LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY SOFTBALL PAGE
A three-run bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2 lifted Ashland University's softball team to a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader split on Sunday (April 23) at No. 24 Wayne State.
The Eagles (27-20 overall, 12-8 GLIAC) took the second game by a 5-4 count after losing the opener to the Warriors (34-12, 13-7), 3-2. That win also allowed Ashland to clinch a spot in the 2017 GLIAC Tournament, May 5-7 at the Marathon Diamonds in Findlay, Ohio.
This will be Ashland's 12th consecutive trip to the GLIAC Tournament.
Since returning from its annual Florida trip, Ashland is 20-10, and in 15 doubleheaders, the Eagles have five sweeps and 10 splits.
Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth in the nightcap, Ashland sophomore right fielder Kayla Troyer tied the game at 4 with a two-run single, then senior center fielder Ally Farrah drove in the eventual game-winner with a run-scoring single.
Both Troyer and freshman third baseman Dayna Denner were 2-for-3 in Game 2. Sophomore pitcher Hannah Stroe evened her record at 9-9 by scattering 10 hits and four runs (three earned) and striking out three in the complete-game victory.
Sunday's opener saw Wayne State score single runs in the first, second and fifth innings. Ashland countered with a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from sophomore second baseman Paige Summers and a run in the top of the seventh on a Farrah RBI single.
Summers was 3-for-3 in Ashland's eight-hit attack. Junior pitcher Paige McMenemy (15-7) allowed five hits, three runs (two earned) and a walk and struck out two in five innings.
UP NEXT: The home and regular-season finale, a doubleheader with Ohio Dominican at Brookside Park on Friday (April 28) at 3:30 p.m.
AU
SB/DS