Softball Splits Pair At Davenport

The Northwood University softball team split a pair of games at Davenport Wednesday afternoon (March 27).  Davenport earned a 9-6 win in game one before the Timberwolves posted a 17-9 win in game two.

Northwood is now 11-10 overall on the season.  Davenport stands at 14-7.

Game one saw the Panthers hit a solo home run on their first plate appearance.  The Timberwolves came back to tie the game in the top of the third inning on a Jessica Tostrud (Kenosha, Wisc./Mary D. Bradford) RBI single.  But Davenport earned the win thanks to a big response in the bottom of the third.  DU plated eight runs in the inning thanks to six hits and four Northwood errors.  The Timberwolves fought back by scoring the next five runs – two in the fifth and three in the sixth.  NU then had the tying run at the plate in the seventh with nobody out, but was unable to score a run.  Tostrud finished the game with three hits and two RBI's, while Rachel Hammer (Commerce, Mich./Lakeland) had two hits, a double, three runs scored and two RBI's.  Paige Shields (St. Clair Shores, Mich /Regina) also added two hits and an RBI.

The Panthers led game two early by the scores of 1-0 and 3-1, but Northwood responded with seven straight runs.  Six of those runs were plated in the fourth inning, led by a two-run homer by Brittany Merner (Solon, Ohio).  Sam Zaborowski (Taylor, Mich./Cabrini) also added a two-run single in the inning.  The Panthers rallied back to tie the game thanks to scoring two in the fifth and three more in the sixth.  After a scoreless seventh inning, the Timberwolves earned the win with a big eighth inning.  Northwood scored nine runs on nine hits in the frame.  Shields had the biggest hit of the inning, a three-run homer to center field.  Stacey Klonowski (Canton, Mich./Plymouth) also had a homer in the inning, while Zaborowski had two hits and two RBI's.  Zaborowski was the star of the game for the Timberwolves, going 6-6 with two doubles and five RBI's.  Merner finished with three hits, two runs scored and three RBI's, while Tostrud had two hits and four runs scored.  Catie Kaliszuk (Tecumseh, Mich.) picked up the win in relief, allowing no earned runs in 2 2/3 innings for work.

Northwood will take part in their home opener Friday afternoon (March 29), taking on Malone.  The doubleheader gets under way at 3:30 p.m.