OTTAWA – On Tuesday, Ottawa senior pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi was on pins and needles despite striking out a school-record 20 batters in a nine-inning victory over Morris.

Taking the ball into the circle for the first time since, Oslanzi didn’t have to worry one bit as she had plenty of offensive backup right from the start.

Ottawa scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning against Seneca, giving Oslanzi more than enough support as the Pirates ran away with an 11-0, five-inning nonconference victory over the Fighting Irish on Friday at King Field.

“It sure was different from the game on Tuesday against Morris, where we made a lot of mistakes and left too many runners on base even though we won,” Oslanzi said. “Today, once we got the 10 runs early, I felt very comfortable and was able to pitch the way I wanted to against a good Seneca team.”

Oslanzi – an Eastern Illinois recruit – allowed only two hits and struck out eight while facing only 17 batters, upping her pitching record to 11-4 and the Pirates’ season mark to 16-5.

“It was nice to see the bats pop out like that in the first inning, and it took a lot of pressure off McKenzie and our defense, unlike the game against Morris,” Ottawa coach Adam Lewis said. “I know Seneca is a young ballclub, but they have an incredibly talented team.

“Just like Tuesday, I was very proud of the way [Oslanzi] pitched today in much different circumstances.”

In the top of the first, Oslanzi struck out the side even though the Irish were able to get a hit from Sam Vandevelde.

Then the roof caved in on Seneca (16-5) and freshman starting pitcher Cam Stecken (2 IP, 10 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 2 BB), who deserved a much better fate after the Irish committed four errors, leading to only one Ottawa earned run ticketed to Stecken.

Hailey Larsen led off with a single and went to second base on Oslanzi’s blistering base hit to center. Kendall Lowry then reached on Seneca’s first error before Larson scored on a wild pitch to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Three more Irish miscues would follow, as the floodgates opened. Peyton Bryson added a two-run single, Marlie Orlandi a two-run double down the right field line, along with RBI hits from Lowery and Maura Condon that put the Pirates ahead 10-0 after one. Ottawa sent 14 batters to the plate.

“We had some moving pieces today with our prom tomorrow, so I kind of knew in the back of my head it might be rough for us against a great pitcher like Oslanzi,” Seneca coach Brain Holman said. “But that’s no excuse for the bad defensive play, and when we boot the ball so many times, especially like we did in the first inning versus a top-tier team like Ottawa, nothing good can happen.

“I was proud, however, with the way we responded holding them to only one run the rest of the way, and I told the girls that even though it was a very tough loss.”

Oslanzi would strike out the side in order during the top of the second. Stecken bounced back with two Ks of her own in the bottom of the frame to hold off any further damage for Seneca.

But the Irish would commit another pair of miscues in the bottom of the third that allowed Ottawa courtesy runner Avery Leigh to tally the final run of the ballgame against Seneca relief pitcher Tessa Krull (2 IP, 0 H, 4 K).

Oslanzi closed out the game after Krull added only the second hit of the contest for the Irish in the fifth.

“I was spinning my pitches pretty well today, and our defense was much better than a few days ago, so I’m pretty happy with the way we all performed,” Oslanzi said. “We’ve got some tough games coming up, so we need to keep it going.”