LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY SOFTBALL PAGE
On Wednesday (April 25) at Saginaw Valley State, Ashland University's softball team was one out away from its fifth consecutive loss.
Softball games, however, are 21 outs long, not 20, and junior right fielder Halle Dorko's two-run single lifted the Eagles to a 5-4 win over the Cardinals in Game 2.
In Wednesday's opener, SVSU topped AU, 2-0. The Eagles are 19-21 overall and 9-13 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Cardinals are 20-20, 11-11.
Trailing 3-0 after the first inning in the nightcap, Ashland chipped away at its deficit with single runs in the top of the second, third and sixth frames. Junior left fielder Katie Mitchell's RBI single got the Eagles on the board in the second, junior designated player Katie Manahan collected a run-scoring single in the third, and junior first baseman Kylie Asmus knotted the game at 3 with a one-run hit in the sixth.
After the Cardinals re-took the lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth, Ashland had one more comeback left in it with two outs in the top of the seventh. Sophomore shortstop Bree Gill singled, Mitchell reached on a fielder's choice, and junior center Erika Farst singled to set up Dorko's game-winning hit.
Mitchell was 3-for-4, and Farst, Asmus, sophomore catcher Cassie Haight, and Gill each had two of AU's 14 hits. Junior pitcher Hannah Stroe (7-9) allowed five hits, four runs (three earned) and two walks, and struck out seven, to earn the victory.
In Game 1 on Wednesday, SVSU scored single runs in the bottom of the first and fourth en route to victory. Pitcher Elayne Young twirled a complete-game two-hit shutout, walking three and striking out two.
Freshman pitcher Laney Jones (4-4) was the hard-luck loser, yielding six hits, two runs and a walk and striking out six.
UP NEXT: Friday (Aug. 27) at 3 p.m. at Brookside Park in a GLIAC doubleheader vs. Ferris State (14-26, 8-16) – Ashland's first home games since April 12.
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