MIDLAND, Mich. – Purdue Northwest cruised to a 10-3 win over regionally-ranked Northwood in the second game of Wednesday's softball doubleheader. The two teams split the GLIAC twinbill as the host Timberwolves won the first game 8-3 at Fisher Stadium.
PNW improved to 7-3 over the past 10 games, running its record to 24-12 overall and 13-7 in conference play. The Pride currently sit in second place in the GLIAC standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Northwood moved to 26-13 (12-9 GLIAC) after appearing eighth in this week's Midwest Regional top-10 poll. The Timberwolves are now fourth in the GLIAC behind Saginaw Valley State entering the weekend.
GAME 1: NORTHWOOD 8, PURDUE NORTHWEST 3
After the Pride trailed 3-1 in the early going, a two-run double from
Madison Schultz (Lafayette, Ind./Faith Christian) tied the game with the score 3-3 after three complete.
However, Northwood's Haley Frank hit a three-run homer with two outs in the fourth to give the Timberwolves the lead. Northwood would tack on two more runs in the sixth.
Frank went 4 for 4 with 5 RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. She notched half of the Timberwolves' hits.
Seven different PNW hitters recorded a base knock, including a double from Schultz (1-4) and
Selena Michko (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) (1-3, BB).
Aubrey Shroyer (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) logged an RBI and went 1 for 3 with a walk.
Abbie May (LaSalle, Ill./Saint Bede Academy) (8-2) was charged with just her second loss in nine starts this season. The right-hander went four innings and surrendered five earned runs on seven hits. She struck out a pair and walked one.
Emma Hill (Holmes Beach, Fla./Cary-Grove (IL)) pitched the final two frames and recorded three strikeouts.
NU's Shayna Frank (14-6) allowed seven hits and five walks, but struck out 10 batters to pick up the win inside the circle.
GAME 2: PURDUE NORTHWEST 10, NORTHWOOD 3
PNW bounced back with 10 runs on 11 hits in the nightcap. The Pride plated two runs in every inning except the third and sixth frames to post their fifth outing reaching double digits on the year.
Michko put the Pride on the board with an RBI single up the middle in her first at-bat. That was followed by a bases-loaded walk drawn by
Montana Martinez (Calumet City, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) to put PNW ahead 2-0 after one.
Northwood would trim a 4-0 deficit back to two on Haley Frank's two-run single in the third.
But PNW responded when Schultz blasted a two-run home run in the next inning to get the runs back. With 22 career long balls, Schultz is now tied for the most career home runs in PNW history with former All-American Kyleigh Payne.
Sydney Siedentopf (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) recorded a two-run, pinch-hit double in the fifth, and
Ashley Bravo (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) notched her second hit of the game with an RBI double in the seventh. Shroyer led the Pride with a 3-for-4 effort at the dish and scored four runs.
In the circle,
Gabby Paliska (Palos Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East (Wisconsin-Green Bay)) improved to 7-5 with her sixth complete game. Paliska struck out four and allowed two earned runs on seven hits.
UP NEXT
PNW will close out the regular season at home with three doubleheaders this weekend.
The Pride are slated to host No. 21 Grand Valley State on Friday, Davenport on Saturday (Senior Day) and Wayne State on Sunday.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Softball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics / @PNWSoftball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
