Softball Splits Series At Hillsdale

OVERVIEW – Hillsdale

SCORES: Northwood 2, Hillsdale 0/ Northwood 1, Hillsdale 5

RECORDS: Northwood 27-18 (11-7 G-MAC), Hillsdale 26-17 (12-4 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Hillsdale, Mich. – Johnny Williams Field

RECAP: Northwood softball traveled to Hillsdale Wednesday (April 19) for a doubleheader with the third-place team in the G-MAC. The Timberwolves would take game one behind another stellar performance by Hailey Leister and just enough hitting, 2-0. In game two, the Chargers would then bring their offense to split the doubleheader, winning, 1-5.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood capitalized on a Hillsdale error in the second. A throwing error by the second baseman allowed Delanie Gale to advance to second before a single to by Krawczak put runners on second and third with two outs.
• With a 1-2 count and two outs, Ashley Ziel singled through the right side, putting Northwood up 1-0.
• In the top of the fourth, NU seized another chance via an error to put a runner on first. Brittany Steimel came up big with a screaming groundball that rolled all the way to the right center wall, scoring Madison Jordan from first, 2-0 NU.
• Northwood's defense was on full display in the fourth inning. Hillsdale threatened with runners on first and second with no outs.  A single up the middle to Ashlyn Lundquist put Northwood's arms to the test. Lundquist's rocket home threw out the lead runner as Gianna Fantin relayed to third to throw out the second runner, turning the double play.

• Hillsdale gained momentum in the bottom of the seventh, putting the first two batters on. Defensive replacement Jenna O'Berry made a spectacular diving play in right before throwing out a Hillsdale runner at second to close Hillsdale's hopes of a comeback.
• The pitcher's dual was in full effect in game one, as the offense was hard to come by from both teams. Leister was up to the task again, pitching her eighth shutout of the year, throwing seven innings, and allowing eight hits, while striking out five in the process.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 2/3/0, Hillsdale 0/8/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 6, Hillsdale 7
• Winning Pitcher – Hailey Leister (17-8) 7 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Joni Russell (13-6) 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R (0 ER),  5 BB, 7 K       

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Steimel: 1-2, 2B, RBI, BB
• Ziel: 1-4, RBI
• Krawczak: 1-1, BB

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The Chargers scored twice on two sacrifice flys in the first and third innings, 0-2 HC.
• The Timberwolves put their first two batters on in the fourth behind singles from Steimel and Jordan.
• Moving to the fourth, the Chargers added two more, extending their lead via a double and an error, 4-0.
• Steimel put Northwood on the board with her first home run of the season in the sixth. Her blast left the yard over the right center wall, 1-4 NU.
• Another double by HC in the sixth tacked on another, extending their lead to four, 1-5 HC.
• The Chargers would hold that lead as Northwood would later fall, 1-5.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 1/6/1, Hillsdale 5/8/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Hillsdale 4
• Winning Pitcher: Erin Kapteyn (10-6) 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 6 K
• Losing Pitcher: Brittany Mutter (3-4) 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Steimel: 2-3, HR, RBI, R
• Ziel: 2-3

UP NEXT

• Softball is set for back-to-back doubleheaders with Wayne St. (Mich.) Thursday (April 20) at 3 & 5 p.m. and Tiffin Friday (April 21) at 1 & 3 p.m. to finish off three straight days of action.