COLUMBUS – The Capital University softball team won two games in contrasting styles Thursday to earn a pair of victories over Bethany (W.Va.) in a non-conference doubleheader at Clowson Field.

The Crusaders (12-6 overall) took the opener 11-0 in five innings before coming back in extra innings in the nightcap to win 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth.

In the second game, the Bison (4-10) forced extra innings by scoring four unanswered runs (three unearned) after a four-run first inning by Capital.

By international rule, a runner was placed at second, and Bethany plated the runner to take a 5-4 advantage entering the bottom of the eighth.

Freshman designated player Marisa Koss (Ostrander, Ohio), the first hitter in the frame, knocked a walk-off, two-run home run to deep left field, her fourth of the year, to give the Crusaders a hard-earned victory.

Junior Alyssa Patznick (Newark, Ohio) pitched the final three innings in relief of junior Brooke Billings (Clyde, Ohio) to pick up her second win of the day and improve to 8-2 for the season. The two pitchers combined to strand 11 Bison runners.

Four runs crossed the plate for Capital in the bottom of the first as Koss brought in a pair with a two-run single through the left side. Sophomore catcher Sarah Nist (North Canton, Ohio) and junior first baseman Maura Rose (Williamsport, Pa.).

Koss and junior centerfielder Kelsey Swain (Pickerington, Ohio) recorded two hits apiece to lead the team.

In the opener, Capital exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the first inning and didn't look back, posting 10 hits and drawing five walks in the victory. Five different players posted two RBIs each in the affair.

Patznick moved to 7-2 on the year with her second shutout of the year. She scattered four hits and struck out six in the complete-game effort.

The Crusaders plated four runs before the first out was recorded in the bottom of the first as sophomore third baseman Katlyn Simpson (Loudonville, Ohio) singled home Swain to start the scoring spree. Three batters later, sophomore shortstop Therese Becker (South Euclid, Ohio) drew a bases-loaded walk before Nist ripped a two-run single up the middle.

After an RBI groundout by sophomore right fielder Ashley Knowles (Canton, Ohio), Swain singled in Nist, followed by another run-scoring groundout, this time by Simpson.

Junior left fielder LeAnna Cotton (Okeechobee, Fla.) capped the first-inning barrage with a scorching two-run double to right center.

Becker led off the bottom of the second with a towering solo home run to right center field, her third of the year. Swain knocked in another run later in the inning on a fielder's choice.

The Crusaders visit cross-town rival Otterbein Saturday for an Ohio Athletic Conference doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. in Westerville.