Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University softball team pulled off an important Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) home sweep on Saturday (April 22) as the Bulldogs won two close contests over the Walsh Cavaliers at the FSU Softball Field.
The Bulldogs captured a 2-1 victory in eight innings in the opener before coming back to complete the sweep with a 3-1 triumph in the nightcap.
In the opener, Ferris State scored the first run of the day in the second inning, but Walsh knotted the game up with a run in the top of the fifth. The contest remained tied heading to extra innings when FSU finally got the winning run in the bottom of the eighth as Lexi Hongisto notched an RBI to score Emily Reed in walkoff fashion.
The Bulldogs outhit Walsh 5-4 in the opener with Reed recording a pair of doubles as the only FSU batter with multiple hits in the contest. Ferris State also got a triple from Logan Fleming while Casey Bias added an RBI in the win.
Junior Sam Bates allowed only one run on four hits and posted four strikeouts in going the distance for the Bulldogs to earn the victory.
In the second game, the Bulldogs took the first lead again as they scored three times in the top of the third. That would be all FSU would need as Walsh managed only a single run in the sixth before the Bulldogs held them scoreless in their final at-bat in the seventh. Again, FSU had five hits to four for the Cavaliers.
FSU's Stephanie Neuman had an inside-the-park homer for the Bulldogs in the third and Fleming added a double to help the Bulldog cause. Reed had two RBI's while Sarah Johnson and Emily Smith also posted hits in the triumph.
Freshman Abby Highway earned the win in the nightcap as she allowed only a single run on four hits in seven innings of work. She struck out six and walked five in the triumph.
With the two wins, combined with splits from both Northwood and Findlay, the Bulldogs are now tied for seventh place overall in the league standings with Findlay with four games left in the regular season. The top eight teams at the end of the season advance to the GLIAC Tournament.
Ferris State completes its weekend homestand on Sunday (April 23) as the Bulldogs play their final two home games of the year at the FSU Softball Field against the Lake Erie Storm. First pitch for game one is slated for 12 p.m. (ET) with the second game starting at approximately 2 p.m. (ET).
Sunday will serve as FSU's annual Senior Day games with the Bulldogs slated to honor seven seniors prior to the opening pitch.
