Softball Sweeps Ferris St. Behind Wild Game Two

OVERVIEW – Ferris St.

SCORES: Northwood 7, Ferris St. 1 / Northwood 18, Ferris St. 10

RECORDS: Northwood 15-9, Ferris St. 10-17 / Northwood 16-9, Ferris St.  10-18

LOCATION: Bulldog Softball Softball Field – Big Rapids, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood began the second half of its season with a road doubleheader at Ferris St Wednesday, March 22. The Timberwolves defeated the Bulldogs in game one behind some stellar pitching and timely hitting to win 7-1. Game two was a roller coaster as saw five different innings with at least three runs scored. Northwood would run away with it later in game two behind an 18-run performance, winning 18-10.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Starting in the second, with two outs, Ashley Ziel put Northwood on the board with a single to left that would score Karlie Moore from second, 1-0 NU. 
• Northwood's two-out rally in the second was capped with a two-RBI single to center by Delanie Gale, scoring Ziel and Haley Frank, 3-0 NU.
• In the fifth, with Gianna Fantin on first, Frank's single to no man's land in center gave Fantin enough time to advance to third. The Timberwolves then capitalized on a throwing error. Ziel's groundball to third forced an errant throw that enabled both runners to score, 5-1 NU.
• Hailey Leister was perfect through four innings, but the Bulldogs hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the fifth, putting FSU on the board, 5-1.
• Ziel and Gale's great day saw the two combine to go 6-8 hitting with four RBI in the game. Ziel's walk and stolen base put a runner on second in the seventh. Gale would drive her in with a single to through the right side, 6-1 NU.
• Madison Jordan would give Northwood another insurance run as she blasted a double to left, scoring Gale from first, 7-1 NU.
• The Timberwolves would cruise to the finish line as Leister pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half of the seventh, 7-1 NU.

 GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/13/0, Ferris St. 1/4/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 14, Ferris St. 2
• Winning Pitcher – Hailey Leister (10-4) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Aryn Gallacher (5-6), 2.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Ziel: 3-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R, BB, SB
• Gale: 3-4, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Moore: 2-3, R, BB
• Leister: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The start of wild game two began in the first, Frank walked just before singles by Ziel and Gale, scored her, 1-0 NU.
• Lauren Bennett added another via a sac fly to the right field to put NU up 2-0 in the first.
• The Bulldogs would answer quickly with two of their own in the bottom of the first. A single, double, and single would tie it at 2-2.
• A quiet second led to a three-run third for the Blue and White. Northwood's two-out rally, funded by a RBI single from Ashlyn Lunquist and a double by Steimel put them up 5-2, NU.
• FSU would tack one on later in the third with a two-out triple before a single up the middle scored the runner, 5-3 NU.
• Chaos broke loose in the fourth on both sides. With the bases loaded and two outs, Steimel blistered a line drive to center that went under the center fielder's glove and rolled to the fence, clearing the bases, and putting Steimel on third, 8-3 NU.
• Karlie followed that chaos with a single to left, scoring Steimel and giving NU a six-run advantage, 9-3 NU.
• Northwood's pitching would unravel slightly in the fourth, unable to find the strike zone. NU gave up seven runs on six hits and five wild pitches to let Ferris State take the lead, 9-10 FSU.
• Northwood's offense wouldn't let that lead stand. Gale's fourth hit of the day resulted in the ball hitting the fence and her getting a triple, scoring Ziel, tied it at 10-10 in the fifth.
• Two batters Bennett singled to left, scoring one, giving Northwood back the lead, 11-10 NU.
• Moving along in the fifth, a fielder's choice, then two walks by Steimel and Moore added another, 12-10 NU.
• Still in the fifth, an RBI groundout from Fantin would make it 13-10, NU, before an error on a ball hit by Frank made it 14-10, NU. 
• A five-run fifth, featuring three hits, three walks, and an error, gave NU a four-run lead. They would bring in Leister to lock down the game and she did, in impressive fashion. She totaled two innings pitched, striking out all six, and allowing no runs.
• The Blue and White would tack on insurance runs in the sixth. NU's first three hitters reached via Gale's fifth hit of the game and walks to Jordan and Bennett. Lunquist put an exclamation point on it with a rocket triple off the center field fence, clearing the bases, 17-10 NU.
• Lunquist would later score on a wild pitch before Leister could close the game in six innings behind the run rule, 18-10. 

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 18/17/0, Ferris St.  10/10/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 10, Ferris St.  6
• Winning Pitcher: Hailey Leister (11-4) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 6 K
• Losing Pitcher: Kristie Gray (1-3) 1 IP, 3 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 0 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Gale: 5-5, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 R
• Lundquist: 2-4, 3B, 4 RBI, 4 R, BB
• Steimel: 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Ziel: 2-4, 3 R, BB, SB
• Moore: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Bennett: 1-4, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB
• Jordan: 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB

UP NEXT

• Softball is set for their home opener versus Ashland Friday at 1 and 3 p.m. in Midland. This will be Northwood's conference opener as the compete in the G-MAC for the first time this season.