Bluffton, Ohio – April 21, 2010 – Dana Thoms (Amherst, Ohio / Firelands) earned her 12th win as the Heidelberg University softball team earned a split in a doubleheader today against Bluffton University.
Thoms’ 12th win ties with Heather Diebler (1996) for first with most wins in a single season in Heidelberg’s softball history.
Heidelberg won game one 3-2, while falling 7-3 in game two. The Berg goes to 21-11 overall, while the Beavers stands at 13-16.
With dominant pitching on both ends, both teams would go scoreless through the first four innings of game one.
Heidelberg would change that in the fifth. Leadoff hitter Carrie Moran (Lakewood, Ohio / Lakewood) got things started with a single to centerfield. Two batters later, Andrea Gerdeman (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) hit a two-run home run over right center field, giving Heidelberg a 2-0 lead. The home run marked Gerdeman’s sixth on the year and her second straight game with a long ball. It also moves Gerdeman third all-time with 10 career home runs and it ties her for fourth with most homers in a single season.
The Berg would start off the sixth with back-to-back doubles. Megan Reinhart (Tiffin, Ohio / Hopewell-Loudon) doubled to right center in the leadoff spot. Reinhart leads the team with 11 doubles on the year. Kaitlyn Esordi (Brownstown, Mich. / Oscar A. Carlson) followed with a double of her own down the left field line, bringing in Reinhart, making the score 3-0.
Bluffton would finally put runs on the board in the sixth, but wasn’t able to overcome Heidelberg’s lead.
Thoms pitched a complete game, her 14th on the year, while improving to 12-8 on the year. She only gave up two earned runs off of six hits, while walking one and retiring two.
Three of Heidelberg’s players had a two-hit game. Gerdeman led the way with a 2-for-3 outing, with two RBI. She leads the team with 25 RBI on the year. Reinhart followed going 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Moran went 2-for-4.
In game two, Bluffton got off to an early start scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. However, Heidelberg would quickly respond when Reinhart hit a one-out, three-run home run over the right center fence, tying ithe game at 3-3. It was her fourth homer of the year.
The Beavers would add two more runs in the third and one in the fifth and the sixth to push the final score to 7-3.
Offensively, Reinhart led the way with a home run and three RBI. Paige Diers (New Richmond, Ohio / New Richmond) went 2-for-3, while Bridget Moran (Lakewood, Ohio / Lakewood), Ashley Stromack (LaGrange, Ohio / Keystone, Hannah Brumit (Stone Creek, Ohio / New Philadelphia), and Natalie Hunt (Maineville, Ohio / Maineville) had a hit apiece.
Ali Sayre (Sylvania, Ohio / Sylvania-Northview) pitched a complete game, while giving up seven runs, two earned, off of 11 hits. She walked one, while striking out one. Sayre goes to 6-2 on the year.