Danielle Grooms

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster was clicking on all cylinders Friday evening, as the pitchers combined to strike out 13 batters, and the offense put up more runs than it had in any doubleheader all season, leading to 5-2 and 8-1 victories over Oberlin College in North Coast Athletic Conference action.

Today's sweep propelled the Fighting Scots (13-19, 5-7 NCAC) into a tie with Wittenberg University (11-20, 5-7 NCAC) for the fourth and final spot in the NCAC Tournament. The Scots will host Kenyon College (9-21, 2-7 NCAC) tomorrow at 1 p.m. in a critcial doubleheader to end the regular season.

Oberlin (3-25, 1-11 NCAC) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in game one, as pitcher Melanie Budney smacked a two-run double to right center in the top of the first inning. Wooster responded in the bottom of the frame, though, as a costly error allowed Gina Pirolozzi and Kelley Johnson to score and tie the game 2-2.

Jenn Horton overwhelmed Oberlin batters from the second inning on, allowing just a pair of hits between innings two through six, and Wooster tacked on runs in the third, fifth, and sixth to earn the 5-2 margin. The most notable run was Johnson's RBI triple down the right field line in the sixth inning which scored Rachel Frank.

Lauren Swinehart was 2-for-3 with an RBI in game one, with both hits going for doubles.

The Scots offense exploded in the nightcap for a season-high 15 hits, which included a two-RBI single from Caitlin Gaffney that gave Wooster a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Then in the second, Johnson scored on an error and Swinehart drove in a run with a deep single to right center, giving the Scots an early 4-0 cushion.

Wooster added a run in the fourth, two in the fifth, and Gwen Davis drove in the team's final run in the sixth, to cap off the impressive 8-1 rout.

Pirolozzi had a superb outing in the circle, allowing just six hits and one earned run while striking out seven batters. Also noteworthy in game two, Danielle Grooms went 3-for-4 at the plate, and Gaffney drove in a season-high three RBI.