TIGERS WIN ONE AND TIE ONE IN THEIR HOME OPENER DOUBLEHEADER AGAINST CORNERSTONE

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The No. 19 Olivet Nazarene women's softball team won game one and tied game two in their two-game double-header home opener against the Golden Eagles of Cornerstone Monday. Kori Fricke pitched her sixth complete game of the year and hit a two-run home run in a 9-5 win for game one followed by a dramatic Golden Eagles late-game comeback that forced extra innings and eventually was called final at 4-4 due to lack of daylight.

GAME 1: ONU 9, CU 5

Margaret Landis put ONU on the scoreboard first in the opening inning. The sophomore's sacrifice fly was driven far enough into right field to bring home Haley Dobson home from third. CU quickly tied the ballgame back up in the following inning. The Tigers took back the lead for good in the bottom half of the second scoring four runs following Zoe Oshiro's single into straight away center field and Dobson's double that reached the wall in left field.

Fricke's two-run blast came in the fifth inning with Kate Landis on base. Allie Timm tacked on another run for good measure to score Oshiro in the sixth. Cornerstone threatened in the seventh inning hitting a two-run home run of their own but Fricke quickly closed the opening retiring the final two batters consecutively.

GAME 2: ONU 4, CU 4   F/8

Emily Blucker found herself in a pitcher's duel with Mikayla Meade of the Golden Eagles with the CU hurler throwing three scoreless innings and Blucker pitching a no-hitter through four to begin the evening. Olivet strung together three runs to jump out in front in the fourth inning.  Haley Dobson sent Zoe Oshiro from first to home after crushing a ball down the right-field line. Allie Timm singled to double the advantage as Dobson scored. Megan Mann score the third run as Vannah Vaughn put the ball in play with bases loaded.

Cornerstone rallied in the sixth and seventh innings to come back and eventually take a 4-3 lead. With only three remaining outs, the Tigers loaded the bases and tied the game back up at 4-4 with Oshiro's sacrifice fly. ONU still had only one out and runners on second and third, but could not manufacture the winning run. As the game progressed to extra innings, the coaches and umpires made the decision to call the game due to the lack of daylight.

 The No. 19 Tigers travel to Madonna for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. CST this Wednesday. Please visit onutigers.com to follow all the action.

--ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, pkaindl@olivet.edu