Softball Earns Day One Split In Florida, Taking Defending National Champions, #1 Rogers St., To Extras

OVERVIEW – Clarion & #1 Rogers St.

SCORES: Northwood 15, Clarion 2 / Northwood 0, Rogers St. 2

RECORDS: Northwood 8-4, Clarion 3-4 / Northwood 8-5, Rogers St. 18-1

LOCATION: The Spring Games – Clermont, Fla.

RECAP: Northwood softball traveled to Clermont, Fla. for their annual spring break trip. The Timberwolves split on day one of the trip beating Clarion 15-2 then battling #1 Rogers St. to a 2-0 extra-inning defeat.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood took the lead in the first and never looked back. Ashlyn Lundquist had a career game as she started the scoring off with a two-RBI single up the middle resulting in a throwing error that cleared the bases, 3-0 NU.
• NU had five straight singles to lead off the second, the fourth being an Ashley Ziel two-run single to the left field gap, 5-0 NU.
• A dropped sac fly hit by Delanie Gale led to two runners scoring, 7-0 NU.
• The Timberwolves exploded in the second, capped off by a first-career bomb (grand slam) by Ashlyn Lundquist, 11-0 NU.
• Jenna O'Berry singled home two more, giving Northwood a 13-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
• Ashley Ziel's first career home run in the fourth gave Northwood its largest lead of the game at 15-0. 
• The Golden Eagles would tack on two between the fourth and fifth innings as Northwood would take home the dominant 15-2 victory over Clarion.  

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 15/17/0, Clarion 2/8/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 11, Clarion 5
• Winning Pitcher – Brynn Polega (3-1) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher – Angelina Pepe (0-2), 1.0 IP, 7 H, 9 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lundquist: 2-2, HR (GS), 6 RBI, 2 R, BB
• Ziel: 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB
• Gale: 2-2, RBI, 3 R
• O'Berry: 1-2, 2 RBI
• Haley Frank: 2-4, R
• Chloe Cooper: 1-1, R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Hailey Leister was dominant through seven innings shutting out Rogers. Both teams would head to extra innings scoreless, 0-0.
• RSU took the lead in the eighth behind a groundout that scored the runner that was placed at second, 0-1 RSU.
• A double by RSU would take on an extra run later in the eighth to win, 0-2 RSU.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 0/3/0, Rogers St. 2/5/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Rogers St. 3
• Winning Pitcher: Sara Llamas-Howell (7-0) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher: Hailey Leister (5-3) 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Leister: 8 IP, 5 H, ER, 5 K
• Cooper: 1-3

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• The Northwood offense had a season-high 15 runs and 17 hits in the victory over Clarion.
• Lundquist's six RBI versus Clarion were the most by any Timberwolf this season. She is now tied with Gale for the team lead with 10 RBI this season.
• Leister now holds a 1.67 ERA this season with a 39.00 k/bb ratio over 46 IP.
• Leister threw her fourth complete game this season and third shutout through the first seven innings this season versus Rogers St.
• Northwood now has home runs from four different individuals this season including three true freshmen (Gale, Lundquist, and Ziel).

 UP NEXT

• Softball is set to take on Lewis and Wayne St. (Neb.) Sunday, March 5 for day two of the spring trip to Clermont, Fla at Legends Way Ballfields. The Timberwolves will play Lewis at 9 a.m. followed by WSC at 11:30 a.m.