GREENCASTLE, Ind. - May 7, 2022 – Hiram softball opened the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Softball Tournament with a pair of victories over Denison University and The College of Wooster on Saturday at DePauw Tigers Field to advance to the NCAC Tournament Championship Game. Hiram defeated the No. 3-seeded Big Red, 12-4, in a run-rule shortened, six innings in their opening-round game, before shutting out the No. 4-seeded Fighting Scots, 3-0, to advance to the championship game.
GAME ONE: #2 HIRAM 12, #3 DENISON 4 (6 INNINGS)
Darian Kanno got things started for the Terriers with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, after leaving a pair on base, Hiram got going at the plate in the bottom of the second.
A single, error and walk loaded the bases for
Larissa Baeza, who singled down the left-field line, scoring
Leah Valdez from third to give Hiram the lead.
Abriana Schwartz followed with an RBI single of her own to make it 2-0, scoring
Hunter Whitton before
Kylie Perez made it 3-0 with an RBI double to right-center.
Hiram would again load the bases in the inning on a fielder's choice and walk, but Synder Silverstein got
Angel Santellan to ground out to keep the Terriers from further increasing their lead.
However, Kanno worked another 1-2-3 frame in the top of the third, but Silverstein matched her in the bottom of the frame.
And in the top of the fourth, the Big Red strung together four hits, getting to Kanno to pull within a run. Singles by Maggie Ballentine and Jessica Hopkins, as well as a hit-by-pitch drawn by Annabelle Calderon, loaded the bases for Caitlin Ellwanger, who brought home Denison's first run of the game with an RBI single.
Kanno got the next batter swinging, but Sam Kline then found a hole on the right side of the infield, bringing home Hopkins to make it a one-run, Hiram lead. However, Kanno got the next two batters to ground out to strand three, and keep Hiram in front by a run.
Silverstein kept Hiram from extending their lead in the fourth, but after Kanno worked another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, Hiram put together another big inning in the bottom of the frame.
Kanno led off the inning with a single, took second on a groundout and third on a wild pitch before scoring on Valdez's bunt to extend Hiram's lead back to two, 4-2. Whitton then legged out an infield, bunt single, and
Natalie Mallas moved the pair to third to bring up
Viviana Macias, whose pinch-hit, RBI single brought home another run to make it a 5-2 Hiram lead.
And after the Big Red made a pitching change, Schwartz doubled down the left-field line, scoring both Baeza and Hunter, to make it a 7-2 Hiram lead.
The Big Red though, would answer again in the top of the sixth. A walk, single and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with just one out for Kline, who brought both runners home with a two-run single to right-center.
But again, Kanno worked out of the inning without allowing any more damage, getting a popout and striking out Clara Wolff swinging to send the Terriers to the plate in the bottom of the sixth.
And with five runs on seven hits, Hiram finished things off, walking off with the run-rule victory on Perez's RBI single.
Giselle Bahena led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and came around to score on Kanno's double to make it 8-4. Santellan then poked a single through the right side, advancing Kanno to third, and Valdez walked to load the bases for Whitton, who stroked an RBI single to center to make it 9-4.
Trinity Meza, pinch-hitting for Mallas, then brought home two more runs with a fielder's choice, as Whitton and Valdez came around to score on a throwing error by the Big Red catcher to make it 11-4.
Mallas then re-entered the game for Meza and advanced to third on Baeza's single, before Perez brought her home to finish off the 12-4, run-rule victory.
Kanno (11-5) earned the win, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out five over 6.0 innings pitched, while Silverstein (10-10) took the loss, allowing nine runs on 12 hits over 5.1 innings pitched.
Five Terriers tallied multi-hit performances, as Schwartz led Hiram at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Baeza went 3-for-3 with a run scored and RBI, while Valdez and Whitton scored three runs apiece for the Terriers, with Valdez going 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Whitton going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Perez and Kanno each turned in multi-hit games as well, with Perez going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, and Kanno going 2-for-3 with a double, walk, two runs scored and an RBI.
With the win, Hiram advanced into the winner's bracket, where they faced the No. 4-seeded Wooster Fighting Scots, who upset the No. 1-seeded and sixth-ranked DePauw University Tigers, 7-6, in their opening-round matchup.
GAME TWO: #2 HIRAM 3, #4 WOOSTER 0
With a spot in Sunday's championship game on the line, the Fighting Scots looked to pull another upset and take an early lead, but with runners at first and second and nobody out,
Jeskari Rodriguez got Molly Likins to ground into a fielder's choice, Katie Agatucci to foul out, and Kaydee Clark to ground out to keep things scoreless heading to the bottom of the first.
The Terriers also went scoreless in the bottom of the first, but after Rodriguez came back to pitch a 1-2-3 frame, Santellan broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the frame.
With a 1-1 count, Santellan launched a solo home run to left-center, her first of the year, giving the Terrier a 1-0 lead.
With the lead in hand, Rodriguez kept things rolling in the third, working around a leadoff base runner to keep Wooster off the scoreboard in both the third and fourth innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, Hiram again threatened, this time with back-to-back singles by Kanno and Santellan and Valdez's sacrifice bunt, but Addie Tagg got the next two Terriers to strikeout to keep Hiram's lead at just 1-0.
Rodriguez though, again worked around a baserunner, this time with two outs, before Hiram extended their lead with a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth.
A one-out single by Schwartz and a Fighting Scots' error put runners on first and third before another Wooster error brought Schwartz home, giving Hiram a 2-0 lead. Bahena then laced an RBI single to center, scoring Perez to make it 3-0 in favor of the Terriers.
That's all Rodriguez would need, as she worked around a walk and two-out double in the sixth, striking Destiny Blake out swinging to send the Terriers back up to the plate.
And though the Fighting Scots would put two more on in the top of the seventh, bringing the game-tying run to the plate, Rodriguez got Stephanie Griffin-Sanchez to pop out, before finishing things off on Likins' foul out to send the Terriers to the NCAC Tournament Championship Game.
Rodriguez (9-6) earned the win, pitching a complete-game shutout. The junior allowed just four hits and struck out three over 7.0 innings pitched.
Tagg (6-8) took the loss for Wooster, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits over 4.1 innings pitched.
Kanno led Hiram at the plate, going 3-for-3, while Santellan went 2-for-3 with a home run, run scored and RBI.
Schwartz went 1-for-4 with a run scored, while Perez went 0-for-2 with a walk and run scored.
With the two wins, Hiram moves to 23-13 on the year, and will next face the winner of Game 5: #4 Wooster vs. #1 DePauw OR #3 Denison in the NCAC Softball Tournament Championship Game on Sunday, May 8 at 12:30 p.m., needing just one win to clinch a conference championship.
