Softball Earns Day One Split In Florida, Taking Defending National Champions, #1 Rogers St., To Extras

OVERVIEW – Clarion & #1 Rogers St.

SCORES: Northwood 15, Clarion 2 / Northwood 0, Rogers St. 2

RECORDS: Northwood 8-4, Clarion 3-4 / Northwood 8-5, Rogers St. 18-1

LOCATION: The Spring Games – Clermont, Fla.

RECAP: Northwood softball traveled to Clermont, Fla., for their annual spring break trip. The Timberwolves split on day one of the trip, beating Clarion 15-2, then battling #1 Rogers St. to a 2-0 extra-inning defeat.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood took the lead in the first and never looked back. Ashlyn Lundquist had a career game as she started the scoring off with a two-RBI single up the middle, resulting in a throwing error that cleared the bases, 3-0 NU.
• NU had five straight singles to lead off the second, the fourth being an Ashley Ziel two-run single to the left field gap, 5-0 NU.
• A dropped sac fly hit by Delanie Gale led to two runners scoring, 7-0 NU.
• The Timberwolves exploded in the second, capped off by a first-career bomb (grand slam) by Ashlyn Lundquist, 11-0 NU.
• Jenna O'Berry singled home two more, giving Northwood a 13-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
• Ashley Ziel's first career home run in the fourth gave Northwood its largest lead of the game at 15-0. 
• The Golden Eagles would tack on two between the fourth and fifth innings as Northwood would take home the dominant 15-2 victory over Clarion.  

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 15/17/0, Clarion 2/8/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 11, Clarion 5
• Winning Pitcher – Brynn Polega (3-1) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher – Angelina Pepe (0-2), 1.0 IP, 7 H, 9 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lundquist: 2-2, HR (GS), 6 RBI, 2 R, BB
• Ziel: 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB
• Gale: 2-2, RBI, 3 R
• O'Berry: 1-2, 2 RBI
• Haley Frank: 2-4, R
• Chloe Cooper: 1-1, R

 GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Hailey Leister was dominant through seven innings, shutting out Rogers. Both teams would head to extra innings scoreless, 0-0.
• RSU took the lead in the eighth behind a groundout that scored the runner that was placed at second, 0-1 RSU.
• A double by RSU would take on an extra run later in the eighth to win, 0-2 RSU.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 0/3/0, Rogers St. 2/5/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Rogers St. 3
• Winning Pitcher: Sara Llamas-Howell (7-0) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher: Hailey Leister (5-3) 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Leister: 8 IP, 5 H, ER, 5 K
• Cooper: 1-3

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• The Northwood offense had a season-high 15 runs and 17 hits in the victory over Clarion.
• Lundquist's six RBIs versus Clarion were the most by any Timberwolf this season. She is now tied with Gale for the team lead with 10 RBI this season.
• Leister now holds a 1.67 ERA this season with a 39.00 k/bb ratio over 46 IP.
• Leister threw her fourth complete game this season and third shutout through the first seven innings this season versus Rogers St.
• Northwood now has home runs from four different individuals this season, including three true freshmen (Gale, Lundquist, and Ziel).

 UP NEXT

• Softball is set to take on Lewis and Wayne St. (Neb.) Sunday, March 5, for day two of the spring trip to Clermont, Fla., at Legends Way Ballfields. The Timberwolves will play Lewis at 9 a.m., followed by WSC at 11:30 a.m.