Softball Splits With Ashland In Home Opener In Midland

OVERVIEW – Ashland

SCORES: Northwood 5, Ashland 0 / Northwood 1, Ashland 4

RECORDS: Northwood 17-9, Ashland 7-15 / Northwood 17-10, Ashland 7-15

LOCATION: Fisher Stadium – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood softball hosted their home opener Friday (March 24), welcoming the eagles of Ashland. The Timberwolves would eventually split the doubleheader, winning game one, 5-0, before falling in game two, 1-4.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood started Game One off hot. Haley Frank led off with a single through the left side followed by Ashley Ziel singling to left.
• Delanie Gale continued her hot streak singling home Frank in the first, keeping the line moving, 1-0 NU.
• Two batters following Gale, Brittany Steimel's sac fly to left put the Timberwolves up 2-0.
• Northwood would bat through the lineup in the first, capped off with Ashlyn Lundquist hitting a line drive to right to put NU up 3-0 after one.
• Lundquist led off the third with a single to center before she was advanced to second and third by groundouts. This brought Gianna Fantin to the plate with two outs. She would extend the lead to 4-0 with a single to center to score Lundquist.
• The Timberwolves did more damage in the sixth. Two singles and an error left the bases loaded for Madison Jordan. She earned a walk to bring in another, 5-0 NU.
• Hailey Leister continued to do her thing as she earned her fourth shutout of the year. She allowed just three hits and only four baserunners through Game One. Leister now has a 1.03 ERA over 95 IP this season. 

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 5/10/1, Ashland 0/3/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 9, Ashland 3
• Winning Pitcher – Hailey Leister (12-4) 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
• Losing Pitcher – Kaitlyn Ruperto (1-4), 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Gale: 2-4, RBI, R
• Frank: 2-4, RBI, R
• Lundquist: 2-3, RBI, R
• Fantin: 2-3, RBI, R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The Eagles' offense came ready to play in Game Two. They put two runners on in the first but wouldn't be able to muster any runs.
• Moving to the second, the Timberwolves' defense would make a great relay from center to home on a sharply hit single, leaving an Eagles runner to be thrown out by six feet.
• Ashland would keep applying pressure before they broke open the scoring with a two-run single later in the second, 0-2 AU.
• AU added another in the third via a solo bomb to left, 0-3 AU.
• The Timberwolves' offense was quiet most of the second game leading up to the sixth. Two of NU's four hits came in the final two innings.
• Frank's leadoff double down the left field line in the sixth gave NU some hope. Frank would move to third behind Ziel's groundball. Gale would knock her in with a sac fly to cut into the deficit, 1-3 NU.
• The Eagles put the nail in the coffin with a double to left center with two outs in the seventh. They would extend their lead back to three, which would be the final score, 1-3 AU.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 1/4/1, Ashland 4/11/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Ashland 8
• Winning Pitcher: Cassidy Shaffer (2-3) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K
• Losing Pitcher: Ashley Ziel (1-2) 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 0 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Frank: 2-3, R
• Steimel: 2-3

UP NEXT

• Softball is set to travel to Lake Erie to take on the Storm Sunday, March 26. Games begin at 1 p.m. followed by game two.