Softball Splits First Series Of The Homestand With Wayne St.

OVERVIEW – Wayne State

SCORES: Northwood 6, Wayne State 2 / Northwood 6, Wayne State 7

RECORDS: Northwood 28-19 (11-7 G-MAC), Wayne State 15-23 (4-12 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Midland, Mich.- Fisher Stadium

RECAP: Northwood softball played the Warriors of Wayne State Thursday (April 20) for a non-conference game. The doubleheader would end with both teams getting a win. Northwood won the first game 6-2 before Wayne State secured the win 6-7 in game two.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Jenna O'Berry's single up the middle led to the first runs of the day with Madison Jordan and Gianna Fantin scoring inthe bottom of the second, 2-0 NU.
• Four batters later, Ashley Ziel hit a three-run laser over the left field wall to Jillian Krawczak and O'Berry. This was her team-leading seventh home run of the season, 5-0 NU.
• A two-run homer in the third by the Warriors cut the deficit to three, 5-2 NU
• A single up the middle by Hailey Frank led to a run being scored by Krawczak in the bottom of the sixth, 6-2 NU. 
• Hailey Leister earned herself her 18 victories of the year. She has the most wins in the G-MAC this season and is tied for sixth on the all-time single-season NU wins list.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 6/7/1, Wayne State 2/6/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Wayne State 7
• Winning Pitcher – Hailey Leister (18-8) 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 4 K
• Losing Pitcher – Sasha Buckberger (6-7), 6 IP, 7 H, 6 R (6 ER), 5 BB, 5K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Ziel: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• O'Berry: 1-3, 2 RBI, R
• Krawczak: 1-1, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Brynn Polega started off the scoring with her second home run of the year, this one a two-run homer to left field, in the bottom of the second. This is the second home run of her career, 2-0 NU.
• Northwood defense showcased its skills with a very crisp 6-4-3 double play to end the third. 
• A sac fly by Polega in the third tallied her third RBi of the game, putting the Timberwolvs ahead 3-0.
• The Warriors changed the lead in their favor with one swing of the bat ione inning later. The Warriors' Leah Wrubel's grand slam to left made it 3-4, WSU.  
• Wayne extended their lead to 3-5 via back-to-back doubles in the fifth.
• The next inning Wayne's single to left field which saw another run score, 3-6 WSU. 
• Two straight walks to O'Berry and Krawczak in the sixth led to Frank crushing a double over the left fielder's head to score O'Berry, 4-6 WSU.
• Later that same inning, chaos ensued when Steimel's routine groundball with the bases loaded to second led to a bobble and errant throw. Northwood capitalized on the error from the second baseman leading to Frank and Krawczak scoring to tie the game, 6-6.
• The Warriors would take the final lead of the ball game with their second set of back-to-back doubles in the seventh, 6-7 WSU
• Northwood would put their first two batters on via a five-foot hit by Fantin that ended up on the first base line and a walk to pinch-hitting Karlie Moore, but NU would not be able to muster any runs, falling 6-7.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 6/8/1, Wayne State 7/9/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 8, Wayne State 4
• Winning Pitcher: Hayden Batton (5-10) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
• Losing Pitcher: Brynn Polega (4-5) 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 0 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Polega: 1-2, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
• Frank: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 R

UP NEXT

• Softball is set to take on the Tiffin in a doubleheader on Friday (April 21) starting at 1 & 3 p.m. at Fisher Stadium.