Softball Splits Road Doubleheader At Lake Erie

OVERVIEW – Lake Erie

SCORES: Northwood 8, Lake Erie 0 / Northwood 0, Lake Erie 3

RECORDS: Northwood 18-10 (2-1 G-MAC), Lake Erie 5-14 (0-3 G-MAC) / Northwood 18-11 (2-2 G-MAC), Lake Erie 6-14 (1-3 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Mentor, Ohio

RECAP: Northwood softball traveled to Mentor, Ohio to battle the Storm of Lake Erie. The Timberwolves split the doubleheader, shutting out the Storm in game one, 8-0, before being shutout in Game Two, 3-0.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Game One started like many games in which Hailey Leister starts. Northwood's ace allowed just three Storm baserunners through the first four innings. The pitcher's duel that was for most of the game showed that Leister would not budge even when the offense hadn't got going.
• The quiet first four innings implied that this game would go down the wire, but the NU offense had other ideas during the top of the fifth. Ashley Ziel reached on an error at third before Delanie Gale singled, moving her to third with no outs. A hit-by-pitch to Gabby Schloop left the bases juiced for Ashlyn Lundquist. She broke the 0-0 game with a two-RBI single through the left side, 2-0 NU.
• Karlie Moore kept the line moving with a pinch-hit walk following Lundquist. Gianna Fantin then singled up the middle to score Schloop, 3-0 NU.
• With three runs across the Timberwolves were hungry for more. Jillian Krawczak doubled home two more with a hit to left, 5-0 NU.
• Haley Frank put a cherry on the top of the fifth with a three-run blast to left, giving them the run rule if they held them in the bottom half of the inning. This was Frank's second home run this season and the eighth of her career, 8-0 NU.
• Leister did her thing later in the fifth, closing out the game and earning her eighth straight win, for games she's appeared in. It was also her second straight shutout performance (fifth this season). Leister now holds a .98 ERA this season with 100 IP.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 8/8/0, Lake Erie 0/5/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 8, Lake Erie 3
• Winning Pitcher – Hailey Leister (13-4) 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher – Carly Rowland (1-6), 4.1 IP, 8 H, 8 R (7 ER), 3 BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Frank: 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Krawczak: 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Fantin: 2-3, RBI, R
• Lundquist: 1-3, 2 RBI, R
• Gale: 1-2, R, 2 BB

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Lake Erie started the game by jumping out to an early one-to-nothing lead, homering to left in the first, 0-1 LEC.
• Brynn Polega bore down and didn't allow a base runner until the fifth. She didn't allow a walk, and struck out three, all while allowing just one earned run in the performance.
• As good as Polega pitched, Northwood's offense managed just four baserunners during the game, unable to capitalize on any opportunities.
• The Storm extended their lead to three, which ended up being the final score, 3-0, in the sixth. An error granted the Storm an extra out, which they capitalized on with a double and single, scoring two more.
• Northwood's offense would not muster any more offense, falling 3-0.

 GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 1/4/1, Lake Erie 4/11/3
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Lake Erie 3
• Winning Pitcher: Grace Hammer (4-6) 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 11 K
• Losing Pitcher: Brynn Polega (2-4) 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 3 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Ziel: 2-3
• Steimel: 1-3
• Krawczak: 1-3

UP NEXT

• Softball is set to battle SVSU Wednesday (March 29) in Midland. Games are set to begin at 3 and 5 p.m.