On Tuesday, April 2 the softball team traveled to Granville, OH, to take on the Big Red of Denison University. The Yeowomen fell short of victory in both games of their double header, losing 5–2 and 4–1. Coach Mimi Mahon unfortunately only had nine of her 12 players available to battle the strong 11–5 Denison team. Although they had some missing players, the Yeowomen stepped up to the plate and put on impressive performances in their teammates’ absence. Mahon commented on the Yeowomen’s performance at the game, stating, “both our infield and outfield are becoming more consistent.” It is rather impressive to see such positive results from the Yeowomen, even though some are playing out of position to cover for the players who missed games.

During the first game, junior Emily King tagged up and scored from third off of sophomore Katie Pieplow’s sacrifice fly to left field. The second of the two runs scored came when junior Kelsey Steiner scored on an RBI double to right center by junior Melanie Budney. During the second game, the Yeowomen scored their sole run when Pieplow was able to draw a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning, bringing first-year Caroline Hamilton home for the score.

Coach Mahon was less than thrilled when she explained, “the biggest thing that hurt us yesterday was leaving too many runners on base.” The team just couldn’t find the big hit they needed to send the runners home.

Pitching through twelve innings, King collected eight more strikeouts, bringing her season total to 36.

“It was difficult because we had a lot of people playing out of position,” said King. The team played hard even with their limited numbers. “Considering the way we played against Denison,” she continued, “we are super excited to play [DePauw University] and [Franklin College] this weekend.”

DePauw University won its match against Ohio Wesleyan University; this moved them to 6–12 overall and 2–0 in conference play. A victory will allow Oberlin to earn its first win against a conference team. As for Sunday, Franklin College recently lost to Hanover College, bringing their record to 5–17. The Yeowomen are excited to visit Franklin Falls for some out-of-conference competition.

The upcoming games this weekend are greatly anticipated among the team. As long as the Yeowomen continue their great defense, Mahon is confident that “good things will happen for us in the remainder of the season.” We can expect this prediction to come true this Saturday at DePauw University and Sunday at Franklin College.