Softball Earns Split With Ashland

The Northwood University softball team split a doubleheader versus Ashland Saturday afternoon (March 30).  The Timberwolves earned a 7-6 win in game one before Ashland posted a 3-1 victory in game two.

Northwood is now 14-11 overall, 4-2 in the GLIAC.  Ashland stands at 11-12 overall, 5-3 in the GLIAC.

The Timberwolves got the scoring going in game one in the first inning, plating a pair of runs.  Ashland bounced back with three runs in the third, but the Timberwolves came back to tie the game 3-3.  AU went back up 4-3 in the fourth when Northwood put together the key inning of the contest.  The Timberwolves plated four runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run homer by Stacey Klonowski (Canton, Mich./Plymouth).  Ashland came back to make the score 7-6 and loaded the bases with one out in the final inning.  It was freshman rightfielder Jessica Tostrud (Kenosha, Wisc./Mary D. Bradford) who made a heads-up play to end the game.  She caught a fly ball for the second out and then threw out the Eagle runner who had wandered too far off first to earn the win.  Klonowski finished with two hits, a home run and two RBI's.  Rachel Hammer (Commerce, Mich./Lakeland) had two hits and an RBI, while Marisa Borkowski (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) had a hit an two RBI's.  Maddison Sebald (Bay City, Mich./Western) picked up her seventh win in the circle, allowing three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings of work.

Northwood got the scoring going in the top of the first inning of game two with a run, but Ashland responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.  The score remained 2-1 until the fifth inning when Ashland got a one out run-scoring double to make the lead 3-1.  Northwood had the tying run at the plate in both the sixth and the seventh inning, but were unable to plate the tying run.  

Northwood will travel to Grand Valley State Tuesday afternoon (April 2).  First pitch for the doubleheader will take place at 3:30 p.m.