Cuthrell Walks It Off Against Malone As Northwood Advances To Second Round Consolation Action

OVERVIEW – (5) Ohio Dominican/ (8) Malone

SCORES: Northwood 1, Ohio Dominican 3 / Northwood 6, Malone 5

RECORDS: Northwood (27-19, 16-8 G-MAC), Ohio Dominican (25-25, 15-9 G-MAC)/ Malone (24-20, 10-14 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Firestone Stadium - Akron, Ohio

RECAP: Northwood Softball got off to a slow start in the opening round of this year's conference tournament Wednesday (April 30). The Timberwolves fell 3-1 to Ohio Dominican in a close game, falling to consolation action. In game two of the day, Northwood earned the dramatic 6-5 walk-off win over the (8) Malone in round one of consolation action.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Ashlyn Lundquist advanced to third on an error thrown down the right field line to lead off the game. Two batters later, a soft double down the right field line from Ashley Ziel drove her in for the game's opening run, 1-0 NU.
• The Panthers answered in the second behind a triple to right center, driving in a runner from first, 1-1. 
• ODU later took the 2-1 lead in the fourth. A single through the left side drove in the Panthers' second run for the lead.
• Ohio Dominican added an RBI double in the fifth to push their lead to two, 3-1 ODU.
• Northwood's offense went quiet after the first, managing just one hit and two baserunners the rest of the way. The Panthers would get the opening round, a 3-1 win.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 1/3/0, Ohio Dominican 3/7/2
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Ohio Dominican 8
• Winning Pitcher – Marlee Jacobs (10-11) 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 7 K 
• Losing Pitcher – Brynn Polega (14-6) 5 IP, 4 zH, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

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

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The start of a very interesting game started with a Malone RBI single up the middle to take a 1-0 lead.
• Northwood's offense started slow again, managing two hits through the first three, going down in order in the second and third innings. That 1-0 deficit ballooned to 4-0 in the fourth as Malone's leadoff double came around to score just before a Pioneers' two-run homer capped the inning.
• Chloe Cooper's two-out single to left center in the fourth scored Abby Robinson, putting Northwood on the board, 4-1 MU.
• The Timberwolves continued to chip away at the Pioneer lead in the fifth. Gabby Schloop led off with her second blast of the season, this over the center field wall, 4-2 MU.
• In subsequent hitters following the Schloop blast, Lundquist walked, Delanie Gale reached on a fielder's choice, and Ashley Ziel's first RBI double of the matchup made it 4-3, scoring Gale from first.
• Northwood then tied it up on a seeing eye single through the left side from Gage Lambert, scoring Ziel from second, 4-4.
• In the sixth, Schloop and Ziel came up big again. Schloop led off with a double down the left field line before Ziel knocked her second RBI double of the afternoon, bringing her in and giving NU the 5-4 lead.
• In the seventh, the Pioneers were the beneficiaries of back-to-back replay reviews that overturned out calls at home and at first. With a Pioneer on third, a ball back to the pitcher gave Malone just enough time to score from third. Originally, she was called out, but the review overturned it, and the Pioneers tied the game at 5-5.
• After an emotion-filled top of the seventh, Northwood gained their composure in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch-hitting, freshman Payton Schafsnitz's single to left put the winning run on with one out. The Pioneers got the second out before Saylar Cuthrell found the right center gap, driving in Schafsnitz from first, walking it off for the Timberwolves 6-5. This was the sophomore's first career walk-off knock.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 6/12/0, Malone 5/7/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 8, Malone 7
• Winning Pitcher – Kamden Binney (6-4) 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER)
• Losing Pitcher – Allie Weilnau (14-8) 2.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 2 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Schloop: 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI, 2 R
• Ziel: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Cuthrell: 1-3, 2B, RBI
• Lambert: 1-4, RBI
• Cooper: 1-3, RBI, BB, R
• Schafsnitz: 1-1, R
• Robinson: 1-3, BB, R

UP NEXT

• Northwood is back at Firestone Stadium tomorrow (April 30) versus the loser of the (3) Findlay versus (2) Hillsdale game at 12:30 p.m. This will be the second round of consolation action.