Ohio Softball Sweeps Doubleheader Over Marshall
Hagen pitches complete-game two-hitter in opener
Bankert's solo home run earns 8th-inning victory

Contact: Heather Czeczok at (740) 593-1299 or sports.media@ohio.edu

ATHENS, Ohio (April 25, 2000) -- Ohio softball swept its first doubleheader of the season with 3-0 and 3-2 wins over Marshall in Mid-American Conference action on Tuesday. Sophomore Heather Hagen (Huntington Beach, Calif.) pitched a complete-game two-hitter in the opener, while freshman Kelli Bankert's (Clifton, Va.) solo home run in the bottom of the eighth lifted Ohio to victory in the finale.

Senior catcher Jen Sewell (Tulsa, Okla.) triggered the Bobcat offense in the opener. She led off the fourth inning with a single and advanced to second on a stolen base. Two batters later, freshman Crystal Turner's (Kansas City, Mo.) single scored Sewell to put Ohio ahead 1-0.

The Bobcats added to their lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. With one out, sophomore Tiffany Bolton (Viena, Va.) was hit by the pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sara Kraus (Tulsa, Okla.). Bankert scored Bolton with a single and then crossed the plate herself on a triple by Sewell.

Hagen improved to 4-9 overall with her first shutout of the season. She retired 11 of the last 12 batters she faced, while fanning seven batters and walking just two.

In the second game, Ohio's defense energized its offense. In the scoreless top of the third with bases loaded and one out, Herd shortstop Carrie Dean flew out to centerfield, hoping to score Jenny Ryther from third. But Bobcat centerfielder Kraus gunned the ball to catcher Sewell who made the tag at home to prevent the run and end the inning.

The Bobcats carried the momentum into the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of a Marshall error to post two runs. Bolton led off the inning with a single. Kraus used a sacrifice to advance Bolton, but an error by Herd third baseman Vanessa Clarkson scored Bolton and moved Kraus to third. She scored two batters later on a sacrifice by Sewell.

But Marshall evened the score in the sixth inning when Natasha Johnson used a two-out triple to score Dean and Clarkson. The Bobcats tried to answer in the bottom of the inning when Lyndsay Eirich led off with a double. She could get no further than third on a sacrifice, before Johnson moved from first base to the mound and struck out a pair of Bobcats.

Marshall put one runner on in both the seventh and eighth with an error and a walk, respectively, but was unable to manufacture another run. After Johnson retired the Bobcat side in the seventh, Bankert led off the eighth with her solo shot to left field. The home run was Bankert's first of her career and the first by a Bobcat at the Ohio Softball Field this season.

Junior Kasey Dowd (Clearwater, Fla.) notched the victory to improve to 6-13. She scattered four hits and one walk over eight innings while striking out five.

The Bobcats (12-24, 6-9 MAC) continue MAC action at home with three games against Kent this weekend. The teams meet in a single game on Friday, April 28 at 3 p.m. before playing a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.