Softball Sweeps Pair At Findlay

The Northwood University softball team earned a pair of wins at Findlay Sunday afternoon (April 13). The Timberwolves downed the Oilers 11-5 in game one before fighting for a 7-3 victory in game two.

NU improves to 19-11 on the season, 10-4 in the GLIAC. Findlay falls to 14-13 on the year, 6-10 in the GLIAC.

Northwood's strong hitting continued today, scoring five runs in the first inning against the Oilers. With bases loaded, Haley D'Avilar (Georgetown, ON / Christ the King) singled to center field scoring two runs. Natalie Lampman (Madison Heights, Mich. / Bishop Foley) followed D'Avilar with homerun to take an early 5-0 lead. Lampman is now tied for fifth in the GLIAC with five homeruns this season. The Oilers plated three runs in the bottom of the inning, and another in the second to cut the lead to 5-4 entering the fourth inning. After Sam Zaborowski (Taylor, Mich. / Cabrini) doubled to right center, Jessica Tostrud (Kenosha, Wisc. / Mary D. Bradford) followed an RBI double also to right center. D'Avilar reached first on an Oiler error, which also allowed Tostrud to advance to third. After stealing second, both Tostrud and D'Avilar scored on a pair of wild pitches. Northwood's heads up base-running earned the Timberwolves an 8-4 advantage. In the top of the fourth, senior Stacey Klonowski (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth) drew a lead-off walk, before stealing second to put herself in scoring position. Klonowski quickly crossed the plate on a Lindsay Obremski (DuBois, Pa. / Dubois Area) double for NU's ninth run of the game. Findlay plated their final run in the bottom of the fifth. The Timberwolves kept on the offensive, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to earn an 11-5 win.

Lampman led off the game with a 3-run homer, while D'Avilar recorded two RBI's and scored two runs of her own. Tostrud went 2-4 with a double and two RBI's to go with two runs scored. Klonowski also scored two runs, while Zaborowski hit two doubles, scored two runs and earned n an RBI.

Junior Maddison Sebald (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western) pitched all seven innings and is now 9-4 for the Timberwolves. She stuck out three batters and allowed just two earned runs against 37 batters. Sebald leads the GLIAC in least amount of triples allowed and wild pitches.

In the second game, Northwood was able to load the bases in the bottom of the second inning before senior Malinda Smith (Saginaw, Mich. / Swan Valley) singled to left field for an RBI. Ashley Lynn (Garden City, Mich.) followed with a sacrifice ground out on the infield to score Lampman. NU's two-run lead was soon cleared with a two-run homer by the Oilers in the top of the third. Northwood struggled to get on base until the bottom of the fifth, where Smith registered a triple to lead off the inning. Smith scored on Lynn's double to right field. Klonowski then reached base on an error, before advancing to second which allowed Lynn to cross the plate. Obremski advanced Klonowski to third on an infield single. Zaborowski followed with a sacrifice bunt to score Klonowski. Pinch running for Obremski, Allie Patterson (Galesburg, Mich. / Galesburg-Augusta) plated Northwood's sixth run on a wild pitch, after advancing to third on a fielder's choice that got Tostrud out at first. Findlay answered in the top of the sixth with another homerun to cut the lead 6-3, but the Timberwolves' offense was too much for the Oilers to handle as they plated the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.

For the game, Smith went 2-2 with her first triple on the year, an RBI and a run scored. Zaborowski picked up an RBI in the win, her 28th on the year - good for fourth in the GLIAC. Lynn hit 2-3 with three RBI's and a run scored. Also crossing the plate for the Timberwolves was Klonowski, Andria Gietl (Plymouth, Mich. / Ladywood), Lampman, and D'Avilar.

Casey Brown (Hudson, Ohio) faced 29 batters and struck out six in seven innings pitched to earn the win. Brown is now 7-4 on the season, allowing just three earned runs.

Northwood will host the GLIAC's top-ranked Grand Valley State on Tuesday (April 15). First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.