BOX SCORE
The Doane softball season came to a close on Thursday evening as the Tigers dropped an elimination game to Dana College, 8-3. Doane finishes the season with a 23-20 record after going 0-2 in the GPAC Tournament.
The score does not indicate how close the game was. Doane took the lead in the first inning after Whitney Poole led off with a single. She was sacrificed to second base by Hannah Kroese and Christy Kobza followed with a double to center field to give Doane a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, Dana came back with three runs on a Taylor Morrow three-run home run. With two outs and a pair of runners on, Doane start Megan Wingate was unable to get a third strike call and on the very next pitch, Morrow delivered it to the left field wall.
Dana was on the verge of taking a commanding lead in the fifth inning as they loaded the bases against Wingate without any outs. Doane made a pitching change and on a 3-1 pitch, Jenna Alswager was able to induce a 1-2-3 double play for the first two outs of the inning. A fly out to center field ended the Viking charge.
Doane was held in check until the sixth inning where they made a rally of their own. The Tigers used two hits and a walk to load the bases with one out. Alyssa Maraia had the first opportunity but struck out in a pinch hitting appearance. It was left up to Whitney Poole to try and tie the game for the Tigers and on a 1-0 pitch, Poole sent a shot to left center field to plate a pair of runs to tie the game.
Taking momentum into the top of the seventh, Doane was unable to keep the Vikings off the base paths. Morrow opened the inning with a solo home run to give Dana the lead and they piled on as they finished the inning with five runs on six hits.
The Tigers received a lead-off single by Kobza in the bottom of the seventh but a tough-luck at-bat for Brooke Sampson resulted in a line-out to right field and Doane was unable to make another charge.
Poole finished the game 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Kobza went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Gina Falciani and Brianna Dickinson scored runs for the Tigers in the sixth.
Morrow led Dana with two home runs and four RBIs. Hannah Baker added a three-run home run in the seventh for the Vikings.
Megan Wingate took a no-decision, allowing three runs on four hits in four-plus innings of work. Jenna Alswager finished with the loss, allowing four runs on four hits in 2.1 innings. Jennifer Liddell closed out the seventh, allowing one run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning.