Ali Pettit returned to the success she had last season and commanded the second game in the doubleheader Tuesday against Oakland.

The junior pitcher recorded her first shutout in the 3-0 win that completed the two-game sweep at Oakland.

“I had some really solid defensive plays behind me,” Pettit said. “Ellen (Venker) did a great job framing pitches for me. The whole team was on the same page.”

Pettit struck out five batters and walked just one. She allowed three hits with two in the seventh inning.

“Ali did a great job of spotting pitches in the corners,” said coach Margo Jonker.

Junior pitcher Christa Delamater got her fourth win of the season in the first game against Oakland. She had six strikeouts in the 5-2 win. Delamater allowed nine hits, but stranded 12 OU runners on base.

“When people got on base, she got tough,” Jonker said. “She did a great job of keeping them from scoring. Once they got on, she settled down, competed and was successful.”

Sophomore outfielder Christina Novak batted 4-for-7 with two RBIs in the series. She took advantage of the Golden Grizzlies’ defense early by stealing home in the first inning.

The Chippewas displayed their speed on the bases with five runners getting steals in the doubleheader. Junior outfielder Tracy Kaatz recorded her 31st steal of the season, but was thrown out for the second time.

“We played pretty solid all the way around,” Pettit said. “We got hits when we needed to and scored some runs. We got the job done.”

Central was coming off a disappointing loss Sunday to Akron. The goal was to rebound well from the loss and head back to Mid-American Conference play with a win.

CMU heads back to MAC play Friday when it travels to Oxford, Ohio, to take on Miami University in a doubleheader.

“It was very important to get out here and get the wins,” Jonker said. “We needed to get back to the winning mode. We put those games behind us, and now it’s back to playing ball.”

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