Softball Splits Series With Wayne St. (Mich.) In Detroit

OVERVIEW – Wayne St. (Mich.)

SCORES: Northwood 7, Wayne St. 3/ Northwood 5, Wayne St. 7

RECORDS: Northwood (12-8, 2-0 G-MAC), Wayne St. (11-12, 0-0 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Fisher Stadium – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood softball headed to Detroit Wednesday (March 19) to take on Wayne St. (Mich.). Northwood pulled out a 7-3 win in game one behind a seven-run sixth. They later fell behind early in game two and couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 7-5.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Warriors were the first to crack the scoreboard in the second. Their leadoff double came around to score off a double down the left field line to take the 1-0 lead.
• Northwood put runners on base in four of the first five innings but couldn't manage the timely hit. The Warriors then extended the lead to 2-0 in the fifth due to a defensive error in left field, allowing a runner to score from first.
• Ashley Ziel, Gianna Fantin, and Gage Lambert singled to load the bases for Payton Schafsnitz. Schafsnitz worked a bases-loaded walk to bring the Timberwolves first run.
• Northwood added their second, third, and fourth runs off a dropped pop-up at second and a two-run single back up the middle from Delaney Belding, 4-2 NU.
• Ashlyn Lundquist's RBI double to left center scored Saylar Cuthrell, and Delanie Gale's two-run single through the right side brought both her and Schloop home, capping off a seven-run sixth inning, 7-2 NU.
• A Warriors' walk, a stolen base, and an RBI single in the sixth inning cut NU's lead to four, with the score now 7-3 in favor of NU.
• Kamden Binney came in relief of Brynn Polega, finishing the final 1.1 innings and giving Northwood the game-one win, 7-3.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/11/1, Wayne St 3/6/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 8, Wayne St. 9
• Winning Pitcher – Brynn Polega (7-1) 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 5 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Syndey Long (3-2) 5.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R (5 ER). 3 BB, K 

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lundquist: 2-4, 2B, RBI, R
• Robinson: 2-4, 2 2B
• Belding: 1-1, 2 RBI
• Gale: 2 RBI

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The Warriors' bats were hot early, two hits, an RBI single, and a misplayed ball in right put WSU up 2-0 in the first.
• WSU added a two-out single to take a 3-0 lead at the end of one.
• Wayne St. took a 4-0 lead in the second via a sac fly.
• Ashley Ziel notched her 15^th career homer to put Northwood on the board in the third, 4-1 WSU. She is now a lone 10th all-time in career home runs for Northwood's softball program.
• The Timberwolves scratched another across in the third. An RBI single to right center from Gage Lambert brought home Abby Robinson, 4-2 WSU.
• Wayne added another in the first half of the third, then two more in the fourth to give them their largest lead of 7-2 after four.
• Over the first five innings, Northwood stranded 10 bases runners, including two innings with the bases loaded.
• Northwood clawed their way back into the game, scoring three in the sixth. A bases-loaded single from Fantin, a hit-by-pitch from Chloe Cooper, and a walk from Saylar Cuthrell made it 7-5 WSU.
• Northwood left the bases loaded for the third time in the sixth. This later proved to be the difference as the Warriors went on to take the 7-5 victory.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 5/11/1, Wayne St. 7/11/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 13, Wayne St. 5
• Winning Pitcher – Grace Fisher () 7 IP, 11 H, 5 R (4 ER), 5 BB, 3 K, 159 P
• Losing Pitcher – Brittani Mutter (1-3) 1 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Ziel: 3-4, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB
• Fantin: 2-3 RBI, BB
• Cuthrell: 2-3, BB

UP NEXT

• Northwood softball heads to Lake Erie Friday (March 21) to take on the Storm at 2 and 4 p.m. in Painesville, Ohio.