Softball Handles Business In Sweep Of Ursuline

OVERVIEW – Ursuline

SCORES: Northwood 10, Ursuline 0 (5 inn.) / Northwood 5, Ursuline 4

RECORDS: Northwood (10-12, 4-2 G-MAC), Ursuline (8-18, 0-8 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Fisher Stadium – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood softball returned to Fisher Stadium on Monday afternoon (March 30) and picked up a G-MAC sweep over Ursuline. The Timberwolves came out firing with a 10-0 win in game one before grinding out a 5-4 win in game two.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood struck immediately in the first inning as Brinley Eckerman led off with a double and later scored on a follow-up RBI double to center from Delanie Gale. Brittany Steimel followed with an RBI single down the left field line to make it 2-0.
• The Timberwolves broke the game open in the second inning, scoring six runs on four hits. Gale delivered a two-run single to center, scoring Meridith Frey and Chloe Cooper.
• Later in the second, Ashlyn Lundquist drew an RBI walk with the bases loaded, and Gage Lambert cleared the bases with a three-RBI double off the top of left field, extending the lead to 8-0.
• Northwood added two more in the third inning, beginning with Cooper scoring on an Ursuline muffed back pick attempt at third.
• Eckerman capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to bring home Frey and make it 10-0.
• Kamden Binney handled the rest in the circle, tossing a complete-game shutout and stranding multiple Ursuline runners to secure the run-rule victory.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 10/10/0, Ursuline 0/5/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 3, Ursuline 7
• Winning Pitcher – Kamden Binney (6-4) – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1
• Losing Pitcher – Macy Searles (4-8) – 1.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Delanie Gale: 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B
• Brinley Eckerman: 2-2, 2 R, RBI, 2B
• Gage Lambert: 1-2, 3 RBI, 2B
• Chloe Cooper: 2-2, 2 R, 2B
• Brittany Steimel: 1-2, RBI

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• After two scoreless innings, Northwood broke through in the third when Delanie Gale drove in Meridith Frey with an RBI groundout to take a 1-0 lead.
• The Timberwolves added another run in the fourth as Gage Lambert tripled to right field and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Danielle Bryant, extending the lead to 2-0.
• Ursuline answered in the fifth with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1, but Northwood responded in the bottom half. Steimel delivered a clutch two-run double to left center, scoring Gale and Eckerman, before another run came home on an Ursuline fielding error to push the lead to 5-1.
• Ursuline made things interesting in the sixth, using a three-run home run to pull within one at 5-4.
• Dalaney Gage settled in to get the final out of the inning before Binney entered in relief and closed the door, stranding the tying run and earning the save to secure the 5-4 victory.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 5/5/1, Ursuline 4/7/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Ursuline 5
• Winning Pitcher – Dalaney Gage (3-4) – 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
• Save – Kamden Binney (1) – 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R
• Losing Pitcher – Olivia Franko (1-7) – 6.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Brittany Steimel: 1-1, 2 RBI, 2B
• Gage Lambert: 2-3, R, 3B
• Brinley Eckerman: 1-3, R
• Delanie Gale: 0-2, R, RBI
• Meridith Frey: 1-3, R

UP NEXT

• Northwood hits the road for a four-game G-MAC weekend, beginning with a doubleheader at Findlay on Friday (April 3) at 2 and 4 p.m. The Timberwolves will then travel to Tiffin for another doubleheader on Saturday (April 4), with first pitch set for 12 and 2 p.m.