DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University jumped on Kenyon College pitching early and never let up during a softball doubleheader sweep Saturday at Margaret Sagan Field. The host Battling Bishops won the North Coast Athletic Conference contests by scores of 13-8 and 6-3.

Ohio Wesleyan piled up a total of 26 hits in the two games and broke away from Kenyon in the NCAC standings. The Battling Bishops are now 14-16 overall and 9-5 in conference competition. The losses set Kenyon back to 13-23 overall and 5-7 in NCAC play.

Kenyon opened Saturday's games with an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but that was quickly overshadowed by the four runs Ohio Wesleyan tallied in the bottom of the inning.  The Battling Bishops started with five consecutive singles, scoring three times and prompting Kenyon coach Erin O'Neill to pull starting pitcher Austen Whibley. Keely Sweet took over in relief and the Battling Bishops got one more run on a fielder's choice.

Ohio Wesleyan tacked on three more runs in the second and two more in the third to jump out to 9-1 advantage. Kenyon, however, did not throw in the towel. The Ladies responded with a five-run fourth inning that included an unearned run and a bases-loaded walk from Madi Maldonado. Amanda Ogata then cleared the bases with a three-run double to left field.

The Ladies inched a little closer in the fifth inning after Maldonado stroked a two-run single to center field. That cut the Ladies' deficit down to just one run at 9-8.

The Battling Bishops came right back and polished off the game with a run in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the sixth. In all, Ohio Wesleyan bats roughed up Whibley and Sweet for 15 hits and four walks.

At the plate for Kenyon, Maldonado finished 2-for-2 with a run and three RBI, in addition to a stolen base. Ogata was 2-for-4 with a run and three more RBI, while Nicole Horita added a 2-for-4 showing with two runs scored.

Maldonado, Ogata and Horita continued to hit in game two, but it wasn't enough for the Ladies to avoid the sweep. Maldonado, who has raised her batting average by 35 points over the last five games, had another three hits, a run and an RBI. Horita also had three hits and Ogata, who leads Kenyon with .431 batting average, managed two. Kenyon had ten hits in all, but seven went for singles and the Ladies wound up leaving eight runners stranded on base during the game.

Like game one, the Ohio Wesleyan offense blitzed Kenyon early, scoring once in the first and then five times in the second. Whibley was called upon to start again. After giving up six runs on seven hits in the first two innings, she settled down. She gave up just four more hits and held the Battling Bishops scoreless over the final four innings.

The Kenyon scoring occurred in the third and sixth innings. In the third, Britny Patterson doubled home Maldonado and later came around to score on a Grace Pilz single. In the sixth, Horita doubled and wound up scoring on a Maldonado single.

The Ladies have just two NCAC doubleheaders left on their schedule. Tuesday, they'll travel to Allegheny College and then Saturday they'll host DePauw University.