Softball Drops Pair Of One-Run Games At GLIAC Tournament

The Northwood University softball team dropped a pair of games at the GLIAC Tournament Friday afternoon (May 2). NU dropped a 2-1 contest to Grand Valley State before falling to Ohio Dominican 10-9

Northwood, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, now stands at 26-16.

GVSU 2, NU 1

GVSU got on the board in the second inning on a single and an error by NU. The score remained that way until the sixth inning when Northwood put together a two-out rally. Stacey Klonowski (Canton, Mich./Plymouth) had a triple to centerfield, which was followed by a single by Lindsey Obremski (DuBois, Pa.) to level the score at 1-1.

The Lakers earned the win in the bottom of seventh after a leadoff double and an RBI single.

Northwood finished the game with four hits, two of which were by Klonowski. Maddison Sebald (Bay City, Mich./Western) took the loss despite pitching well. She allowed two runs (one earned) in 6 1/3 innings of work.

ODU 10, NU 9

Northwood got off to a fast start against Ohio Dominican, going up 2-0 just two batters into the game. Ashley Lynn (Garden City, Mich.) led the game off with a double and then scored on a Klonowski home run to right field. The Timberwolves then made it 4-0 in the second inning. Freshman Hayley D'Avilar (Georgetown, Ont./Christ the King) hit an opposite field home run to left field to make it 3-0. Klonowski then drove home Lynn on a single and an error to extend the lead to four runs.

But ODU responded with three straight big innings, starting in the second. The Panthers scored three in the second, five in the third and two in the fourth to open up a 10-4 lead. NU did not help themselves in those three innings, committing four errors and walking six batters. That allowed Ohio Dominican to score their 10 runs on just six hits.

Northwood fought their way back into the game with a big fifth inning.  Obremski plated a pair with a long single to right center to make the score 10-6. Sam Zaborowski (Taylor, Mich./Cabrini) then had an RBI double to center field to get NU within three runs. Later in the inning, Natalie Lampman (Madison Heights, Mich./Bishop Foley) doubled to deep center which scored Jessica Tostrud (Kenosha, Wisc./Mary D. Bradford) and Zaborowski to get Northwood within one at 10-9. NU had runners on first and third with one out in the inning looking to tie the game but was unable to plate any more runs.

The score remained 10-9 until the top of the seventh inning where Northwood had a great chance to level the score. Zaborowski led the inning off with a double which was followed by a walk to Tostrud, putting two runners on with nobody out. But Northwood was unable to get the tying run home, giving the Panthers the win.

Klonowski finished the game 2-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Lynn went 2-3 with three runs scored, while Zaborowski had two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.

Northwood will now await their NCAA Tournament fate. The regional field is announced Monday (May 5) at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com. The top eight teams in each region make the field – Northwood was ranked seventh in last week's poll.