CLERMONT, FL. – The Wesleyan softball team continued their spring trip Saturday, completing another two games in the Sunshine State. The Cardinals split for the 2^nd consecutive day and the 4^th time in five days in Florida. They were able to defeat the Hamline Pipers in game one, behind an impressive pitching performance from Kelly Baker '26 in only her 2^nd career start. Wesleyan exploded for seven runs in the 2^nd inning to help her out, but the first-year pitcher delivered a 10-strikeout complete game on way to a Cardinals 8-2 victory. In game two the Cardinals went up against the undefeated Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans. The Titans jumped on them quickly, scoring six of their seven runs on the game in the first two innings. They would finish with seven runs, holding the Cardinals to only three hits in a 7-0 win. Hamline drops to 6-7-1 after completing their Saturday games, while Wisconsin-Oshkosh continues their undefeated start to the season at 10-0. Wesleyan wins one of two to move to 6-4.  
 
HIGHLIGHTS (8-2 Win vs. Hamline)

• Hamline's Montana Miller put the Cardinals down in order to open the game, bringing the Pipers up to the plate. They went right to work right back-to-back singles that eventually led to runners on second and third with nobody out after an infield error. Baker quickly rebounded in her second start of her career, striking out the next three Pipers to keep them off the board in the opening frame
• Wesleyan then went to work with their bats to open the 2^nd. After two of the first three batters were retired by Miller, Wesleyan got the bats going with six straight hits that led to five runs. The big hits came from Revi Brown '23 who drove in two with a single up the middle, and Lizzie Marino '25 who cleared the bases with a 3-run double to right center field. Wesleyan didn't end there, adding two more runs off Hamline errors to leave the top of the 2^nd with a 7-0 advantage
• Baker continued her impressive day as a starter with three more strikeouts in the bottom half of the 2^nd. The first-year pitcher kept the Pipers scoreless over the next three innings, only allowing two hits to preserve the 7-0 Wesleyan lead
• The offenses found some life in the 5^th, starting with the Cardinals. Alexis Campbell '22 led off with a single, followed by a Molly Lennon '26 single and the Cards were in business early. After a fielder's choice led to Campbell reaching third, Krissy Gately '24 delivered a suicide squeeze to score the graduate second baseman and extend the Cardinals' lead to 8-0. Hamline came back in the bottom half with two runs of their own off a single hit and Wesleyan error to trim the deficit to six. Hamline threatened again in both the 6^th and 7^th innings with runners on, but Baker shut the door to give Wesleyan a 8-2 victory

NOTES:

• Baker (7 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 10 K's) sets a career-high in strikeouts with 10, the most by a Wesleyan pitcher since 2018
• Marino (2-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI) and Campbell (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI) provided the firepower at the plate for the Cardinals, each recording two hits
• Wesleyan finished with 12 hits compared to Hamline who finished with seven

HIGHLIGHTS (7-0 Loss vs. Wisconsin-Oshkosh)

• The Titans got out to a fast start in game two for both of these teams, opening with two base hits. After a strikeout Sophie Wery delivered a 2-run double down the left field line to make it 2-0 Titans. Wisconsin-Oshkosh wasn't done yet, coming through with two more hits that led to two more runs ultimately finishing the half inning up 4-0
• After a quick half-inning in the bottom of the 1^st, the Titans came back up in the 2^nd and delivered two more runs. After a pair of walks got the first two players on base, Hannah Ritter placed down a bunt that she beat out. The throw went awry, allowing the two players on base to score and extend their lead to 6-0 going into the bottom of the 2^nd inning. Wesleyan managed to get two on in the bottom half, but were turned away by Titans pitching
• Wisconsin-Oshkosh scored one more in the 4^th to reach what ended up being the final score, 7-0. The two teams only combined for four hits the rest of the way as the pitchers settled in. The Titans had three hits over the final three innings, while the Cards had one

 
NOTES:

• Isabella Secaira-Cotto '25 (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 K) came in relief for the final six innings and held the Titans to only one run
• The Cardinals only managed three hits in the game, all coming from the top four batters. Wisconsin-Oshkosh finished with 12 hits and 10 runners left on base
• Wesleyan has gone 1-1 in four of it's five days in Florida

 
UP NEXT:
Wesleyan will enjoy a day off before coming back with another double-header on March 20^th against St. Lawrence at 11:30 am and then Lawrence at 2 pm.