Late Night Timbys Earn Big Sweep To Close Day Five In Florida

OVERVIEW – Minn.-Duluth / Bemidji St.

SCORES: Northwood 4, Minn.-Duluth 0 / Northwood 2, Bemidji St. 1

RECORDS: Northwood (8-4, 0-0 G-MAC), Minn.-Duluth (18-8)/ Bemidji St. (10-8)

LOCATION: Legends Way Softball Complex – Clermont, Fla.

RECAP: Northwood softball opened their second leg of games in Florida Monday (March 10). The Timberwolves did some waiting around most of the day due to rain that delayed the schedule of games. It wouldn't be until 9 p.m. that NU would start game one with Minn.-Duluth and their potent offense. Behind Brynn Polega, NU shut down the Bulldogs en route to a 4-0 victory. Game two versus Bemidji St. kicked off at 11 p.m., but the time didn't affect the late-night Timbys as they earned a 2-1 win to sweep day five.

MINN.-DULUTH

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Duluth threatened in the first and second innings, loading the bases in each, but coming away with zero.
• It was in the fourth inning when Northwood seized the momentum. Abby Robinson followed a defensive miscue and Delanie Gale's leadoff hit down the right field line. She drove in Gale to put Northwood ahead 1-0.
• Gianna Fantin added one more with an RBI groundout to score Ashley Ziel from third, 2-0 NU.
• In the fifth, Northwood's rally started with two outs. Gale's double to left drove in Lundquist from first, 3-0 NU.
• A single to the right from Ziel and an RBI bloop single from Abby Robinson put Northwood ahead 4-0 in the fifth.
• Brynn Polega continued her hot stretch, shutting down the Duluth offense and working around a few free passes. She would toss six scoreless innings, handing the ball to Brittani Mutter in the seventh. Mutter's deception led to her striking out the side to cap the 4-0 victory.

 GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 4/7/0, Minn.-Duluth 0/4/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Minn.-Duluth 9
• Winning Pitcher – Brynn Polega (5-0) 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – A. Luoma (7-3) 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), BB

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Gale: 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2 R
• Robinson: 2-3, 2 RBI
• Lundquist: 1-3, R
• Ziel: 1-2, R

BEMIDJI ST.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Game two started at 11 p.m. with a drive to center off the bat of Lundquist. It ended with a dropped fly in center and her advancing to third. Ziel followed up with a single back up the middle, putting NU ahead 1-0 in the first.
• Pitching was Northwood's strong suit on the day, Kamden Binney went the first four innings, not giving up a run, allowing the Timberwolves to extend their lead to two. Fantin drove in Gale with a two-out single to left, 2-0.
• Bemidji cut the lead back to one in the next half-inning. The Beavers doubled down the right field line, driving in the runner from second, 2-1 NU.
• Binney managed to work around a one-out bases-loaded jam in the fifth. She would shut down the Beavers over the final two innings to give Northwood the 2-1 win at 12:38 a.m.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 2/8/1, Bemidji St. 1/5/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 8, Bemidji St. 8
• Winning Pitcher – Kamden Binney (2-1) 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 6 K
• Losing Pitcher – K. Joachim (6-2) 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R (1 ER), 12 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Ziel: 3-4, RBI
• Gale: 2-4, 2B, R
• Fantin: 2-3, RBI

UP NEXT

• Northwood softball is back today for matchups with Wayne St. (Neb.) at 3 p.m. and American International at 5:30 p.m. Games are at the Legends Way Softball Complex.