Softball Sees Highs And Lows On Day Three In Clermont

OVERVIEW – #8 Grand Valley St. & Ferris St.

SCORES: Northwood 9, Grand Valley St. 4 / Northwood 2, Ferris St. 7

RECORDS: Northwood 10-6, Grand Valley St. 7-2/ Northwood 10-7, Ferris St. 4-9

LOCATION: The Spring Games – Clermont, Fla.

RECAP: Northwood softball traveled to Clermont, Fla. for their annual spring break trip. In game one, Northwood sprinted out to a 7-0 lead in the third and held on to beat #8 GVSU, 9-4. Game two was another story, previously beating the Bulldogs 13-2 (February 18) less than a month ago, the Timberwolves were held silent as FSU found a way to win, 7-2.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Ashley Ziel got the nod for her first collegiate start as the pitcher. The freshman wasn't intimated by the #8 team as she didn't allow a run through the first two innings.
• In the top of the third, NU's patience saw two straight walks by Haley Frank & Ziel gave Northwood their first two baserunners of the inning.
• Delanie Gale (single) and Brittany Steimel (sac fly to left) followed the walks in the third, scoring Frank and pinch runner Jenna O'Berry, 2-0 NU.
• The third-inning explosion didn't stop there, Madison Jordan's walk led to Lundquist doubling to the left fielder and Karlie Moore singling right behind her, scoring three more, 5-0 NU.
• Northwood batted around in the third as Jillian Krawczak got her second at-bat of the inning. This time she would point an exclamation point on the Timberwolf half of the third with a triple to the right-center gap that score two more, 7-0 NU.
• Following NU's third, GVSU would tack on one in the third behind a sac fly to center, 7-1.
• NU extended their lead back to seven when Frank blasted a liner at the GV third baseman forcing the ball to be bobbled and kicked away, allowing Lundquist to score, 8-1 NU.
• Ziel made it through five innings after giving up two unearned runs in the fifth qualifying herself for her first collegiate win, 8-3 NU.
• GV added another in the sixth to cut the deficit to four, 8-4 NU.
• A wild pitch in the seventh gave Northwood another buffer run, 9-4 NU, as Leister closed it out the final two innings to earn Northwood the win.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 9/8/2, Grand Valley St. 4/8/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Grand Valley St. 7
• Winning Pitcher – Asley Ziel (1-0) 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 0 K
• Losing Pitcher – Navaeh Ingram (2-1), 3 IP, 5 H, 7 R (7 ER), 6 BB, 3 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lundquist: 2-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB
• Moore: 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Krawczak: 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI
• Frank: 1-4, RBI, R, BB
• Fantin: 1-2, R, BB

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

•  A walk and hit by pitch led to a Ferris St. single that scored one in the first, 0-1 FSU.
• FSU led off the third with a triple to right. They later would score twice to extend their lead to 0-3.
• Northwood would cut into the lead in the fourth behind Madeline Skene's single to center. Gale would then be caught in a rundown on the throw home the FSU catcher ricocheted the throw off Gale's helmet, allowing Gale to score, 1-3 FSU.
• Jordan later added an RBI with a groundout to third, allowing Steimel to score from third, 2-3 FSU.
• Northwood wouldn't get any closer, giving up four runs in the seventh, 2-7 FSU.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/10/1, Ferris St. 2/6/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Ferris St. 6
• Winning Pitcher: Mauri Viness (1-0) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 0 K
• Losing Pitcher: Brynn Polega (2-2) 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Frank: 2-4
• Gale: 2-4, R

UP NEXT

• Softball is set to take on Minnesota St.- Mankato and Edinboro., Monday, March 6 for day three of the spring trip to Clermont, Fla. at Legends Way Ballfields. The Timberwolves will play Edinboro at 9 a.m. followed by a battle with Minn. St. – Mankato at 11:15 a.m.