Softball Takes Split To Finish Off Trip To Florida

OVERVIEW – Saint Anselm & Shepherd

SCORES: Northwood 5, Saint Anselm 2 / Northwood 1, Shepherd 3

RECORDS: Northwood (13-7), Saint Anselm (6-10)/ Northwood (13-8), Shepherd (7-7)

LOCATION: Auburndale, Fla. – The Spring Games

RECAP: Northwood softball finished the trip to Florida with their final two games versus Saint Anselm and Shepherd (March 13).  The Timberwolves started Wednesday with a 5-2 victory over Saint Anselm before dropping their final matchup in extras to Shepherd 3-1.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Elexia Fuentes put the Timberwolves on the board first. Her double over the left fielder's head scored Ashley Ziel from second and put runners on second and third, 1-0 NU.
• The Northwood rally continued in the second. Walks to Gabby Schloop and Ashlyn Lundquist and a subsequent hit-by-pitch from Jillian Krawczak added two more for the Timberwolves, 3-0 NU.
• Brittany Steimel finished off the second with an RBI groundout to shortstop, plating Schloop, 4-0 NU.
• The Timberwolves would tack on another insurance run in the sixth. Ziel's lead-off walk led to pinch runner Saylar Cuthrell stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch. Fuentes then added another RBI groundout, putting NU out in front 5-0.
• Emily Cox was dealing going into the sixth. Through five Cox allowed just four baserunners on three hits and a walk while striking out eight.
• The Hawks would capitalize on a Northwood miscue in the sixth. A wild pitch and groundout would score two unearned runs to cut the lead to three, 5-2 NU.
• Brittani Mutter would relieve Cox in the seventh, nailing down the save and earning Northwood its sixth straight victory. 

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 5/5/2, Saint Anselm 2/5/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 7, Saint Anselm 7
• Winning Pitcher – Emiley Cox (5-1), 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 9 K
• Losing Pitcher – Kendra Lee (0-1), 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 3 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Fuentes: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Lundquist: 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB
• Steimel: 1-3, RBI, BB
• Ziel: 0-2, 2 BB, R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Through seven innings, the teams were in an all-out pitcher's duel. Kamden Binney threw seven shutout innings, allowing just five hits, much like Shepherd's pitcher, who had allowed just three.
• Moving to international rules in the eighth, the Rams began to rally. Two singles to open the eighth put them on the board via the placed runner on second, 1-0 SU.
• A Ram's sac fly to center would score another before another single put them out in front 3-0 going into the bottom of the eighth.
• Northwood would score the runner from second with a groundout from Lundquist, but would only manage to score one, snapping their six-game win streak.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 1/3/1, Shepherd 3/8/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 5, Shepherd 8
• Winning Pitcher – M. Ruffener (5-0), 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 10 K
• Losing Pitcher – Kamden Binney (2-4) 7.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 1 K

UP NEXT

• Northwood softball is set to start conference play this weekend as they travel to Tiffin (March 16) and Findlay (March 17). The doubleheader against Tiffin begins at 1 p.m. Saturday with game two to follow.