Softball Grinds Out Game Two To Split Series At Ohio Dominican

OVERVIEW – Ohio Dominican

SCORES: Northwood 1, Ohio Dominican 2/ Northwood 4, Ohio Dominican 3

RECORDS: Northwood 26-17 (10-6 G-MAC), Ohio Dominican 22-15 (10-1 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio – ODU Softball Field

RECAP: Northwood softball traveled to Ohio for a four-game road trip, finishing it off with two games versus Ohio Dominican Saturday afternoon. The Timberwolves would fall in a close game one, 1-2, before they grinded out a 4-3 victory in game two.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• A very tight game, only one run by either team was scored in the first five innings by Madison Jordan in the second. Jordan knocked her second home run of the year and second in as many games, 1-0 NU.
• Moving to the fifth, the Timberwolves put their first batters on (Lauren Bennett – walk, Jillian Krawczak – bunt single, Haley Frank – bunt single). Ashley Ziel would bat with bases loaded, Ziel would lift a fly ball out to right field for what was thought to be a sacrifice fly. Upon appeal, Northwood's runner left early, resulting in a double play as NU would come up empty on the bases-loaded opportunity.
• Chaos ensued in the sixth; Ohio Dominican would score two on a little league home run following an errant throw that ended up in right-center, allowing the batter and runner from first to score on the play, 1-2 ODU.
• Northwood put runners on second twice in the seventh, but the rally would fall short, falling to ODU 1-2.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 1/10/2, Ohio Dominican 2/5/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 8, Ohio Dominican 4
• Winning Pitcher – Marlee Jacobs (15-3) 7 IP, 10 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
• Losing Pitcher – Hailey Leister (16-8), 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Jordan: 2-3, HR, RBI, R
• Frank: 2-4
• Krawczak: 2-3

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers managed a sac fly run to open the scoring in the first, 0-1 ODU.
• Giving herself some run support, starting pitcher Brynn Polega got NU's offense going in the second with her first career home run. Polega's bomb went out over the left field wall and was Polega's fourth hit of her career, 2-1 NU.
• One batter following Polega's homer, Delanie Gale made things happen with a hard line drive single that got through the center fielder's legs allowing her to get to third before an errant throw by the second baseman gave her the little league homer, 3-1 NU.
• ODU's leadoff double to left center in the third eventually gave the Panthers a run after a single scored the runner and cut the deficit to just one, 3-2 NU.
• Back-to-back two-out doubles off the left field wall in the fifth by Ashlyn Lundquist and Jordan gave the Timberwolves the two-run lead again, 4-2 NU.
• The Panthers picked up a run in the fifth with a single, walk, and a single sequence to bring them back within one, 4-3 NU.
• A spectacular diving catch by Krawczak in the sixth left ODU's leadoff double stranded at second. Her play saved an extra-base hit and held NU's lead, 4-3.
• Later in the seventh, with runners on second and third, two outs Hailey Leister struck out ODU's batter to seal the deal as Northwood would prevail, 4-3. Leister threw the final three innings to earn the save.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 4/6/2, Ohio Dominican 3/9/4
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Ohio Dominican 8
• Winning Pitcher: Brynn Polega (4-4) 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 0 K
• Losing Pitcher: Addison Smodilla (5-7) 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 1 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Polega: 1-3 , HR, 2 RBI, R
• Jordan: 1-3, 2B, RBI
• Lundquist: 1-3, 2B, R
• Gale: 1-2, R, BB

UP NEXT

• Softball is set to travel to Hillsdale Tuesday afternoon for a mid-week tilt with the Chargers. Games start at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m in Hillsdale, Mich.