Senior Olivia Johnson struck out 11 batters, including six straight, to lead the Scots to a 5-2 win in game one against Denison University. Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22.

In their first games back since COVID-19 prematurely ended their season a year ago, The College of Wooster softball team looked as if they hadn't lost a step, taking two games against Denison University 5-2 and 6-2.

Wooster was led by a pair of strong performances on the mound from their senior duo of Olivia Johnson and Marissa Norgrove. 

Johnson pitched the entirety of game one, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out 11. After Denison led the game off with a double, Johnson struck out the next six batters.

She got help from junior Molly Likins in the bottom of the third, who had a monstrous day at the plate. She put the Scots on the board with an RBI double and finished the day 6-for-8 with two home runs and six RBI.

Denison put two on the board in the fourth behind a double steal and an RBI double to right center. 

However, first-year Lilly McLendon tied it up in the bottom of the inning when she slapped the ball over the right field fence. Not to be outdone, Likins hit her first home run in the bottom of the fifth to give Wooster the lead for good. Senior Emmalee Cooke hit an RBI double in the sixth, while Likins wrapped the scoring by bringing Cooke home on an RBI single. 

Cooke and McLendon each finished with two hits, while Wooster collected 12 hits on the game. The Scots later added 15 hits in game two behind the starter Norgrove.

Norgrove took the win behind five solid innings of one run baseball. First-year Rachael Dudziak saw her first action pitching the final two innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out two.

Both teams put across one run in the first. Heidi Likins scored Brooke Swain after a double to center field.

Wooster then used a four-run third, highlighted by a two-run home run by Molly Likins. Daphne Pate had a two-run single to score Heidi Likins and Gabby Lakes.

In the fourth, Molly Likins added another RBI single, while Denison tacked a run on late in the seventh due to an error.

Cooke finished game two 3-for-4 and the day 5-for-8 with three runs scored atop the lineup. In game two, the first five batters in the lineup went 11-for-17 as Swain, Lakes and Molly and Heidi Likins all collected two hits.

This was the first time Wooster took back-to-back games versus the Big Red. Wooster (2-0) travels to Denison (0-2) tomorrow to wrap up their four-game series.