Softball: Olivet concludes season with doubleheader split at North Park

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Olivet College softball team concluded the 2015 campaign by splitting a non-conference doubleheader against North Park (Ill.) University today at The Ballpark, home of the Chicago Bandits in Rosemont, Illinois. The Comets won the first game 4-2 before the Vikings came back to win the second game, 5-2. The doubleheader was also a Cancer Awareness day, as the Olivet players wore pink uniform tops.

North Park scored a run in the bottom half of the first inning. The Comets then used a two-out rally to score three runs in the third inning. Senior Ashley Milheim hit a one-out single and sophomore Kelsey Scheenks walked to put two runners on base. After a groundout for the second out, freshman Kris Forest hit a looping fly ball which fell in between two players for a two-run double. Sophomore Devon Mayse then lined a double just inside the left field line for an RBI-double.

Olivet extended its lead to 4-1 with a single tally in the top half of the sixth inning. Sophomore Jessica Palumbo had a leadoff single and went to second on a groundout. Sophomore Maddie Carr entered the game as a pinch-hitter and stroked a triple down the right field line to score Palumbo.

The Vikings scored a run in their half of the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Nicole Kruckman and Kayleigh Moertl. North Park brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh but Olivet got out of the jam with a fielder's out at second and a fly out.

For the game, Mayse, Milheim and Palumbo all went 2-for-3 at the plate. In the circle, sophomore Ashlynn Grubb threw a complete game, seven-hitter.

In the second game, the Vikings scored three runs in the second and one run in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Olivet cut the North Park lead in half with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Sophomore Christine Wood lined a single to left field. On a batted ball by freshman Rachel Zieler, the right fielder misplayed the ball, allowing Wood to score from first and advancing Zieler to third.

Freshman Haley Reed re-entered the game to run at third and crossed the plate on a pinch-hit RBI-single by sophomore Molly Renfroe. The Vikings answered with a run in the bottom half of the sixth to re-gain a three-run cushion at 5-2. The Comets did not go down without a fight in the seventh, as they brought the tying run to the plate. A fly out ended the game.

At the plate, Olivet had only five hits, all singles by Carr, Renfroe, Mayse, Milheim and Wood. Freshman Delaney Maki suffered the pitching loss after allowing four earned runs on seven hits in two and one-third innings. Freshman Becca Neal threw the final three and two-thirds innings, giving up just one run on eight hits.

The Comets end their season with an 18-16 overall record. 

NOTES: Several Olivet players will find their names listed in the single-season record books. Grubb posted the fifth-best batting average at .429. Her 29 runs scored equals her total from the 2014 season for the sixth spot in a season. Forest's five home runs ties for the fourth-most, while her 46 RBI are second-most, .657 slugging percentage is fifth-best and .479 on-base percentage is seventh-best. Scheenks recorded 11 sacrifice hits to tie for the second-most.

Despite missing the last 13 games of the season, freshman Larissa Ludwick is the first player in school history with more than 100 chances to record a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. In the circle, Grubb's 12 victories are tied for the seventh-most and her 109 strikeouts are fourth-most.

As a team, Olivet broke the single-season record with a .390 on-base percentage. The Comets also posted the second-best team batting average at .322.