WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. – Hannah Dittoe's four home runs on Saturday afternoon helped lift softball to a doubleheader sweep of the University of the Cumberlands. In the opening game, Dittoe hit three home runs and drove in a total of four to help the Bears (3-7, 2-2 MSC) take the opener 9-2. In the second game, she had one more home run in her which was coupled with a complete game two-hit shutout from Allie Chapman as the Bears finished the afternoon sweep with a 5-0 win over the Patriots (6-16, 1-9 MSC).
Ali Thompson started in the circle in game one for the Bears and stranded the bases loaded with Patriots in the bottom of the first. Dittoe's first blast of the opening game came in the leadoff at-bat of the top of the second when she homered to left.
After allowing three hits in her first inning of work, Thompson would not allow a hitter in the second or third innings to reach base. However, the Bears would not score again until Dittoe led off the fourth inning and this time homered over the centerfield fence to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. The Patriots got their first run in the bottom of the fourth but the Bears would answer with another run in the fifth as Ericka Leighty started the inning with a single and was bunted into scoring position by Katy Bender before scoring on two-out RBI double from Holly Brabson.
Dittoe also led off the sixth inning but was limited to a single but this at-bat would start the inning that saw the Bears start to begin to distance themselves. Brytan Givens would then walk and Kelsey Jenkins singled to load the bases. After a strikeout and fly out, Bender took an easy RBI with a bases loaded walk before Kirsti Yates would unload the bases with a double over the centerfielder's head that scored three more, giving SSU a 7-1 lead.
Cumberlands would scratch another run across in the bottom of the sixth but Hannah Dittoe would leave her final mark on game one with a two-run home run to right field after Abbey Barrett worked a leadoff walk. Thompson would then cap it off with a perfect seventh to pick up her second victory of the season. For the game, she allowed just six hits and two runs while striking out five. The Bears recorded 13 hits in the opening game, including four from Dittoe and three from Yates.
The break between games didn't appear to slow down SSU as Leighty singled to start the game and stole second before a pair of groundouts scored her to give the Bears a 1-0 lead after the top half of the first. That one run would be all the support that Chapman would need as she pitched a perfect two innings to start the second game.
After two strikeouts to start the top of the third, nothing much seemed to be happening in that inning but three straight two-out hits by Yates (single), Brabson (double) and Barrett (single) brought home a pair of two-out runs to give the Bears a 3-0 lead.
Chapman would allow her first base runner in the bottom of the third with a one-out single but a strikeout and groundout stranded that runner at first. After Chapman pitched a perfect fourth inning, the Patriots final hit of the afternoon came in the fifth with a leadoff single. However, two more strikeouts that were sandwiched around a fielder's choice ensured the no runner made it past first base in the entire second game for Cumberlands.
SSU would score its fourth run of the game following a two-out error that was driven home on a Bender double in the sixth. In the seventh, Dittoe would hit her only home run of the second game and fourth of the afternoon with a two-out blast in the seventh to cap off the scoring in 5-0 game as Chapman also worked perfect sixth and seventh innings.
In her first victory of the season, Chapman allowed just the two singles and struck out six in what was her third career shutout and fourth complete game this season. The Bears finished with a balanced attack of eight hits in the second game as Brabson was the only SSU player with multiple hits in the second game.
After evening their Mid-South record at 2-2, the Bears will travel to rival Rio Grande this Tuesday, March 26 for a doubleheader with the RedStorm that will begin at 3 p.m.
