GAMBIER, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University swept a North Coast Athletic Conference softball doubleheader against Kenyon College on Saturday. The Battling Bishops claimed a 10-4 win in the opener before exploding in extra innings in game two and earning an 11-6 win.
 
GAME ONE
 
A seven-run fifth inning allowed OWU to blow open a close game en route to its 13th win of the season.
 
Before that, competition was close after each team scored in the first inning. Aimee Duckworth put the Battling Bishops up 2-0 after she hit a two-out single up the middle plating Erin Ferguson and Madi Drabick. Kenyon responded just a bit later as Grace Finn smacked a double to left center scoring senior Madi Maldonado.
 
Ohio Wesleyan added a run in the second to extend its lead to 3-1 and that score remained the next two frames.
 
Then in the fifth, 10 Battling Bishops made their way into the batter's box and tallied seven runs on eight hits. Nicole Peak's double brought the count to 4-1 and later, Drabick added a two-run single up the middle plating two more. OWU's final two runs came off the bat of Ferguson who socked a two-bagger which brought Ashley Day and Drabick home.
 
Kenyon added two more runs the rest of the way as Lauren Graf singled Maldonado home and Finn smoked a homer to left center. Both Graff and Finn led Kenyon with three hits apiece.
 
GAME TWO
 
A 5-5 tie score after six innings remained the same until the top of the tenth when Ohio Wesleyan erupted for a half-dozen runs.
 
OWU plated single runs in the first and second frames before the Ladies rallied back in the third through fifth innings. Emily Buckwalter got Kenyon on the board as she drove in Maldonado on a fielder's choice. Then in the fourth, Maldonado drove home Grace Pilz with a single to center field.
 
Kenyon then moved ahead 3-2 as Finn added another single to center field, this one scoring Nicole Horita.
 
The Ladies added another run in the fifth, an RBI groundout from Juliana Delsante, doubling up their lead, 4-2.
 
That sparked a response from OWU in the top of the sixth. Drabick drove in the tying runs with a single to right field and later, she put the visitors back in front, 5-4, as she scored on an outfield hit from Ferguson.
 
Down a run, the Ladies fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth. With two and Maldonado on third, Finn singled through the left side and helped tie the contest.
 
Over the next three innings, no runs came across. The Ladies did have a chance to secure victory in the bottom of the ninth as they had two runners in scoring position, but a pop out along the infield ended that chance.
 
In the tenth, with international tiebreaker rules in effect, OWU came through. Duckworth broke the 5-5 tie with a two-bagger to right center which plated Ami Wright. A sacrifice fly followed from Peak before Ashley Day ripped a two-run double moving the score to 9-5. Drabick then moved the tally to 11-5 with a two-run single.
 
All Kenyon could do after that was get a sacrifice fly off the bat of Pilz which scored Kathryn Riggs.
 
Maldonado and Finn each collected four hits to lead the Ladies.
 
Tomorrow, Kenyon will travel to Hiram College (8-19, 1-9 NCAC) for another conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.