With only one conference game left, Oberlin softball squirms for a success. The Yeowomen were scheduled to face the Kenyon Ladies on Saturday, April 23, but due to spectacular Ohio weather, the doubleheader was washed out and postponed until Wednesday, April 27.

Almost a week of anticipation and horrible precipitation allowed the Yeowomen to drop their guard and be shut out in a doubleheader against Kenyon. Accompanied by cheers and chattering teeth from fans, game one finally made its delayed start.

Senior Julia Daher, the leadoff hitter, stepped up to the plate determined to give inning one a powerful beginning. From the first swing of her bat, Daher smacked the ball to center field, good for a single. First-year Sophie Simon-Ortiz followed in Daher’s footsteps, prepared to swing her hardest and bring Daher home.

With a strikeout one pitch away, Daher seized the opportunity to steal second and ran full speed, aiming for the base. Although her attempt was promising, she could not match the Ladies catcher sophomore Sara Shoenhoft, who accurately threw down to second, sending Daher to the bench.

After the first out of the game, the Yeowomen could not seem to synchronize their bats with the ball. The Ladies’ first-year pitcher Stephanie Hemmingson was a force to be reckoned with. She did not allow any runs in game one and went three for three with two doubles and grabbed the win with five shutout innings.

Disheartened by the 8-0 defeat, game two proved that Oberlin could not quite get into the swing of things. The first inning ended quickly with an immediate two outs, one base on balls and a third pop-fly to end the inning.

With not much to lose, the Yeowomen still attempted to get a piece of the ball. “We were hitting better in the second game. We made more contact but Kenyon’s defense was quick and ready, making it difficult for us to get on base,” said first-year center fielder Steele Hearne.

Although there were no runs and only one recorded hit in game two, the Yeowomen managed to tame Kenyon’s pitching. There were no strikeouts through the five innings of game two. Oberlin was making the Ladies work for their points.

Kenyon rattled off 13 hits in the second game, but the Yeowomen’s outfield was doing a good job answering their attempts. “We [the outfield] were doing a great job reciprocating Kenyon’s hits. We were getting to the balls quickly and using them efficiently. They had a powerful offense that hit off two homers which there is not much the outfield can do about,” said Hearne.

Kenyon finished the game with two home runs leaving, the Yeowomen run-less with a final score of 10-0. With the rain continuing to fall, Oberlin will try to snatch their first conference win this Saturday at Wittenberg. The Yeowomen are finishing up their season with a current record of 1-22, 0-12 in the NCAC.