KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Westminster College softball team fell to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 12-5, and stormed back to beat Ohio Northern University, 6-3, in eight innings on Thursday afternoon.
 
In game one, Worcester (4-3) jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the frame, senior Jazym Rohrer (Purcellville, VA / Woodgrove) singled to left field, bringing in senior Addie Dieterich (Purcellville, VA / Loudoun Valley), making the score, 2-1. The Engineers would score eight unanswered runs in the next three innings and led, 10-1, going into the bottom of the fourth. Senior Alexa Owrey (New Castle, PA / Shenango) hit her first homerun of the season, a three-run shot to left center field, to cut the Worcester lead, 10-4. After a sacrifice fly by Marissa Gonzales of Worcester in the top half of the fifth, junior Kailey Liverman (Purcellville, VA / Loudoun Valley) hit a solo homerun to make the score 11-5. WPI would go on to win, 12-5. Owrey went 2-for-3 with one run and three RBIs.
 
Westminster (3-5) handed Ohio Northern (7-1) its first loss of the season. Ohio Northern's Jenna Hollar led off the game with a leadoff-triple, and eventually scored on a pass ball to give Ohio Northern an early 1-0 advantage. In a hard-fought pitcher's duel, Ohio Northern scored another run in the top of the fifth to extend its lead, 2-0. Despite the two runs (zero unearned), Rohrer gave up just one hit through the first six innings. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Dieterich and senior Emiley Westfall (Jefferson, OH / Perry) each singled to give senior Hannah Ritter (Front Royal, VA / Skyline) a chance to take the lead with her next at-bat. Ritter did just that, hitting a three-run homerun to left field, giving Westminster a 3-2 lead. Ohio Northern's Leanna Henry singled down the right field line in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, 3-3, and to send the game into extra innings. With one out in the top of the eighth, Rohrer singled to left, bringing in Liverman and giving Westminster a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, sophomore Lauren McNany (Emlenton, PA / Allegheny-Clarion Valley) hit a two-run shot to left field, giving the Titans a 6-3 advantage. Rohrer would get out of the bottom of the eighth in a 1-2-3 fashion and earned her third win of the season. Rohrer pitched a complete-game, giving up just three hits and one earned run, while striking out a season-high 11. Ritter finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Westfall went 3-for-5 with a run scored.
 
Westminster is back in action Friday, March 9 in the last day of the D9 Sunkissed Games. The Titans will face Rhodes College at 9 a.m. and Bluffton College at 1:30 p.m.