MIDLAND, Mich. – The Purdue Northwest softball team dropped a pair of GLIAC contests to Northwood on Tuesday afternoon. The Pride fell 8-4 in Game 1 and 3-1 in a pitching duel in the second game at Fisher Stadium.
Following the setback, PNW moved to 9-20 (6-12 GLIAC) on the season while Northwood improved to 23-12 (15-9 GLIAC). These two teams will meet again on Sunday, May 9, in Hammond for the regular season finale.
GAME 1: NU 8, PNW 4
The bottom of the lineup got the scoring started for both squads in the opening contest.
Sabryna Stanley's clutch two-out double gave the Pride a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The frame started with a single from
Jessica DeBoer and a walk drawn by
Allison Arnold. Both would score when Stanley drove the first pitch she saw into deep left field. It was Stanley's career-high sixth double of the season.
Northwood responded in the bottom half with four runs, taking advantage of a walk and hit batter with two outs. With two runners aboard, the Timberwolves recorded three consecutive hits including a two-run double by Jayna Hance to even the score. Hance and Stanley were both hitting ninth in the lineup. Northwood got two more RBI knocks to make the score 4-2 after two innings.
Then, Northwood caught a break and added a run in the fourth to make it 5-2. A two-out bloop single found the grass in left field as Madi Schultz dove from her shortstop position to try and make the run-saving play.
In the fifth, PNW trimmed the deficit to 5-3 but the ball continued to bounce Northwood's way. The Pride could only push one run across after the first four Pride batters reached safely in the inning.
Aubrey Shroyer led off with a single and
Ashley Bravo was hit by a pitch. Then,
Briana Poehler delivered an RBI single through the right side to bring Shroyer around from second base to plate the third run. But, the Pride had a runner hung up at third on a ground ball to shortstop and then an inning-ending double play got Northwood out of the jam.
Poehler produced the final PNW run on a groundout in the seventh and she recorded a sacrifice fly in Game 2. That marks 10 RBIs in eight games during a stretch where the sophomore has posted a .414 (12-29) batting average.
Shroyer (3-for-4) logged her fifth three-hit game of the season and recorded her 11th double. She extended her reached base streak to 20 consecutive games after logging a hit in Game 2.
Courtney Blackwell (5-9) tossed 4.1 innings in her 14th start of the season. The right-hander was charged with five earned runs while falling victim to five walks and timely hitting.
Abbie May came on to finish the game in the circle.
Northwood's Lauren Castellon broke the game open on a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the fifth to put the hosts ahead, 8-3. The Timberwolves' Taylor Wright improved to 4-0 after picking up the win while Hailey Leister registered a three-inning save.
GAME 2: NU 3, PNW 1
Northwood rode the arm of starting pitcher Shayna Frank in the Game 2 victory. The right-hander tossed a three-hitter while posting seven strikeouts and one walk.
Down 3-0 in the sixth, PNW recorded two of its three hits when Shroyer and Bravo provided back-to-back knocks. Bravo deposited a double to right center to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Then, Poehler came up next and produced a sacrifice fly get the Pride on the board.
The Pride were unable to capitalize earlier in the ball game when a sac bunt by
Kiara Negron put runners on second and third in the second inning.
Northwood scored on a two-out infield single in the first inning, and then the hosts racked up three doubles in the fourth to bring a pair of runs across for a three-run advantage. That was all the Timberwolves would need behind Frank's dominant outing.
Emma Hill took the loss in the circle despite a season-high tally in strikeouts and innings pitched. Hill punched out six batters while going the distance in six innings of work.
Shroyer, Bravo and
Jessica DeBoer each went 1-for-3 at the plate. Bravo registered her fourth double of the year.
NEXT UP
PNW will host Davenport tomorrow afternoon at Dowling Park in a rescheduled doubleheader from April 21. Game 1 against the Panthers will feature a 1 p.m. CDT first pitch.
