Softball Posts Split At Wayne State

OVERVIEW – WAYNE STATE (MICH.)

SCORES: Wayne State Warriors 8, Northwood Timberwolves 7; Northwood 10, Wayne State 1 (6 innings)

RECORDS: Northwood 15-14 (3-9 GLIAC), Wayne State 19-12 (4-6 GLIAC)

LOCATION: WSU Softball Stadium – Detroit, Mich.

RECAP:Northwood posts its first GLIAC split of the season against Wayne State in a chilly afternoon Thursday (­March 29).

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood opened up the scoring early in the first inning on an Abby Joseph RBI double to center field.
• With two outs, a series of events occurred that costed the Warriors and allowed two Northwood players to score. Julia Gross hit a run-scoring single to score Joseph from second and advance Torriya Gray-Baker to third, before Gray-Baker capitalized on a throwing error to plate their third run. Sydni Culps followed up with an RBI single to push Northwood's early lead to 4-0 before the Warriors had a chance to bat.
• Wayne State responded with their own run in the bottom of the first inning to make it 4-1.
• The Timberwolves came out of the gates swinging, tacking on three more runs in the second to make it 7-1. Sydni Pauley had a two-run RBI single and Gray-Baker added an RBI.
• Wayne State's rally began in the bottom of the second, earning two runs in the bottom of the second to make it 7-3 and a run in the third to cut Northwood's lead to three.
• The Warriors scored a trio of runs to tie the game 7-7 in the fifth. The game-winning RBI for Wayne State came in the bottom of the seventh.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors Northwood: 7/8/1, Wayne State: 8/14/1
• Runners Left on Base: Northwood: 6, Wayne State: 10
• Winning Pitcher: Bryanna Kressler (4-4): 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, K
• Losing Pitcher: Taylor Wright (7-4): 1.2 IP, 2 H, R, K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Joseph: 1-2, 2 R, RBI, 2B
• Tara Gross: 1-2, 2 R
• Pauley: 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 2B

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• NU had an eerily similar start to game two, jumping to an early four-run lead in the first inning. Pauley hit an RBI single to begin the scoring and Julia Gross was walked with the bases loaded, while Chase Schultz added a two-run RBI single.
• Wayne State had their lone run of the day in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
• In the fourth, Gray-Baker singled up the runner to plate a run, and J. Gross was walked once again with the bases loaded for her second RBI of the game to make it 6-1 in Northwood's favor and did not look back.
• A pair of runs gave NU the comfortable 8-1 lead in the fifth inning. T. Gross singled to the short stop, but a throwing error allowed her to advance to second and score the runner on third. Joseph added an RBI double later in the inning.
• Northwood's final two-run scoring singles of the game came from Gronback and T. Gross to extend the lead 10-1 going into the bottom of the sixth.
• The Warriors had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but a pop up to second baseman T. Gross ended the game and gave the Timberwolves the victory.
• Makenzie Norton earned her first complete game victory of the season and her third total in her career.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors Northwood: 10/12/1, Wayne State: 1/5/1
• Runners Left on Base: Northwood: 10, Wayne State: 6
• Winning Pitcher: Makenzie Norton (1-2): 6.0 IP, 5 H, R, BB, K
• Losing Pitcher: Presly Buchanan (4-3): 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• T. Gross: 4-5, 2 R, RBI
• Gray-Baker: 2-3, R, RBI, 2B
• Schultz: 2-3, 2 RBI

GAME TWO NOTES

• Entering play today, Northwood had lost eight straight games to Wayne State and were out-scored 69-10 in those contests. Before the win in game two, NU's last win against the Warriors was March 26, 2013.

UP NEXT

• Northwood will host the Tiffin Dragons Saturday afternoon (April 7) at Fisher Stadium. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.