The Wright State softball team picked up two wins in conference play after sweeping Cleveland State 6-3 and 6-5 in a doubleheader Saturday before falling on the road to Valparaiso 5-0 Monday.
Valpo (16-12, 3-1) made quick work of WSU (5-20, 2-2) as the Crusaders’ freshman pitcher Taylor Weissenhofer threw a complete game shutout and allowed only three Raiders hits on the afternoon. Weissenhofer, who carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, struck out a total of 12 batters in a game which lasted 99 minutes.
The first of the Raiders’ two comeback victories over the Vikings was propelled by small ball offense, which helped dig WSU out of a 3-1 hole in the top of the sixth inning. After CSU pitcher Alex Radjen walked WSU’s Taylor Knore and Kacie Rapshus, pinch hitter Reagan Stofcheck got the action going with a sacrifice bunt to score Knore, and Stofcheck reached safely on a throwing error by Radjen.
Lindsay Barrett and Hanna Floyd followed suit, laying down consecutive bunts and helped WSU achieve a five run sixth inning. The Raiders’ defense held strong and WSU went on to win game one.
Game two again found WSU trailing late, as CSU built a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the fifth. With one out, centerfielder Jess Gorman sparked the scoring with a solo homerun that cut deficit to two runs. After Kaitlyn Kite lined out for the second out of the inning, CSU had appeared to shut the door on WSU after Rapshus struck out. But a passed ball allowed the third baseman to reach safely and kept the Raiders’ hopes alive.
Catcher Kourtney Tackett, second baseman Angie Clark and pinch hitter Alex Machen went on to hit consecutive RBI singles and reclaimed the lead for WSU. Starting pitcher Krystian DeWitt allowed only two hits and no runs in the sixth and seventh inning, allowing the Raiders to again pull out a close come-from-behind win.
