while striking out one over five innings of relief. Ducat allowed six hits, five runs (four earned) and one walk over two innings.
Notes
Owens is now 26-14 overall. With their split today, they finished Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play with a 10-2 record. With an earlier sweep of Lakeland Community College, they already clinched the program's second straight OCCAC championship.
Sinclair is now 30-9 overall and 7-5 in OCCAC play. They clinched a berth in the Region XII District I tournament with their win in today's first game.
Owens, meanwhile, clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the Region XII District I tournament with its conference championship.
Owens will be back in action next Thursday at home vs Henry Ford College beginning at 3:30 p.m. They will then travel to Oakland Community College on Friday and Kellogg Community College the following Monday to close its regular season. Region XII District I tournament play begins May 6.
Buck went 3-for-5 with two runs, a triple, a home run and three RBI in today's doubleheader, while three others had three or more hits, as well. Those players included Jensen (4-for-7, two runs, two doubles, two RBI), Gray (3-for-6, 2 R, RBI, BB, 5 SB) and Burtscher (3-for-8, 2 R, 2 3B).
With her two triples today, Burtscher surpassed George for the team-high this year with seven.
Gray pushed her team-high stolen base total to 45 with her five steals today, while George picked up her 15th double of the season. Buck's home run, which was her third of the season, ties her with George and Burtscher for second on the team in that category this year.
With her three RBI in today's second game, Weidinger took over the team-high with 37 this year. George is just behind her with 35, and Younker has 34.