Baseball Picks Up Pair of Wins; Defeating Chestnut Hill 5-4 and West Virginia Wesleyan 9-0

OVERVIEW – CHESTNUT HILL/WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN

SCORES:  Northwood Timberwolves 5, Chestnut Hill Griffins 4; Northwood 9, West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats 0

RECORDS: Northwood 11-4, Chestnut Hill 2-3, West Virginia Wesleyan 0-8

LOCATION: Bob Gladwin Park, Fort Pierce, Fla.

RECAP:  Northwood earns a pair of victories to move to 8-2 on the Florida trip with a come-from behind win over Chestnut Hill, and a shutout 9-0 win over West Virginia Wesleyan.

CHESTNUT HILL/NORTHWOOD HIGHLIGHTS

• After both teams threatened in the first inning, neither Chestnut Hill nor Northwood could push across a run, and the game remained scoreless after two innings of play.
• The Griffins broke the tie with a run in the top of the third, and took advantage of a couple of Northwood errors in the fourth to score two more and take a 3-0 lead.
• In the home half of the fourth, things looked promising for the Timberwolves as three of the first four hitters reached on two walks and a hit batter, but an inning ending double play halted the threat and kept the score 3-0 Chestnut Hill.
• Chestnut Hill added a run in the fourth to lead 4-0, but the Timberwolves continued to fight and in the bottom of the fifth, they broke through with their first run of the game. After a one out triple by Daniel Pulver, Javier Martinez singled up the middle for Northwood's first run, making the game 4-1.
• Neither team could muster any offense for the next two innings, but in the home half of the eighth, The Timberwolves came to life. Connor Foley and David Vinsky started things with back to back singles, and after a Ryan McClelland walk, the bases were loaded for Daniel Pulver who stepped to the plate and hit a bases clearing triple to tie the game at four. The triple was the second of the game for Pulver.
• Northwood wasn't done yet in the bottom of the eighth, with Pulver on third after the 3 RBI triple, Javier Martinez stepped up and brought home the go-ahead run in the form of a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Pulver and the Timberwolves lead for the first time in the game, 5-4.
• In the top of the ninth, Lennon Gwizdala continued his strong day in relief and shut the door to cement the the dramatic, come from behind, win for Northwood, 5-4.

CHESTNUT HILL/NORTHWOOD STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors Chestnut Hill: 4/7/0, Northwood: 5/13/4
• Runners Left on Base: Chestnut Hill: 8 Northwood: 13
• Winning Pitcher Lennon Gwizdala: 3 IP, 2 H, 0R, 0ER, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher: Anthony Vlahovic (0-1), 0 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER 0BB 0k

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood's only lead of the game came after the Timberwolves rallied for four runs in the eighth to pull ahead 5-4.
• Gwizdala has now recorded seven consecutive scoreless innings in relief in two appearances in Florida.
• Pulver's two triples are the first time a Northwood player has recorded multiple triples in a game this season.

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Daniel Pulver (3-5, 2 3B, 2R, 3RBI)
• Javier Martinez  (1-3, 1R, 2 RBI)
• David Vinsky (3-5)

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN/NORTHWOOD HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood road the momentum from a late win in their first game of the day into the top of the first inning against West Virginia Wesleyan. The first three hitters reached as Nick Foley was hit by a pitch to lead off, followed by consecutive singles by David Vinsky and Ryan McClelland. With the bases loaded, Daniel Pulver hit a sacrifice fly scoring Foley, and Javier Martinez also hit a sac fly scoring Vinsky, and the Timberwolves lead 2-0 after the top of the first.
• The Timberwolves added to the lead in the top of the fourth when Daniel Pulver hit his third triple of the day to lead off the inning. The next batter, Javier Martinez hit his second sacrifice fly of the game and NU lead 3-0.
• One more in the top of the sixth on a Matt McClennenn RBI double put Northwood in front, 4-0, but the Timberwolves broke it open in the top of the seventh plating four in the frame, all of which came with two outs as McClelland, Pulver, and Martinez all hit RBI singles consecutively. The Timberwolves other run in the inning came on a wild pitch that scored McClelland, Northwood lead 8-0 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
• Defensively, Kyle Vedrode provided a lift on the mound as the senior from Alma, Michigan, tossed six scoreless innings striking out four.
• The Timberwolves added one more for good measure in the top of the ninth on a Kyle Ziegler single with the bases loaded, and cruised to the 9-0 shutout victory over the Bobcats.

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN /NORTHWOOD STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: West Virginia Wesleyan: 0/11/0, Northwood: 9/12/0
• Runners Left on Base: Chestnut Hill University: 9, Northwood: 8
• Winning Pitcher: Kyle Vedrode (2-0) 6IP, 9H, 0R, 0ER, 4K, 1BB
• Losing Pitcher: Alex Wall (0-1) 6.1 IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 2K 1BB

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN /NORTHWOOD NOTES

• McClennen's RBI double is his first career collegiate RBI, the freshman from Rochester Hills is 4-8 to start his Northwood Career.
• Daniel Pulver totaled six hits on the day, including three triples.
• The shutout of West Virginia Wesleyan marks the firsts of the season for the Timberwolves pitching staff.

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Daniel Pulver (3-3, 4R, 2RBI)
• Javier Martinez (1-2, 3RBI)

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will continue play in Florida on Saturday (March 11), with a doubleheader against Seton Hill. First pitch is scheduled for 9:00 a.m.