Softball Goes 1-1 On Opening Day Of GLIAC Tournament

OVERVIEW – GLIAC TOURNAMENT (DAY ONE)  

SCORES: Saginaw Valley State Cardinals 3, Northwood Timberwolves 1/Northwood 12, Ferris State Bulldogs 5

RECORDS: Northwood 28-25-1/Saginaw Valley 27-22/Ferris State 20-34

LOCATION: Sandusky, Ohio

RECAP: Northwood goes 1-1 at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament Friday afternoon (May 3), falling to Saginaw Valley 3-1 before defeating Ferris State 12-5.

SVSU GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Missed opportunities early in the game proved costly – the Timberwolves had the bases loaded and less than two outs in both the first and second innings but only came up with one run.  Abby Joseph nearly hit a grand slam in the second, but it was caught at the fence in left center for a sacrifice fly and a 1-0 NU lead.
• The score remained 1-0 until the sixth inning when the Cardinals plated a run to tie the game.
• In the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded, SVSU got a bunt single that eventually plated two runs to take a 3-1 lead.
• Northwood got a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to push across any runs.

SVSU GAME STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors – Northwood: 3/4/1, Saginaw Valley: 1/5/2
• Runners Left on Base – Northwood: 9, Saginaw Valley: 6
• Winning Pitcher – Julia Mundy (8-7): 7 IP, 5 H, R, 4 BB, K
• Losing Pitcher – Taylor Wright (6-4): 4 IP, 3 H, 4 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Joseph: 2-3, 3B, RBI
• Dutoi: 1-2, 2 BB
• Gronback: 1-2, BB, R

FERRIS STATE GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Ferris State got on the board on wild pitch in the top of the second for an early 1-0 lead.
• Northwood responded in the third with a big inning, starting with a Joseph RBI single.
• Sydni Culps followed with an RBI double to make it 2-1 before Grace Dutoi came home on a wild pitch.
• Karli Godlewski capped the four-run inning with a sacrifice fly to give the Timberwolves a 4-1 lead.
• After the Bulldogs got one in the top of the foruth, NU came up with another big inning in the fourth. Joseph doubled to right to make the score 5-2.
• Torriay Gray-Baker then had a two-run hit, thanks to great baserunning by pinch running Alexis Koehler. She scored from first on the single to push the lead to 7-2.
• Julia Gross plated Gray-Baker on a single to make the score 8-2 after four innings.
• FSU did not go quietly, scoring three in the fifth. But the Timberwolves came back in the sixth to close out the game. Culps started the inning with an RBI single.
• Gray-Baker's RBI fielder's choice got the Timberwolves into double figures at 10-5.
• Godlewski and Chase Schultz each added RBIs in the inning to reach the final score of 12-5.

FERRIS STATE GAME STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors – Northwood: 12/14/2, Ferris State: 5/8/3
• Runners Left on Base – Northwood: 6, Ferris State: 7
• Winning Pitcher – Shayna Frank (11-9): 7 IP, 8 H, 5 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Kaitlyn Nugent (2-4): 2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Joseph: 3-4, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI
• Culps: 2-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI
• Julia Gross: 3-4, 2B R, RBI
• Gray-Baker: 1-3, 3 RBI
• Tara Gross: 2-3, 2B, R

UP NEXT

• Northwood will face either Wayne State or Davenport in an elimination game Saturday morning (May 4). Game time is set for 10 a.m.