Softball Goes 1-1 To Open 2019 Season

OVERVIEW – BELLARMINE/ROCKHURST

SCORES:  Northwood Timberwolves 8, Bellarmine Knight 3/Rockhurst Hawks 10, Northwood 4
RECORDS: Northwood 1-1/Bellarmine 4-5/Rockhurst 3-2
LOCATION: Westfield, Ind.  
RECAP: Northwood opens their 2018 season with a split in Wesfield, Ind., downing Bellarmine 8-3 before falling to Rockhurst 10-4

BELLARMINE HIGHLIGHTS

• Bellarmine got off to a fast start in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run homer for the early advantage.
• The Timberwolves came right back in the top of the second with a big inning, starting on a Julia Gross RBI triple that scored Abby Joseph.
• Gross then came home on an RBI from Torriya Gray-Baker on a fielding error to make the score 2-2.
• Tara Gross scored Gray-Baker on a sacrifice fly to give NU a 3-2 lead after two innings.
• Northwood added two more in the fourth, starting with an RBI single by Tara Gross. She then scored on an RBI triple by Lauren Castellon, making the score 5-2.
• NU got another run in the fifth on an error by the Knights.
• Bellarmine got one back in the fifth, but Northwood got a run on a wild pitch in the sixth to close out the game.

BELLARMINE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors Northwood: 8/7/1, Bellarmine: 3/5/3
• Runners Left on Base: Northwood: 6, Bellarmine: 9
• Winning Pitcher: April Bennett (1-0): 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 3 K
• Losing Pitcher: Fussenegger (1-3): 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 2 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• T. Gross: 2-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
• Castellon: 2-2, 3B, RBI 

ROCKHURST HIGHLIGHTS

• The first three innings of the game proved to be the difference in the game – the Hawks scored two in the first, four in the second and two in the third to open up an 8-0 edge.
• The Timberwolves got a pair back on a throwing error in the bottom of the third inning.
• After Rockhurst put up two more in the fifth, Gray-Baker got one back for Northwood in the bottom of the inning on a double that scored Julia Gross.
• Tara Gross then plated her sister Julia on an RBI single to make it 10-4.
• Neither team scored the remainder of the game.
• The story of the contest proved to be Rockhurst right fielder Emily Truitt, who set an NCAA Division II record with four triples in the game. Twelve players in DII history had three triples, but Truitt is the first to have four in a game.

ROCKHURST STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood: 4/5/1, Rockhurst 10/12/3
• Runners Left on Base: Northwood: 8, Bellarmine: 9
• Winning Pitcher: Shannon Greene (3-0): 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R (0 ER), 5 K, 4 BB
• Losing Pitcher: Shayna Frank (0-1) 1 2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, (4 ER)

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• T. Gross/Sydni Culps/Gray-Baker: RBI each

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will take on Indianapolis and Southern Indiana Saturday (February 23), starting at 11 a.m.