Softball Earns Three Wins At GLIAC Tournament - Advances To Championship Round

OVERVIEW – GLIAC TOURNAMENT (DAY TWO)  

SCORES: Northwood Timberwolves 3, Wayne State Warriors 1/Northwood 10, Saginaw Valley State Cardinals 2 (Five Innings), Northwood 5, Davenport Panthers 4 (Eight Innings)

RECORDS: Northwood 31-25-1/Wayne State 33-23/Saginaw Valley 28-24/Davenport 32-21

LOCATION: Sandusky, Ohio

RECAP: Northwood reaches GLIAC Tournament Championship round with big day, defeating Wayne State, Saginaw Valley and Davenport Saturday afternoon (May 4).

WSU GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Wayne State started fast, scoring a run three batters into the game for the early 1-0 lead.
• The score remained that way until the third when the Timberwolves tied the game on a Sydni Culps RBI single.
• In the fifth inning, Culps gave Northwood the lead with another RBI single to make the score 2-1.
• Northwood got an insurance run in the sixth thanks to a Grace Dutoi RBI double that plated Abby Joseph.
• After allowing that first inning run, Taylor Wright shut down the Warriors the reset of the way. She allowed just three hits over the final six innings to earn the win.

WSU GAME STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors – Northwood: 3/9/0, Wayne State: 1/5/3
• Runners Left on Base – Northwood: 10, Wayne State: 8
• Winning Pitcher – Taylor Wright (7-4): 7 IP, 5 H, R, 3 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher – Megan Guitar (20-13):

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Culps: 2-4, 2 RBIs
• Dutoi: 2-4, RBI
• Abby Joseph: 2 R

SVSU HIGHLIGHTS

• After dropping a tough 3-1 game to SVSU to open the tournament, Northwood wasted no time setting the tone of today's game. Northwood took the lead in the top of the first on a Culps RBI double.
• Torriya Gray-Baker made it 2-0 on an RBI single.
• Later in the first, Karli Godlewski had a three-run triple to make it 5-0.
• The ninth batter of the opening was Lauren Castlellon, whose double put another run on the board.
• Tara Gross capped a seven-run first inning for Northwood with an RBI single to center.
• SVSU got two runs in the fourth to make the score 7-2.
• Northwood ended the game early in the fifth inning with three runs, starting with a Tara Gross sacrifice fly.
• Culps then ended the game with a bases-loaded double to score a pair and get the lead to eight runs.

SVSU STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors – Northwood: 10/9/0, Saginaw Valley: 2/7/2
• Runners Left on Base – Northwood: 5, Saginaw Valley: 5
• Winning Pitcher – Shayna Frank (12-9): 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB,
• Losing Pitcher – Jaclyn Groves (6-4): 1/3 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 BB

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Tara Gross: 2-3, 2 RBIs
• Joseph: 2-2, 2B, 2 R
• Culps: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBIs
• Godlewski: 3B, 3 RBIs
• Castellon: 1-2, 2B, R, RBI

DU HIGHLIGHTS

• Davenport was the better team for the majority of the game, plating one in the first and two in the third for a 3-0 lead.
• The score remained that way until the seventh and final inning, when the Timberwolves were down to their final three outs. Northwood pushed across their first run of the day on a Julia Gross RBI single.
• Castellon came through big for the Timberwolves later in the inning. Her two-run double tied the score 3-3.
• NU then took the lead on an error to take their first lead of the day at 4-3.
• Davenport responded with a two-out run in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
• Northwood wasted no time in the top of the eighth inning taking the lead back in the eighth. Julia Gross hit a deep line drive to center field to plate the go-ahead run.
• Davenport got the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the inning, but Frank held the Panthers off the board to send the Timberwolves to the finals.

DU STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors – Northwood: 5/7/1, Davenport: 4/11/2
• Runners Left on Base – Northwood: 5, Davenport: 10
• Winning Pitcher – Shayna Frank (13-9): 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, R, BB, K
• Losing Pitcher – Mallory Teunissen (17-9): 8 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 0 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Julia Gross: 2-3, R, 2 RBIs
• Gray-Baker: 3-4
• Castellon: 1-3, R, 2 RBIs

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood has reached the championship round of the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 2005.
• The Timberwolves 31 wins this season is the most since 2006 (37).

UP NEXT

• Northwood will now play top-seeded Grand Valley State in the championship round. NU will need to win two games to take home the GLIAC Tournament title. First pitch of the first game is set for 10 a.m.