Softball Drops Two At #7 GVSU

OVERVIEW –#7 Grand Valley St.

SCORES: Northwood 0, Grand Valley St. 8/ Northwood 3, Grand Valley St. 4

RECORDS: Northwood 24-15 (8-4 G-MAC), Grand Valley St. 27-3 (9-0 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Allendale, Mich. - GVSU Softball Field

RECAP: Northwood softball dropped two on the road at GVSU. GVSU took game one handily, 0-8, but NU would fight back in game two taking the lakers to the 10^th inning before the would fall, 3-4.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood's offense managed just three hits in game one as the Lakers went up 0-3 early.
• GVSU would tack on three more in the third with and RBI groundout and two-run single to center, 0-6 GVSU.
• The Lakers would put the game away in the fifth. Two RBI singles put the Lakers out in front by eight, ending it in five innings.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 0/3/1, Grand Valley St. 8/10/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Grand Valley St. 6
• Winning Pitcher – Hannah Beatus (13-1) 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 K
• Losing Pitcher – Brittani Mutter (3-3), 2 IP, 5 H, 5 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Ziel: 1-2
• Fantin: 1-3
• Lundquist:1-2

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Through two innings both teams were scoreless, while Leister struck out three in the process.
• Moving to the third, the Timberwolves' Gianna Fantin led off with a single to right before Ashley Ziel continued her hot stretch, doubling one over the left fielder's head to put runners on first and third for Haley Frank. Frank later drove them both in to open the scoring with a double to right, 2-0 NU.
• The Lakers would capitalize on two Northwood miscues would leave a runner on third for GV. They would later score on a sac fly to cut into the NU lead, 2-1 NU.
• Moving to the seventh, the Lakers need one to tie it, and two to win. With bases loaded and no outs, the Lakers would manage just one run from another Northwood miscue as Leister continued to fight, 2-2.
• Headed to extras, neither team would allow any offense to put any rallies together, but in the tenth Gale was placed on second to begin the inning. Pinch runner Jenna O'Berry advanced to third on a sac bunt by Ashlyn Lundquist. Two batters later Brittany Steimel would come up clutch with a single up the middle to put NU ahead, 3-2 NU.
• Later that inning a sac fly to deep right field put the Northwood defense in a bind, allowing two GV runs to score as Northwood fell 3-4 on a walk-off sac fly.
• Leister was great again today, allowing no earned runs, giving up eight hits, and striking out five on a whopping 151 pitches.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 3/11/5, Grand Valley St. 4/8/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 0, Grand Valley St. 0
• Winning Pitcher: Ashley Platek (11-0) 10 IP, 11 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 1 K
• Losing Pitcher: Hailey Leister (16-6) 9.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Frank: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI,
• Ziel: 2-4, 2B, R, BB
• Fantin: 2-5, R
• Steimel: 2-5, RBI

UP NEXT

• Softball is set to travel to Ohio, Friday for a versus Cedarville starting at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.