Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University softball team suffered a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) road setbacks on Saturday (April 15) as the Bulldogs fell in a league twinbill against Northwood in Midland.
FSU, which was coming off an impressive 15-3 win over nationally 23rd-ranked and GLIAC leader Saginaw Valley State at home on Friday, fell to the Timberwolves in 7-4 in game one and then dropped a high-scoring 18-13 setback to NU in the finale.
In game one, Northwood jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the first. FSU answered, though, with four in the third to tie the game back up before the hosts followed with two additional runs in the fourth and an insurance run in the sixth. Both teams totaled 10 hits in the opener.
Bulldog senior Sarah Johnson had a game-high tying three hits in the opening contest while scoring a run. FSU also got a pair of hits from right fielder Stephanie Neuman with a double by catcher Emily Reed. First baseman Sarah Meredith knocked home two runs while both Reed and third baseman Lexi Hongisto had one RBI each.
FSU's Sam Bates suffered the game one loss as she allowed six earned runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings. Senior Megan Hiler pitched in relief and threw one scoreless inning with a strikeout and no hits allowed.
In the nightcap, the two teams combined for 32 hits and 31 runs in a high-scoring affair. NU trailed 7-6 after two innings before putting three runs across the board in the third. Ferris State managed to tie the game back up 9-9 after four frames, but the Timbewolves followed with three runs in the fifth and four in the sixth. They eventually took a 18-9 lead heading into the Bulldogs' final at-bat. FSU made things interesting with four runs in the seventh before NU held on for the win.
Both Hongisto and Meredith posted three hits each for the Bulldogs with Neuman and second baseman Logan Fleming compiling two each. Reed and Hongisto each scored three hits while Meredith cross the plate twice.
As part of her team-high three hits, Hongisto homered twice and drove in six runs for the Bulldogs. Neuman also homered and had five RBI's in the setback.
The Bulldogs' Abby Highway threw two and two-thirds of an inning while giving up eight runs on seven hits. She had two strikeouts and three walks. Hiler then tossed an inning and surrendered five runs on six hits with two walks before Bates hurled three innings and allowed five runs on five hits with three walks.
Ferris State, which has six regular-season games remaining, will return home to host Walsh on Saturday (April 22) starting at 1 p.m (ET) for a league doubleheader in Big Rapids. FSU then hosts Lake Erie next Sunday (April 23) before closing the regular-season at rival Grand Valley State on April 28th in Allendale.
