Softball Takes A Split On First Day in Florida

OVERVIEW – St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth

SCORES: Northwood 2, St. Cloud State 1 / Northwood 2, Minnesota-Duluth 6

RECORDS: Northwood 5-3, St. Cloud State 6-6 / Northwood 5-3, Minnesota-Duluth 11-1

LOCATION: Diamondplex A – Kissimmee, Fla. 

RECAP: The Timberwolves began their 14-game Florida road trip today. NU took a split on the first day with two games that came down to the wire. Northwood took game one in an extra-inning affair with St. Cloud St. and fell to Minnesota-Duluth late in game two.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS – St. Cloud State

• It was a pitcher's duel for most of the game. St. Cloud took the early lead with a HBP, stolen base, a walk, and a double by SCSU to make it 1-0.
•  Two innings later, Madelin Skene led off the top of the fifth with a walk. Karlie Moore then reached via an error, advancing Skene to third. Two hitters later, Madison Jordan hit a sac fly to shallow right field to score Skene (1-1). 
• Neither pitcher would budge, giving up no runs the rest of the seven scheduled innings.
• Gabby Schloop was placed on second to start the eighth. A sac bunt by Madison Jordan pushed her to third, and two batters later, Gianna Fantin hit a sac fly deep enough behind second base to score Schloop from third (2-1).
• Shayna Frank slammed the door in the bottom of the eighth via a fly ball, strikeout, and a pop-up to second to finish the game.

GAME ONE STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 2/1/2, St. Cloud State 4/8/0
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, St. Cloud State 12
• Winning Pitcher – Shayna Frank (4-1): 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 6 BB, 8 K
• Losing Pitcher – Trinity Junker (3-2): 8.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 6 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• S. Frank: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 6 BB, 8 K
• Koehler: 1-2
• Skene: BB, R
• Fantin: 0-3, RBI

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS – Minnesota-Duluth

• The Timberwolves went up 2-0 in the bottom of the second behind a leadoff double down the right field line by Delanie Grundman. Madelin Skene followed that up with a double in the left center gap to score Grundman (1-0). 
• Two batters later, Skene stole third and was driven in by a sac fly by Madison Jordan (2-0). 
• Going into the final inning, the Timberwolves had only given up two hits all game. 
• Minnesota-Duluth came alive in the bottom half of the seventh. The Bulldogs scored six runs with three hits, an HBP, a walk, an error, and capped by a home run by Emma Frost (6-2).
• Northwood was unable to mount a comeback and fell to the Bulldogs 6-2.

GAME TWO STATS

• Runs/Hits/Errors: Northwood 2/4/2, Minnesota-Duluth 6/6/1
• Runners left on base: Northwood 4, Minnesota-Duluth 3
• Winning Pitcher: Mady Stariha (2-0) 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 4 K
• Losing Pitcher: Hailey Leister (0-1) 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 5 K

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Skene: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R
• Grundman: 1-3, R
• Mankel: 1-3
• Jordan: 0-1, SAC FLY

UP NEXT

• Northwood will be back tomorrow (March 6) for their second day of the Florida trip. NU will play two games. The first will be against East Stroudsburg at 3:45 PM, and the second will be against Concordia-St. Paul at 6 PM.