Softball Takes Care Of Business, Earning Series Sweep At Lake Erie

OVERVIEW – Lake Erie

SCORES: Northwood 12, Lake Erie 1/ Northwood 7, Lake Erie 3

RECORDS: Northwood (14-8, 4-0 G-MAC), Lake Erie (0-24, 0-4 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Diamond 9 at Painesville Kiwanis Recreation Park - Painesville, Ohio

RECAP: Northwood softball visited Painesville, Ohio, Friday, to take on the Lake Erie Storm. The Timberwolves overmatched the Storm to take game one of the doubleheader in comfortable five-inning fashion, 12-1. In game two, the Storm battled, but Northwood pulled away late for a 7-3 win and series sweep.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood broke game one open early, scoring six in the second. The inning started with a RBI double to left center from Payton Schafsnitz. Gage Lambert came around to score, 1-0 NU.
• Saylar Cuthrell followed Payton up with a single back through the middle to score Gianna Fantin, 2-0 NU.
• Ashlyn Lundquist added a sac fly to make it 3-0 NU before Delanie Gale's team-leading third home run of the year tacked on three more. Gale's three-run shot capped the scoring for Northwood in the second, 6-0 NU.
• In the third, Fantin led off the inning with a double. Schafsnitz followed it up by adding her second RBI double of the game to make it 7-0 NU.
• Lundquist continued the rally with her second and third RBIs of the game. Her single up the middle drove in Schafsnitz and Saylar Cuthrell, 9-0 NU.
• Gabby Schloop scored on a defensive miscue from the catcher and Lundquist scored via a sac fly from Abby Robinson to cap Northwood's five-run fifth, 11-0 NU.
• Northwood and Lake Erie traded runs in the fourth and fifth as Northwood left with a 12-1 win in five innings for game one.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 12/10/1, Lake Erie 1/4/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 6, Lake Erie 8
• Winning Pitcher – Brynn Polega (8-1) 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
• Losing Pitcher – Lily Turkowski (0-5) 1 IP, 3 H, 5 R (5 ER), 4 BB

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Schafsnitz: 2-2, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Cuthrell: 2-2, RBI, 2 R
• Gale: 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Ziel: 2-2, BB
• Lundquist: 1-1, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Fantin: 1-1, 2B, BB, 2 R

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood took the early 1-0 lead via Gale scoring off a wild pitch in the first.
• Teams went scoreless for the next three and a half innings. The Timberwolves made it a 2-0 game when Gabby Schloop drove in Schafsnitz with a base knock through the left side.
• Gage Lambert pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Her two-run blast to center drove in Gale. This was Lambert's first homer of the season.
• The Storm did not go away quietly. Two hits and a walk loaded the bases for the Storm in the bottom of the fifth. Northwood would make two outs at the plate before a wild pitch and two-run single made it a one-run ball game, 4-3 NU.
• Delanie Gale's second three-run shot of the day pushed Northwood's lead back out to four in the top of the sixth. Lundquist and Schloop scored on her fourth homer of the season, 7-3 NU.
• Kamden Binney finished the ballgame with a complete game to earn Northwood the 7-3 win and series sweep in Painesville.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 7/12/0, Lake Erie 3/12/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Lake Erie  6
• Winning Pitcher – Kamden Binney (4-2) 7 IP, 12 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K
• Losing Pitcher – Kai Mortenson (0-8) 5.1 IP, 9 h, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Gale: 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R
• Lambert: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Lundquist: 2B, R
• Ziel: 2-4
• Schloop: 1-3, RBI, BB, R

UP NEXT

• Northwood softball is back in Midland next Saturday (March 29) to face off with last year's conference tournament runner-up, Findlay. The rematch of last year's tournament championship will start at noon with a doubleheader game two to follow.