LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY SOFTBALL PAGE
Ashland University's softball team won a doubleheader on Sunday (March 31) in which one late rally came up just short, while another was more than enough.
In a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference twinbill at Saginaw Valley State on Sunday, the #RV Eagles survived by a 7-6 count in Game 1, then rallied for a 11-7 comeback victory in Game 2. In the process, Ashland broke away from the pack in the middle of the GLIAC standings, and improves to 20-10 overall and 6-4 in the conference.
Sunday's opener saw the Eagles take leads of 2-1 after the first inning, 6-2 after four innings and 7-2 after 4½ innings. The Cardinals (8-10, 1-5) rallied with a run in the bottom of the fifth, then scored three times in the bottom of the seventh, but sophomore pitcher Laney Jones got the last two outs to preserve the win and move AU to 8-3 in one-run games this season.
Senior first baseman Kylie Asmus was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and three RBIs; junior shortstop Bree Gill went 3-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs, and junior designated hitter Dayna Denner hit a home run, scored twice and drive in two runs.
Jones (9-5) allowed 10 hits, six runs and four walks and struck out six in the victory.
In Game 2, the crooked numbers continued to go up on the scoreboard – Ashland led 5-0 after 2½ innings, then SVSU scored seven runs in the third and fourth innings combined for a 7-5 advantage.
After scoring a single run in the top of the fifth, the Eagles took the lead for good with a four-spot in the top of the sixth, the go-ahead runs scoring on a two-run single by senor right fielder Halle Dorko.
Of Ashland's 14 hits, two each were turned in by Asmus, junior second baseman Camille Pollutro, Dorko, senior third baseman Paige Summers, Gill and senior center fielder Erika Farst. Summers drove in three runs, and Pollutro and Dorko each finished with two RBIs.
Senior pitcher Hannah Stroe (9-5) yielded nine hits, seven runs and four walks and struck out five in the win.
Ashland went errorless for the second consecutive doubleheader on Sunday, and the Eagles are 11-3 this season with not committing an miscue on defense.
The second doubleheader of the eight-game road trip will be at Purdue Northwest on Tuesday (April 2) at 4:30 p.m.
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