COLLEGE Westminster, Grove City split softball doubleheader

The Titans dropped the opener 1-0 before winning the nightcap, 8-2.
GROVE CITY -- For the Westminster College softball team, the results from Tuesday's Presidents' Athletic Conference twinbill with Grove City might not have produced the results the Titans were expecting.
Entering the doubleheader, the Titans (16-4, 1-1) had won six games in a row, showing victories in 12 of their previous 13 outings.
The Wolverines (7-11, 2-4) battled hard to earn a split with the Titans, winning the opener 1-0 before bowing in the nightcap, 8-2.
"Of course we wanted to come out of here with two wins," Westminster coach Jan Reddinger, "but the PAC has become such a strong conference now that it seems everyone else is splitting which means on any given day anyone can beat anyone and that was proven today.
"We came with the attitude that we wanted to and probably should have taken two, but credit to them, they came out hitting, played great defense and they didn't hand us the [first game," Reddinger said.
Grove City coach Michelle Santom felt her team was up the challenge.
Pancake suffers loss
"The girls were psyched and ready to face one of the best pitchers in the conference if not in our entire season," Santom said. "Jennifer Pancake is one of the best pitchers we will see, but the girls played with a lot of confidence and did a great job today."
The first contest was a pitching duel between Pancake, a Boardman native and GCC lefty Sarah Smith.
"Sarah is definitely our number one starting pitcher this year," Santom said. "She is a lefty and brings a lot of heat and we really like that about her."
Game's only run
The only scoring came in the third frame when with one out, Kelly Cozad singled to right, stole second, moved to third on a groundout by Paula Rice and scored on a wild pitch by Pancake.
"We didn't have a lot of hits, but we were hitting the ball hard," Santom said.
The Titans posed a scoring threat in the fifth when they had runners on first and second with one out and second and third with two outs, but couldn't come up with the big hit.
Titans rally in nightcap
If Reddinger was looking for more offense, the Titans delivered early and often in the first three innings of the nightcap. Westminster scored four in the first, added three more in the third before coasting to the six-run victory.
In the Titans' first inning, the big hits were delivered by Pancake (Boardman) with a RBI single and Maria Joseph (New Castle) with a two-run double to right.
Pancake had two hits, a pair of runs scored and a RBI while Joseph had three hits in six trips, a run scored and three runs batted in.
"Credit Jen Pancake because she didn't allow the first game to interfere with her offense in the second game," Reddinger said. "She only gave up one run and if the team backs her up with some offense, we don't lose the game 1-0."