Softball Earns Sweep Over Ferris State On Senior Day

OVERVIEW – FERRIS STATE

SCORES: Northwood Timberwolves 7, Ferris State Bulldogs 3/Northwood 18, Ferris State 13

RECORDS: Northwood 16-22 (7-9 GLIAC), Ferris State 14-20 (7-9 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Midland, Mich. – Fisher Stadium

RECAP: Northwood's offense highlights a doubleheader sweep over Ferris State on senior day Saturday (April 15), with NU earning wins by the scores of 7-3 and 18-13.

• One day after Northwood scored a total of two runs in two games against Grand Valley State, the Timberwolves got off to a fast start against FSU. NU scored four runs in the bottom of the first, three of which came on a bases-clearing double by Sydni Pauley. She later scored on a Courtney Wensley sacrifice fly to lead 4-0 after one inning.
• Two innings later, Ferris State responded with a big inning of their own, plating four runs to tie the game.
• Northwood went up for good in the fourth inning, starting with an RBI double Andria Gietl that plated Meghan Franz. Gietl later scored on a passed ball to make the score 6-4 after four innings.
• The Timberwolves got the final run of the game on an RBI single by Riley Ostapowicz to score Gietl.
• After giving up four runs to FSU in the third inning, NU pitcher Vanessa Ewing held the Bulldogs off the board in the final four innings to earn the win.

GAME 1 STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors Northwood: 7/10/1, Ferris State: 4/10/1
• Runners Left on Base: Northwood: 8, Ferris State: 8
• Winning Pitcher: Vanessa Ewing (8-13) 7 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 10 H, 4 K, 2 BB
• Losing Pitcher: Sam Bates (8-6) 5 IP, 7 R (6 ER), 10 H, 3 K, 4 BB

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Gietl: 3-4, 3 2B, 3 R, RBI
• Hayley D'Avilar: 2-3, R, BB
• Pauley: 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI

 GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• As the day went on, the warmer and windier it got. That led to an offensive explosion in game two.
• Northwood got things going in the first inning, thanks to a 3-run homer by Torriya Gray-Baker.
• Ferris State came right back with four runs in the bottom of the inning on five hits to put the Bulldogs up 4-3 after one inning.
• The Timberwolves had a strong response of their own in the top of the second. Pauley started the rally with an RBI single to score Danielle Bartodziej. Gray-Baker added to her hot start to game two with a two-run single later in the inning to give Northwood a 6-3 lead after an inning and a half.
• That lead would be short lived, however, as FSU scored three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. That made the score Ferris State 7, Northwood 6 just two innings into the game.
• For the third straight inning to start the game, the Timberwolves scored three runs in the top of the third. The frame started with a Wensley solo homer to center that tied the game at 7. Later in the inning, D'Avilar and Pauley each drew bases-loaded walks to put NU on top 9-7.
• Ferris State tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run homer, sending the game to the fifth tied 9-9.
• The fifth and sixth innings proved to be the key to the game. While Northwood held the Bulldogs off the board in both innings, the Timberwolves scored seven runs (three in the fifth, four in the sixth).
• NU got going in the fifth with an RBI double by Ostapowicz that scored D'Avilar. Pauley then had an RBI double of her own that plated Ostapowicz, which was followed by a Wensley RBI single to put NU on top 12-9.
• In the sixth inning, the Timberwolves got a pair of homers en route to four more runs. D'Avilar hit an opposite field three-run homer to make the score 15-9. Later in the inning, Pauley had a solo home run to put the Timberwolves up by seven runs.
• Northwood finished out the game in the seventh on an Ostapowicz two-run double, putting the Timberwolves on top 18-9.
• Ferris State hit a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to round out the scoring.

GAME 2 STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 18/18/1, Ferris State 13/14/3
• Runners Left on Base: Northwood 10, Ferris State 8
• Winning Pitcher: Ewing (9-13) 5 2/3 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 1 K
• Losing Pitcher: Bates (8-7) 3 IP, 7 R (6 ER), 7 H, 2 K, 3 BB

• Pauley: 4-5, HR (12), 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R
• D'Avilar: 2-3, HR (4), 4 RBI, 4 R, 3 BB
• Gray-Baker: 2-4, HR (2), 5 RBI, R
• Wensley: 2-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, R
• Ostapowicz: 2-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Franz: 2-3, 2B, 2 R
• Bartodziej: 1-3, 3 R

• Pauley's home run is her 12^th of the season, which puts her second alone in school history on the single-season list. She trails only Jessica Klein (14 – 1996).
• With her seven RBI day, Pauley is now third in school history with 42 RBIs this season.
• The two teams combined to hit seven home runs in game two (Northwood 4, Ferris State 3) after hitting no home runs in the opener.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves travel to Findlay Saturday (April 22). The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m.