Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University softball team pulled out a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) home sweep on Sunday (April 12) as the Bulldogs battled back for a pair of extra-inning wins over visiting Ohio Dominican at the FSU Softball Field.
FSU opened the twinbill with a walk-off hit in the eighth inning to pull out a 7-6 triumph in game one and the Bulldogs then scored twice in the extra frame and held off the Panthers with a potential tying run in scoring position to record a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
In Sunday's opener, the Bulldogs got into the scoring column first when first baseman Rachael Gabrielson scored on an Emily Reed single in the opening inning.
Ohio Dominican tied the contest up in the third, but the Bulldogs regained the advantage in the fifth. Shortstop Sarah Johnson started things off with a double before Reed singled her home to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 edge. Soon after, freshman outfielder Sam Bates found the gap for an RBI double to push the Bulldogs' lead to 3-1 in the game.
The Panthers took their first lead of the game in the sixth as they produced three runs. Kelly Wallace started things off with an RBI double before Taylor Thomas drove her in with a sac fly to knot the contest up. Panther outfielder Kelsey Seeds then followed with an RBI double as ODU captured a 4-3 advantage.
However, the Bulldogs answered in the bottom half of the sixth as Gabrielson hit 2-run single with one out. She later scored on another Reed single to push the Bulldogs' lead to 6-4 with one inning to go.
A 2-run single from Ohio Dominican's Kelsey Albanese tied the game back up in the 7th as ODU held off the Bulldogs and forced the extra inning. After FSU held Ohio Dominican scoreless in the top of the inning, the Bulldogs began the bottom of eighth with a Kayti Carlson triple before Gabrielson hit a game-winning RBI single in walk-off fashion to lift the Bulldogs to the victory.
Gabrielson and Reed each went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI's apiece in the Bulldog victory. Along with Carlson's triple, both Johnson and Bates doubled in the game and had two hits apiece as did third baseman Bailey Darwin.
Senior pitcher Cara DeLange picked up the pitching win in a relief appearance. She tossed the final one and two-thirds innings with a single strikeout. Sophomore Megan Hiler started the opener and gave up only four runs on three hits with five and two-thirds innings of work. FSU's Megan Vanderwal also pitched in relief and allowed two runs on one hit.
Meanwhile, Ohio Dominican was paced in game one by Brandis Fishel's two hits. Albanese had a team-high two RBI's with both Kelly Wallace and Kelsey Seeds earning doubles in the game. Fishel suffered the loss after allowing the game-winning run and three hits in the final one and two-thirds innings.
The second game featured a late comeback by the Bulldogs in the second extra inning game of the day.
allace and Allie Hinton each posted RBI singles in the first inning to give ODU an early 3-0 lead. However, from there, the Bulldogs held Ohio Dominican scoreless the rest of the way until the extra frame.
The Bulldogs received three RBI's from Reed in the coming innings to tie the game up after the Panthers' early 3-0 edge in the initial frame. FSU scored a single run in the fifth and added two more in the seventh to tie the contest up.
In the eighth, Reed posted her 7th RBI of the day to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, despite giving up a one-out RBI double to Taylor Thomas, DeLange was able to get the Bulldogs out of the jam and earned the save with the potential tying run on third base by forcing the final two outs.
DeLange came on in relief in the extra inning following a stellar performance much of the way from FSU's Stacy Thompson. She started the contest and allowed four runs on five hits with four K's and three walks. She gave up only a single run, though, following the first inning.
Offensively, Reed had four hits in game two to go with four RBI's in leading the Bulldogs. Johnson added two hits and had a double to go with two from Reed. Vanderwal also had a key RBI for the Bulldogs in a pinch-hit performance down the stretch.
Seeds led Ohio Dominican with two hits in the nightcap and was one of three ODU players to register an RBI in game two. Haley Earl tossed the first five innings and allowed only a single run on five hits before giving way to Alex Jander, who took the loss with four runs allowed on four hits in two innings of work. Bailey Miller pitched a single inning and surrendered only a single hit and no runs. Together, the trio had only one strikeout and four walks against the Bulldogs.
Ferris State continues its 16-game league homestand by hosting Wayne State on Wednesday (April 15) starting at 3 and 5 p.m. (ET) for games one and two, respectively, at the FSU Softball Field. FSU then hosts Lake Superior State on Friday (April 17) and rival Grand Valley State on Saturday (April 18) in Big Rapids.
- Cody Carlson (Contributor) - FerrisStateBulldogs.com
