Softball Run-Rule Oilers In A 17-9 Slugfest

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A season-high 17 runs was enough to lead the Ferris State University softball team to a 17-9 sixth-inning victory over the Findlay Oilers this Friday (April 15) afternoon in game one of a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) doubleheader at the FSU Varsity Softball Field in Big Rapids, Mich. 

Both teams used the windy conditions to their advantage, at least from an offensive standpoint. with a combined 26 runs and 25 base hits in the opener. 

The Bulldogs, who improve to 14-15 overall and 11-6 in the GLIAC's North Division with the win, pounded out 14 hits which included eight for extra bases.  Senior shortstop Lynsay Weaver (Bay City/All Saints), sophomore designated player Lindsey Pettit (Portland), junior outfielder Stephanie Dusendang (Comstock Park/Rockford), and junior third baseman Allison Webber (Frankfort) all tallied home runs for Ferris State while Tori Allen went yard for the Oilers, who collected 11 hits in the game.

The two teams exchanged four runs apiece in the first inning alone with a three-run shot by Lynsay Weaver to right centerfield highlighting the Bulldogs' scoring in the bottom half of the frame.  The Oilers snapped the deadlock in the top of the second with a three-run output and increased their lead to 9-5 with a pair of fourth-inning runs off sophomore pitcher Dana Bowler (Lockport, Ill.), who went on to notch the complete-game decision while striking out four an walking five Findlay batters.  However, Ferris State exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth frame on four hits and an Oilers' error.  A run-scoring single by Stephanie Dusendang accounted for the first run while Lynsay Weaver's RBI double produced the next score.  Following a walk, Lindsey Pettit belted her third home run of the season with a three-run blast on Findlay pitcher Lauren Orban's (2-3) first pitch to her to give FSU its first lead of the game at 11-9. 

Despite the cold, Ferris State's bats remained hot as the Bulldogs scored four times in the fifth and tacked on two more in the sixth inning to run-rule the Oilers.  In the fifth, Stephanie Dusendang smacked a three-run home run over the center field fence with no outs.  Dusendang's roundtripper, which marked her second of this campaign, was preceeded by junior first baseman Chelsea Morris' (Jenison) run-scoring single.

The Bulldogs proceeded to end the game in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore second baseman Lainee Clay (Wheelersburg, Ohio) reached base on a leadoff double and scored as a result of Allison Webber's pinch-hit two-run homer to center field.  For Webber, the home run represented her first for the Crimson and Gold.

Four different Ferris State batters had a multi-hit game with Lynsay Weaver's four-for-four performance paving the way.  In the process, Weaver's hitting streak was extended to 14 games and she also knocked in a team-best tying four runs in the tilt.  Junior third baseman Makenzi Peterson (Big Rapids), Stephanie Dusendang, and Lainee Clay all had two hits each with Dusendang driving in four runs as did Lindsey Pettit.

Notes: Ferris State's 17 runs are a season high, surpassing a 13-run output against Lake Superior State (April 8) . . . Stephanie Dusendang generated two hits for the third game in a row . . . Lynsay Weaver's four hits represents a personal career game high.  She had compiled two hits in a contest 17 times during her Bulldog career . . .  The last time Ferris State smacked four home runs in a game was in 2008 (April 22) with a 9-2 triumph at Northwood.